What happens if the best worker is also the most badly behaved member of the team? Photo/AFP
By Odhiambo Ramogi
Upon starting a business, one realises that for the
enterprise to remain a going concern, there is a need for a lot of
marketing to create awareness about the existence of the business and
its superior qualities, and win some buys.
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Later, the business will need to lock in its clients through
loyalty programmes and messages. Therefore, marketing becomes a
continuous exercise.
In my experience, marketing is twofold – knowing
your customers and making them know you. Knowing your customer involves
market research, continuous engagement with the client and client
feedback.
That way you get to know their interests and
preferences so your products can meet their needs. On the other hand,
making your customers know you involves preparing and passing on
messages about your business from which they will form an opinion.
This process is not easy. First, it is important
for a business to target a specific market instead of going for all and
sundry. The target market should be specified in terms of sex, age,
location, income and literacy, among others.
The business shall then devise methods of reaching
this specific market with ease. Important messages will also be prepared
to be passed to this group depending on what the marketing objective
is.
Even after getting the strategy right, the actual
marketing has never been a walk in the park. The first stop to preparing
the marketing message is the power of introduction.
They say people form an opinion about you and your
business in the first 30 seconds of your encounter. There is, therefore,
a need for you to take advantage of those 30 seconds and make the most
of them.
In this regard, it is not proper to think through
what to say about your business then; instead, it is important that you
prepare something in advance that you can say when faced with the
question “what do you do?”
In preparing the power introduction, make sure you
include your business name and location if necessary, core business and
how that is making a difference or adding value to clients.
Mention some successes in your business so far and
if you have serviced some big players in the market, you can drop a few
names just for good measure. All this, in an organised way, within 30
seconds.
Trust me, 30 seconds is a long time! Further, be
happy while introducing yourself. Talk fondly about what you do. If you
sound like you hate it, others will hate it too.
On the flipside, there are a few dont’s to the rule
of power introduction. Do not give the impression you are struggling
unless the clients asks for challenges in which case address the
challenge as such – a small challenge in the course of great success.
Further, do not use words like “I am a hustler” or
“we are just trying”. It will paint you as lacking confidence and you
will lose the game before you start. In addition, don’t beat about the
bush in the name of giving background. Go straight to the point.
Imagine you meet Oprah Winfrey in a lift; you have
30 seconds to introduce yourself in a way that she will want your
number. How would you do it?
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