The last Newsletter focussed on an easy 3 month marketing plan.  How is it coming along?  As you look back at the last couple of months, what have you implemented to market and promote your business?

Do you know what worked?

In analyzing your marketing, it is important to track and monitor your results, and there are several ways to do this.

3 Easy Tips to Analyse your Marketing

1. Every time you get a phone call or a customer, ask him or her "how did you find out about me?" and record the information in a book, or in an excel file.  

If you have several marketing pieces on the go at once, be careful to attribute the response correctly.  Then, you can look back and see which marketing medium worked best for you.

2.  This one is actually too easy: keep a scrap book of all material that has gone out, and put a stroke for each inquiry received from the piece, then total them up.  However, this is a bit too simple and should just be used as a quick visual to correlate the look of the marketing piece with the results.

3. If you work with clients in a service industry, use a Customer Relationship Management program such as Salesforce (available from www.salesforce.com ) which allows you to set up nominated fields of marketing media, in a section on the lead source.  This is a brilliant piece of software because you can track the stage of the sale, the marketing budget, and percentages or numbers of leads generated from particular advertising.  Plus, you can log tasks so you are reminded to call a customer or complete a newsletter.

Keep in mind that your marketing must be consistent in a number of areas.

6 Steps to Get Noticed and remembered - Consistency is the key!

1.  Regular and consistent occurrence - that is, it turns up in the mailbox at the same time each week, or the same spot in the newspaper.

[You cannot expect someone to recall you and your phone number if you only advertise once, no matter what advertising media you choose.]

2.  Consistent look in terms of layout, colours used, fonts.  This means that clients and customers will recognise your marketing easily and it sinks into their subconscious.  

Did you know that your subconscious mind stores the long term memories?  For us to recall someone or something easily and effortlessly, we need to see and hear the advertising message from 7 to 9 times, before it's instantly recalled.

Here's a true story.  A good friend of ours is setting up an online business for people with Scleroderma.  Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease (the body's immune systems mistakenly attacks itself) characterized by diffuse thickening of the skin and internal organs. It can be  life threatening, as well as physically impacting on the person.  For example, fingers may become swollen and/or drawn in towards the palm in a closed hand position.  

Well, Rosalie showed us some beautiful magnetic jewellery (no fiddly clasps) she was going to sell via her website and we agreed it was a winner.  I didn't buy anything at the time, but made a mental note (ha ha!) for future reference.  

About 3 week's later, Dennis' sister was having a birthday...  (I like Dennis to do his own shopping for his family so I didn't get her anything.)  

But, Dennis left it to the last minute, and of course, we were stuck.  We did manage to find something for her, but neither of us thought of our dear friend Rosalie...  Dennis at least thought of her after we'd been to dinner with his sister, but my 'mental note' failed miserably.  

Why? Lack of follow up from Rosalie to keep her products at the top of our mind.  Rosalie has since been contacted and now knows the importance of following up, and I have bought a necklace for myself and another friend.  {And much as I would love to promote her website, I can't, as it isn't ready to go yet!}  It really does take consistent contact for you to be recalled quickly and easily.

3.  Brand your advertising by using a Logo and your brand name in the same position of your Ad, each time.  

If it's radio or TV, use a tagline that can be repeated on every campaign, right before the call to action, for example, "Send your Sales through the Roof!  Call now on 3255 0739".

Think of it this way, you only need to see half a golden arch to know there is a McDonald's ahead.

4.  Make your advertising stand out in the mind of your prospective client, by doing things differently.  How?  

i. Make people question the ad - something doesn't make sense, so they remember it.  There's an ad for phones on the side of the Brisbane buses at the moment.  It doesn't make sense to me, and every time I see it, I think about it, and I think about it for a while afterwards.  I have looked at the ad each time, and now I think I have finally got it!  (Maybe I was having a blond moment, but I sure recognise that ad.)

ii. Make people laugh.  Laughter makes you feel great, so you pair the ad with the emotion and store it quickly and easily.  A clever ad that makes you laugh and think, is the current Libra tampons TV ad.  (If you haven't figured it out, give us a call!)

iii.  Give a great incentive so that people can't resist the offer.  How?  Throw in lots of extras that appear to give huge value, yet cost you little.  You could joint venture with another business on this.

5.  Sometimes, it's necessary to have a variety of marketing tools on the go at once.  For example: a letterbox drop, a radio ad, a TV ad, a local newspaper ad and a letter in the mail will generate lots of recall flashes, particularly if you are having a big sale in a defined time frame.

If your budget won't stretch that far, then use the next best thing.  

6.  Word of mouth advertising.  Open your mouth and speak to people and talk to them and tell them what you do.  And continue to tell them.

When I worked with Refund, new franchisees would be sent into a Uniform shop.  One franchisee impressed us all greatly, when he phoned in and asked us at Head Office how many Refund people had been to the uniform shop?  

By then, there had probably been a total of 25 or 30 staff and franchisees who had been in and he was the only one who had asked the question, "what do you know about Refund Home Loans?"  He walked out the uniform shop with a commitment to an appointment each, from two staff members.  Speak to people, it works!

By analysing results and taking a consistent approach to lead generation, branding and sales, you can be assured that your results will improve.

I hope this article has given you some useful tips to improve your business.  

Rate this article - does it get the thumbs up?

Rate This Article and receive a Complimentary 1 Month Membership to the Small Biz or Real Estate Treasure Chest websites (valued at $US$24.97) 

The Overview from Sales Champions: 

Hi 

Some news from us, as we haven't been in touch for a while. 

I've stopped flitting interstate to do promotions for Refund Home Loans and am back doing the work I love - helping people to Live Life 2 the Max!

We attended the Sydney franchise expo, which was great for meeting like minded people and getting new ideas.

My daughter Cherie recently married, and she looked stunning! Yes, I know that every bride looks stunningly beautiful, but she really really did! Plus, it was great to meet up with all the family and make new friends as well.

We've actually been taking some time out in the last couple of weeks - just the usual things like bike riding and walking, movies and family get-togethers, and it's been a much needed rest. 

And, of course, Master the Cat still runs the house and it's his 1st birthday this month.

Regards, Narelle and Dennis

Advice from "Master" 
the Tabby Cat

"Wail loudly and exaggeratedly (alright, 'with great exaggeration'), when you want to get attention!"

His wailing is so over the top, you have to laugh!  
And it still gets the message home...

Our Website links:

www.saleschampions.com.au
Overview of our services

www.franchiseselect.com.au 
For prospective franchisees

Guaranteed Lowest Price Recruitment
Tired of confusing rates from recruitment companies?

www.realestatesaleschampions.com
For Real Estate Agents and Principals

www.sales-marketing4smallbusiness.com
For small business owners

www.howfranchising.assistsyou.com
For Franchisors and Franchisees

www.ecoursecentral.assistsyou.com
It's Article heaven when you need content

www.livelife2themax.com.au
For balance, mentoring, or counselling