How To Successfully Launch A New
Business
By Bob Leduc
Every week I talk with business
owners who tell me how excited
they are about their new product, service or business
opportunity. Usually, their comments include something
like, "Everybody needs it. I know I'm going to make
a lot of money with this." They sincerely believe it
will be easy to generate hordes of
customers standing in line
to spend money. I really hate bursting their bubble.
But, it's not going to happen that
way.
Building a successful business
is hard work. Most of that work
will be devoted to finding customers. Finding customers will
be your toughest job. You need a detailed strategy to attract
the number of paying customers required to meet your financial
goals.
By trial and error over many
years, I've developed a 5 step marketing
strategy that enables me to launch a new product or
service profitably every time. You can copy this system to
launch your own new enterprise or to revive a floundering
business.
STEP 1: Identify Your Target
Market
The first step in developing
your strategy is to isolate the best
target market for your product or service. Your sales efforts
will be most effective if you focus on a group of prospects
with common characteristics and similar problems.
Start by defining on paper your
ideal customer or client. List
all of the characteristics you expect to find in good customers
or clients. Be sure to include characteristics that
make your product or service valuable to them. Then, use
this list to identify a target market. Define your target
market in writing.
STEP 2: Find Your Most Appealing
Customer Benefit
Exactly what is the most
compelling problem for prospects in your
target market? Why is your product or service the best solution
to their problem? Answering these 2 questions reveals
the customer benefit(s) to stress in your sales approach.
STEP 3: Develop A Motivating
Offer
Develop 2 or 3 offers that
motivate prospects to take buying action
immediately. For example, can you use a special discounted
price offer with a deadline? Are there bonuses you
can add if prospects order or sign up before the deadline?
Can you combine both into a "special price plus bonus"
offer? Decide which offer on your list is the most powerful
and use it in your sales material and/or presentation.
IMPORTANT: A special offer
providing obvious value always increases
your volume of business. It's a proven technique to
overcome buyer resistance and procrastination. A special offer
also provides a logical reason in the buyer's mind to justify
what may actually be an impulsive decision to buy now.
STEP 4: Decide How To Publicize
Your Business
How will you introduce yourself
to prospects in this market? Will
you use classified or display ads in print publications or
on the Internet? Will you use direct mail? Is broadcast media
such as radio or TV appropriate and cost-effective?
What networking can you
participate in locally or on the Internet
to draw attention to your business? What other methods
of promotion can you use? Prioritize each method on your
list and develop an action plan with deadlines for implementing
them.
STEP 5: Establish A Plan To
Promote Customer Loyalty
Decide what you will do to
cultivate customers so they continue
to do business with you and give you referrals. For
example, write or call your
customers or clients immediately after
a transaction and thank them for their business. Ask them
if they're pleased with what they received. Most will express
their satisfaction. That's the ideal time for you to follow
up with a request for referrals.
Don't be afraid to uncover an
unhappy customer. When you do, take
whatever action you must to leave them feeling good about
you, even if your only recourse is issuing a prompt refund.
Most dissatisfied customers won't take the trouble to
contact you about their problem. They'll just take their business
elsewhere and tell other people about their negative
experience with you. That will cost you a lot of future
business.
I've used this 5 step process
successfully many times. It reduces
risk by replacing guesswork with a proven strategy that
gets results. You can follow this system to successfully
launch a new enterprise or to revive an existing
business that isn't growing.
Copyright 1999
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year
career of recruiting sales personnel
and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales Consultant.
Bob recently wrote a manual for small business owners
titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple
Postcards" and several other publications to help small
businesses grow and prosper. For more information...
Email:
bobLeduc@aol.com
Subject: "Postcards". Phone:
(702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time) Or
write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
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