1 A clear picture of the type of customers you serve – as descriptive as you can make it in terms of who they are, where they are, what motivates them to buy, who is involved in the buying decision etc?
2 A real understanding of what your customers WANT? Notice I use the term want, not need – and it’s an important distinction
3 A client database (list) which informs you (at the very least) who your clients are, where they are and how much they buy from you?
4 Clarity around what you are selling – expressed in terms of benefits (what is does for the customer) rather than features (what it does)
5 Measures for the number of enquiries, source of enquires and conversion rates for different types of enquiry?
6 The right sales skills or sales person and a clear and agreed sales process?
7 A professional and appropriate look - in terms of things like your logo and any printed or on-line materials?
8 A method to keep in touch with clients on a regular and planned basis? (a newsletter, letter or phone call)
9 A presence in the market place in which you operate?
10 A clear and logical pricing policy, one which is reviewed regularly and which everyone in the company understands?

 

7 or more out of 10
If you answer yes to more than 7 of these questions – you are certainly prepared for marketing and I would imagine being very effective in your marketing efforts. If however you don’t feel you are being as effective as you could be you might think about the following:

• Do your marketing materials demonstrate your understanding of what the customer wants; are they written in their language, avoiding your industry jargon?
• Is your website well optimised for search engines; does it look professional and is it regularly updated?
• Are you easy for prospective clients to contact – can they find you on the internet, in relevant directories; can they reach you by telephone and email; do you offer appropriate payment options – can you take payment on-line for example?
• Are you being honest with yourself? Are you really as good as you think you are – especially on questions 1, 2 and 7

4 – 6 out of 10
If you have answered yes to 1, 2, 7 and 9 then you may not have major issues to address since these are probably the main starting point for any successful business. It may be that you need to put some systems and procedures in place so that you can measure the effectiveness of your marketing activity or so that you deliver a consistent service to all customers.

If however you haven’t answered positively on these main questions then it’s unlikely you will make progress until you get the fundamentals right:
• Get a clear picture of who your customers are, what they want and why they would buy from you?
• Present your business in an appropriate way – with the necessary marketing tools – in the market in which you operate

Less than 3 out of 10
You really need to put some time and effort into marketing in your business.

Perhaps give someone the responsibility to develop an action plan against each of these questions – focusing on the critical questions 1, 2, 7 and 9.

Or maybe have a team meeting to discuss each question in turn over a number of months, getting everyone on the team involved in defining your offer to the customer and understanding the markets in which you are operating.

Of course you may choose to get some external help at this point too – my only plea would be – don’t fall into the trap of deciding on a marketing communications solution (for example – let’s redo our website or get a new logo or brochure) without firstly addressing the fundamental issues of who your customers are and exactly what benefits you can deliver to them.