How literal should your company name be? Should you incorporate the name of the industry you’re in, or the service you offer, so it’s easy to understand what you do? I get this question often. Someone would say to me: “I am starting a business that offers sales consulting services, so I want to call…
DetailsI had a business owner visit me last week, wanting to know what I think of how he currently markets his company. He only had one hour to spare and I made the mistake of agreeing to the meeting. To be sure, he did nothing wrong. The fault was mine. You see, there is no…
DetailsBusiness owners want sales, but what is sales? Sure, “a sale” means “a transaction” which in turn means “money in the bank”. That’s easy. But it gets more complicated when you ask: “who is responsible for making the sale”? Typically, the answer is “Sales”, as in “our sales force is responsible for making the sales”.…
DetailsA business owner recently shared with me a sales technique he discovered. He realised that if he offered a free service that prospective customers can “trial”, it allowed him a foot in the door to talk about his company’s paid-for “premium” services. He was excited about the opportunities that this sales technique opened up! Of…
DetailsI’ve just returned from a meeting where the Johannesburg sales manager for a local electronics company said: “…marketing doesn’t really work, it just costs money…”. You’ll be excused for sharing his view. The first thing I see when I speak to business owners about marketing is the fear of money going down the drain. And…
DetailsWe can make marketing very complex; or very easy. I prefer the second option. Does your business have an opinion? What is that opinion? Does that opinion matter to your customer? Is that opinion different from the other opinions your customer is hearing? Do you successfully get your opinion across to your customer? Do they…
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