By Scott Manning – Manning Methods, LLC – Doing business on your terms relies upon leveraging your sales process to prepare people to buy. Let me ask you, do you remember the purpose of business? To over-service its clients, right? Great, and what do we ask in exchange? Premium prices, right? Great! So when is a business being a business, or generating profits? When it is SELLING, or better said transacting money; so the point here is that “maximizing time” means always being in a SELLING position, doing something that MAKES MONEY. Businesses that invariable struggle year after year are those that don’t do-Daily–enough activities that result in MONEY transacting – they don’t use their time to make money.
We will dissect the basis for making time create money. We will accomplish this by designing our business and sales process to “talk” to people that WANT us and we WANT. People who are ready, willing, and capable of becoming our Clients are the only ones that bring money to the bottom-line. Targeting, qualifying, and making it easy for people to get involved with your company are the ways to maximize your time, putting you in position to be “belly to belly” to make the sale. This begins with External Marketing. Every form of it should be designed to get you one step closer to selling the Right Prospect at the Right Time at the Right Price Point. Doing business on your terms means all of those things–who, when, and how much. Now, let’s set ourselves up for success and make our time profitable.
Target Market -ONLY go after people who CAN/ SHOULD do business with you
Let’s get two things straight before we dive into this section:
FIRST; Marketing IS a revenue generating activity
SECOND; Marketing IS the single most important responsibility of any Business Owner or Entrepreneur.
Target Marketing
Target marketing is marketing specifically to those people– future clients–who need or want your products or services, whether they know it or not. Target marketing is marketing to people based upon the untold requirements they must satisfy to do business with your company.
Examples:
A target market might be location, income, home owners, men, women, old, young, occupational, or any other of numerous specifications that are necessary for you to provide whatever it is you provide.
The Basics
When trying to decide on your target market first ask – WHO YOU SERVE -
Children, Adults, Rich, Poor, Local, Global, etc.
Next we want to figure out – WHERE THEY ARE -
Houses, apartments, offices, industries, schools, etc.
Finally we want to decide – HOW TO GET TO THEM -
Radio, TV, Mailbox, car flyer, other businesses, magazines, etc.
Now, I don’t mean to be too simplistic; but Target Marketing isn’t difficult, it really is common sense, and it deserves your real attention…here’s why:
Every dollar or minute you invest in trying to attract future clients to your company you can not get back, unless of course you make a sale and gain a client. It makes sense then to go after those people whom YOU want and WHO want you, instead of wasting time asking people that you could have eliminated based upon your Target Market considerations. Let me give you some STUPID examples:
A single straight guy doesn’t go to the local guys’ only club to find a date. If you want to find a date you’ve got to go where there are viable prospects that resemble what you’re looking for. The same goes for your business, you’ve got to go after the people who fit your business.
Let me be as blunt and clear as possible – You don’t have to be an equal opportunity business provider. Employer, “Yes.” Client service, “No way?”
Jay Abraham, the greatest marketing consultant of all time to some of the world’s largest companies, relentlessly insists that, “You can’t be all things to all people.” Nor do you want to be. That is the biggest mistake you can make; only use your time and tactics to sell your products or service to the people that need it and/or want it.
Message in order to “Market Match” – via the proper Media
Dan Kennedy is known for his marketing formula: You must have the right message going to the right market via way of the right media.
This should make sense by now. The point is vitally important, because there is no profit to trying to inform everyone about what you’re doing or offering. The only people that need to know is the ones that are capable of actually being or becoming clients.
Key steps for putting $$$ to the bottom-line
Decide who your perfect client is, describe them and know everything about them. Make sure to evaluate all areas of your business. You may have more than one type client for different business areas; but try to determine just one, core client, a target market that is comprised of the people that bring the most to your company.
Focus primarily on these five things;
- Age of client
- Location of client (demographic breakdown of area)
- Occupation / Hobbies / Interest
- Money in the household or typical income ranges
- Any other notable characteristics–often this is children at home, home owner or renter, cars they drive, etc.
We are looking for buyer and buying character-istics in order to identify our TARGET MARKET to start focusing our efforts, dollars and minutes into this specific target market.
In most businesses you will find 80-90 percent of your clients, or at least a majority, come from a very specific market…chances are you struggle to get them, or at least struggle to get the volume you need. This is because your marketing efforts are not concentrated enough and directed toward this target market. When you start catering your business, sales presentation, and marketing material and message directly to this market segment – your ideal clients – you will multiply your business…overnight!
Scott Manning, President - Manning Methods, LLC. Contact by phone 317 407-3382 or email sj@manningmethods.com