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Found articles: 47

  • Adding Business Value: How do you Add Value in your Business?

     When owners of small businesses want me to coach them to grow and expand their business, I often find that they are have reached a ceiling in selling their goods (products and services) and have run out of ideas for moving forward.As I talk to them about how they currently add value to their customers' lives and to their company's assets, I find that few of them actually understand what value is. Memorably, Warren Buffett (CEO of Hathaway) said in 1999, "Price is what you pay when you buy an asset, value is what you receive for your money".More

  • Business Continuity Management: How Do You React When Your Business Continuity is at Risk?

     The biggest problem with owning a small business is that your life can be full of worry. I encourage my coaching clients to manage their potential risks. If you do the same, this will allow you: To identify which issues must be resolved to keep your business running smoothly and To ignore or forget your other worries.More

  • Product Marketing Strategy: How Do You Use a Product Table to Focus Your Market Growth?

     The other day, I held a seminar for a network of small businesses to help them define their strategies for market growth. Even though the businesses were very different, this approach was not only relevant to most of them, it also inspired them to re-write their marketing strategies.What does the product table do?More

  • Creating New Marketing Ideas: How Do You Think Creatively About Your Business And Your Customers?

     In the last week I have met two coaching clients who both have 3 years old businesses yet their approaches to business are like chalk and cheese.John enjoys a comfortable job, his company has a regular clientele and he makes steady money - not brilliant but enough.Poles apart, Paula has created her market, overcoming many barriers and her current income is marginal.More

  • Customer Communication by Email

     Among the smaller businesses that I work with, I often come across people who have little idea how to contact their customers by email and some are even aware that they need help to learn the skills properly: I love email - it is quick, low-cost, tangible, asynchronous and generates a record. I also hate email if it is spam, pointless or poorly presented.Be legal and delightfulThe law is the first aspect that I impress on my clients: The UK Data Protection Act became law in December 2003.More

  • Business Media Marketing: How Good is Your PR and Who Does it Reach?

     One of my clients has decided to focus his marketing budget into fewer channels in order to get a larger response from this concentrated spend. So he asked me "Why should I continue to use my Public Relations agency? Why should I invest in PR next year?More

  • Marketing Communications: How Do You Get Your Message Across to Your Customers?

     As you develop new ideas for how your customers could use your products and services, you need to learn to get your message across to your customers.In spreading this message, you should plan to be effective (saying the right things) and efficient (not wasting your effort or your customer's time). You also need to be aware of all the different channels by which you contact your market.More

  • Basic Sales skills: How Effective are you at Selling?

     Selling is the major activity that all our businesses depend on, from the smallest one-person start-up to the largest conglomerate. There are three basic ways that goods (products and services) are sold at present: When there is little choice or little competition, the customer can only buy what is offered to them by the village shop, the internal stores or the mobile delivery van. When we sell high-volume commodities - such as baked beans or CDs - we offer the customers a self-service approach.More

  • Product Leaflets Add Value To Your Sale: How Does Your Product Information Boost Your Sales Value?

     A client of mine is a butcher who wants to increase the value that he gives his customers. In a recent coaching session, he waved a leaflet at me and wailed, "I put a lot of effort into that serving suggestion and nothing happened!"The process that I went through with my client is applicable to all small businesses when they give their customers information - whether advertising hand bills, product data sheets or briefing newsletters.More

  • Grow the Value of your Business: Sack Half your Clients

     Sometimes when I coach clients I get them to do actions they hate –- one recent client wanted me to help him double his revenue. So he was quite clear about his goal but was not sure about creating a feasible action plan for achieving it. So that David isn’t the only person in the country to hate me, why not try this for yourself?More