Is your business a well-kept secret? Photo / Thinkstock
A Herald reader phoned me a few days ago to tell me about a marketing problem he had.
He had recently secured the rights to market a brand new product in NZ.
He has well known businesses around the country who love his product and are now stocking it.
His product is environmentally friendly and is a wonderful alternative to other products that people already use.
However, no one seems to have heard of his product.
And as a result, the sales of this new product are a fraction of what they should be.
His product is a 'well kept secret' if you like.
I think that many of us in business have a similar problem to this Herald reader.
We have products or services that are very good but are not enjoying the level of sales that we know we should be getting.
So what's the solution to getting more people to know your business in a way that makes them keen to spend their hard earned money with you?
One answer to this question comes from my good friend and marketing expert Andrew Griffiths.
Andrew recommends to all his clients that they create a 'Big, Bold, Statement 'about their business.
Here's a good example:
Andrew was contacted by a restaurant in Port Douglas about 10 years ago. It was called Mango Jam and was a faceless restaurant that was struggling. There was nothing special about it that made it stand out and encourage potential clients to come and try them out.
The owner asked Andrew for help and he suggested they create a big bold statement for their restaurant.
The first thing Andrew did was survey every hotel and around 1,000 tourists in Port Douglas.
He asked the people what kinds of restaurants are lacking in the town. What is not here that should be here? The over whelming feedback was that there were no family restaurants in Port Douglas. So Andrew told his client. Your big bold statement is that you are now 'the number 1 family restaurant in Port Douglas'. Andrew got some people to come in and teach the staff how to interact with families and children, they made fantastic colouring books, the staff dressed much more colourfully and they added kid's menus.
And doing this literally transformed the business overnight.
First of all everyone knew what they were and the local hotels could recommend Mango Jam to families. If there was a family, mum and dad and two kids standing at reception and they say 'where should we eat tonight? The response from the staff was simple. 'Oh the best family restaurant in town is Mango Jam'. Sales exploded and they became very popular. And shortly after that they began winning awards as the best family restaurant in North Queensland.
Andrew's own claim to fame is that he is the 'number 1 small business author in Australia with 11 books sold in 50 countries.' Very clear and easy to remember.
The real goal here is to do something that makes you stand out from the crowd in a positive way.
Helpful Resource:
I had the pleasure last week of co-hosting a webinar with Andrew on the topic of 'Seven ways to get free word of mouth publicity for your business.' In just under one hour Andrew and I covered a truck load of simple things you can do to get positive word of mouth happening quickly in your business. The webinar is available in online video format here.
I encourage you to watch this video for a few minutes each day and take some notes. You'll be delighted at the great ideas you'll see to get amazing word of mouth publicity.
"Word of mouth is the best medium of all." - William Bernbach
Action Exercise:
What can you do in the next 30 days to make your business stand out from the crowd?
The Government has committed funding to the sector in an effort to support future plans.