A colleague of mine is in a difficult situation - or so he thinks! He and a partner have developed a CD-based learning aid to be used in tertiary education institutions. They both have inside knowledge of what students require, they are well qualified in their field, and they know how to produce the product. So what's the problem?
You offer a reliable, quality service. You know that if more people knew what you can do, you'd increase sales. So you advertise in the most likely media for potential clients to read about you. But there's no response. Why?
Lets face it...winning new business is fun. Particularly in service firms where there is substantial personal involvement required to gain clients. But the jubilation of landing new accounts often leads to problems.
Can you guess what it is?
- It's not having too much competition.
- It's not about money (or the lack thereof).
- And it's not about finding more clients.
I've written previously about how to attract customers and how to manage the sales process. But one thorny issue keeps popping up for my clients what should they do when a potential customer asks "How much will it cost?" as one of their opening lines.
Service-based businesses are fundamentally different to product-based businesses. Service providers experience different sales and marketing problems (or challenges), and often have more complex relationships with clients.
No business can survive without the lifeblood of profitable sales pulsing through it.
"I was thinking about advertising in this paper."
"I'm just about to print this brochure, can you give me your comments."
"We've done direct mail before, but we weren't happy with the response."
The phone rings. Good news... it's a potential client. You say, "Thanks for calling, I'll send you our brochure."
It was a warm, quiet winter afternoon as I walked along the beach. At the headland there was a typical collection of rock pools. Lots of pools, some with more water than others, and some surging with the tidal wash. As I looked more closely I noticed the inhabitants - a purple anemone or two on the sidewall, sea snails moving slowly along the crevices, and other small creatures swimming around.
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