SME Playbook CRM

SME Playbook:

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The Marketing Mix:

The way to explain the multiple facets of marketing is to break the subject down into

sections called the ‘Seven P’s of Marketing’.

Mix’. Keep in mind that each of these components must be examined, sharpened, and directed

toward a specific type of customer in order to obtain the most from a marketing budget:

− Product – or more specifically, that which provides the benefit from whatever is being sold or

produced.

− Place – the location (or time) where the product is sold or distributed.

− Price – the perceived value of the product.

− Promotion – communicating the product to potential customers.

− People – the employees and their knowledge or training that make and/or sell the product.

− Physical Environment – the ambience or ‘feel’ of the physical interior where the product is sold.

− Processes – the operational services and work processes that make an organization run smoothly

Digital Marketing 5 Tips:

Know your audience.  Do you know who is buying your products or using your services? Think about their needs when planning your digital marketing strategy. Create personas or customer profiles. The more targeted and individualized your marketing seems, the stronger impact it will typically have on your customer or clients.

Review your website analytics. Where is your traffic coming from? Do you know what searches are bringing you customers? Spending some time reviewing the data and analytics for your website’s traffic can help you formulate a better plan to boost traffic and conversion rates.

Consider search engine optimization. Once you know what is bringing customers to your site, you need to make a point of prioritizing that information on your website, blog and marketing content. Doing so will help your business increase its rank for those key terms on search engines, bringing in more traffic.

Get into social media. If you aren’t already on social media, it’s time to change that! Without a social media presence, you are being left in the virtual dust as 93 percent of businesses are active on Facebook and 89 percent use Twitter. Properly run, social media accounts can drive interest in your company and help improve your brand awareness. Viral sharing of your social media content can result in a flood of interest about your company.

Know when to bring in professionals. Taking care of your website, your social media accounts, and your business itself can be a lot of work. Know your own limits and partner with professionals who can help maintain your social media or digital presence. Their professional touches can also help grow your online presence and positively impact your bottom line. 

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 Small Business Advantages:

Even in the best of times it can be difficult for a small business to compete against bigger rivals.

developing good customer relationships and providing good service. Additional small-business

survival tactics include:

− Promoting the benefits of being part of the neighbourhood. Small businesses that make themselves a viable part of their community are often repaid in kind. Sponsoring school functions, catering to clubs and social gatherings, and helping to run or sponsor local events are a few examples. All provide a great opportunity to promote a business as being a valuable neighbour and an integral part of its community.

− Offering superior know-how. Entrepreneurs are usually very knowledgeable about their product(s) as well as passionate and committed to their use. Try getting that type of service and dedication from an employee mopping the floor at a retail chain. Due to constant cost-cutting measures and low wages, many big corporations just can’t deliver superior service to their customers.

− Providing unique or superior value. Adding a little bit extra can easily separate one business from

the rest of its pack. This can be as simple as saying to a customer, ‘If you have any problems or need additional help, call me and I’ll lend a helping hand.’ Alternatively, it could mean helping a client locate a product that your business doesn’t currently offer, but would be glad to order, or helping customers locate a company that sells what your business does not.

− Being accessible. One of the more successful strategies used by fast food chains is a good location next to high customer traffic – both pedestrian and automobile. Small businesses that can’t afford a prime location, however, can still capitalize on this concept by bringing a service or product to the places where customers live or work. Examples include lunch services that deliver to work sites and offices, computer repair services that do house calls, or car washing and detail services that perform their service wherever potential customers park their cars.

 The Ten Commandments of Business Strategy:

1. Always think in the long term.

2. Never get stuck in the pack with no distinctive competitive position.

3. Always invest in a clear, proper, sustainable competitive advantage.

4. Avoid strategies that will succeed only in the best of circumstances.

5. Show caution when pursuing a rigidly prescribed or inflexible strategy – changing conditions may render it obsolete.

6. Never underestimate the reaction and commitment of rivals.

7. Remember that attacking a competitor’s weakness is usually more profitable than attacking its strengths.

8. Don’t cut prices without establishing a firm cost advantage over rivals.

9. Don’t start something (a price war, a marketing offer, a new service, etc.) that your business can’t afford or stop.

10. Beware of attacking larger stronger rivals without adequate resources.

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 Achieving Quality:

Take a look at the following points Deming wrote about and practiced in the early part of the last

century. Just about every ‘new’ management concept taught in business schools or featured in

contemporary business journals are a derivative of one or more of these concepts:

− Create a business culture that regularly asks for, and accepts, innovation.

− Invest heavily in training and research.

− Spend revenues on maintaining current equipment as well as acquiring new items.

− Work to improve every system – not just the end result of that system.

− Ask for statistical evidence of processes.

− Eliminate financial goals and quotas.

− Learn to motivate rather than give orders.

− Take the fear out of the workplace by providing an environment of constant learning.

− Break down barriers between departments and place an emphasis on communication.

− Eliminate superficial goals and slogans.

− Retrain people (and yourself) in new skills.

 Quality:

Competing on the basis of quality requires identifying and

enhancing eight different dimensions. Knowing what customers seek in terms of these quality

dimensions can help a business gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Following are what

customers usually look for in regard to quality:

1. Aesthetics: how the product looks, feels.

2. Conformance: the degree to which the product meets established standards.

3. Durability: the ruggedness or amount of use the product provides.

4. Features: the ‘bells and whistles’ (augmented product) that supplement the function of the product or service.

5. Perceived quality: the product’s reputation.

6. Performance: the product or service’s main operating characteristics (i.e.: how well does it do what it’s supposed to do?).

7. Reliability: the product’s ability to work when it is expected to work.

8. Serviceability: the speed and courtesy of attention given to customers as well as the competence and satisfaction that repairs provide.

 Facts about Pricing:

− Price is the only component of the marketing mix that produces revenue. All others represent costs.

− Price is the most flexible element of the marketing mix. Unlike the other marketing mix elements, a price can be changed quickly.

− Pricing is often the most significant factor affecting buyer choice, but it’s a double-edged sword. If a price is too high, buyers may turn away. If it’s too low, they may sense something is wrong and also turn away.

− Pricing is not often handled well. For example, if a price is cut by 10%, it may result in 50% of profits being lost.

 Common Mistakes in Pricing:

− Prices that are too cost-oriented (e.g.: customer value is not contemplated).

− Prices that do not reflect the current market (as above, there could be high demand or a lack of demand).

− Not taking into account the other marketing mix components (again, the perception customers have of value may not be contemplated – or perhaps it’s misjudged).

− Not varying prices according to different products, different market segments, or promotions.

− Slashing prices in the assumption that doing so will raise sales (the problem could be ineffective marketing, low perceived quality, or any number of other factors which will not be solved by

changing prices).

− Raising prices to increase revenues (again, the problem may lie somewhere else – and if it does, it won’t be solved by raising prices).

 Pricing:

Price is what you pay,

value is what you get.

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 Starting the Pricing Process:

Before the pricing process begins, it’s necessary to consider what it is you want pricing to do for

your business. The obvious answer is generating revenue, but how will this be achieved? By being more

competitive? By attracting a specific clientele. By getting more customers to try a product. How

about a combination of one or more of these objectives? If your business is serious about making the

most of its prices, then it’s worth the time and effort to think about these questions, write them

down, discuss them with colleagues, and think them over. The results can be used as a rough draft or a

template for helping to set a good price.

Internal and External Factors that Affect Pricing

Consider the following when establishing a price for a product or service:

1. Internal Factors (situations or determinants inside the company). These include:

A. Marketing Objectives, which are determined by the chosen target market and its position in the

overall market. Knowing what targeted customers expect in terms of price can help determine a

numerical value. For example:

− Is the luxury market being sought?

− Is the economy market being sought?

− Is a survival strategy envisioned (selling below cost)?

− Will product prices be based on demand?

− Do research and development costs need to be covered?

Pricing in Action

The following list (which uses the leisure industry as a backdrop) shows the many different types of

pricing strategies available to entrepreneurs along with examples that highlight their application.

Pricing Type Definition Example:

 Breakdown Prices are broken down A £1,000 gym membership

into palatable segments. is sold in instalments

(4 payments of £250 or

only £2.75 per day).

 Seasonal The price is adjusted to Prices rise during peak

reflect periods of time. seasons or are reduced

during slow times.

Pay One Price (self-explanatory) In amusement parks -

or either pay one fee and

Pay as You Go ride all the rides or pay for each ride separately.

 Bundling Services sold as an Activities sold in lots

(Unbundling) package deal or split such as 10 aerobics classes

up and sold separately. or 5 tennis lessons.

Unbundling would sell these as single units.

Exclusivity Paying for ‘snob appeal’ Paying premium prices for

trendiness or what is perceived as social esteem.

 Discount Low prices Customers buy because

the price is low.

 Captive Locking in customers A classic example:

by initially selling cheap computer printers that

then charging a premium are cheap, but the

for necessary components. ink cartridges are

very expensive.

Psychological Prices do not approach Charging £99 instead of

what is perceived as £100. Listing member

too much. prices next to non-members.

 Promotional Not paying a set price. Having constant sales

or always bettering what

the competition charges.

 Value Added Adding ‘freebies’ or Two-for-one deals.

other incentives without Baker’s dozen (13 for the price of 12).

charging for them.

 Trials Easing the perceived Offering the first tennis

risk by encouraging lesson free. 90-day trial periods

participation before or, giving a money back

closing the sale. guarantee.

Differential Charging customers Members pay one price,

differently. non-members pay another.

 Sales Call:

Sales call should not last longer than 15 minutes. Green goes on to say that every meeting should

begin by thanking the prospect for his or her time followed by a brief introduction of yourself and the business you represent. Immediately thereafter, your product and its benefits should be described in about thirty seconds. The rest of your time should be spent determining the needs of the customer (if this hasn’t been done in advance) and matching them to your product. A product sample, some photographs, or a brochure should be produced after the 30-second presentation. If these are introduced beforehand the customer’s attention will be diverted from the sales pitch. Following are a few more pointers:

1. Turn up for the appointment five minutes early (but not any earlier).

‘Eighty percent of success is showing up on time’.

2. Have a positive outlook and attitude. What you believe before the sales meeting will probably

determine how it ends.

3. Stay focused on the objectives of the meeting. Selling approaches should be practiced again and

again until they can be delivered in a relaxed and casual manner that stay on track.

4. Listen to the customer. Ask customers to describe their business (they’ll probably be very flattered

and eager to do so) then sit back and learn about their needs.

5. Be prepared for a little give and take. Don’t lose out on a sale because your sales pitch has been

chiselled in stone. Find a way to connect the benefits of the product being offered (including

payment and delivery) with the needs of the customer.

6. Ask for the sale. At the end of the presentation, it’s unlikely that the customer will jump up and

say, ‘Sounds great! I’ll buy two-hundred!’ If a ‘yes’ response is not forthcoming, respond to any

objections and gently ask for the sale again.

7. Always remember that an unclosed sale is not a lost sale. After the meeting, write down what

happened, what was discussed, and any objections that the customer made. With a little work

this can be refashioned into a future sale.

8. Learn to handle rejection with dignity. Particularly at the beginning of one’s selling career, most

salespeople lose more times than they win. Rejection should not be taken personally. Move on.

9. Learn from any mistakes. Often the most powerful lessons in life come from failure.

10. Keep sales records up to date. Doing so will improve success rates and may lead to further sales.

 CRM: Customer Relationship Management:

 1. Organise contact data

2. Segment customers

3. Create sales reports

4. Forecast sales

5. Scale your sale process

A CRM is the most popular tool for sales reps to retain and close sales.

 Conclusion:

• Know your customer

• Retain and be able to retrieve data via CRM

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