| Current Category is: Marketing | Select Another Category | |
|
|
| Home | Search | Categories | Links | About Us | Contact Us |
|
|
 |
Do You Really Need a Brochure?
The phone rings. Good news... it's a potential client. You say, "Thanks for calling, I'll send you our brochure." But what should you really be sending them? I'm often asked to review brochures or asked about brochure design. But before I make any comments I always ask one question- "Why do you think you need a brochure?" Often there's an awkward silence before the answer comes. "Because we need one to send to customers." Do you really need a brochure? When a potential customer contacts you it is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of your field. You can help your customer make a more informed decision about using your type of services. Remember, one of the critical factors in marketing your service business is to instil trust in you. Customers must first come to trust you and understand how you can help them before they will use you. Education is often the key. The problem with most brochures is they are focused on 'what' the business does, or 'who' the people are, or 'where' the business is located. This is all good information but it won't help your customer to trust you. There's little educational value. Keep in mind that your potential customer probably has other brochures from other firms that also talk about their "latest equipment", "highly trained staff", "years of experience" and "friendly customer service". How do you send out the brochure? In many cases a personalised letter from the business owner will have more impact than a simple brochure. Plus, in the letter you can focus on the main issue for that particular customer, making an even stronger impression. Of course you can save time by using a template, so you don't need to completely re-write the letter each time. And as you would expect, a letter is much less expensive to produce than a brochure. Be honest... how often do you sit down and fully read a brochure. You're not alone. Usually it's a quick scan, a brief look at any pictures, and drop in the bin (or the "to do later" pile). Even large firms have trouble using brochures. One client of mine, a state office of a large engineering firm, doesn't like using its corporate brochure because it has too much of an international focus. They find the brochure doesn't address the needs of their clients. What else can you do? If we think about building trust, there's a few ways we can go about it. Instead of the usual brochure, why not try one of the following: (Remember, all these items can be produced cost effectively on your letterhead, special paper or printed on coloured card. Even large firms can use the same concepts.) At this point you might be thinking, "Great, I could put some helpful tips in my brochure." That's a good start. Please note, I'm not against using brochures. (After all, the definition of a brochure varies widely.) I'm just suggesting there is often a smarter way to use your communication opportunity. And if you're worried that by giving your potential customers information, they won't want to use your services, then maybe you should think again. After all, as a customer, none of us want to pay for a service we don't really need. Have courage. And there are some great benefits from educating your customers. You'll find you face fewer customer complaints, and attract a better standard of client. Because you have shown integrity and given the customer information, they will trust you more and be less inclined to complain about trivial matters. Give it a go. What's that I hear - you want me to send you some information. Sure. I'll send you a broch... oops... I mean one of our fact sheets.
(c) 2004 Stuart Ayling Stuart Ayling runs Marketing Nous, an Australasian marketing consultancy that specialises in marketing for service businesses. He helps clients to improve their marketing tactics, attract more clients, and increase revenue. For additional marketing resources, including Stuart's popular monthly newsletter, visit his web site at www.marketingnous.com.au
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Everything Youve Ever Learned About Marketing Is Wrong Everything you've ever learned about marketing and advertising is WRONG. Everything you've ever heard everything you've ever tried, everything you've ever done, it's all WRONG. Distinguish Your Business From The Competition You followed time-honored online marketing techniques to the letter: you have a great web site, the site has a high search engine rank, and you created a compelling marketing message that showcases your unique selling proposition. Unfortunately, your competitors are reading the same playbook and are implementing the same marketing strategies. The Top 10 Marketing Tools to Grow Your Business in 2004 Looking to grow your business? Make sure you have these marketing tools in place:#10 A powerful taglineIn 10 words or less, a good tagline reinforces a company's reason for being. And smaller companies will find it to be one of the hardest working tools. If You Can't Answer This Question Your Business is Doomed! How do you answer the seemingly easy question, "What do youdo?" Do you talk about YOU? Do you talk about yourproducts/services? Do you talk about your industry?Do you explain the process of how your products/serviceswork? If you answered yes to any of these questions youare missing an enormous opportunity.Every time someone asks you "What do you do?" andevery time someone reads your marketing materials youhave the opportunity to:* Interest potential clients* Increase the potential for referrals* Find out about potential strategic alliances* Create recognition for yourself and your business* Position yourself as an expertStop right now and take the time to discover how to answerthe question, "What do you do?" in a profitable way. Direct Mail Personalization A colleague who does work for a nonprofit organization contacted me asking if I could do research on the success rate of personalized direct mail letters (Dear Joe) versus generically addressed letters (Dear Friend). Surprisingly, I didn't find as many statistics as expected, but I found information stating that personalized letters outperform generic letters. Marketing Worksheet Even the world's best marketing strategy won't work for you if it's not well-planned, and the best way to do that is to develop a customized work sheet for each client. Here's how to start: First, list each company's top executives, products, and services. Marketing Strategy 101: 10 Marketing Strategies I Learnt From My Oral Surgeon This is how the conversation went on my follow-up visit to the oral surgeon,10 days after he removed 2 lower wisdom teeth."Go down the hallway, enter the second door on the right and take a seat inthe dentist's chair," said the receptionist after calling my name out to the5 people in the waiting room. Let It Ring Telemarketing has its place in the marketing arsenal. But telespammers - like their digital counterparts in the email marketing world - really make it tough on the legitimate follow-up telephone call from a company with which you have a relationship. Take the Test: Do Your Marketing Materials Really Grab Attention? Today's constant bombardment of marketing messages means your materials must grab your prospects attention in the first few seconds, or your efforts are wasted.How do you know if your marketing materials will prompt prospects to keep reading? Take this simple test: hold each of your marketing pieces at arm's length and answer the following questions:1. Refresh Your Web Site So you have a Web site. And so does most every business these days. Business Leads Anyone who runs their own business can tell you how challenging it is to generate business leads on a consistent basis. Finding good leads and generating more sales is vital to the long term growth of any business. The Fundraising Letter PS: 25 Powerful Things To Say There (Includes Examples & Samples) Donors read postscripts. This is a sad but important reality in fundraising. Website Marketing: 10 Uncommon Bonuses That Will Help Make Your Product Hotly In Demand Giving away free bonuses is an important website marketing secret that can ignite your sales.1. Making the Intangible Real How do you make the intangible real? How do you take an idea or concept, something that can't be seen or touched, and convey its essence to others, quickly and easily?That challenge faces many of us in this age of information and knowledge marketing. In advertising and other marketing communications, we have to convince prospects to respond to words and ideas. Direct Mail Marketing Done Correctly, Cannot Fail So how do you do it?Direct mail marketing. When it comes to marketing your product or services there are two basic challenges:1. Target Marketing - What Are You Aiming For? Is Advertising Viable?At the turn of the 20th century, department store magnate J.C. How Simple, Small Changes Can Add Real Money To Your Pocket I want to share with you a story. This story happens everywhere and everyday in America . Corporate Branding and Trade Shows - 8 Tips for Marketing Managers Trade shows are part of the marketing mix and the appearance by your firm should be a continuum of your entire marketing including advertising, public relations and events.While you may introduce a new product or showcase a service, many firms make mistakes by not connecting the overall corporate branding with the show. Making Networking Work Several years ago, "networking" was the hot buzzword. Everyone was talking about building their network, because this was the secret to becoming incredibly successful. Receiving a Brochure Printing Quote Brochures are a great way to get your message across. While having a brochure can be extremely useful, it is sometimes hard to know whether it is affordable.
|
| Home
| Sitemap
| Disclaimer
| Privacy
| Contact
Us © COPYRIGHT 2011 BRAINBELLY.COM |
