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Looking forward to 2020 and beyond

There is a lot of excitement this time of year around the holidays and the new year just a few days away. One question that many business owners start asking themselves now (if they weren’t already thinking about this a while ago) is: what are my goals for 2020 and what do I need to do in order to reach those goals?

Some people are going to be looking at 2020 and thinking they want to increase sales; grow their mailing list; do more for their communities – the list can go on and on, but the key takeaway is this – let’s look at what your main goals and priorities are for 2020 and write them down.  Then, with each of those goals, let’s come up with 5-7 strategies you can use to meet those goals along with the resources you will need to complete the goal.  The 5-7 strategies are necessary at the beginning because it allows you to pivot quickly to another strategy if the earlier one didn’t work.

If you need help in getting your goals and strategies in place for 2020, let’s talk!

Kick Start Your Marketing

Today I’d like to teach you about the three most important start up marketing tools you need to get and keep new customers.

1. In person: It’s essential you meet with customers/clients in person whenever possible. This shows you respect them and take the time to work with your clients to give personal attention to each of them.
2. Follow up letter: Always take a moment to send a follow up letter about what you talked about, new agreements or partnerships made and to thank them for taking the time to meet with you. Likewise, you should always send thank you letters or small gifts to partners you find success with.
3. Phone call: Use a telephone call to follow up with them to talk again about the matters you talked about in your meeting and offer any assistance you can to help their business run smoothly and more successfully.

None of these will work if you don’t have a quality product/service to back you up!

Here are the key steps for putting together your start-up marketing tools:

1. Research potential customers, buyers, competitors and their preferred methods of distribution.
2. Talk to potential customers. Take a hard look at your product from a customer’s perspective and see what it needs to be successful.
3. Follow up with your 3-step process from above.
4. Develop systems for contact follow through, quality control standards and customer service.
5. Develop post-sale follow up system to keep lines of communication open is customers and build on your current relationship which increases future purchases.

“Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs” Peter Drucker, management consultant

Here’s another one I love from an icon:

“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.” Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company

This lesson has offered you the tools to put together a start-up marketing plan that can be used over and over again to help your customer base and business grow in a manageable way. The tools offered in our FREE test drive offer these very same things.