Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Answer Upon - Marketing 101 for Business and Life Coaches
"Let's form a committee!" When you hear these words during a public meeting, a warning light should start flashing, for more often than not Parkinson's law may be coming into play. One of the many precepts from this law states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. It was first articulated by C. Northcote Parkinson, a British scholar, in the book "Parkinson's Law: The Pursuit of Progress," (London, John Murray, 1958). Based on extensive experience in the British Civil Service system, his scientific observations noted, among other things, that as the British empire declined, the number of employees at the colonial office increased. Parkinson claimed this was caused by two forces: One, officials want to multiply subordinates, not rivals; and two, officials make work for each other.Among many other things, his law is also used to refer to a derivative of the original law relating to computers; namely, data expands to fill the space available for storage (see Moore's Law).Verification of this law is most readily found in gov
It’s a blessing to give yet if you offer what you want to offer, not what others want to receive, you don’t have a sale – you have good intentions! In marketing, as in coaching, it’s critical to hear what your client tells you is important to them and then communicate that you ‘get’ their priorities and respond to those in your marketing messages.
It’s wonderful to be poetic about the many specifics of your service offerings (a 5-step program you've developed or your e-zine) but unless you can answer one single, magic question “W
Basic business types include:Sole proprietor: This is the oldest and simplest form of business there is. A single person launches a business that may or may not have employees, a storefront, etc. The advantage of a sole proprietorship is simplicity. All business income and expenses are reported as schedules on your personal income tax. The drawback is that there is no separation between you and the business. If the business owes money or is found liable for any damages, you are personally responsible. It is entirely possible that a business mishap could ruin your personal finances.Partnership: Same as the sole proprietor except with two or more people. Here again, simplicity is the main advantage. Also, the liabilities are spread among all of the partners according to their share of the business. The bad news is that disagreements between the partners can wreak havoc on everyone.Corporation: Think of starting a corporation as giving birth to a separate entity that exists on paper. This entity has many
We’ll review:
- 4 critical concepts necessary for effective marketing to occur.
- A magic question, the answer to which must always be provided
- The difference between features and benefits
Believe me, this is not rocket science. And, as coaches, we have a head start with these concepts – they are truly consistent with those we apply in our work with clients. My goal is to help you see that marketing is a coach’s natural ally.
What is effective marketing? I define it this way: communicating the availability of a specific benefit to the audience that has identified it wants that benefit. It occurs through a variety of events: identifying, attracting, selling and satisfying clients. And, ultimately it’s that last piece -satisfaction that a client experiences with your services - that will prove the effectiveness of your marketing. Because if you communicated the availability of a benefit to an audience that wants that benefit and they enjoyed that benefit when they purchased your services - you’ll have gained the most powerful weapon any marketer or coach can hope to achieve – referrals. And that means: no misrepresentation is allowed in effective marketing.
There are 4 essential components involved: customer orientation, focus, consistency and persistence. And it’s these 4 that are the hallmarks of effective marketing. Let’s review them now.
CONSUMER ORIENTATION
Did you ever have a friend or relative who's always reminding you of things they've done for you? Things they've given you? And one day, you reply with: "Hey, I never wanted ABC; I wanted XYZ!"
It’s a blessing to give yet if you offer what you want to offer, not what others want to receive, you don’t have a sale – you have good intentions! In marketing, as in coaching, it’s critical to hear what your client tells you is important to them and then communicate that you ‘get’ their priorities and respond to those in your marketing messages.
It’s wonderful to be poetic about the many specifics of your service offerings (a 5-step program you've developed or your e-zine) but unless you can answer one single, magic question “W
Although interview preparation is everything it's sad to say that perhaps as many as half of all interviewers you’re going to meet will be unprepared or incompetent. It’s not all their fault, it's just lack of interview preparation time or responsibility; some of them will be co-opted at the last minute to meet you and won’t have had time to prepare.However there are those who just think they’re great interviewers and fly by the seat of their pants!!It’s not all bad news though; you can turn this to your advantage. You can be better prepared than they are by following a few simple rules.It may sound too simple but what they really want to know only falls into 4 key areas:* Why are you here?* What can you do for us?* What sort of person are you?* Can we afford you?So you must prepare for this.Let’s examine each one.Why are you here? Because you are interested in the job, the company, the challenge, the chance to learn and develop new skills, and you are ready to move for such a great
We’ll review:
- 4 critical concepts necessary for effective marketing to occur.
- A magic question, the answer to which must always be provided
- The difference between features and benefits
Believe me, this is not rocket science. And, as coaches, we have a head start with these concepts – they are truly consistent with those we apply in our work with clients. My goal is to help you see that marketing is a coach’s natural ally.
What is effective marketing? I define it this way: communicating the availability of a specific benefit to the audience that has identified it wants that benefit. It occurs through a variety of events: identifying, attracting, selling and satisfying clients. And, ultimately it’s that last piece -satisfaction that a client experiences with your services - that will prove the effectiveness of your marketing. Because if you communicated the availability of a benefit to an audience that wants that benefit and they enjoyed that benefit when they purchased your services - you’ll have gained the most powerful weapon any marketer or coach can hope to achieve – referrals. And that means: no misrepresentation is allowed in effective marketing.
There are 4 essential components involved: customer orientation, focus, consistency and persistence. And it’s these 4 that are the hallmarks of effective marketing. Let’s review them now.
CONSUMER ORIENTATION
Did you ever have a friend or relative who's always reminding you of things they've done for you? Things they've given you? And one day, you reply with: "Hey, I never wanted ABC; I wanted XYZ!"
It’s a blessing to give yet if you offer what you want to offer, not what others want to receive, you don’t have a sale – you have good intentions! In marketing, as in coaching, it’s critical to hear what your client tells you is important to them and then communicate that you ‘get’ their priorities and respond to those in your marketing messages.
It’s wonderful to be poetic about the many specifics of your service offerings (a 5-step program you've developed or your e-zine) but unless you can answer one single, magic question “W
Business owners contact me because they want to grow their business, they want to attract new customers and they want to separate their business from the competition. They aren't as successful as they want to be, and as marketing/design specialist I need to find out why.During a sit down meeting I'll eventually ask her/him, "What is your current marketing strategy, and what are you doing to outreach and attract new customers?" But in my mind I am asking, "Are you an ant or a grasshopper?"More often than not, business owners that are as sharp as tacks get this curious, glazed-over expression on their face. After a about 5-10 seconds of uncomfortable silence they say with a sheepish look on their face, "We'll right now we're just relying on word of mouth advertising and referrals to sustain our business".I shudder when a client tells me this. I think to myself, "Yep, I am talking to a grasshopper". Let's break down what the client said here - what he/she truly meant by "…we're relying just on…":rketing is a coach’s natural ally.
What is effective marketing? I define it this way: communicating the availability of a specific benefit to the audience that has identified it wants that benefit. It occurs through a variety of events: identifying, attracting, selling and satisfying clients. And, ultimately it’s that last piece -satisfaction that a client experiences with your services - that will prove the effectiveness of your marketing. Because if you communicated the availability of a benefit to an audience that wants that benefit and they enjoyed that benefit when they purchased your services - you’ll have gained the most powerful weapon any marketer or coach can hope to achieve – referrals. And that means: no misrepresentation is allowed in effective marketing.
There are 4 essential components involved: customer orientation, focus, consistency and persistence. And it’s these 4 that are the hallmarks of effective marketing. Let’s review them now.
CONSUMER ORIENTATION
Did you ever have a friend or relative who's always reminding you of things they've done for you? Things they've given you? And one day, you reply with: "Hey, I never wanted ABC; I wanted XYZ!"
It’s a blessing to give yet if you offer what you want to offer, not what others want to receive, you don’t have a sale – you have good intentions! In marketing, as in coaching, it’s critical to hear what your client tells you is important to them and then communicate that you ‘get’ their priorities and respond to those in your marketing messages.
It’s wonderful to be poetic about the many specifics of your service offerings (a 5-step program you've developed or your e-zine) but unless you can answer one single, magic question “W
Sales clerks who stand behind the counter gabbing to friends and ignoring the customer in front of them; product return personnel who refuse to honor their store's return policy; bank employees who get surly and defensive when questioned about possible errors on a depositor's bank statement.These slights and others can cost a business thousands in lost revenues and even the loss of their reputation in the community. Customers who have been treated rudely or who see themselves as having been cheated or ripped off in some way are likely to vote with their feet, walking out of a business and in the door of a similar business down the street that presents itself as more welcoming. Even more serious, customers who see themselves as slighted generally tell other people, which can impact a business's reputation very quickly. Once tarnished, a company's public reputation is very hard to repair.Proper hiring and training of customer service personnel is paramount. Employees who enjoy interacting with customers and who genuinely want to help resolve problems are
There are 4 essential components involved: customer orientation, focus, consistency and persistence. And it’s these 4 that are the hallmarks of effective marketing. Let’s review them now.
CONSUMER ORIENTATION
Did you ever have a friend or relative who's always reminding you of things they've done for you? Things they've given you? And one day, you reply with: "Hey, I never wanted ABC; I wanted XYZ!"
It’s a blessing to give yet if you offer what you want to offer, not what others want to receive, you don’t have a sale – you have good intentions! In marketing, as in coaching, it’s critical to hear what your client tells you is important to them and then communicate that you ‘get’ their priorities and respond to those in your marketing messages.
It’s wonderful to be poetic about the many specifics of your service offerings (a 5-step program you've developed or your e-zine) but unless you can answer one single, magic question “W
I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking, “Wait a minute. Wouldn’t that be somewhat presumptuous if I were to ask the interviewer questions?” No. The truth of the matter is they want to see that you have enough intelligence and business sense to ask questions requiring informative answers. Most human resource professionals and hiring managers believe having an applicant ask questions is one of the most important aspects of the interview. They are able to tell more about you by the questions you ask than the answers you give in response to their questions.Most everybody expects to have an opportunity to ask questions. However, many assume the interviewer is expecting questions that consist of compensation matters and they don’t want to appear to be focused on self centered issues. Invariably, they pass up the opportunity to delve further for more information about the job.What they don’t realize is they should be asking questions regarding what will be expected of the employee and opportunities for growth in order to learn more about the job offere
It’s a blessing to give yet if you offer what you want to offer, not what others want to receive, you don’t have a sale – you have good intentions! In marketing, as in coaching, it’s critical to hear what your client tells you is important to them and then communicate that you ‘get’ their priorities and respond to those in your marketing messages.
It’s wonderful to be poetic about the many specifics of your service offerings (a 5-step program you've developed or your e-zine) but unless you can answer one single, magic question “What's In It For Me?”, then who cares? Benefits are what your coaching clients want as a result of your assistance: the path to satisfying careers, the ability to find love, the key to understanding and satisfying needs, enhanced communication skills, more joy in their lives. Features are tools you use to help deliver those benefits: one-one coaching, tele-seminars, your CD set, an assessment, etc. Make it a habit to talk about desired benefits, not features.
Here’s an example: You meet someone, engage them in small talk and discover 2 important points that send your antennae way up - they're perfect for your practice! You start telling them about your training, your affiliations, your enjoyment working with clients like them. So what? Have you delivered a message that tells this person you get what they’re talking about? No – because everything you’ve said is all about you; not about them and that’s all that counts. A potential client doesn’t care if you’ve been coaching for 25 years or 25 minutes if you can convey your ability to provide a solution for them!
A more customer-oriented statement might be: "Based on what you've told me, I can say I have worked with 3 clients who faced similar challenges. Would you be interested in hearing how we created solutions?" This tells the prospect:
1. you’ve heard what they’ve communicated,
2. you’ve dealt with a similar circumstance and
3. you have a possible solution to their pain.
All very oriented to their specific sought benefit.
FOCUS
Now, to craft your marketing messages with a customer orientation, you need to know who your audience is. This is 'focus' for marketing purposes: knowing your target audience. Some coaches prefer to be generalists, serving a broad swath of humanity. Doing this dilutes the power of your marketing efforts and makes it harder for a prospect to believe you’re the right one for her/him. It also makes it harder to gain referrals (a holy grail of marketing) because your name does not immediately come to mind when an opportunity for which you’d be exactly the right match comes along.
In reality, you can't be all things to all people. Forget the business problem of this; think of your own integrity: can you really be equally useful to every prospect who comes your way?
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.hubyou.info/article/27822/hubyou-Marketing-101-for-Business-and-Life-Coaches.html">Marketing 101 for Business and Life Coaches</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.hubyou.info/article/27822/hubyou-Marketing-101-for-Business-and-Life-Coaches.html]Marketing 101 for Business and Life Coaches[/url]
Related Articles:
Your Company And Construction Estimating Programs
Why Employers and Freelancers Resort to Mystery Shopping More and More Often
Customer Service Disaster: You Just Blew It For The Whole Industry!
Bookmark it:
|