Monday, March 03, 2008

Secrets of Marketing - #1

The old rules of marketing are as dead as the once great societies of Greece and Rome. The consumer has stolen them from you. They wield the power now, you have seen it too, know it or not. You can choose to ignore the future and do the same old things or look into why things aren't working so well.

To sell more stuff to more people more often for higher profits you must apply the marketing secrets ignored by all but the most savvy business owner. Which are you?

1. The First secret of marketing is Hiring Attitude not Aptitude.
A great employee is worth 1,000 times more to your businesses success than an average employee! Invest the time necessary to get the right employees the first time.

Few employers take the time necessary to weed out employees that do more damage to their organization that help. The most important thing to do when hiring is to find people who have the right attitude!

What To Look For:
• The first thing to look for in an employee is Teachability.
Is he willing to do what is required of him? Will she accept advice from peers? Will he find out the answer to a question he doesn’t know or just give up? Will she seek advice from you or others when needed?

You can teach the skills that are particular to your business, but you cannot easily motivate the unmotivated! “It’s easier to teach data than to change personalities.”1

Focus your attention more on this and the following unseen skill-set. These unseen skills affect your bottom line more than any other decision you make.

Consider this, the average consumer has a circle of influence of 52 people. One poor experience with your staff can have devastating repercussions to your business. If that one person tells 52 people never to do business with you again and each of those tell 52 in no time 2,704 people have the message that you are not the place to take your business. Compound that with a blog and one poor staff experience can turn into a disaster.

More on this next week.

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