Power Marketing Tip 52: Demonstrate Value

Demonstrate Superior Value

One of the criteria for your marketing is "Does it demonstrate value?" In particular does your marketing demonstrate more value than the marketing of your competition?

Keep in mind that everything you do is compared to the competition by your prospects. If your marketing doesn't position you as offering more value than the competition then it might be wasted.

How can you demonstrate the value of your product or service?

Customer Testimonials

One of the best ways to demonstrate value is with customer testimonials. This works best when you quote real customers to whom your prospects can relate.

The testimonials are most believable when they show the full name of the individual. If you sell to business, then it helps to include the title and company name of the person vouching for you.

For example, "Leslie Williams" looks better than "LW" or even "Leslie" because you are building trust by showing that you have nothing to hide.

When you only identify the person as LW - the questions that are bound to enter prospects' minds are "I wonder if that is a real person? If LW really loved the service why is she afraid to use her name?"

For a business-to-business testimonial use the person's name, title and company name.

Bilbo Baggins

VP Operations

The Shire Group

The above conveys more credibility and believability than "BB Corporate Vice President".

The next step is to proudly display your testimonials where your customers and prospects can easily see them. Treat these words from your customers with respect and pride; this suggests that you treat your customers with respect and value their feedback.

I knew I would enjoy the meal when I saw the lobby of the restaurant covered with framed letters and notes from satisfied customers.

Some of my clients keep binders of testimonial letters in protective plastic pages. These binders are tastefully displayed in the lobby or customer lounge.

It's curious that today's mail included several flyers yet not one contained a customer testimonial. Two of the flyers claimed to offer luxury grade service but failed to provide comments from satisfied customers. What might that suggest?

Put testimonials on your website. You might list them on a Customer Feedback page and also place at least one testimonial on every page because every page must demonstrate value to your prospect - especially the home page.

For business testimonials you could add the corporate logo next to the testimonial especially if it's a well known and well respected organization. For retail testimonials you might include a photo of the person.

Naturally you want to request and receive the individual's permission with any use of their words or image.

If you want to demonstrate superior value, display your amazing testimonials in a superior way.

George Torok

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Marketing Tips video: Forget about Branding and Focus on Real Marketing

It's easy to get fooled by the hype about branding. That is a good hole to throw a lot of money into. Instead go back to basics. What is the real purpose of marketing? Not to build a brand. It's to build a business with sales.

Listen to George Torok offering marketing insights from the streets of the Big City.




George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Marketing Tips video: Gain an Unfair Advantage from Your Marketing

Test your marketing with this question. Is your marketing giving you an unfair advantage over the competition? If the answer is no, your marketing isn't helping you.

Hear the brutal truth about marketing from George Torok in this Marketing Report from the Big City streets.

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Marketing Tips video: Marketing is More Than an Art

A common myth is that marketing is an art. The reality is that marketing is a science and like any behavioural science it is imperfect. It is important to recognize that like any science related to business the numbers are critical. Every good marketer needs to understand the numbers.

Enjoy this Marketing Tip video from George Torok reporting from the streets of the big city.



George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Customer Service at the Hotel Makes or Breaks Them

We were fed up with the hotel. We had held two full-day seminars there. The third seminar was already arranged but we were planning to go elsewhere next time.

The meeting rooms were better than average. The location was convenient. The lobby was attractive. The lunches were superb. And the price was competitive. But we were planning to move our business and were even willing to pay more, because we were unhappy.

Have you noticed that unhappy customers are willing to pay more elsewhere? That’s an important marketing lesson.

Why?

Our contact person was usually difficult to reach and correspond with. She was either “on the phone”, “in a meeting”, or “not in”. She seldom returned our first call. She also seemed to often overlook our email. We followed up with her so many times that we wondered if they really wanted our business.

We were not a huge account but we had shown that we could be a regular client, (two or three times a year). And we always paid promptly.

On the day of the seminars the contact person did not show up to greet us or even check on things. In fact the only staff who came to the room were the serving staff. They were efficient but not very friendly. No representative from the hotel checked in with us at any time to see if things were okay or if there were any changes.

After the meeting, there was no call from the hotel to ask for feedback or thank us for our business.

At the previous meeting, the serving staff had removed the sandwiches along with the desserts immediately after lunch. I thought that strange because some people like to have their dessert snack a little after lunch. I also like to have a sandwich at the end of the day because I'm usually famished after a full day of conducting a seminar.

Lucky for the hotel something changed. They got rid of the old and hired new people.

Amazing how that can change the customer experience!

The new contact person was cheery and easy to connect with. She came looking for us early in the day to introduce herself and welcome us. She appeared later to check on our needs and experience.

When we broke for lunch 30 minutes early, the chef rushed to provide our sandwiches and wraps. And they were superb.

When lunch was done, the server asked if we wanted the leftover sandwiches and wraps. “Yes, that would be nice.” was our reply.

“Well you paid for them so I’ll package them all up for you.”

They nicely packaged up all the leftover lunch and desserts in ‘take out' trays.

Instead of making us feel like thieves for having a sandwich later or taking a dessert home – they made us feel special by packaging it all up for us like presents.

So guess what? We plan to go back to this hotel for our next seminar.

Here’s the marketing lesson for you: If you are in the service business – nothing trumps customer service when it comes to keeping customers!

Before you spend a dollar on advertising and branding – ensure that you have the right people with the right attitude. That includes your management, because a good service culture starts with them.

Once your have the right people, provide them with the training, leadership and rewards to deliver superior customer service.

If you do that, you will save a fortune on advertising and branding because your customers don’t care about that. The only people that care about your advertising and branding are those in your marketing department.

Your customers care about service. Customers are funny that way.

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Marketing Presentation video: How to Appear to be More Successful

We would rather deal with successful people and successful companies. How can you appear more successful - especially when you don't feel successful?

How can you feel more confident?

Enjoy this video clip from a live presentation of George Torok speaking to a group of business owners and representatives. The message is practical and the performance is engaging and entertaining.




George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Be Perceived as An Expert by Writing Tips Lists

Write a list of tips or warnings for your clients and prospects. It’s an easy and effective way to position yourself as a concerned expert.

Tips                                                                

The number one principle for success. . .   

Two ways of approaching . . .  

Three questions to ask when buying . . .

Four common mistakes. . .

Five key elements of . . .

Six steps to creating a . . .

Seven ways to save money. . .

Ten tips when using . . .  

Warnings

The single biggest fallacy. . .   

Two dangers of . . .

Three wrong turns made by . . .

Four cornerstones of . . .                                  

The five myths. . .

Six major obstacles. . .

Seven deadly sins. . .

Ten ways to waste . . .

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter