What does your business deliver?
I’m not looking for a description of the products you make or the services you offer. I’m asking from the point of view of your customers. We all do business with other companies and people because we get something out of the relationship. Normally the people we buy from aren’t the only people we could buy from so why have we selected that particular supplier – or more pertinently, why do your customers choose your business ahead of one of your competitors?
- Why do they have a relationship with you?
- Why are they willing to hand over their hard earned cash to secure your products/services?
What you have to decide is:
“What is the real value I deliver to my customers?”
To illustrate the process, let me reflect on what we have been going through recently at BSA. We have reviewed our core business before but I recommend a review at least every year or so.
What does BSA Marketing offer to our clients?
This question set us on an interesting journey of discovery! Our first answer to the question was a lengthy description of the tasks that we undertake on behalf of clients (mainly focused around writing effective content and using it in websites and e-mail newsletters planned and implemented within a strategic marketing framework). After this, the question was repeated:
“Yes, but why do clients deal with BSA and not someone else?”
After more discussion, we came up with the following:
- We take the time to understand our clients’ businesses.
- We give unbiased advice on marketing in a world where so much is focused on “The next big thing”.
- We tend to under promise and over deliver.
- We offer specialist marketing knowledge in the context of a digital age because we are marketers first and web techies second.
- Our focus is on making things happen, not just on the strategic planning process.
- Long term is important; we stick with clients and gently encourage them to stick with the marketing process. (Good marketing takes time).
- We have a great track record of delivering value for our clients.
- We understand the SME environment, the concept of budgets and the need to maximise the effectiveness of marketing spending.
…and what we didn’t say…
Interestingly, the words ‘Website’, ‘Content’ and ‘Email Marketing’ don’t appear anywhere in this list, even though we are specialists in all three. What came out is our proposition that we work with our clients to deliver real, joined-up marketing communication programmes that are sustainable and effective. In this context, content, copy-writing, websites, email, social media and data management etc. are important elements of our offering, and the ability to deliver these is vital, but they are simply tools in our core offer to our market:
BSA Marketing takes a practical, realistic approach to making marketing work.
and this, in a nutshell, is our key business proposition!
What do our clients say?
If you care to take a look at some of the testimonials and case studies, you will see that our clients have been telling us this for years! So take some time out to ask yourself
What is my business proposition and why do my customers keep coming back?
The answer may surprise you! If you’d like to talk to me about answering the question for your business (and then making the most of what you learn!); drop me an email to davidw@bsamarketing.com. …..if you’re a manufacturer business, there might even be some grant support to help you grow.
