How to sell well and increase profit. (You may be surprised by the answers!)

These businesses all came to me with these questions at networking events, via the INsiders or via social media in recent weeks. And while I know my coaching and mentoring will address these problems fast, I appreciate coaching is not affordable to all, so I hope this article helps you and your team to increase sales and profit.

I’m struggling to grow my business, I’ve’ got awesome products and services why is it not working? It used to!I’ve paid for ads, I’ve exhibited at events, I’m posting on socials and it’s all a waste of my time, what am I doing wrong?

Should I pay for PR?

How do I get people to notice my business above everyone else’s that does the same as me?

People just aren’t buying, times are too tough!

I get questions like this all of the time and my first answer is not what many would expect.

The problem with these questions and many like them is that you are jumping in the middle. A baby does not attempt to drive a car or go to university. Obvious right?

And yet business owners so often are wanting to do quite complex and detailed marketing strategies when they’ve not built the strong foundations.

The strong foundations include these questions;

• Who are we as a company?
• What are my personal values and the company’s values?
• What are my personal and professional beliefs?
• What do we want to help people with?
• Why are we offering these products and services?
• What matters to me, my business and our team the most?

These questions all help you to focus on what your company represents and help you to build the brand. If you build a marketing strategy without fully appreciating what your brand is then you risk diluting your message, which the short answer is means you risk missing out on sales and repeat business and thus increasing profit.

By answering these questions in a ton of detail (bear in mind if I’m working with a coaching client then these questions could easily make up 1 to 2 hours in a session. You really need to understand these fundamentals!) you are able to really appreciate what your business is about. And that means if you can really appreciate this, then this features strongly in your marketing, communication and even your business growth actions because you are laser focused on what you want to achieve and why.

Top tip; When I work with a client, we will put one question on a piece of large paper and then I ask them a lot of coaching, consulting and mentoring style questions to help them really get to the very foundations of their business. This is critically important. Use coloured pens, post it notes, use mind maps, Veng graphs, Excel spread sheets. Whatever makes your mind feel free!

Make it an incredibly personal journey. This means that as your company grows you can have a clear report that enables any new team member or marketing agency or business development manager to get on board and sell from the same metaphorical hymn sheet as you! (One of the reasons that Marketing agencies fail to deliver for companies is because the fundamentals have not been adequately addressed. They’ve looked at a base level of what you present and expected that to write your future!)

When you’ve answered those questions, you’d think we can get on to the marketing strategy to bring in the sales right?

Nope! Again, people jump in the middle. If you find this is you, you may like to read The Shiny Thing Syndrome STS Article on my site. Hopefully it will make you less like a Catherine Wheel too. 2 articles I know have helped a lot of people. So let me know how you get on.

So the next step after understanding who you are and who your company is and that you know you are not going to go off in a hundred different directions and become this disjointed ineffective marketing demon. Is to understand the answers to these questions;

(Please do not dismiss any of them. I know from coaching thousands of people that to grow a business powerfully these answers come up time and time again. So don’t scrimp on your time here.)

When you answer these questions you will need to work hard to remind yourself not to become confined by comfort zones, limiting beliefs and thoughts like;

• I’d like that but I don’t know where to start.

• I’d love this but I have no tech skill.

• That would be great but I just don’t have the budget for that!

• I think that I just don’t have the time to do this, so it’s not for me is it?

  The idea here is to think big picture, dream business, happy life, Disney Princess/Prince, Business Mogul, Ridiculously successful Entrepreneur. Ensure you do not have a single limiting thought. (You can see why you usually do this with a coach right?)
• How many hours do I want to work a week?
• How much holiday/free time/family and friend time do I want?
• How much money do I want to make?
• What life style do I want my business to create?
• Do I want to have staff?
• How do the staff feel? What input do they have?
• Do I want office (s)?
• What impact do I want to have on the world? My community? My causes?
• How does business make me and my team feel?
• Are we here to change the world? To have fun? To show we care? What matters most?

Again as with the above questions, only put one question on one piece of paper, use a way of getting your ideas out that feels natural to you.

These questions enable you to start to see your price points and by understanding your price point you can start to understand who you are targeting and guess what? When you understand who you are actually targeting and not who you thought you wanted to (but they just wont’ spend any money, right?) then you can create a powerful marketing strategy! And get paid a decent salary to do it! And don’t forget there’s never just one Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and that means there’s never just one price point! Which also means there’s never just one product.

The point is that by understanding these really really really (have I stressed how important this stuff is?) important questions in minute detail then you “magically” can create a more powerful marketing strategy.

It is too much to start looking at your marketing strategy and plan in this blog article (because you may risk jumping ahead) so let me know how you get on and next;

• There’s a ton of free resources on this website and BWN INsiders
• I’ve a £25 a month mastermind group that is confidential (there is no upselling on this business and professional growth community. And it’s priced low to be accessible to all – this is not reflective of the value, outcomes or calibre of professionals you will meet. BWN INsiders are a power house of a team of business owners, professionals, leaders and charities that don’t like posts for the sake of it, share genuine advice, feedback and strategies (and it’s facilitated to ensure genuine conversation and results.) I also deliver support, mentoring and training there so that whatever you are facing we are able to support you to build confidence, profit, emotional intelligence and a business and team that you love. More info and to sign up 
• If you know what areas need assistance and coaching is not right for you right now. I have courses in public speaking, networking skills, marketing success, elevator pitches, confidence, resilience, how to turn around a failing business and more. Learn more here.
• And if you are attending BWN Insiders virtual or face to face events we have time each month to discuss your needs.

Do let me know how you get on and don’t scrimp on investing in you – you deserve to be incredibly successful. These subjects need to be understood before we look at how to market your company and what will work best for you.

The blog is packed with resources however if you don’t find what you need;

1. Tag me on the BWN INsiders for a personal response and advice 24/7.
2. Email me with the issue and I will write an article especially for you.
3. Time to get some 1 to 1 Mandie Holgate time? Email me to discuss what would work best for you and your team and your success. mandie@mandieholgate.co.uk