Page 255 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

121 Specialise

Another common mistake with many small businesses is
that they try too hard to offer too many services and
products. Over the years they end up doing so many
different things that they get confused and they lose focus.
I hate to think how their customers must feel.

I spend a lot of time trying to get our clients to simplify
their businesses to make them easier to market. Put less
information in your advertisements, simplify your promo-
tional material, unclutter the shop and constantly look at
your business through the eyes of a customer.

Whenever our company takes on a new client we have
a brief meeting to get to know each other. The first
question asked is, ‘What does your business do—exactly?’
After half an hour we have a list of all of the services and
products available. At first the list is impressive but how
do you tell people about it in a simple way?

One of our most complicated customers is a telecom-
munications firm that sells phone cards, cheap long
distance calls, Internet access and so on. I often laugh with
the owner because his business changes ten times every day.
The telecommunications industry is so volatile that prices
are never the same two days in a row and new products
flood the market daily.

All we can do is pick one aspect of the business and
develop a marketing plan for that product or service. Over
the next few years we will have them all addressed but it
is a long slow haul that is incredibly frustrating to all
involved. Even the staff are not aware of all the products
the company offers so, once again, what chance do their
customers have?

I have made the same mistake in my business where I
have tried to do too many things, to offer too many services
and I rarely made money. As soon as I focused and began
to specialise, my business became profitable.

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