When Fred* started thinking about his retirement, he began to look at all aspects of life, including the business he owned. He examined where he was in the business, and where he wanted to be. He realized that although he had grown the business from when he first acquired it, he had the desire to grow his business even more before he retired in 5 years.
In order to grow his business, we started by looking at why he wanted to grow the business, what was his compelling reason. This gave me insights into his values, what was important to him. I needed to know this to help me to determine how quickly he wanted to grow the business as well as how growing the business would change his business and his life.
We also reviewed the structure of the business, to determine whether he was working on the business or in the business. Since he was working in the business more often than he wanted to be, the way we structured the growth through our marketing efforts would be different than if he had been working on the business. He considered whether he would sell his business as part of his retirement plan or he would continue in the business, setting up the structure to support his ability to be absent or work less when he wanted.
To meet his goals for this particular project, we designed a marketing campaign to target a specific group of companies. This included multiple 'touches' throughout the campaign ('touches' are defined as the number of times a potential client hears from you in a variety of ways). We discussed the process his company needed to have in place before we began sending the marketing, to ensure both customer service would be maintained throughout the promotion and business processes were prepared to handle the influx of new customers.
We examined: who in the companies would be receiving the item we were sending; what their age and family circumstances were; how long they'd been working at the company; what amount of time before they themselves retired; what values did they have (finding out what's important to them); what timeframes would be expected for delivery of the product; what the potential client's approval process would typically be; and key words to use to show that we understood them. We even went so far as determining what the triggers would be to make the potential customer respond to the offer. These are important steps to go through before developing a marketing piece, since it can save the business owner money by knowing exactly who the ideal customer is.
Armed with the knowledge, we created an entire process that included follow up and follow through.
The results were 18 new clients' work orders for a product that typically costs between $5,000 & $40,000. The business owner was extremely happy, commenting that his retirement may be in 2 years rather than 5, and plans are already being discussed to implement more successful campaigns.
If you are a business owner who wants to grow your business or a corporate executive who wants to start a business as part of your plan, send me an email at Tracey@NewFaceofRetirement.com. We can discuss what this could look like for you.
*not his real name
Your Assignment:
Start to think about what your next stage in life looks like, what you want your business to be and do for you. Write out your plans, or even better, contact me to discuss your personal business building and marketing plan so you know specifically what areas you need to work on to grow your business.
In order to grow his business, we started by looking at why he wanted to grow the business, what was his compelling reason. This gave me insights into his values, what was important to him. I needed to know this to help me to determine how quickly he wanted to grow the business as well as how growing the business would change his business and his life.
We also reviewed the structure of the business, to determine whether he was working on the business or in the business. Since he was working in the business more often than he wanted to be, the way we structured the growth through our marketing efforts would be different than if he had been working on the business. He considered whether he would sell his business as part of his retirement plan or he would continue in the business, setting up the structure to support his ability to be absent or work less when he wanted.
To meet his goals for this particular project, we designed a marketing campaign to target a specific group of companies. This included multiple 'touches' throughout the campaign ('touches' are defined as the number of times a potential client hears from you in a variety of ways). We discussed the process his company needed to have in place before we began sending the marketing, to ensure both customer service would be maintained throughout the promotion and business processes were prepared to handle the influx of new customers.
We examined: who in the companies would be receiving the item we were sending; what their age and family circumstances were; how long they'd been working at the company; what amount of time before they themselves retired; what values did they have (finding out what's important to them); what timeframes would be expected for delivery of the product; what the potential client's approval process would typically be; and key words to use to show that we understood them. We even went so far as determining what the triggers would be to make the potential customer respond to the offer. These are important steps to go through before developing a marketing piece, since it can save the business owner money by knowing exactly who the ideal customer is.
Armed with the knowledge, we created an entire process that included follow up and follow through.
The results were 18 new clients' work orders for a product that typically costs between $5,000 & $40,000. The business owner was extremely happy, commenting that his retirement may be in 2 years rather than 5, and plans are already being discussed to implement more successful campaigns.
If you are a business owner who wants to grow your business or a corporate executive who wants to start a business as part of your plan, send me an email at Tracey@NewFaceofRetirement.com. We can discuss what this could look like for you.
*not his real name
Your Assignment:
Start to think about what your next stage in life looks like, what you want your business to be and do for you. Write out your plans, or even better, contact me to discuss your personal business building and marketing plan so you know specifically what areas you need to work on to grow your business.