Telegraph Business Club ask me to divulge tips for beating the business gloom

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The Telegraph Business Club just made me divulge my 10 step programme so I thought I would share it with you right now…..

The Telegraph asked: Share your tips for beating the gloom!

I replied: Become a Gorilla! No, not the sort you find in the zoo but the kind of tactics used by small militia to fend off larger enemies. In the business sense its using guerrilla strategies that rely on time, energy and imagination rather than big budgets. Aardvark Engineering is one such company based in the struggling Midlands manufacturing region that has taken on board these ideas and is not only surviving but thriving.

The basis of this success is a well communicated niche, which also gives them access to a much broader market.

They are not only dealing with home UK markets but now have a number of overseas projects in places like Dubai and America.

Their enquiries are automatically generated leaving them to focus on the business of producing and developing and not trying to find new customers and there are plans to expand and grow much further.

This has been achieved using some of the steps from the 10 step guerrilla development programme that leverages business assets for growth which I would like to share with you….

1. Understand and develop your unique positioning in the market. Realise that the first question any customer asks themselves is “Why should I buy from you?”

2. Integrate that message or the answer to the question above into your sales and marketing channels. Ensure its short and to the point, ensuring that its “buyer” orientated focusing on resolving their problems, not yours.

3. Utilise CRM and other customer management systems to expand and manage your communication campaigns to reach out further to your market. There are many good free systems out there that are web enabled meaning you can build a virtual or distributed sales and marketing system at little to no cost.

4. Develop others ways of indirectly reaching your audience through alliances with other complimentary suppliers into your market and cross fertilise your efforts. This partnerships can take you into opportunities that were previously hidden or inaccessible.

5. Do some custom advertising to further exploit your sales and marketing channels, utilising the web, TV, radio etc.

6. Increase your visibility in the local community or regionally by actually getting involved in it through local community activities, fund raising, club events etc.

7. Start doing some 1:2:1 direct marketing and sales promotions both offline (snail mail etc)and online (internet based). Never rely on a single channel as it may go down and could severely damage your business.

8. Develop some WOM (word of mouth) or buzz marketing campaigns to further ignite the marketing fire of your business.

9. Put all this into a marketing strategy or plan and implement it.

10. Use it as the foundation of your business plan instead of starting with the numbers first and wondering how you are going to make it all happen.

Most of all enjoy what you do and have fun with it because business is hard enough and boring enough at times without making more so!.

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