How do I reach customers on a shoestring budget?
I'm am launching a new business specializing in mystery shopping (undercover shopper) service with the aim of helping businesses improve their customer service and increase profits, particularly in retail stores, fast food outlets, health services and hospitality (hotels, motels, etc.). My service includes a thorough competitor analysis. We present the non-biased results that guides the business direction and highlights areas of improvement. How do I access this market without spending much on marketing, as the company is new and we don't have much capital?
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Jun 1, 2015
If I was doing this in the UK I would Contact the security firms who provide store security (my background is 20 years in private security), they may well be able to take you into loss prevention managers and store owners as a "bolt on" service that also becomes a differentiater for them. Whilst this may mean some profit share, it will potentially give you a foot print, case studies and other referrals, key things for a start up.
good luck.
Jun 8, 2015
Can I just ask one question, I see there are a lot of instore cameras going around the shelves. Do the shop owners often use the footages to check on customer behaviour or the cameras are strictly for security purposes?
Jun 1, 2015
Activate your Digital Marketing tools such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. There are various of apps such as Facebook Insight, Twitter Analytics, which mostly for Free. Plus if you have a website, that would be better, or have a blog. Goodluck :)
May 31, 2015
Hi Isaiah,
Congratulations on the launch of your new business.
A few ideas to help your company get noticed are:
-First to get very clear on what your USP is - ie, unique selling proposition. Why are you better than the competition? What is your unique about your company over others? Get your story down so that it is always compelling and consistent throughout your company, website, marketing materials, social media etc.
Secondly, I would say you have a lot of options on potential customers. I would pick just a couple of industries to start that you believe will be your niche - where you have an edge and can own the industry, outshine the competition and know all the nuances about those industries there is to know. Go in and focus on those and OWN them! :D
Next, identify the key decision makers in those few industries. Get networked into these industries. Go to the key events where the decision makers will be and network. If there is money, sponsor the events. Get into social media and engage the decision makers in conversations. Use Linkedin to identify people who may be interested in your company's offerings. Use online and social ads with strategic key words to find your audience. Include a compelling headline or offer in the ad.
Write compelling (not selling) content marketing that talks about the customer experience...how has it changed? How will entrepreneurs know what their customer's are feeling about their retail/hotel/etc. experience? Include case studies on how what you do improves the shopper's experience and ROI. Then, get your content out there consistently. Use content to build your database and bring people to your blog, follow you in social media, or get it posted on other sites. Once you start to build a database, send them useful, compelling content regularly. Don't oversell - educate and engage.
Look for strategic partnerships/alliances where you add value to one another. Identify speaking opportunities to speak on your subject of expertise in front of influencers.
There is so much you can do with very little money. With consistent effort on your part, I'm confident you'll shine. Here's wishing you the best of luck and success!!
Jun 9, 2015
Isiah: two marketing services and a reseller for a directory placement service. All three have independent companies - but they work with me. Those are the best kinds of partnerships you can find. They won't be merged with your company, but they can provide services you may not be able to, and you will earn some money from working with them.
May 30, 2015
being in retail for over 25 to 30 years I have used services like yours a lot. I will point out a few quickies below.
1. Linkedin is a HUGE resource for you, build your network, add retail stores and your target clients into your network.
2. If you can, do a few shops in stores and send your results to some of your new linkedin network, showing your clients, that they need your services can go a long way.
3. Set up a strong website and content connect this to social media outlets, that target your client base
4. I can tell you smaller chains and family owned chains do not use these services but need them badly. Many of these family owned chains don't have anyone running the stores and night and you can only imagine what goes on, target these and small account can add up.
Hope this helps, All the best to your success Auggie
May 31, 2015
Wow, Awesome! thanks a lot for the information. Much appreciated.
Can I just ask these few questions:
In which aread of the business did you use this service, did you have any particular problem you wanted to address?
How often did you use this service?
Were you working on contract or just a once off project?
Was the service provider allowed to enter the store with a hidden camera?
Thanks
Jun 3, 2015
Hi Isaiah, sorry for the delay in answers your extra questions, please see below.
In which area of the business did you use this service? I ran a chain of retail sporting good stores over, so these services checked our sales teams & front end cashiers.
did you have any particular problem you wanted to address? At 1st we had just general customer service issues we wanted to follow up on, but over time, we did change what the shopper looked for. Example at one point we started to issue our own Visa card, so we had the shopper track if our sales teams and front end were offering the services
How often did you use this service? We had shops twice a month
Were you working on contract or just a once off project? contract
Was the service provider allowed to enter the store with a hidden camera. At that time no, I think it would be an eye opener if we did.
if you need any help please feel free to reach out Auggie
Jun 8, 2015
Hi Auggie, It's okay. Thank you for coming back to me. and thank you for the answers. just few more further questions:
When the service checked on your sales team, they you have particular questions that were suppose to be asked on them? Did the service improve the overall performance of your business? How would you address the non-performing sales people though?
Would you advice the use of hidden camera (mostly comes in the form of spectacles, a small pin on a tie, or pen that u can just hook on your pocket) in the case you want to check on the expression of the sales team or perhaps you want to check on how the stock has been displayed?
Jun 8, 2015
Two questions just came into my mind now. How much would you normally pay for the service per store? How many Mystery shoppers would normally come per store?
Jun 10, 2015
Hi Isaiah, here are your answers I put them in () so you can see it better lol. When the service checked on your sales team, they you have particular questions that were suppose to be asked on them? (at 1st they had their own questions, but over time we added questioned based on the expectation we had for our sales teams. example if we wanted them to do more addons to a sale, we would direct the questions to help gear it to a situation that the sales associate could add-onto the sale).Did the service improve the overall performance of your business? (Yes it did, but I always think the focus on training, hiring the right people and setting expectations with follow up, that was all worked on and improved as well)
Jun 10, 2015
Part 2 How would you address the non-performing sales people though? (we did a revers method, instead of dealing with the non-performing sales people, we gave praise, gift certificates and other stuff to the sales people that did well, making the non-performing one's want in the fun. that worked a lot better) Would you advice the use of hidden camera mostly comes in the form of spectacles, a small pin on a tie, or pen that u can just hook on your pocket). (It would be eye opening to see, but I will tell you this, 1st the managers better be ready to train and/or have a HUGE pool of sales people ready to hire. Also not sure HR wise if that is legal or good for moral. I am mixed, If the Store manager, The DM or regional are doing their job's they know the sales teams and what their weaknesses are and addressing them via a plan of action and training.
Jun 10, 2015
they really have to expand to more than a 1000 lol the last part of my comment lol. Either train up or train out. Either way training is KEY and plan then execute. In most cases what you will see behind the camera, has been seen by the manager or the DM, neither of which have addressed the situation and that is years of experience speaking lol)
Jun 12, 2015
Hi Augie, lol you are very experienced in retail, I have no doubt. Well, thank you for sharing with me the learnings. Let me see how I can apply them in my business. Lol 1000 sounds a lot hey....I guess you were paying a lot on Mystery Shopper company but gaining the reputation and profits on the other hand as a result of using this service.
Thank you once again.
May 30, 2015
Hi Isaiah,
Assuming you're referring to the businesses you wish to ghost compare. In which case, it's important to demonstrate how the service will work and benefit the customer.
Assuming you haven't, you may want to conduct a market research and test market your services to gauge traction and interest in your services.
In my experience, the best way to achieve this would be to select a sample of your customers "business" and differing models. Invest some time and resources into conducting the "service" exercise you're offering, analyse the data and use a very simplistic and visually compelling presentation to showcase your findings. As you are aware, B2B service contracting in Africa can be challenging - "seeing is believing". The fact that your services are localised has some advantages.
The next phase would be to identify the right "decision making" people in the companies you have conducted your test marketing activity on and invite them to take a look at how your findings can "guide their business in the right direction and highlight areas of improvement". This can be achieved through a webinar or via consultations.
This is your opportunity to pitch to the right people and illustrate how your reports or findings can help them improve on the businesses. You will also have the opportunity to point out where their businesses are being affected and perhaps showing a contrast between theirs and their competitors. This is "their pain point and" also your opportunity to offer a streamlined service as a trial leveraging your knowledge about the business and how specific processes can be improved.
I hope this helps and feel free to connect if I can be of further help.
Best of luck
May 31, 2015
Hi Roland, Thank you very much for the information. I like the idea of conducting the service exercise and pinpoint the "paint point". I will surely work on that. Thanks again.
Jun 8, 2015
Glad to be of help. Do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further help. Good Luck
May 30, 2015
Best thing to do in these circumstances: If you can get a web site, take your business cards, fliers, and other promotional materials, have your web site address and e-mail on it, and go to as many networking opportunities you possibly can. You want your web site on every piece of material you put out.
May 29, 2015
Isaiah: I am not qualified to comment on the market in South Africa. One suggestion I would make is to search for companies providing similar mystery shopping services in other markets such as the USA, UK, Canada, and India then go to LinkedIn and connect with someone in the marketing/sales department for those companies. Setup a Skype call with them (ie. ask them to share their expertise with you) and discuss how they approach the market in their geography. Take those learnings and adapt them to the South African marketplace.
May 29, 2015
Draft an email and or a campaign to the CEO. Target the pain point. Do a webinar or something to answer questions of multiple business owners at once. Follow up with a call.
Maybe offer a free report on customer service strategies.
If your looking for clients try a list broker.
Hi Olac, thank you for the advice. Much appreciated indeed.