Get off the Wall with Signs!

Off the Wall with Signs

Get Off The Walls With Signs

Postcard Mailer

Advertisements Are Everywhere

In this day and age, everyone is drowning in advertisements. Everywhere we look, we’re surrounded. “BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!”, “HUGE DISCOUNTS!”, “ACT NOW WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!”… it can all just blend together to the point where none of it really grabs your attention. At Spectrum Marketing, we have a solution that will literally have you standing out from your competitors.

Large Format Dimensional Signs

Dimensional signs go beyond the norm, beyond being just another advertisement and become the high-profile advertising solution you need to get your message seen.

Our large format dimensional signs provide nearly infinite possibilities for you to creatively market your business in a way that will seize the eyes of the passer-by and demand their attention. Give us a call today, and we can help get you on the path to success!

How Do I Get Started

First, we will discuss with you what you hope to achieve with your new dimensional signs. Perhaps you have a new product that deserves the royal treatment to kick it off, or you have a limited time offer for which you need to create awareness. Whatever your needs, we can fulfill them.
After helping you conceptualize your idea, the project will move along to our graphics department where we can create anything you want, much faster than you would have ever thought possible! Our talented creative team has years of experience creating stunning dimensional signs that are certain to achieve the RESULTS you’re looking for.

After approval of final artwork, your sign will be produced and can be installed by one of our 3M Certified installers in 5 to 10 business days. From call to concept to on the wall. It’s that simple! Call us today and STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD!”

Pizza 911 Flat Dimensional looking signage
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6 Reasons Why Your Direct Marketing Should Include Coupons

6 reasons why you should include coupons on your direct mail

6 reasons your direct marketing should include coupons

auto service direct marketing

Including coupons in your marketing helps create loyal customers

The right direct marketing strategy will help you build loyal relationships with customers and make it more likely people will turn to your business when they need a product or service you sell. These days, many shoppers are tightening their belts and trying to do more with less money, making coupons and direct marketing a winning combination.

Not convinced? Here are just six of the reasons you can’t afford to leave coupons out of your direct mail campaigns.

1. Customer Tracking

Sending coupons to customers creates extra opportunities for tracking their behavior. If you send two or three different offers, you will be able to see which offer generates the greatest return on your investment. Including unique tracking codes in each mailing makes it easy to collect data without asking customers to fill out surveys.

2. Targeted Campaigns

Using coupons makes it easy to target your campaigns to specific groups of customers. Want to promote a baby product to new mothers? Design a coupon with pastel colors and pictures of items associated with child care – rattlers, pacifiers, or baby bottles, for example. Selling professional services? Capture interest by designing a coupon with your target audience in mind. Someone in need of a bookkeeper would probably respond better to a conservative design than one with a lot of different colors and font styles.

3. Increased Loyalty

Repeated contact with customers – if they have given you permission to contact them – helps build loyalty. Use your direct marketing coupon campaign to reward people for their past purchases, share birthday wishes with your most valuable customers, or offer special perks to a segment of your list.

4. Customer Retention

If you don’t go out of your way to remind people that your company exists, they might buy products or services from your competitors. Coupons are a valuable tool for retaining existing customers and asking past customers to give your company another try. Tailor your direct marketing offers to consumer behavior for the biggest impact.

5. Brand Reinforcement

Do you know any advertising jingles by heart, even if you haven’t heard them in years? It’s hard to forget those catchy commercials for Meow Mix and Kit Kat bars. Mailing coupons is much more affordable than producing and airing a jingle. You want customers to be able to quickly identify your brand every time you send a mailing.

Reinforce your brand by using these design elements consistently in your direct marketing:

  • Slogans/taglines
  • Logos and pictures
  • Background and text colors
  • Text styles

6. Higher ROI

Because mailing coupons is so affordable, it typically has a higher return on investment. Target your customers carefully to increase their chances of redeeming your offer, or else your mailing will not be a success. Many business owners believe they will lose money by mailing coupons, but there are many good reasons to incorporate coupons into your direct marketing strategy. If you target your offers correctly, you will give customers a reason to visit your store and remain loyal to your brand.

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Make Your Customer Experience Better

What is your plus

Make Your Customer Experience Better

make your customer experience better - what's your plus?

The experience your customers have during any visit – their first or fiftieth – determines the true strength of your relationship.

Sadly, for all of us in business, one bad experience can outweigh all of the goodwill created by all prior visits. Consumers are fickle and they are more likely to forget about your business than they are to forgive you and your team for a less-than-stellar experience.

Social media sources also mean that a complaint that goes public can damage your reputation with potential customers in a manner that you will never know because these people will never call you or come in. It all means that we have to operate at our best, all of the time. The entire customer experience needs to be excellent and outstanding all of the time.

How do you make your customer experience better?

Try to “plus” every aspect of the client’s experience. Look at it from the customers perspective. Begin with the phone, then the walk in, then the shopping and buying experience, then the checkout experience and then the follow up experience that people have when they do business with your company.

No matter how good, fast, or efficient your process is, it can always be better. “Plus” it!

This is where you think completely how the customer would think. Consider space, signage, traffic patterns, price tags, discounts, customer facing signage and information, and every aspect of your layout and process. Once the physical attributes like cleanliness, organization, etc., are up to the highest possible level, consider your staff. This is where the breakdown in the customer experience usually happens. Don’t be defensive, customer service is a huge deal. You can “plus” this through the setting of policies and procedures that need to be published and explained to all customer facing employees. BUT, and it’s a big BUT, the key to an excellent customer experience is standards and training. The dress code could be “plussed,” and the words said when answering the phone can be improved. When a customer enters your place of business, what is the greeting policy? All of this can be plussed. Your author guarantees it.

The little things matter

Remember that the little things matter.

Welcome signs, clean windows, vacuumed floors, answering the phone in three rings or less, flowers in the ladies room, product descriptions and comparisons beside each item on the shelf, a well dressed staff, no lines, no waiting at checkout, signage that shows where things are located, a hidden employee smoking area and other such things all build to a better customer experience and can be a big deal.

Training matters

Training matters.

Is every customer facing employee trained with product knowledge, and knowledge of the menu, as well as being able to answer questions without having to go get someone else? Consider the value in all of this as it pertains to your own experiences outside of your business. Chances are, you are a tough customer. Would your own team make you happy?

what's your plus

So, how is your business’s customer experience?

Evaluating your business’s customer experience is, for the most part, relatively easy. The challenge comes when you must fix a process that isn’t working well, or when you need to implement a new procedure to ensure success in all areas. Change is never easy, especially if you’ve been in business a while. Ease into changes. Try new things. Consider suggestions made by employees and those outside your organization.

Once you begin to develop your plusses into working procedures, you’ll need to get everyone on board – managers, employees, vendors, etc. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and changes may be difficult to implement at first, but in the long run, your business will be better for it.

Once you made efforts to improve all aspects of your customer experience, you will be able to set yourself above the competition, or if you already were above the competition, you can now be even better at what you do or sell. You can use this to tell the world in all of your advertising. Customers will notice. Prospects will notice. Your staff will notice. Best of all, your cash register will notice.

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Poor Performance?

fix poor performance

Is Your Advertising Suffering from Poor Performance?

Poor Ad Performance

Where is it failing?

Marketers have seen a wide range of traditional advertising become less and less effective in recent years. Some of the reasons for the poor ad performance are obvious, while others require a little more exploration.

Newspapers – Circulation and readership are down so there’s just not enough people seeing your advertisement.

Billboards – The days of relying on consumers to read your billboards as they drive by are gone. Typically, passengers were counted as likely consumers of the message. Most drivers and passengers are talking or focused on their phones or tablets with limited focus on anything outside of their direct line of site, including billboards.

TV / Radio – Digital recording and on-demand TV has enabled consumers to skip advertising. To make matters worse, entire market segments are consuming shows and content through services like Netflix, Hulu, Satellite Radio, and Spotify, that eliminate the potential for effective local advertising altogether.

What about email and digital advertising?

Email – What started out as a potentially dominant marketing tool has been diluted due to a heavy volume of spam and junk emails. Email has been further diminished by the transition to mobile devices with as many as 75% of the market reading most of their email on smartphones or tablets. The high-impact nature of reading on a desktop monitor is now gone and the subject line needs to be compelling or it will likely be skipped over in the millisecond evaluation made by mobile users.

Social Media – While social media will continue to evolve, it is seen by many as potentially hitting a break point where consumers are feeling overwhelmed by the social pressure to participate in sometimes dozens of platforms. From leaders like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to newcomers like Snapchat and Yik Yak, consumers are spending so much time keeping up with the latest trends and generating content that marketers need to question where the real commerce is taking place.

Digital / Online– Search engine marketing and optimization are critical components to any marketing strategy and in most cases provide a reasonably strong ROI. However, this marketing component is heavily reliant on the consumer making a buying decision and actively searching for solutions to make a price comparison. The “in market” consumers are only a small part of the potential market, typically 3% at any given time. As marketers, we need to rely on strategies that pull more prospects into the market BEFORE they choose to enter on their own. Promotional efforts will often limit the extent of competition evaluated at the same time and will greatly increase the number of prospects. It’s great if online efforts generate 50 leads per month at a low cost per lead, however, if a business needs 300-400 prospects to meet its objectives, expanding beyond online efforts aimed primarily at those currently in the market is important.

Does anything perform well?

Using coupons makes it easy to target your campaigns to specific groups of customers. Want to promote a baby product to new mothers? Design a coupon with pastel colors and pictures of items associated with child care – rattlers, pacifiers, or baby bottles, for example. Selling professional services? Capture interest by designing a coupon with your target audience in mind. Someone in need of a bookkeeper would probably respond better to a conservative design than one with a lot of different colors and font styles.

HOUE Rates

What kind of direct mail performs the best?

In our experience, we’ve found that oversized direct mail pieces, such as the monster mailer, are 15% more likely to be noticed by a prospect who hasn’t done business with you yet. At 8.5″ x 14″, this piece still fits into both urban and rural mailboxes and turns your message from a 3 second reader into a 30 second reader. These mailers see a higher response rate because of their increased real estate for a bigger and bolder design for your offers.

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Capitalize on Every Customer

Capitalize on Every Customer

Capitalize on Every Customer Opportunity

Capitalize on Every Customer Opportunity

The doors are open, the lights are on, and your staff are inside waiting for customers

In order to get customers to come through your doors, you invest tens of thousands of dollars in signage, building appearance, and marketing over the life of your business. In they come, eager to shop, browse, or order their favorite item from your menu.

Some come in just to browse and don’t make a purchase, others do buy something or enjoy a meal at your restaurant. But do they all leave with enough information to come back for another visit if they didn’t make a purchase?

Knowing that it costs so much to actually get a customer to enter your facility, it is surprising how little so many businesses do to keep people coming back. And even if you think you are capitalizing on every customer, check out these ideas to make sure that you are doing all that you can. It’s often the simple things which will yield more business for you.

Where should you start?

Don’t make it necessary for your customers to seek out sales associates

First and most obvious: will the person get the feel for what you do, what you offer, and the way you offer it? Signage tells the story because many people will not ask for assistance. And if you sell a variety of items, will signage direct them to the proper area of the location? Will a table tent show diners a list of special drinks, desserts or upcoming events?

Special pricing and special offers should always have signage that informs customers of what is available.

Act like a customer

What can you do differently or better?

You’re smart, or you wouldn’t have been able to get your business off the ground. Now look around and act like a customer. What can I do better or differently?

What should you do better or differently to convey the information you want? Will a customer miss your special sale items because they are not properly highlighted? Signage does not need to be obtrusive to be effective, but it does need to be visible and contain information that creates interest and urgency.

How do I get them to come back?

Offer an incentive for them to return

Next and equally important: will the person leave with something to bring them back? This could be a coupon offer for their next visit. It could be a brochure with sales information and/or pricing for your products or services. It could be a take-out menu or a catering menu. It should be something, so consider your business and what you could do to capitalize on every customer and bring people back to buy again, or to give them a reason to buy if they didn’t buy today.

Can my customers bring me new customers?

Referral programs are a great way to incentivize your customers to do some of the work for you

Finally, do you have a referral program? It can be simple and easy to set up, but you should offer your customers something if they bring you a new customer. In its most basic form, the referral card can be a business card sized piece that offers a discount – no matter who uses it. However, there are many viable options for referral programs that are easy to implement.

Bringing a customer through the door is expensive. Maximizing the marketing value of their visit is not.

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Advertising’s Most Powerful Words

Advertising's Most Powerful Words

Advertising's most powerful words

Advertising's Most Powerful Words

The Difference Between Good and Great Results is Subtle

In marketing, results testing shows that subtle differences in a headline or presentation of information can increase results. Marketing professionals understand the value of communication, both written and verbal, and your objective as a business person is to be confident that your marketing message is maximized and as powerful as possible.

Utilize Advertising’s Most Powerful Words to Capture Interest in Seconds

Everyone knows how important it is to not only say the right thing, but also to say it the right way

In marketing, results testing shows that subtle differences in a headline or presentation of information can increase results. Marketing professionals understand the value of communication, both written and verbal, and your objective as a business person is to be confident that your marketing message is maximized and as powerful as possible.

With direct mail pieces or ads in Spectrum Monthly, you have literally seconds to capture a potential customer’s attention and bring them more deeply into your message.

Let’s Talk About Your Headline

Words can be compelling if you use the right ones and use them the right way

Headline words: You, You’re, and Free are almost mandatory. As in examples like: “You’re gonna love this!” or “FREE this weekend only!” Two other biggies are SAVE and SALE, but those are often overused and have less impact unless there is an obvious coupon or discount shown near the headline.

Other compelling words include: RESULTS, PROVEN, and SAFE. Or you may need to convey efficiency with words like FAST and/or EASY. There is another old standby which still captures the attention visually: NEW! Add urgency with the words NOW and ONLY and LIMITED. Show you mean to back up your claims with a word like GUARANTEE. When you consider this in total, there are other words that may stand out to you to include, such as benefit, healthy, tested, long-term, etc.

What Does Your Message Look Like?

Make sure that your message also includes your headline words

Now take a look at your advertising messaging. Does it include these words in the headline and the sub-headings of your message? For many companies, the headline of their message is a logo, which is always wrong and ineffective. No one wants to buy “Joe’s Tree Service.” They want to buy: “Beautify your yard this month and save.” Then they see an offer, and then they will find the logo to see who to call.

When you invest money in an advertising campaign, it should include the most powerful message possible from the reader’s first impression!

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Personalized Marketing

man at point of sale

Personalized Marketing

man at point of sale

Find savings where you can

You are an individual with your own unique likes and dislikes, yet most of the marketing that is aimed at you is completely generic. This is partly because many products have a very broad appeal and the messaging around them is as inclusive as it possibly can be. It is also partly because marketing that is personalized is perceived as being significantly more expensive than generic messages.
However, the use of personalized marketing usually results in significantly higher readership rates, which, when placed with a valid and credible offer, raises the response rate of the marketing effort.

Enhance Response

The key is personalizing your marketing without blowing the marketing budget

There are several ways to accomplish the goal of enhancing response through personalization.
There are two primary targets of direct marketing: customer acquisition and customer retention.

Add Their Name

Customer retention is the easiest

You already know specifically whom you are trying to reach, either through a direct mail piece, an email, or a phone call. Personalization here should include the most specific messaging that you possibly can achieve through the effective analysis of your database. For example, if you know that Sally Smith last spent $350 on a widget, and you need to sell her the new, improved model, you are going to look at your entire database. How many others are in this category? The messaging that you choose to send to Sally and those like her must be focused on the widget upgrade. You are personalizing the marketing message and the sales offer without specifically recognizing Sally by name. Adding Sally’s name somewhere other than on the address line (of the mail piece or the email) makes the piece much more personal. This can be accomplished in the greeting line of a variable letter or email. In addition, if you are contacting Sally via the mail with a post card type of piece, there are ways to personally address Sally without incurring variable data charges.

Don't Stop There

Your personalized message to your customer, Sally, should include more than just her name

The message should speak to her buying trends or her known product affiliations. If you really want to maximize the message, you can include an additional discount for Sally if she brings in the mail piece. Addressing personalization issues with customer acquisition mail is perhaps more important, since the prospect that you are reaching out to may not be familiar with your business and has no established buying habits to address with an offer or graphic that would be appealing to them specifically. Acquisition techniques usually involve renting a mailing list of people who fall within certain geographic, demographic and psychographic parameters. You can segment the list once it is obtained and focus different messaging to each segment to maximize results. If you are using a letter, you can focus not only the artwork, but also the prospect’s name in the form of personalization. Speak directly to the prospect both by name and by interest, and you will significantly enhance their interest level and thereby the likelihood of them responding to your offer.

Direct marketing efforts require thought and preparation

Remember that a few extra customers coming through the door can make a significant bottom line difference to your business. A professional direct mail expert can show you many ways to enhance response through the proper and cost effective use of personalization for your outbound marketing efforts.
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Communicate Your USP

Comminucate your unique selling proposition

Communicate Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

unique selling propostition

What is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

Unique selling proposition (USP) or unique selling point is defined as a unique benefit exhibited by a business, service or brand that distinguishes itself from its competitors. Typically, it’s a product or service benefit that is both unique and is meaningful to consumers. Whether it’s how the product or service is sold or consumed or if the product itself is unique though solves a common problem, the unique selling proposition should be clear and stand out from the competition.

What is my Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

Every business experiences competition. And every day some other business is trying to take your existing customers and develop as many new customers as they can. We must all be sharper than ever in the ways that we try to obtain potential new customers. A very vital part of this process is determining and promoting your company’s unique selling proposition.
This concept of the USP is vital to your communication with your existing customers as well as prospects. Determining your unique selling proposition may seem easy or obvious, but you have to examine what you think it is with a truly objective approach. Here is an exercise: write down what you think is unique about your business. Why is it different than the competition in your market and why should people come to your business over all of the other choices?
Now that you have your thoughts on this, boil it down to a unique selling proposition. Something along the lines of: “At Sally’s Salon, you will not only find all of the services that you expect, but we have the best possible formula for your hair’s good health, and we offer more comprehensive styles than any other salon.” Now take a few minutes and Google your competitors. What are they saying about themselves and their services? You will probably find that your USP is not that unique at all. In fact, your competitors may be very similar in the manner in which they present themselves to the public. This should prompt you to dig deeper and to think more creatively about it.

Develop a USP that is Truly Unique

Your goal is to develop a unique selling proposition that is truly unique, and it should be easily expressible in the advertising message that you send to your potential customers.

Look deeper to find a better answer

Does your business have the lowest price points for certain services? What do you offer that no other business does? If you offer the same products or services, what is different about the way you sell the items? Free home delivery? Lifetime warranty? Dig into your processes and develop that concept of uniqueness. Quite possibly the uniqueness comes from a combination of two or three things that you offer.
For example, Neon You Fitness has to compete against other health clubs offering monthly rate memberships. While Neon You may offer similar benefits like a comfortable environment, classes to fit any ability, free drinks and more, they need a unique selling proposition to stand out. Instead of offering a monthly rate membership, Neon You Fitness offers pay-as-you-go pricing to simply pay as you go to the gym to workout. Additionally, it also offers pack pricing, where members can pay as they go, but by purchasing multiple classes at a time. Neon You’s unique selling proposition helps them stand out in a sea of monthly rate fitness clubs.
Spectrum can help you improve your USP to make it as clear and concise as possible. Then tell anyone who will listen why they should do business with you!
Unique selling proposition mailer
We’ll help you develop a direct marketing campaign that illustrates your USP to your customers and prospects. Contact us to develop a winning direct mail program today! Contact Us >
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Spice Up Your Marketing

spice up your marketing

Spice Up Your Marketing

spice up your marketing

It's All About Connections That You Can Make WIth Your Audience

You’ve got a great marketing idea, and a plan to execute it. You’re all ready to go for the all important Spring Inventory Clearance sale. The ads are set, the in-store signage and price tags are ready to be set out, and you have a direct mail piece ready to go to all of the customers in your database.
Here’s where you can consider adding the spice to make the marketing plan really sizzle. It’s all about connections that you can make with your audience. These extra steps enhance involvement with your sale and your message.

Utilize New Technologies

Building an omni-channel marketing campaign helps improve effectiveness

While a number of campaigns can be successful with just direct mail a majority will benefit from adding other services like email marketing and web banner ads to their marketing plan. A newer service that Spectrum Marketing offers is IP Targeted Web Banner ads. These ads are sent to the same people who received your direct mailpiece and are based off of physical addresses’ IP address. With a regular web banner campaign add-on the ads are targeted based off email opens. The email address list used is based in the same geographic location which means that users must be opted-in to receive emails via a database and then served the ads. With IP Targeted Web Banner ads the physical mailing list is matched typically to 50-70% and then served directly to the users over a period of time. Using verified, offline data to reduce and/or eliminate non-human bot traffic, your company will get recognized and receive more quality leads. IP Targeting also meets HIPAA compliancy.
Spectrum is also now offering a new omni-channel marketing campaign program called Spectrum Mail Plus. This program features 7 technologies that are integrated together to target, attract, engage, and convert your best prospects. Resulting in 23-46% increased response rates.

Email marketing and web banner ads boost your campaign

Email marketing is still a great way to build your sales. While not as powerful as direct mail in ROI, email marketing as an add-on to your campaign can be helpful to remind your customers about your campaign and immediately direct them to your online store, site, or landing page. Directing to an online coupon or offer can result in even more activity and a better bottom line. Remember, customers need to see your marketing pitch at least 7 times before they make a purchasing decision. Email marketing and online banner ads are two fantastic ways to keep reminding your customers about your sale or promotion and are especially great for newer stores and grand openings.

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pet life mailer in hand
iphone with social media advertisements
Email marketing

Let Them Know They're In The Right Place

Underutilized space like windows are the perfect opportunity to reinforce the marketing message

What’s on your windows? When you are having any type of sales event, the windows should be used to blast out the message. Use clings that are removable and inexpensive to attract the attention of everyone passing your windows. They become more relevant because the message is one of urgency and is directed at people who not only come in to your business, but come in to save during the special sale time period. The design should be explosive, and Spectrum’s 20 plus designers know how to make your simple sale message become an exciting magnet to bring people in.
window graphic

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Incentivize With Direct Mail

Having interactive elements on your direct mail keeps it in your customers’ hands longer

Think about your mail piece. What about a scratch-off offer? The scratch-off is almost irresistible to people who receive mail. They want to see what is under the circle. Your Spectrum account executive can show you ways to make the scratch-off work that are incredibly cost effective. You will notice the enhanced response.
How about in-store coupons? These are small, business card sized hand outs that are very inexpensive to produce but result in a huge ROI. With rounded corners on glossy stock, these hand outs can feature special sale items, or can be a coupon good for that day only on whatever merchandise you choose. Simple, but they are a highly effective way to get your prospects more involved with your sale message.
china blossom direct mail with scratch off
Scratch Off Clarks direct mail piece
Harley Davidson scratch off promotion mailer

You Can't Stop

When it comes to marketing, don’t just get by. Add all the spice necessary to make your marketing plans go over the top!

Every year there are new emerging technologies and new practices that can help you rise above your competition. Only by adjusting your plan to include new directions and reach more customers can your business continue to thrive. Contact Spectrum Marketing today to learn how we can help you with your marketing results.
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How Does Your Business Look and Sound?

Opticians

How Does Your Business Look and Sound?

Opticians

Back To Marketing Basics

Everyone knows the value of first impressions, yet as business owners, we often take our first impressions for granted. So let’s make sure we follow marketing basics. We often lose our objectivity when it comes to grading our own operations. There is a big reality to accept and to face: In today’s world, bad first impressions, whether inside your location or from a phone call or website, usually lead not only to lost business but also to lost customers. Spectrum, as a marketing company, strives on your behalf to bring people into your business. It’s up to you to convert them to clients, maximize what they buy from you, and to create a lasting impression that yields referrals, repeat business and establishes a solid and loyal customer base.
We suggest that you conduct an evaluation of all aspects of what your customers and potential customers see and hear during their experience with your company. It seems basic, and many people give themselves an “A” grade in all categories when the reality is usually different.

Small Changes Can Yield Big Results

Start With Your Website

The first step in mastering the marketing basics is to take a long hard look at your website – the tool that represents your business 24/7.
How does it look visually? Does it answer customer questions? Does it direct people to the store or to make a buying decision? Are your current special offers listed? Even if you can’t immediately change things, at least determine what you want to change so that your team can begin the process and complete your objectives during the year.
Retail transaction

You Know How Your People Should Be Answering The Phone, But Do They?

The next step in mastering the marketing basics is to ensure that your employees are representing your brand well. For example, do you have a brief greeting script that all those who answer the phone must follow? Is it friendly? Do you offer thanks to people for calling? Beside all phones should be notes which show directions and hours as well as current sale information. Here is a fact: whatever you do now, no matter how good it is, you can do better. As you coach your staff to be better phone people, the improvements you make will spill over to all of the customer contact that they have.

What About Your Location?

Is the first thing people see a sloppy bucket of ice melt and cigarette butt can? Is the entryway rug so dirty that it was last cleaned during the Carter administration? Look up. How bad is the ceiling? Move inside and look around. Do you have sales information visible for people who walk in? This means any combination of window clings, wall clings, counter cards, table tents, banner stands, ceiling danglers and other point-of-purchase displays. If you have them, are they current and well designed, or did you have someone make a sign at home that says, “SALE” in red letters on a poster board?
These things may seem basic, however, they can make a big difference in whether or not a customer enters your business. Clean up your foyer, make sure your lobby or reception area is organized and neat and ensure that your marketing collateral is visible and available to customers.

Are Your Special Offers Impactful And Highly Visible?

Consider what you see when you go into a big box store. If your place of business does not have anything to draw attention to a special offer or new product, or something that you wish to feature, then you are missing an opportunity. Make sure that you are utilizing point-of-purchase displays and other kinds of signage to make an impact on customers entering your business and guide them toward trying a new product or taking advantage of a special offer.
coordinated sale signage and pop-up banner

Master The Marketing Basics For Success

Ultimately, you want to give your customers impression that your business is thriving –  serious customers like to buy from a serious business. Cleanliness and order is a must, but just as important is the information that you display for customers to see and use to make buying decisions.
There is no substitute for being the best you can be on all levels. Mastering the marketing basics doesn’t require a large investment. Small changes can make a big difference.  It usually doesn’t cost anything to make a better first impression, however, for a small investment, you can increase your visibility in the market, create a better customer experience and keep customers coming back frequently.
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