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Having wrested control of the editor's chair back from the cats, we would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new subscribers that have signed up since our last issue. If you have not already done so, please feel free to browse through our previous issues in our online archive and please add Zee2A.com to your address book or whitelist so that you reduce the risk of our emails landing in your junkmail or spam folders.
On Monday we spent a few hours with Greg Hawkes of Greg Hawkes Video Productions filming an intro video for our website. It was a fascinating glimpse into the world of TV and video production. Would you believe that to film the two-minute clip took over two hours of on-site setup? Not to mention all the post-production work that Greg had to do in his studio once filming was complete. Greg is very personable and professional, and the quality of his work speaks for itself. To continue to be successful in a largely online, virtual world we need to make ourselves more real and we hope that this brief video will do just that for us. If you are considering putting video up on your site, we heartily recommend that you give Greg a call! (The video isn’t ‘live’ on the site yet – but we’ll let you know as soon as it is…)
Vanessa recently had her special report '12 Top Reasons Customers Leave Their Banks' published by The Institute of Bankers in South Africa (of which she is an Associate). If you would like to read the report you may download it from the private subscriber download page on our site. It’s not only valuable for banks, but for any business that has customers and wants to know how to keep them!
PS: If you enjoy reading The Marketing Edge and find the articles and features interesting and beneficial, please help spread the word! Please forward your copy to colleagues and friends and encourage them to sign up for their own free subscription.
Are You Fishing in
the Wrong Pond?
If you’ve been a subscriber of the Marketing Edge for a while, you no doubt recall my article in January about "Networking That Produces Results – How to Work That Room!"
Today I’m not going to focus on working the room, but on working the entire concept. I’ll be discussing three essential elements that absolutely have to be at the forefront of any networking that you do. I am taking it as a ‘given’ that you are in the professional services arena, are offering a premium service, and are not trying to be the cheapest provider in town.
1. Fish in the Right Pond
If you had set out to fish for Cod, would you take your tackle out on a barge on some English canal hoping for success? Likewise if you were aiming to catch Rainbow Trout would you set out on a deep sea vessel heading for the Atlantic? Of course not! You would have done your homework in advance, known where the highest concentration of your ‘target’ was, and set off to fish in those waters.
Networking should be no different. In order to get the highest return on your investment (that’s your time and money) you simply have to be doing your networking where your ideal prospects are.
There are a great many different networking organisations to choose from that you may feel overwhelmed by the choices. I wholeheartedly recommend that you take full advantage of attending as a visitor, as many times as the group allows, before making any commitment to join. Investigate, do your homework, and make sure that the fish you want to catch are swimming in that pond!
There is a school of thought that suggests it doesn’t matter where you network because networking is simply about meeting people and making connections. I totally disagree. Pure business sense and sheer economics mean that lots of low value connections, not turning into money, equals a high cost of conversion and low return on investment. It simply has to be about quality not quantity, which brings me nicely on to the next point:
2. Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thinly
To make a genuine success of your networking efforts and get tangible value out of it, it is imperative that you be an active, visible member of the group (or groups) to which you belong. This comes back to the quantity issue. Ask yourself: Can I be an active, visible, highly involved member of a whole host of different networking clubs? To get the most value out of my membership how much time would I have to dedicate to attending events? Over the course of a week or a month, how many hours am I spending at these events? How many work days does that equate to? Now the killer question: Do I have to compensate by catching up on work in the evenings and at weekends?
Hmmm.
Never forget that you have a business to run. Spending time and money in marketing efforts that get poor or wishy-washy results is going to have disastrous knock-on consequences. I’m not saying that your networking is getting poor results, but it introduces the third point.
3. Frequently Evaluate
If we keep doing the same things, we will keep getting the same results. That’s why it is crucial to frequently evaluate what we are doing and examine what results are being obtained from those efforts.
We do, of course, also need to factor in the cost of membership to all these clubs, plus any additional out of pocket extras like the breakfasts or lunches there. How does that fit in with your overall marketing budget? Can you think of ways to get more 'bang for your buck' by getting in front of your prospects in a more targeted way?
Many fish migrate to other waters during different seasons, or because of other changes in environmental factors. So too, do we need to frequently evaluate whether our ideal prospects are still swimming in the pond where we have cast our net.
Back on the issue of quality rather than quantity another area that demands close evaluation and scrutiny is that of the quality of business or referrals that are being obtained within the group. If the best referrals you are getting are names and numbers on a post-it note, they are likely to result in nothing more than a cold-call at best. Take an honest look at your conversion ratio: How many of these leads are being turned in to paying clients? How long does it take?
(A simple way to warm up a referral is to ask the referee what they know about the prospect and their needs, and then encourage them to make a warm introduction. It’s important that the approach is made by the person that the prospect knows and trusts. It can even be as straightforward as just arranging a phone call or exchange of emails between you and the prospect. Try this tip alone and see your conversion rates sky-rocket!)
You absolutely have to ensure that any networking you do fits in with your overall marketing strategy. (You do have one, right?) If your weekly commitment is turning into a glorified breakfast club or ladies tea-party it’s time to refocus, reprioritise, and re-evaluate what may be better uses of your time.
©Vanessa Deakin and Zee2A Limited 2008. Would you like to reprint this article? You may do so as long as you include the copyright notice and the following paragraph: Vanessa Deakin, Operations Director at Zee2A, is a Marketing Coach who works with Professional Service Executives frustrated and disappointed with their current growth rates, marketing efforts, and business profitability. Through one-on-one and group mentoring programmes she helps them to skyrocket their results and break their own best records. To learn more, sign up for her e-zine, or make an enquiry please visit our website at www.zee2a.com
What are your marketing strategies? What are your goals and the challenges to achieving them? Would you like help in blowing away the cobwebs? Vanessa is offering five complimentary 'Blast of Clarity' sessions, each valued at £250+VAT, to Marketing Edge subscribers who are stuck in a rut and not having the marketing success they dream of. Drop her an email asap with the top three reasons why you would value a session and she will call you for a brief chat on the 1st of May. First come, First Served!!
(If you're unfamiliar with the concept behind Front2Back 2Front please go here to read the explanation in our launch issue.)
A success story for a change! We recently experienced a very pleasant example of continuing customer care at a very local venue:
We would like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to Keith Turnbull at The Hampshire Court Hotel who generously sponsored David and I with a superb, newly renovated suite, and the use of conference facilities earlier this month.
We are always on the lookout for quality conference facilities for our Marketing Edge Bootcamps and Mastermind Workshops and this was the perfect opportunity to ‘test drive’ the facilities that The Hampshire Court has to offer.
If you haven't visitied The Hampshire Court hotel for a while, we guarantee that you will be pleasantly surprised by the changes that have taken place since Keith took the helm. Give it a try - we're sure you'll like it!
 Peter Mojica from North Carolina, USA, shared the following example of outstanding customer service with us:
‘I was in a New Jersey restaurant, I travel to the area often, and eat at this restaurant every so often, but not enough to be considered a regular or warrant any special treatment.
I was with friends and other business associates on this particular evening. After dinner we moved onto ordering dessert. When the waiter was taking our order I asked if they had Italian (ricotta) cheese cake and he replied that they only had the NY style cheese cake that was listed on the menu. A friend and I commented that across the street and up the block, at another restaurant, that they had a wonderful Italian cheesecake – (well I bet you can already guess what happened). When dessert was served the waiter served us all a wonderful Italian cheese cake - he had several servings and enough for the entire table to share – He actually went across the street to the other restaurant to get our dessert!
A great display of customer service!’
What a great example of a staff member literally going out of their way to delight a customer – I hope he got a really good tip!
The lesson we should all take from this is that Marketing and Customer Service are not mutually exclusive. Keeping existing clients delighted should also be part of our Marketing Strategies.
Please bookmark the Upcoming Events page on our blog for the latest updated info on where you can attend our presentations and see us in action.
We are especially highlighting and inviting you to:
CRACKING THE CODE OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MARKETING
This session is aimed at those in the Professional Services arena who are struggling to attract and retain profitable clients. We will help you understand where your ideal clients are; How to attract their attention; and How to clearly demonstrate your value so that you can close business without negotiating on price.
Date: Tuesday 13th May
Venue: Brewer’s Fayre (Down Grange), Winchester Road, Basingstoke RG22 4ET
Time: 4pm – 6pm
Price: This is a complimentary session, but we encourage you to buy drinks (and/or food) to show appreciation to Brewers Fayre who is providing the venue at no charge.
This is one of our most popular presentations, and we consistently receive rave reviews from attendees who learn techniques they can immediately put into practise. Don’t miss out on this complimentary opportunity to supercharge your marketing modus operandi!
We would love to see you there, and please pass this invite along to your colleagues, suppliers, and associates – the more the merrier!
This is a repeat performance of our session at Business South in March, you may view photos here.
Professionals who have enjoyed and benefited from attending this session have been: Tax Consultants, Accountants, Financial Advisors, Web designers, Marketers, Business Consultants, IT Professionals, Virtual Assistants, Photographers, among others.
Are you responsible for arranging speakers at industry conferences or seminars? Do you invite guest speakers to your networking club? David & Vanessa are sought after speakers who have delivered popular presentations at groups such as Wired Wessex, The North Hampshire Chamber Of Commerce, and Business Link. Either, or both, will happily talk at your next event. Please get in touch NOW to compare diaries and set a date!
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Subscribers receive as a free gift an Audio workshop entitled 
