A Questionnaire for Businesses
As best you can, answer the following twenty-five questions. There's no scoring. But you'll know whether you should be satisfied with your answers, or not. If you aren't, perhaps you have some work to do.
1. What are the benefits you offer?
2. What do you think motivates your clients to buy? Are they driven by Fear of Loss, Desire for Gain, Self Preservation, Safety, Health, Security, Recognition, Power, Net Profits, Increased Sales, Lower Costs, Knowledge, Self Actualisation, Social Status, Riches, Popularity, Self Expression, Acceptance, Prestige, Success, Pleasure, or a combination of a few of these?
3. Why do you think your best/favourite clients purchased your service/product? (What benefit(s) attracted them?)
4. Have you asked your clients why they purchased from you.
5. How does your service improve the life or work conditions of your clients?
6. Have you written a profile of your best clients?
7. Have you identified where to find the greatest concentration of your best prospects?
8. Have you identified a list of prospects similar to your best customers?
9. Considering all the potential prospects you've identified, with which ones could your service/product make the biggest difference?
10. How do your clients normally purchase your service/product? (Your distribution system.)
11. Who is your competition?
12. What other "competition" do you have? (i.e., other kinds of products/services, lack of awareness on the part of your prospects, etc.)
13. Why do your prospects buy from your competition? (What benefit do they offer?)
14. Why would or should your prospects switch from your competition to you?
15. Can you list 5 to 10 reasons why someone should purchase your product/ service?
16. What makes your service/product unique or better than others? (This is your unique selling proposition, or USP)
17. Have you reduced your USP into a fifteen-word-or-less "commercial"?
18. Have you identified a market niche in which you do/can specialise?
19. Have you told your prospects about your speciality? (Or is your speciality buried in your marketing materials among all the other things you can also do?)
20. How are you raising awareness of your service among your prospects?
21. Do you have a marketing "mix", or do you depend upon one marketing tool to build your business?
22. Does the image you present to your target market live up to the image your target market feels they deserve?
23. What would happen to your business if your top two clients left you in the same six month period?
24. Are you spending 20 to 30% of your time on marketing activities? (If you are a start-up, are you spending 80 to 90% of your time marketing?)
25. Do you have measurable goals for your business?
26. What one major obstacle stands between you and your goals?
If you struggled with a few of these, you have some work to do. If these questions puzzled you, you have much to do.
Keith Thirgood, Creative Director
Capstone Communications Group
Helping businesses get more business through innovative marketing
Markham, Ontario, Canada 905-472-2330
Subscribe to Thrive-on-line http://list.capstonecomm.com/ma il.cgi?f=list&l=thrive_on_line
PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... We're back to the subject of ethics, more specifically, business... Read More Nothing gets people buying products or programs like a special... Read More As a self-employed professional, you have two basic strategies for... Read More We all know we can pay a magazine or a... Read More Part #26) Food safety is becoming paramount.What this means to... Read More Hey, as business owners we CAN'T be all things for... Read More Lots of people network but few reap the rewards of... Read More The term "internet marketing" was virtually non-existent a short 8... Read More As an entrepreneur involved in selling and/or promotion... Read More Think you can't afford to hire a copywriter? Think again.... Read More A white paper on how companies should analyse customer data... Read More Are you struggling to find a new twist for... Read More Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term guerrilla marketing, which I... Read More Even if you never place a cold call, you still... Read More I often wonder how the practice began of pretending to... Read More Are you having trouble understanding basic situational marekting concepts? Then... Read More Advertising on the radio can be an effective lead generation... Read More Make Marketing a Must, Not a MaybeWhen business is booming,... Read More BREAK FROM HO-HUM MARKETING ? IT'S TOO BORING! Once you... Read More 1. Print your best small ad on a postcard and... Read More Whether you market online or offline, you already know the... Read More Face it?you know you've got to do something to keep... Read More If you sell a technical product or service, you probably... Read More Real estate marketing is a lot simpler than most Realtors... Read More An accountant once told me that he never met anyone... Read More
Adsense
websites
Misrepresentation - Through Silence!
Up Your Income Next Week: 13 Ways to Have a Sale
Marketing Messages: Your 10 Most Important Business Principles
Getting Paid to Promote Yourself
Packaging Trends You Cannot Overlook (Part #2)
Niches - The Path to More Profits
Network Your Way to Success- 12 Tips to Jumpstart Your Business
Business In 2010: A New Face of Marketing
Money-Makers Secrets to Renting Profitable Mailing Lists
7 Ways a Copywriter Can Help Your Business Succeed
Gaining Business Intelligence
Three Ways to Put Fresh Spins on Old Marketing Concepts
Go Guerrilla
Breaking The Voice Mail Barrier
Marketing The Real You
Want to Increase Your Business? First You Need to Understand where You are at!
Radio Advertising Works With These Tips!
For Ongoing Success, Make Marketing a Habit
Know Thy Competition
10 Powerful Marketing Tips
How to Discover your Primary Market and Where to Find Them
Painless Marketing for People Who Hate to Market
How to Handle Jargon at Your Web Site - and Why
Money Making Real Estate Marketing Ideas
Marketing Smarter To Earn More
Affordable and Reliable Web Hosting Starting at $4.49/Month
Make Your E-Mail Signature File WORK for You!
You're probably familiar with e-mail signature (or "sig") files -... Read More
Marketing Smarter To Earn More
An accountant once told me that he never met anyone... Read More
Marketing A Misunderstood or Scary Product or Service
What do you do if your business, product or service... Read More
How to Convey Trustworthiness in Direct Mail Marketing Sales Letter
A person or business that might buy from you is... Read More
Incentives For Customers? Whats New?
Lost & Found for the 21st CenturyHere in the 21st... Read More
Unique Selling Proposition - Your Competitive Advantage!
To capture a larger market share and be viable, sustainable... Read More
A Look at Brochure Printing Services
A brochure can be a wonderful promotional tool for a... Read More
Census Data Mapping for Small Business
When studying the demographics of an area for a business... Read More
Discover the Winning Marketing Strategy Secrets of Donald Trump Apprentice Wanna-bes
The highly entertaining Donald Trump's search for an apprentice turned... Read More
Whats Your Selling Sentence?
What's your Selling Sentence? If you have a business, you... Read More
B2B Marketing - Why it Should be Subtle
Subtle adj. Showing or making, or capable of showing or... Read More
Three Simple Keys Will Make Your Customers Stick
Do you spend a lot of time and energy courting... Read More
Beyond Repair: The Fixed-price Model
Don't get me wrong. I certainly don't think the majority... Read More
Survival Strategies
1. Do the moneymaking things first.For an entrepreneur, generating income... Read More
Shopping Comes Back To The Community
THE GREAT BRITISH TRADITION OF STREET MARKETS IS UPHELD AT... Read More
51 Ways to Say Thank-you in a Fundraising Letter for a Non-for-Profit (Includes Examples & Samples)
One of the hardest jobs in fundraising is crafting original... Read More
When You Need More Than Magic To Keep Your Marketing Going
It is easy to focus on what remains outstanding and... Read More
How to Take Your Law Firm to the Next Level
How to Take Your Law Firm to the Next Level... Read More
Customizing Booklets By Industry or By Company
Customizing booklets can be done by industry or by company."110... Read More
Simple Marketing Idea - Big Marketing Results!
Have you ever noticed how many times it's the simplest... Read More
How Price Gouging Can Hurt Your Business
"Price gouging" is an emotional, inflammatory term. Everyone is against... Read More
Web Site Marketing: 10 Little Known Upsell Strategies That Will Magnify Your Profits
What is Upselling?It means pre-selling any additional features of your... Read More
A Pass / Fail Test for Any New Market
If you are considering entering a new target market, with... Read More
How to Put Law & Order into Marketing Your Legal Practice
First in a series of three articlesRegardless of your law... Read More
Your Marketing ? From The Couch To The Cash Register
When you put time or money into any marketing plan,... Read More
Marketing |