digital marketing

12 Days Of Tipmas Day 9: Master Your Sales Process

MOMENTUM Business Support 12 Days Of Tipmas 2021
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A sales process is the practice of undertaking a series of steps and routines designed to sell a product or a service. A strong sales process promotes consistent sales and stable business growth by providing framework and a regime. Ultimately every stage of the cycle counts towards customer satisfaction and successful sales, while mastering the process increases the numbers of returning clients as well as referrals. But what are the core stages of a sales process?

  • Prospecting – The identifying and researching into potential leads and prospect clients, during which it is established whether there is a need or demand for your product/service.
  • Researching – Once the company/individual is identified as a suitable prospect, further research is then undertaken in order to learn more about them. Researching helps to profile the needs of a possible client as well as helping to provide a tailored service.
  • Initial approach – After learning more about them, it is the time to approach the prospect. This can be done in many ways and doesn’t have to feel like a forceful ‘sales pitch’. Sometimes the initial approach is simply a message with a question, a gift/sample or an introduction.
  • Presentation and proposal – If contact has been successful, you can then present all the aspects and features of your product. This is a great time to apply things you’ve learned about the client and address features of interest for a more targeted approach.
  • Addressing concerns/objections -An often-overlooked step of the sales process is the addressing of your clients’ objections, but it’s important to respect their views and spend time on finding solutions. The objections may be anything from price concerns, time frames or special requirements.
  • Closing the sale – Once everything has been discussed and established, it is time to agree upon pricing, normally it is best to do this once the proposal is complete. It may be a standard service price or something more customised but offering different payment options or discounts provides flexibility for the client.
  • Following-up – While it may seem like closing a sale would be the last step, a follow up is a crucial part of maintaining a good relationship with your customer. It helps to build trust and provides an opportunity to receive those needed customer reviews and referrals!

If you’d like to find out more about mastering your sales process or require any other business support- get in touch!

E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com   T: 01903 688789

12 Days Of Tipmas Day 8: Outsource- Value Your Time

MOMENTUM Business Support 12 Days Of Tipmas 2021
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There aren’t many things more valuable than time and while we can’t turn back the clocks, we can ensure that the time we have is well spent. Which is what brings us onto todays topic- outsourcing.

Outsourcing is a service during which a third party is hired to take care of various business processes and tasks, it holds many advantages and is a common practice among many companies. But what makes it such a popular service?

  • Shifts your focus to more important business activities– outsourcing is an incredibly effective way of freeing up extra time, allowing your business to keep its focal point fixed on growing the company. By passing on certain tasks to an outsourcing team, it allows you and your staff to concentrate on more important/time sensitive matters, as well as establishing new strategies.
  • Provides higher quality outcomes – An outsourcing company will have a team which specialises in the services it offers, therefore delegating your tasks to them will not only mean it’s going to get done in much less time but also to a higher quality. A specialising third party will likely have an established routine and strategy for completing your tasks, as well as knowing what works best and which approach is most suited for your business.
  • Higher cost effectiveness– Outsourcing is frequently much cheaper than an in-house service, reducing the costs of recruitment, training, and office hire. It also means that you pay exactly for the work you need done instead of fixed office hours, lunch breaks and holidays.
  • Flexible and tailored services– Outsourcing teams most commonly work from home and offer flexible hours which means that the work gets done as and when you need it. It provides a lot more flexibility and freedom, meaning you can get things done quicker and more effectively.

If you’d like to find out more about the benefits of outsourcing, reach out to our team! Here at MOMENTUM, we provide a wide range of professional services tailored to suit you and your business needs. Get in touch!

E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com   T: 01903 688789

12 Days Of Tipmas Day 4: Build A Trusted Network

MOMENTUM Business Support 12 Days Of Tipmas 2021
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The phrase “It’s not what you know, but who you know” is used within many industries and while you may think it’s just a saying, it truly holds up its value when it comes to starting and growing a business. Of course, knowledge and skills are still important, but often the key to successfully running a business is a trusted network. Your connections play an integral part in expanding your brands reach, as well as increasing your visibility- both ultimately resulting in higher sales and a positive cash flow turnout.

So where do you start? It may be the case that your network is very small or you may even be starting from scratch, but not to worry, there are several things which you can do to build up a trusted network, most of which come with zero additional costs. First, remember that the heart of networking lies online. If you haven’t already, set up appropriate social media accounts and begin connecting with old, new, and prospect clients as well as other businesses and owners. Regardless of which industry you’re in- it’s near impossible for a business to thrive in 2022 without the additional visibility from social media. Here is a list of things you can do improve your network:

  • Be social, attend or hold business events
  • Sign up to relevant social media platforms
  • Join social media communities, groups, and lists
  • Take part in local business awards
  • Encourage word of mouth and ask for referrals
  • Deliver fresh and trending content- generating more interest
  • Use your existing testimonials and encourage reviews
  • Team up with other businesses, publish and partake in guest blogs

If you’d like to find out more about the importance of business networking, we would love to help and hear your thoughts. For blog questions, business advice and all other queries, get in touch!

E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com T: 01903 688789.

12 Days Of Tipmas Day 3: Invest In Digital Marketing – Keep Your Online Presence Up To Date

MOMENTUM Business Support 12 Days Of Tipmas 2021
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The Internet is full of potential prospects and customers but to attract them you must not only be in the right place and at the right time but also maintain a strong online presence. Improving your presence online can come down to various factors, however the most important is often consistency and a regular schedule. A consistent posting regime can boost the amount of customer interactions and engagement, as well as improve on your brand’s credibility- presenting your business as trustworthy and organised. 

 It can also be beneficial to include regular, original content and cover newsworthy and trending topics to create more traffic to your posts and website. Doing so will result in better post performances, a more positive audience reception, as well as attracting new visitors to your website. It is also key to remember that many social media platforms have a much shorter shelf life, meaning that the quantity of posts will need to be adjusted in accordance with the chosen platform to ensure your content doesn’t get lost at the bottom of the newsfeed.

Keeping your online presence up to date can also come down to the first impression your business gives off. Consider sharing more branded graphics as well as updating your profile info and visuals. An old bio and faulty links can send the wrong message and come across as careless. Make sure that everything works as it should do and check what your profiles look like from the customers point of view. Most importantly keep all your socials coherent and congruent, use matching information, logos and slogans and make sure your branding is always easily recognisable.  

As a small business, we know that time is precious. Why not invest in your Digital Marketing activities by outsourcing them to our expert team? Give us a call on 01903 688789 or email us at makeithappen@mbsmih.com to find out more.

Driving Traffic To Your Website

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support, Digital Marketing
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Are you a new business looking for ways to attract visitors to your website? Or perhaps your website is simply no longer grabbing the attention like it used to. Not to worry! It won’t happen overnight but there are many things you can do to help your website drive traffic. While it’s good to cover all bases it’s important to start at the beginning and understand the basics, which is why we’ve divided the subject into three core structures.

Understanding SEO

SEO is the process designed to enhance the position of a web page from search results. SEO’s use bot crawlers, which work by indexing the website information found online. The information is automatically processed and categorised accordingly, displaying sites in an order of relevance established by the bot.

Many SEO-boosting strategies have been established over the years, however there is a staple checklist every business should follow:

  • Improve website speed- Statistics show that the speed of your website has a direct affect on how high your site ranks on a search engines page. The better your loading speed, the higher you climb on the main page. Make sure to optimise image formats, remove irrelevant 3rd party scripts, update site plugins, and perform general site maintenance on a regular basis. It can do wonders for speeding up a website.
  • Improve site visit duration- The amount of time spent on your website by existing visitors plays a major role in how much a search engine will ‘like’ your website and thus how well it will appear in search results. If your website is unattractive or too hard to navigate it can significantly lower the visit duration. Some good methods for boosting visit durations are embedding videos within your home page, including more interactive site features, and improving readability.
  • Improve your keywords- Keywords help to categorise your content and bring relevant traffic to your website. When used correctly, they improve visibility and suggest your website to target audiences searching within a pertinent field. Do your research and establish what type of client you would like to visit your site, your strategy, and the targeting keywords that will help to get them there.

Providing Quality Content

It may seem obvious to include content on the list of must haves, however the downfall of many websites is simply lack of quality content. No, we’re not just talking about the stuff that is permanently embedded in your website, we’re talking about fresh, regular, and quality content that can link back to your page. Whether it’s a weekly blog, a newsletter or podcast every piece of content you put out should have a link bringing the reader back to your site. The more site links lead back to you- the stronger the rankings of your website. Finally, don’t forget about video formatting! As mentioned earlier, embedding videos in your website can increase the duration of the site visit, but that’s not the only thing making them beneficial. Video format has statistically proven to have higher information retention than written format, which is why video marketing has become so successful among businesses. Don’t cut out written content completely but balance it out with other formats to provide alternative ways of tuning in!

Social Media Marketing

You most likely already have an account or two with the top social media platforms, but are you using them right? It’s not just as simple as posting every now and then. It’s important to keep the profiles alive, active, and regular and crack down the best places to reach your target audience. Becoming part of online communities, lists and pages can be a great way of gaining credibility as well as extending reach to preestablished and categorised groups. It also allows for interactions and gives you the opportunity to engage with your audiences.

There are many ways in which you can use social media to your advantage, from hashtagging to sharing content linking back to your page, it’s one of the best, free forms of advertising available. You don’t need to join them all but establishing where your audience hangs out online should give you a good idea as to where you too should be.

If you’d like to find out more about driving traffic to your website or would like to discuss outsourcing those tasks, get in touch. We would love to answer any of your questions and discuss your needs!

makeithappen.. E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com T: 01903 688789