We need to find our marketing sweet spot. We have markets with low margins — what markets should we focus on to have better margins?
Thoughts of the Day: Find your marketing sweet spot. Finding your best customers can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sometimes loyal customers may not be that great anymore. Give them an invitation to try something new. Make a list of what defines best for your company. Do your homework on what customers want most and are least able to get. Build profits through effective, direct selling supported by a strong marketing campaign.
Find your marketing sweet spot
Get on with the job of figuring out which customers are worth the most to your business. It probably isn’t the most demanding ones, even though those are the customers that come to mind first because they’re the most vocal.
Define and prioritize who your best customers are. Consider the following criteria:
- Are they willingly pay their bills on time?
- Do they value what your business provides and want more of that?
- Come forward with requests for something new that is within your company’s ability to produce?
- Understand and accept the need for periodic price increases?
- Introduce you to new prospects?
- Sing your company’s praises?
- Are generally respectful and appreciative?
Get more of these kinds of customers and it probably gets easier to hang onto employees. Why? Because they will feel more rewarded for the work they do. It then gets easier to find marketing sweet spot customers. Now everyone in your company comes to know what to look for. Law of attraction — like finds like —then comes into play. Your company is introduced to your customers’ connections with other like-minded folks.
All customers are not equal
It’s worth periodically reviewing your list of customers against your best customer criteria. As business conditions change for all of us, it may impact who qualifies for that marketing sweet spot status of “best customer.”
Dig into old customers who look like they’re on the decline. Find out what is causing the decline. Decide whether or not it’s worth addressing. Every customer has a life cycle. From the introduction to getting to know each other, to working closely together. Taking each other for granted, to moving on to the next new. Hot opportunity. Is this what happened to some of your customers? Find out if you’re keeping up with the market? What’s a hot opportunity for your customer and do you stock it? If it isn’t in your company’s wheelhouse, then it’s time to let go.
Dig deeper with the best customers for a marketing sweet spot. Get to know what makes them tick, what they’re working on next, and what challenges and opportunities they’re facing. Try to move from a customer-vendor relationship to partnership status. As an insider, your company is likely to find out early what’s happening in your customers’ world. You’re likely to be asked to help solve problems that your customers are facing. And that information can give you a head start on being first to market with a new valuable offer.
Stand out online
Build recognition programs for your best customers. Let them know you appreciate them. Find out if they appreciate what your company can do for them. Invite them to join you at events and go-to activities that they attend. Where do they get their information? Make your company highly visible there. Test marketing sweet spot offers with them. If the “hook” works it may work for other similar customers. If they are willing, feature your best customers in ads. Recognize how working together has resulted in better solutions that might interest others.
Recognize the importance of timing and fit. Be present with relevant information when a prospect has a need. With today’s communication tools, the thirst for information is increasing. We’re in a world with the ability to put information at our fingertips. The ability to deliver exactly what someone wants when they’re looking for it has never been greater. The companies who master the skill of presence and applicability will dominate the game. Get the best customers for your business with a marketing sweet spot. It can lead to growth, greater profits, and the highest quality relationships. Who wouldn’t want that?
Looking for a good book? Mobile Marketing: Finding Your Customers No Matter Where They Are, by Cindy Krum.
