Do your customers have a good reason to continue to spend their money with you? Perhaps there was a golden age when your services were in such high demand it wasn’t necessary to ponder this question, but times have changed. Nowadays there is competition from other print and fulfillment companies working hard to keep their operations running. As technology and the Internet continuously change the world of print media and fulfillment, providers are faced with the challenge of showcasing their value in a way that motivates target markets to continue using their services. Knowing your value proposition and communicating it has never been more important, so how do you get started?
Understand Customer Needs
Your value proposition is directly linked to the needs of customers and prospects. After all, if you don’t understand what your audience needs, how can you offer them solutions that will keep them coming back for more? Here are a few suggestions for finding out what’s going on before developing your value proposition:
- Take time to talk to customers at meetings or conferences
- Pick up the phone and call
- Send a survey
- Analyze social media and website metrics
- Listen to what your audience is saying online
Understanding what your customers need is important because being able to meet those needs, and communicate that you can, is the difference between growing your business or not.
What Can You Do for Me?
Take a good look at what your business offers as far as services. It’s important to truly understand the core of exactly what it is you do for existing customers. Just saying digital printing is not enough anymore. What does digital printing entail? Do you use variable data and can you help assist multi-channel execution? What methods do you use to assist your current clientele, and how many jobs have you set a process in place for? Ask yourself how your business can:
- Improve customers’ lives
- Be worth spending money on
- Stand out from competitors
Your prospects and customers want to know how working with you will make their jobs easier. If you find your value proposition isn’t as strong as you want it to be, take a step back and evaluate everything you need to know about your target market, and the problems they face.
Be Loud and Clear
Your customers and prospects are seeing thousands of marketing messages every day. Make sure you stand out with a clear statement of the solutions you provide. Whether you’re updating Facebook or writing a circular, make sure your message shines.
Keep in mind that this is not about the hard sell, but rather repeating your value proposition to the right audience, at the right time, on a continual basis. Give your marketing messages strong call to actions, and be sure that you always remind your listeners about the benefits of working with your business.
If you want to grow your customer base and retain current jobs, it’s time to develop a clear understanding and message revolving around what you can do for them.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
John Foley Jr. is the CEO of interlinkONE and Grow Socially. John and his team help printers get on a strong path to marketing success. Their approach includes software solutions, consulting, Website development, marketing audits, and strategic marketing plans. interlinkONE’s software solutions for the print industry include their marketing automation platform, MAX, and ilinkONE V8. Learn more about MAX: Marketing Automation. Executed. by visiting MarketWithMAX.com, John at JohnFoleyJr.com, and his companies at interlinkONE.com and GrowSocially.com.