By Dr. Ana Hernandez

Welcome back to our NETfabulous! Marketing debut publication. Today we are going to share the final 3 of the 6 'must have' essential principles you must incorporate into every marketing effort. Enjoy and welcome once again...

We've observed that 9 out of every 10 businesses are NOT using AT LEAST 4 of these power-packed principles! What a waste of resources that is! PLEASE, Put these money-makers to work for you right away and watch your business profits 'Soar Right Through The Roof!'

* MARKETING PRINCIPLE #4

"Thou Shalt Ask Your Customers What They Want."

Your goal is to fill your customer's needs, wants and desires. But have you ever asked yourself what it is your customers really want or need in the product or services you offer?

Most businesses have no clue. When asked, 90% say: "All the customer wants is price- and sometimes service." This is laughable. If people were really only interested in ' best prices', then there would be NO Mercedes-Benz, NO Rolex, NO better quality clothes and NO bigger homes!

Now as for service, most businesses cannot define what this service they offer consists of.

How do you find out what your customers really want and what is important to them? ... ASK THEM !!

The answers will surely surprise you. For a grocery store it may be home-delivery and easy parking rather than "cost". A wholesale plant nursery's customers wanted timely dependable delivery, plants that would last in the sun, and availability. Imagine that - price was the LAST thing on their list!

Why was that?!

Well, imagine this scenario. You are a landscaper with 5 hired men 2 trucks and a crane on site. All you need is those DARN plants and you're in business! In fact, every hour's delay is literall costing you $350.00! You're tearing your hair out!!

Next time, where will you do your shopping? Will you go to the nursery that offered you that $50.00 savings or to the company with the more reliable deliveries? And if the plants should die in 2 month's time who do you suppose the customer is going to blame? That's right, YOU!! Not the store that sold you bad goods that won't last in the sunlight..

Cheap plants? "No Thank You! I want plants that last!" A tile and paint specialty store's customers want color coordination help for choosing tiles and paint that applies easily to special surface areas.

So what DO your customers realy want from you? Well, why don't you go and ask them? They will love to tell you!!

* MARKETING PRINCIPLE #5

"Thou Shalt Tell Your Customers "The Reasons Why."

Whenever you make your offer, ask for a sale, reduce your prices or make any proposition to your customers- always tell them the reason why.

"Why is your price cheaper than the competition? Is it because you have lower overhead or this is a line you no longer carry? Will you still give good customer service? Is there a defect in the product?" Your customers want to know why? Tell them.

"Why should I give you my business instead of your competitor. Please tell me. I am a customer and I want to know. If your price is HIGHER I want to know why? Is your product twice as strong, are your suits triple stitched, do your plants really last in the sun?"

The more factual, credibile and believable are the reasons you give me for dealing with you, the more likely I am to give you my business.

"Please tell me.. I am the customer.." Always remember the mentality of your potential customer!

* MARKETING PRINCIPLE #6

"Thou Shalt Mail To Your Existing Customer Base."

Most people make one sale to their customer and then go out looking to find a new one.

"It Is 5 Times Easier To Sell Something Else To An Existing Customer, Than To Convert A New One."

Your first sale is just the start. There is NO business that can't benefit from benefit by direct mailing and making new offers to their existing customers.

But what if you only have a once-only product?

There is actually not too many products that are once only. You will buy 40-45 pairs of shoes, 6-7 cars, 3-4 houses, and probably paint, carpet and renovate another 5-6 times in your life.

How much does it cost to send a few letters to someone who's just spent a few hundred (or thousands) of dollars with you? If you don't have but one product to sell, the find another business with a product or service that compliments yours and give the customers what they may want- a logical add-on if you like.

For a 4WD car, it could be a bullbar, a caravan or camping gear. For a house, try carpets, curatins and alarm systems. For a dree shop, consider shoes, accessories, handbags and so on.

If you do have a repeat product like shoes, try keeping the customer's size and favorite colors in a tickler file. You can mail them advance notices of new lines or first notice of specials in their sizes.

A mens-wear shop in South Florida sells more in their "Customers Only" 4 day sale than in a month of normal trading.

Every business can profit from add-on sales. If you do this consistently and test a few approaches, you WILL make more money with this method than in the original sale!!

"YOUR PLAN OF ACTION"

• 1. Ask yourself the following: Am I monitoring my market? If not, how am I going to monitor in the future?
• 2. Testing- What can I test and how? (price, headline, guarantees)
• 3. Am I mailing to my customers? If not, when can I start and what offers can I make?

  * my first mailings will be on ______________

  * my offer will be __________________________

• 4. My Unique Selling Proposition(s) is/are...
• 5. Have I ever conducted a customer survey? If not, what questions could I be asking my customers?

Thank you for participating in my post. Please share your thoughts and join my hub before you move on. We will be publishing the second part of this debut article next week. Hope to see you here again next week.

I would also like to invite you to explore some of my other hubs. As practicing family doctor, I can share some real life medical experiences that I encounter dealing with my patients every day! Come explore this wonderful field with me on a personal level, for instance I can share with you some of the many problems associated with an untreated and undiagnosed thyroid deficiency. Believe me, there are way more patients with undiagnosed subclinical hypothyroidism than you can possibly imagine! Maybe even you?

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About the Author: Dr. Ana Hernandez is the editor/publisher of NETfabulous! Marketing Course Online. Her Website at http://www.netrageouz.net offers the portal to her delicious recipes for creating the perfect marketing success campaign on a fixed budget. If you’ve been researching ways to make your first dollar online, then you’ll definitely want to sign up for her training course. Ana’s easy reading style and FREE E-course NETfabulous! Marketing Course Online is jam packed with tips and techniques for any level marketing enthusiast. Subscribe for FREE by visiting her blog and don't forget to sign up for her blog and article feeds while you're there.

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