This article outlines the points you will need to assess your business operations and your perceived image or “brand” from the outside. Are you currently emerging as an industry leader? Is it even spreading to customers whose trust is hard to earn? Are you losing sales because you’re not ready when they’re ready to buy? Throughout this article, you will also learn the quickest and easiest solutions for any issues related to these points.
The image perceived from the outside
It’s easy to feel comfortable with your brand from the inside, but how do you think your brand is perceived from the outside? Can you ask a friend whose opinion you trust? How many social media accounts do you have and are they all well maintained? Do they all seem familiar with each other under the same brand name? Do the images, colors, and fonts speak to your ideal customer? These questions identify the answers you need to find out what your current first impression is on your audience.
Beyond that, you need to ask yourself if you’re giving your audience a “clear call to action.” Are you telling them what you have to offer and exactly how they can get it? Do you provide them with a convenient way to shop and/or contact you? You can inject a clear but gentle call-to-action into your brand banners by including a “do this” message somewhere; big or small, short or long. Make sure your profiles are completely filled out for those who want to know you more, and that you provide them with your contact information somewhere.
These days, if your social media isn’t keeping up, are you in business? As the saying goes “if a tree fell in the forest and no one was around to hear it, did it fall?” If your social media accounts are silent, your prospects can’t hear your calls. Consider researching how to create your own social media strategy, and schedule your time accordingly. Professionals known as ‘social media managers’ are a great addition to your team. Interview a few and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn! You can even get a free consultation evaluation or strategy!
the inner structure
They say there are only 3 places where companies have problems; They don’t have enough leads, are having trouble converting them into buyers, or don’t have the inventory or manpower to support the conversion rate. We have already learned how to assess the perceived image of our business and there are several ways to reach potential customers. My biggest concern with clients is their internal product and pricing structure. A customer visits your site or social media accounts trying to rate it as a place they’d like to shop, and if they perceive your product and service packages to be disorganized, you’ll probably never know why your conversion rate is low. Many companies don’t even have a structure, public or internal, so when a customer is ready to buy now, time is of the essence, and if you don’t have prices and a structured offer to ship them quickly, you’re going to lose the sale. Nothing kills sales faster than perceived disorganization and the passage of time!
The best pricing models offer 3, 4 or more main products or services at different value levels. Having these varied levels nurtures your relationship with customers by allowing them to do business with you economically as you earn their trust. This also allows you to cast a larger net and capture customers at the spending level they are comfortable with. Companies today even offer a free product or service at the bottom of their “value ladder” for customers who are unwilling to do business with companies they don’t know. Having a structure like this also makes you extremely comfortable and efficient selling the product because this piece is already in place. Knowing the cost of your product and that there are multiple levels or services that you can intuitively sell to your client will immediately increase your closing rates greatly! Do “market research” to discover pricing patterns of similar companies.