"A quitter never wins. A winner never quits."

In this tip you'll see the first 4 of the 8 marketing priciples.

The reason I decided to cover the basics is because most of the businesses I look at are not following these principles. And if most of 'them' aren't follwing these principles maybe you also aren't following the principles.

By following these marketing principles, and by putting them in to action, your business will be better off, and your profits and turnover will increase.

Marketing Princple No. 1. Ask All Of Your Customers What They Want.

You must ask all of your customers what they want from you. What additional products and services they would like you to provide for them.

Don't try and guess what they want, actually ask them. You could ask them for their thoughts when they are at the cash register, or put together a little questionnaire and ask them to fill it out.

You'll be pleasantly surprised to find that they will be willing to tell you. And they will appreciate the fact that you care what they think and, that you're asking them for their opinion.

You may find that all they want is a place to sit down whilst they are in your shop - just like you could do years ago because every shop had a place to sit down. Or you may find they would like some information on how to manage their hair, if you're a hairdresser. Or they may like a certain product or service.

But you won't know unless you ask them. So go on . . .

Marketing Principle No. 2. Give your customers what they want.

Every single customer wants 5 basic things from you, besides what they buy. And besides what they tell you after you implement Marketing Principle No. 1.

I'll cover these 5 basic wants in part 3 of these basic marketing principles.

Marketing Principle No. 3. Get The Names And Addresses Of All Your Customers.

You can get the names and addresses of all of your customers in a number of ways.

You can run a competition to win something from your store, say a $100 gift voucher. To enter the draw they have to put their name and address on entry forms you have made and put them in a box.

Or you could ask everyone that comes into the store whether they would like to join your customer club, or be on your mailing list. You get them to agree by telling them that by being on your mailing list they will get advance notice of new stock arrivals, get special customer only discounts, and they can take advantage of special 'closed to the public' customer only sales.

Or you could ask your customers to fill out a questionnaire. Have places for their name and address, and tell them that all filled out questionnaires go in the draw to win something.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to get the names and addresses off people when you give them the opportunity to win something.

Marketing Principle No. 4. Tell Your Customers Why.

Whenever you have a sale, run a special promotion, or give away something, tell your customers why.

Don't just advertise a special discount without giving a reason. Because if I were one of your customers and you sent me a discount voucher I'd like to know why.

When you run a promotion and give reasons why, you will get a greater response - because the whole thing will appear more genuine.

And don't say 'Stocktake Sale' or 'Half Yearly Sale' or something equally as useless, because nobody will believe you.

And don't just put up a sign that says 'Sale.' Sure you may get some people in, but you'll actually be keeping more people away - because they don't believe you. And the reason they don't believe you is because too many businesses have put up the word 'Sale' in the past just to suck people in.

Just remember . . .

Try this, it works!

May the success you achieve be a direct result of the effort you put in!!

Michael Ross
Miros Designs Marketing.
 
 

About this author

Michael Ross is an australian based author, product developer, direct marketer and consultant.

Michael Ross is known for his detailed and helpful advice on how to succeed in marketing.

Note:
Michael Ross' original web site is closed. I don't know if it's permanently or temporily. Michael Ross recently told me that he has more or less retired from the Internet. I'm sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

You can, however, still buy a copy of Micael's book, "The Art of Leverage" by going to this web site: http://artofleverage.cjb.net/