8 Secrets to Marketing Success

The profits of a business are totally dependent on marketing. Otherwise few, if any, sales will be generated. But what is marketing anyway?

Marketing is doing what it takes to convince enough customers to pay the necessary price for your products and/or services to produce the desired profits for the business.

Let's discuss the 8 Secrets business owners can use to greatly improve their marketing success.

Secret #1: Give marketing top priority. The primary reason any customer chooses to buy your products or services is because of effective marketing. The marketing process starts at the very beginning and continues forever! Marketing consists of four separate functions, known as the four P's:

1. Product - Develop your products and/or services to ensure they fill the needs of your potential customers, so they will want to buy from your business. You have full control over this marketing function.

2. Pricing - Set your price structure to ensure that the business will achieve the desired profits and that customers will perceive the value of the benefits they receive to be greater than the prices they pay. You have full control over this marketing function.

3. Positioning - Position your products and/or services to allow potential customers easy interaction with the business to evaluate and purchase your products or services. You have full control over this marketing function.

4. Promotion - The final step is promotion, where you communicate with your potential customers (normally through a communications medium) about the existence and benefits of your products or services to attract them to contact your business to learn more. You will have only partial control over this marketing function.

Marketing is culminated in sales when your customers' perception of the value of their benefits exceeds the price they pay for products or services. You generate successful sales only when you complete positive Product Development, Price, Positioning, and Promotion. In fact, you will want your business to be a marketing machine.

The sales process is frequently part of the promotions function, however it can incorporate all four of the marketing functions, depending upon the type of products or services offered and the make-up of your targeted customers. Secret #2: Do not confuse advertising with marketing. Advertising is only part of the last marketing step (Promotion) and it occurs late in the game. Many people think advertising is all there is to marketing, and they overlook the other three very important earlier marketing steps. Yet, they have total control over the other three marketing steps, which are far more important than advertising. Consequently, you will want to develop the other three functions that you control first, to allow advertising to succeed.

Secret #3: Base your marketing on customer perspectives. Owners believe their power and freedom of choice, as the boss, means that they don't have to deal with the opinions of others. "I am now my own boss" is only partly true. You are in virtual control of either succeeding or failing to convince - The Customer- to buy your products or services. You want to avoid IMPOSING your opinion on your potential customers. Focus on fulfilling the perceived wants and needs of your customers, from Their Perspective.

Secret #4: Research your potential customers. When you have determined who your target customers are, learn everything about:

- What your target customers THINK they want to buy

- Why your target customers THINK they buy

- How your target customers THINK they buy

- When your target customers THINK they buy

Secret #5: Screen out undesirable customers. You have the right and obligation to determine which potential customers you will agree to serve. You should screen out undesirable customers early so you can focus more attention on customers you want to serve. Sadly, owners often may not know how to select desirable customers from the pool of potential customers they encounter. As a result, they often spend too much time, money and energy trying to deal with a handful of hard-to-please customers who frequently demand lower prices at the expense of better customers, who go elsewhere because they were ignored.

Determine the key criteria to decide which potential customers are desirable. You will want to encourage undesirable customers to visit your competitors, so they will expend their time, money and energy instead of you.

Secret #6: Give existing customers full attention. Owners frequently become so focused on getting new customers that they ignore their existing repeat customers. Your business will probably not survive without repeat business. Repeat customers present a wealth of opportunities to you.

- They frequently provide you excellent feedback

- They provide an excellent reference and referral service (read free advertising)

- They are the least expensive to service

- They provide the most likely source of additional business

- Their unnecessary departure causes substantial damage (upset customers will complain to 5 to 9 other people)

Stay close to your existing customers and learn as much as you can from them.

Secret #7: Create a positive identity that is distinct from your competitors. Most customers compare. They need good reasons to choose your product or service over others. You complete more sales when you understand your competitors extremely well and position your products or services for positive customer comparison.

Secret #8: Consider the overwhelming power emotion has on the buying process. Human emotions govern the buying process (some say over 80% of the entire process is emotional). Yet owners frequently focus their energies on price and avoid the real emotional reasons customers will buy. You will want to know and feel the emotional connection your potential customers will connect to your business, your products and/or services, and the way customers interact with your business. Design your marketing program to address the emotional issues to attract and keep the right customers.

The normal human thinking process of deciding to buy almost always starts with an emotional need. The emotional need causes the customer to consider buying something to fill it. The search and evaluation of the possible choices of products and or services is also frequently emotional, and additional emotional forces are often added. The price issue usually comes in near the end. Normally, customers ask about prices to help justify the emotional decisions they have already made. In fact, the request for the price from normal customers is a very strong buying signal (does the cost allow them to buy what they want and is it fair for what they decided to get?).

Encourage customers to enjoy their emotional buying choices

Once the purchase is made, far too many businesses can't wait to shuffle the customers off and almost treat the customers like they have some disease. This frequently causes customers to experience buyer's remorse. Yet, this is the time to finalize the sale once and for all and begin the process of future sales. Congratulate your customers on their buying choices and encourage them to enjoy the emotional benefits they sought from the purchase.

Business owners succeed when they know how to deal with this emotional process and permit the customer to complete this process through final payment.

What a wonderful opportunity! You can take charge of your entire marketing effort and attract the customers you desire with much less effort and less cost.

Provided as an educational service by Bill Dueease of The Coach Connection, where "connecting great people with great coaches" is their goal. You may receive a free copy of the article "10 Insider Secrets Most Business Owners Never Learn" by contacting The Coach Connection at 800-887-7214 or 239-415-1777 or coaches@findyourcoach.com, or at http://www.findyourcoach.com/0o-business-c oach.htm

---

Google News Updated : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:51:33 GMT On NBC's 'My Own Worst Enemy,' Christian Slater's real foe is the plot - New York Daily News New York Daily News On NBC's 'My Own Worst Enemy,' Christian Slater's real foe is the plot New York Daily News - 3 hours ago By DAVID HINCKLEY "My Own Worst Enemy," an action drama showcasing Christian Slater, spends almost all of tonight's premiere episode trying to convince the viewer things aren't as confusing as they seem. 'My Own Worst Enemy' Los Angeles Times Television Review | 'My Own Worst Enemy' New York Times The Star-Ledger - NJ.com - Washington Post - USA Today - San Francisco Chronicle all 138 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:02:01 GMT Morgan Stanley Climbs in Germany on Mitsubishi UFJ Discussions - Bloomberg Wall Street Journal Blogs Morgan Stanley Climbs in Germany on Mitsubishi UFJ Discussions Bloomberg - 2 hours ago By Christine Harper Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley rose in German trading as it held talks with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. about terms of the $9 billion cash infusion into the Wall Street firm. Stocks set for sharp gains CNNMoney.com US assures Japanese bank Morgan investment protected Houston Chronicle BusinessWeek - Forbes - United Press International - Wall Street Journal all 1,120 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:12:28 GMT Obama Continues To Show He Has The Best Health Plan - dBTechno dBTechno Obama Continues To Show He Has The Best Health Plan dBTechno - 25 minutes ago Washington (dbTechno) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, coming out of the momentum following the second presidential debate, continues to show why he has the best plan for health care in the United States. Health care: Curing what ails us Bolingbrook Sun Obama Remarks On Economic Downturn, Healthcare Reform Washington Post Centre Daily Times - Food Consumer - St. Charles Sun - Rocky Mountain News all 1,135 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:25:36 GMT UPDATE 2-'Chihuahua' mauls DiCaprio, Crowe at box office - Reuters BBC News UPDATE 2-'Chihuahua' mauls DiCaprio, Crowe at box office Reuters - 6 hours ago By Dean Goodman LOS ANGELES, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The new terrorism thriller "Body of Lies" failed to take the top spot at the weekend box office in North America, an apparent victim of moviegoers' preference for escapist fare amid global financial ... DiCaprio film beaten by Chihuahua BBC News ‘Chihuahua’ Is Top Draw at Box Office New York Times Entertainment Weekly - Los Angeles Times - eFluxMedia - USA Today all 113 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:20:14 GMT Tropical Storm Nana likely shortlived - United Press International Javno.hr Tropical Storm Nana likely shortlived United Press International - 23 minutes ago MIAMI, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Tropical Storm Nana was expected to lose storm status Monday, just a day after forming in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, US forecasters in Miami said. Tropical Storm Nana expected to weaken The Associated Press Hurricane News and Storm Tracking The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com Central Florida News 13| - eFluxMedia - Cruise Critic - Reuters all 338 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:27:49 GMT Doctors double vitamin D for children - Boston Globe ABC News Doctors double vitamin D for children Boston Globe - 4 hours ago By Leigh Hopper Oberholzer The best-known example of vitamin D deficiency is rickets, a bone-softening disease that can result in bowed legs and fractures, but a burgeoning body of evidence links vitamin D deficiency with an array of serious ailments. Doubling of Vitamin D for Children Is Urged New York Times Take your vitamins & double up on D New York Daily News dBTechno - The Associated Press - Detroit Free Press - WOWT all 316 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:25:11 GMT Pats-Chargers a bore, like much of NFL - FOXSports.com Canoe.ca Pats-Chargers a bore, like much of NFL FOXSports.com - 4 hours ago by Mark Kriegel Mark Kriegel is the national columnist for FOXSports.com. He is the author of two New York Times best sellers, Namath: A Biography and Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich, which Sports Illustrated called "the best sports biography of the ... Major turnoff Boston Globe Rivers sinks Patriots QB throws 3 TD passes as Chargers roll San Francisco Chronicle Los Angeles Times - Sports Network - Boston Herald - AHN all 1,044 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:42:29 GMT Affiliate Data Feeds Amazon Associate Feed

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Market Planning -- Getting the Word Out

"There are those who get things done and those who... Read More

Packaging Trends You Cannot Overlook (Part #2)

Part #26) Food safety is becoming paramount.What this means to... Read More

Hello, My Name Is . . . What Your Name Tag Says About You

When you attend networking functions, what kind of name tag... Read More

Importance of Endorsements And How To Use Them

Customer endorsements are an inexpensive and easy sales tool, particularly... Read More

Quick and Instant Marketing Soup

Everything happens Quickly and Instantly on the Internet. In the... Read More

The Beginners Mail Order Business Guide

No claim is made that the steps outlined would be... Read More

Dont Let Your Business Cards End Up in the Trash

Business cards are such wonderfully creative little marketing products. Most... Read More

How A Tiny 10 Year Old Girl Can Throw A 20 Stone Man - 3 Key Lessons In The Gentle Art Of Business

Half my immediate family trained in Judo and excelled in... Read More

How to Turn More Referrals Into Paying Clients

60% of all small business owners, sales and solo-professionals claim... Read More

Mortgage Marketing - How to Earn More Business From Realtors®

Is your marketing strategy getting the results you desire?Mailing postcards,... Read More

How to Turn Your Marketing Into a Money-Making Machine - Examples of solid Marketing

As Claude Hopkins presented in his Scientific Advertising many decades... Read More

Networking Magic

YES-- it is true that Networking is an art that... Read More

Perceived Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Q: My partner and I are having a hard time... Read More

The Marketing Funnel: Simple, Effective Marketing Strategy

No matter if you're publishing your first book or producing... Read More

Non Products Exist in this World

"Both the market and the distributive channel are often more... Read More

Marketing Strategy and Template for Independent Professionals

Having a marketing strategy and marketing approach is very important.... Read More

Want To Impress Customers, Win Clients and Influence People?

Remember the baseball cards kids traded while... Read More

Want to Increase Your Business? First You Need to Understand where You are at!

Are you having trouble understanding basic situational marekting concepts? Then... Read More

Who are Those People Youre Selling To?

If you're in the IT business, that's an important question.Most... Read More

These Four Things Will Make Your Direct Marketing Successful

Direct marketing is built on four things. The other way... Read More

How to Earn the Right

"How to Earn the Right..."Marketing your professional services is a... Read More

Massage Marketing Made Easy: A Simple Nine Step Marketing Plan for Therapists and Bodyworkers

Marketing is actually very simple. It involves telling people what... Read More

The Importance of Interpersonal Communcation Skills

Interpersonal Communications is the transmission of information from one person... Read More

New Years Revolution

No, that's not a typo in the title. Resolutions are... Read More

Writing Guarantees that Sell

"This offer is good but can you guarantee it."Why write... Read More