“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” ~ Michael LeBoeuf
We are always surprised how many successful companies have been driven for years by functional areas that have nothing to do with the customer. Engineering. Manufacturing. Finance. All insanely important to the success of the business, but completely internally-focused in their function.
Regardless of the size of your company, it all comes down to the three things you need to know:
1. Know YOUR CUSTOMERS
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” ~Peter Drucker, Business Strategist & Author
There are so many potential customers out there. Let’s find the best segments for you to target and grow from there.
Let’s face it: you can’t please everyone. But you don’t need to. At Customers 1st Marketing, we work with you to uncover and target the segments that possess the best market potential for your products or services — by starting with identifying and understanding your best customers. Specifically:
- Do you KNOW who they are: Which segments are you intentionally going after, and why?
- Do you KNOW their love: Why do your best customers keep coming back?
- Do you KNOW their pain: And what can your product/service do to alleviate it?
- Do you KNOW their rejection: When you lose a customer or prospect, do you know why?
2. Know YOURSELF
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ~Confucius
You have an amazing story. We need to tell people about it.
You picked this job or started your business for a reason, and that reason should drive you every day. At Customers 1st Marketing, we love getting to know you. Why does your business exist? We delve into the core things that drive your success and craft the specific messages that give customers a clear reason to choose you over the competition. Four things to understand in this step:
- Do you KNOW your mission: Why do you exist — and why should your customers care?
- Do you KNOW your role: How do you define your relationship with your customer?
- Do you KNOW your USP: What really makes you, you?
- Do you KNOW your message: Can you explain what you do in less than ten words?
3. Know YOUR EXECUTION
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” ~John Wanamaker, visionary retailer
Most companies keep track of way too many metrics or far too few. Let’s focus on what’s driving your business.
We utilize the Unified Funnel Metrics framework to analyze your entire revenue funnel — including marketing, sales, and service/ account management — to see if where you are focusing your efforts is where you are getting the most return. The four key questions are:
- Do you KNOW your go-to-market strategy: Have you developed an intentional customer experience plan across all touch points, or are you practicing random acts of marketing?
- Do you KNOW your priorities: Does your current spend align with the tactics driving the most ROI?
- Do you KNOW your performance: Are you tracking the right metrics?
- Do you KNOW your opportunities: Are there changes you could make today that would affect your bottom line immediately?
4. Bring it All Together
Knowing these three things has the power to transform your business immediately, as the answers can revolutionize both your customer experience at every touch point (front end) AND how you organize your operations (back end) — all with the singular goal of delighting your current customers and finding new ones.
What are you waiting for? Contact us at alex@customers1stmarketing.com today!
I brought in Alex to help with some advertising, but we worked together to rethink everything from a strategy standpoint – our color scheme, our tagline, our story, our website. He had so many ideas to make Realty, Inc. attract more customers – I’m still implementing them all!
~Greg Hiniker, CEO, Realty, Inc.
If you have a vague idea of what your customers are like, or have no idea how to improve loyalty, we can help.
If you’ve never had a marketing function before and need a framework, or you are in need of someone to give your entire operation a vision and get them moving in the same direction, we can help.
