Follow the media. You will see all sorts of discussions on different subject areas like business, real estate, fashion, travel, education, personal life, investment opportunities, technology trends, innovations, innovators and many others. Just keep your eyes open to these media. You can spot a lot of information about the latest trends, future prospects and business opportunities from media.

As you see, most of the business today are people centric. People chose the trend. When you read papers or listen to the news and discussions in TV, Radio or when you talk to your customers in your store, listen to their interest. Try to find out where is your customers are heading? Try to segment your market, what segment of your customers are choosing which trend? You must learn from the trends. There are not only the new trends on product interests, its use and designs, but also there are new trends in reaching to your target market, the way you present yourself and also the way you present the contents. Businesses use celebrities as brand ambassadors to endorse their brands. Ads include customer testimonials. Ads use children as brand promoters. Products are launched in YouTube.com with video demos. Products and services are promoted using blogs. Event notifications are sent through mobile SMS. A lot more …. trends….

Do these trends help you, the entrepreneurs?

Look out of the box and gather the information from different channels. Read the business, technology and fashion magazines. Browse the Internet and watch the TV shows where people discuss their way of life, business and culture. Just need to start thinking and looking out of the box. You are with the trend.

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Companies use the Web to reach customers throughout the decision-making process. The McKinsey conducted a survey on “How businesses are using Web 2.0″. The participating companies in the survey cited that “Web 2.0 technologies are strategic and that (more…)

The key to a successful marketing strategy is to balance how you will get your customers and how much internal resources should be mobilized to achieve your goal. You will have to consider your available human resources, capital investment and available time slots to fit with the market demand. Marketing strategy differs from nature of business to business, consumer mass, prospective target market, consumer behavior and context of your business, product/service demands.

Harvesting prospective customers is the first priority in market strategy development. Your effort should be focused to identify the channels of acquiring prospects. Channel may be any - Google, directory or catalog services, user databases, online forums, chat rooms, social networking sites, daily papers, journals, business events, cold callings, billboards and anything… this will prepare you to find your prospective customers. Decide which channels are suitable for you and promising. It will take you to your mass of prospects, where you can apply your marketing plans.

While preparing marketing strategy, the first thing you should do is feel yourself as your prospective customer. Then you will prepare few guiding lists. First, prepare a list of reasons why a stranger should come to you for your product or service and not to others. List all possible crazy reasons. Now make another list of channels that you have opened or you are planning to create through which your target customers will find you. Prepare another list, how you will respond to the customers coming from different channels. And also visualize how you will convert the prospects to your consumers. Prepare few short term and long term customer retention and loyalty customer plans. And now it’s your time to go into the market and follow the guidelines that you prepared as part of your total marketing strategy. Believe in what you do.

Always remember your resource limits and try to get best output applying minimum. Which sounds absurd, but taken thoughtful measures it can be achieved. If you try, you will know how to use your resources. You must know the market dynamics and should be smart enough to adjust your marketing tactics based on the context. Don’t expect cosmic returns on the very first effort itself. This approach applies for both product and service marketing strategies.

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I am trying to list here few of the reasons why people blog. Write your reasons in comment area to expand and make this list more comprehensive. People are motivated and engaged tirelessly to operate blogs for one or more of the following reasons.

To make money
This is the most motivating reason people start blogging. They create blogs to generate traffic that they make money from Google adSense and other click and impression based ads providers. If blog traffic is high, you get advertisements more easily.

To establish and enhance brand
Small and large businesses today run blogs to enhance their another business or sell another product/service. People are (more…)

Let me give you some tips:

1. Be prompt to response on leads. People don’t wait you unless you are really outstanding among others. Provide live help features if possible.
2. Offer different contact channels so that people can contact you easily - email, instant messenger, Skype, land phone and cell numbers
3. Increase the referrals, word of mouth.
4. Learn to ask for sale.
5. Write personalized message making customers feel special. Make sure you mean it.
6. Subscribe to popular online marketplaces
7. Use some kind of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System to manage and properly track leads
8. Prepare your strong portfolio of your products and services
9. Take help of copy writing professionals to write your marketing material
10. Improve the layout and aesthetics of your site with thorough usability testing, so that your site visitors can easily find the things what they are looking for.

I am sure you will see a difference if you apply the tips I listed today.

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Online Mission:
What’s your online mission? What do you want to achieve going online? What are the benefits for you if you go online? What objectives are fulfilled through online presence? Are your target customers Internet users? Is your business going to be 100% online?

Look at what others doing:
Before making your own online strategy, find out what are your competitors doing online and what are they trying to do. Find out what message they are trying to convey to their prospective customers. Are they successful? Visit the websites of other businesses related to yours. Learn how they are trying to attract (more…)

It’s a fact: People would rather do business with people they know–or know of–than with strangers. When you’re introduced to a prospect through a personal recommendation, that prospect has a vastly higher comfort level than, say, a buyer you find through cold calling. After all, few things are more reassuring than a positive endorsement from someone you know and trust.

I will discuss the best ways to ask for referrals and how to follow up on them.

A referral from a happy client, a friend or business relations is a very easy way to introduce yourself to a prospective customer.

Whenever you make a sales presentation, business prospect discussion with a prospective (more…)

If you are planning for product or service campaign, the very first task in your list should be the preparation of contact list of CEOs or Chief Procurement Officers (CPO), who are involved in the daily operation of the organization. If not, contacts of VPs also ok. Contacts of board chairman or board members are not much effective. Most of the marketers feel comfortable contacting operation level staffs and they are more accessible. In some cases discussions of sales with those staffs work but in (more…)

Complaining clients tell you where you are going wrong. They’re the ones at the front line, testing out your service. If you handle those clients the right way, they will become your most loyal clients.

If you identify client complaints, analyze the causes and address those on time, you will win a lot of loyal customer. When clients complain they are actually giving you an opportunity to keep their business, business you would otherwise have lost.

Each complaining client gives you a chance to win a “new” client. Studies have shown that 95% of dissatisfied clients will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor on the spot. That’s the beauty of complaints: if you deal with them properly, and actively seek and welcome complaints, then word soon gets around.

Follow my suggestions below to handle the complaints:

1. Politely note the complaint if you are talking to client over the phone. Prepare a standard complaint form and send to client when you start project or sign an agreement for the project. This will make clients feel, lodging a complain is part (more…)

I have already given some tips to become a salesperson in real sense through my articles 7 Tips to become a salesperson in true sense and become the salesperson in true sense . Those posts were few of the most read posts in my blog. Today I will explain how can we increase number of repeat customers through empathetic customer approach. And you already know why you need repeat customers through my article - Repeat customers are your brand ambassadors.

As a salesperson, have you ever thought what frustrates your customers most? Do you know what do your customers love about you and why few customers when they come to your store tries to find you first? That all depend on the empathy you impart.

In most of the stores, you will see that the salespersons try to move customers in to a slightly higher price range. I am sure We’ve all been victims of this type of sales pitch many times. For example, you’re looking around to buy a car in the $15,000 range. Salesperson starts explaining all benefits, fuel consumption stories, after sales services and extra others that you will receive from a $25,000 car, then you start believing that you actually need the expensive vehicle. Salespeople who talk customers up in price frequently have to deal with customer’s remorse and product returns.

But there is another way around by which you can earn trust from customers - that is the empathy. Try to be in shoes of (more…)