Marketing professionals have to be confident to carry themselves in their daily task to be able to accomplish their goal. In order to answer all the questions and concerns of the customer, they also have to be knowledgeable of the company’s products and services. Your very important trait should include trust – so that the customers will believe in you and in the company that you represent. Make the customers comfortable in approaching you, and make them feel that they can rely on you.

Sometimes you can encounter irate clients. What you can do is to allow them to speak first, and then sympathize with them by putting yourself in their shoes. Let them realize that you are there to listen to them, and you will have great success in your marketing job.

A big factor for success in marketing jobs relies on the demands of the needs and wants of a consumer. To be able to gain more profit, it also boosts the popularity of a business. To be a good marketing agent, you must know how to conceive good marketing strategies and how to apply it in your career.

First of all, the company where we are employed with should give us the highest motivations that we need. All of us are different people with differing personalities but to be able to promote the company’s products and services, we have to have the following attitudes: sympathy, empathy, trust, knowledge, and confidence.

This is basically what wasabe.com’s co-founder and CEO, Jason Knight exemplifies by directly talking with clients. He is never afraid of picking up the phone and assist the customer in his or her query. As proof, he has placed his contact number in the site, where anyone can call him during certain hours. He gets his fair share of early morning calls and welcomes them.

He believes that the client relationship is more important than the sale. According to him, “A really good salesperson is not going to treat you like a prospect. They’re going to treat you like a human being,”

Communication is the key to a client’s (and a company’s) success.

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Let’s say you’re a start-up company with limited capital. Obviously most of your money will be on production, what about marketing? Businessweek.com has some tips for you on how to do this on a shoestring budget.

• Research the same way you sell. If you can go out there and do some selling, bring a clipboard with you and start taking surveys.
• Mine public data. The U.S. Census Bureau site has a plethora of information regarding demographics and other statistics that may help your company.
• Recruit B-school students. The best ones would be business school students. Call up your local school and propose your idea on how you can help each other out.

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Optimism

Optimism, resilience and a like of people are effective tools of the successful prospector. When you talk with another person you quickly pick up on whether they like you or are treating you as just another person — and you are much more likely to do business with those who like you.

Instinct

Develop a ‘nose’ for where gold might lie and enhance your instincts when talking to people to know whether they’ll buy or not.

Persistence

The longer you keep talking to someone disinterested, the more likely you are to convert them.

Process

Prospecting is not just a matter of writing and calling. It involves a repeatable and well-proven methodology. Sales people who get the structure and process right are more likely to succeed. This includes gathering and managing data, and wording of letters, emails and phone calls.

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Mistake 7: Not spending enough on marketing and promotion

Avoiding: Spend between 3 and 6 percent of your projected turnover when you’re starting out; and 1 to 3 percent of your projected turnover if you’ve been in business for two or more years.

Mistake 8: Marketing only when you have time
Marketing only during the slow times means that you could end up with periods where you have no customers at all.

Mistake 9: Failing to present a professional image
The more professional you look, the more confident your customers will be that you can satisfy their needs or solve their problems.

Avoiding: Make your brochures and stationery look professional

Mistake 10: Underestimating the importance of current customers
Studies have shown it costs five times more to win a new customer than to ‘resell’ to an existing one.

Avoiding: Keep a database of customers and be sure your marketing plan includes tactics aimed at stimulating repeat business from these.

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Mistake 4: Failing to communicate your point of difference

Your ‘point of difference’ is something that makes you different from your competitors.. However it is no good having it if your customers don’t know what it is,

Avoiding: Include it in your marketing.

Mistake 5: Using marketing tactics that are not target-specific

Avoiding: The more directly you can reach your target market, the more cost-effective your marketing will be.

Mistake 6: Trying to say too much

People are subjected to more and more information and have less time to absorb it.

Avoiding: The key is to keep your message simple.

Major Marketing Mistakes (Part 2)

Mistake 4: Failing to communicate your point of difference

Your ‘point of difference’ is something that makes you different from your competitors.. However it is no good having it if your customers don’t know what it is,

Avoiding: Include it in your marketing.

Mistake 5: Using marketing tactics that are not target-specific

Avoiding: The more directly you can reach your target market, the more cost-effective your marketing will be.

Mistake 6: Trying to say too much

People are subjected to more and more information and have less time to absorb it.

Avoiding: The key is to keep your message simple.

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The don’ts of marketing

Mistake 1: Failing to accurately identify your target markets

Many businesses fail because they try to tackle too many types of customer on a limited marketing budget

Avoiding: Identify those customer groups that are most likely to need/want your product.

Mistake 2: Not doing market research

How do you know if people are going to want your product or service?

Avoiding: do some market research before anything else

Mistake 3: Relying on just one or two marketing tactics

Relying on one or two marketing tactics is a major marketing mistake because customers invariably need to be exposed to your message in at least three different ways before they’ll consider buying your product or using your service.

Avoiding: When you’re planning your marketing programme, choose from a variety of tactics.

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Someone once told me that quality had a high price. I didn’t agree with him then, but now I’ve changed my mind.

Slashing prices and announcing Sales might be a no-brainer especially given the state of the economy, but it might comeback to bite you in the butt on the long run. Most people tend to believe in the notion that if something is expensive, then most likely it has better quality compared to the cheaper one. On the short-term, it might come up as a profit, but once the economy stabilizes, your business might be thrown out of the door. On the long-run, if customers see you as a high quality producer then they might take in your services or products as soon as they have enough money to spend.

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Here are some things to consider in order to differentiate yourself from other businesses.

- Lower your prices OR Raise your prices for premium goods & services
- Increase your inventory OR decrease your inventory and only carry specialty items
- Increase your area of expertise if you have a service-based business OR Specialize or narrow your niche
- Offer free shipping on all orders or on orders over a certain amount
- Offer a customer loyalty program
- Apply for a patent
- Achieve ratings, rankings, win awards from well-known associations or organizations