Marketing tips and advice for small business from expert Eric Gilboord

By Eric Gilboord

It was only a few years ago that many of the small business owner/operators I spoke with had agreed that most of their attention was being directed toward operations, finance and manufacturing issues. In the past couple of years I have noticed a strong desire by small business to address the need for sales and marketing within their company. The key question among small business today is how do I get more business? The number one answer is marketing.

Many of you have taken steps toward preparing and executing marketing programs. Beware, there is a potentially large difference in the level of success you will enjoy based on how you manage these sales and marketing programs.

Two companies, in the same business, utilizing the same marketing techniques, aimed at the exact same target group can achieve wildly different results depending upon the execution of materials and their desire to stay on top of the marketing program.

Follow these tips and refer to them often to maximize results from your marketing efforts.

1.      Be clear on your message; don’t try to say too much.  Better to whet a prospect’s appetite than to try to feed the whole meal at once.  If you get one or two main messages about your product or service across clearly, and at a glance, in a marketing piece (email, ad, flyer, brochure, sign etc.) you’re doing well.

2.      Don’t overwhelm your prospects. Too much information is as bad as not enough.  Send information to let them know whom you are, what you can do for them, and why you are different from your competitors.  Prospects are inundated with marketing materials.  They do not have time to read and respond to everything that comes across their desk.  Do you?

3.      Timing is everything.  Be careful when you send out your communication. Make sure you reach the target while there is a need for your product or service.  Don’t market to customers when they’ve finished their buying. Unless you know when they will buy again.

4.      Be prepared to follow through on the program.  Don’t lose the momentum of your supplier, your staff or yourself.  If you go to the expense of marketing (actual dollars as well as your time), don’t quit half way.  Many good marketing programs have ended up on the stock room floor because the small business owner forgot about his commitment to marketing.  "I don’t have time to send it out" is a popular reason for marketing not working. 

5.      Educate your staff about the marketing program. Make sure they know who is getting the information, what the special or offer is and how to answer questions. The “staff/sales force wasn’t properly trained” to understand the program, use the material, or just follow through is another great excuse for a program not working.

6.      Follow-up by telephone immediately.  If you are running a direct marketing program don’t sit back and wait for the calls to come in. Pro-activity is key.

7.      Go out and get feedback. Talk to your customers, prospects, suppliers and competitors. Find out what worked and more importantly what did not work.

8.      Test your marketing materials in small numbers.  Adjust, massage, refine, and improve them as you learn.  See what works and repeat it, see what doesn’t work and delete it. Modern technology has made it affordable for small business marketers to produce short runs economically.  This means you have the opportunity to put out a marketing piece, monitor it, and refine it to increase results and then send out the new version.

9.      Plan ahead. Know what your next marketing program is before you finish the first one. You may wish to include an advance notice of the next promotion on this one.

10.  Make sure you have sufficient stock. There is nothing worse than making a sale and not being able to deliver. Not only do you risk losing this sale but likely, future sales will be more difficult.

11.  Above all, have fun.  Prospects and customers want to do business with suppliers that are successful,  happy, productive and positive.  Find your own marketing suppliers who meet these criteria.

 And that's According 2 Eric