Business growth will only come if you have a structured system – otherwise your business runs on times of feast and times of famine.

The most critical element of growing a business is having a steady stream of sales leads coming in.

So how do you create a system that will help you bring in consistent and predictable sales leads for your small business, and then with the right focus and effort turn them into customers?

The cornerstone of getting more customers is the triangle of Market-Message-Media. If any one of the sides is missing then the triangle, and your marketing will collapse. 

Result? No business growth.

Let’s think about wedding rings… with wedding rings you’ve got multiple MARKETS, because you can target both:

• men who have just proposed,
• women who have just been proposed to

Your MESSAGE is what you’re going to say to convince your market that you’re the best place for great wedding rings.

And where you have multiple markets you’ll need different messages for each market.

Your MEDIA is whatever you use to get your message to your market.

In this example you might promote yourself in bridal or wedding magazines read by 20 and 30-something women, magazines for men in the 20 to 30 age-bracket, or on Facebook to women and men who’ve just updated their status from ‘in a relationship’ to ‘engaged’. You wouldn’t place an advert in an obscure trade magazine, would you?

I’m sure you can see how the triangle works. Get all three sides of the triangle right and you’ve won yourself enough customers to holiday in the Caribbean. Get them wrong and you’re in a caravan in Blackpool. In November!

Let’s take a look at how you can get clear on your Message in 3 simple steps:

Step One – Identify your market’s specific problems/issues/needs/wants

Step Two – Present your solution to that problem and the benefits to buyer

Step Three – Prove/Guarantee that your solution works as you say it will

Let me use the wedding ring business as an example, selling to a couple who are getting married in August.

Step One – My prospective buyers need wedding rings, before August and they are worried about all sorts of things, will they still fit on the big day? What happens if they lose one? What if one of them calls the wedding off and they don’t need the rings at all?

Step Two – I can put at rest all of my prospects fears by assuring them that I can definitely deliver the ring before the big day, that if the rings don’t fit they can have the rings swapped or altered at no fee, and I can bundle in insurance with the rings in case one or both is lost or damaged. And if they don’t need the rings after all, they can bring them back for a full refund. All of the risk and worry is taken away.

Step Three – I’d be sharing a case study of someone who was in my prospect’s shoes this time last year, and tell the story of how they had the same fears, overcame them and bought the rings, they were a perfect fit they both loved them and are writing this message from their honeymoon in the Seychelles.

Then I’d get busy with a few short testimonials, with each one covering off a specific issue or concern, like “I couldn’t sleep I was so worried about whether the ring would still fit on our wedding day, but I shouldn’t have worried, my wife lost weight before the wedding and the ring was a size too big, so we had it altered to the right size, easy as pie, and with no cost, all in time for the wedding.”

Then I’d hit my couple with my Guarantees (plural!). In this instance I’d have three; each in response to a specific issue:

1. “On Time Delivery Guaranteed, or Double Your Money Back” 

2. “Perfect Ring Guarantee: your rings will fit on the day, or we’ll swap or alter them, no questions asked”

3. “She Said WHAT!? Don’t need the rings? have all your money back, but don’t spend it ALL at once.”

I could also bundle in 3 or 6 months worth of jewellery insurance into the sale, to cover off any future worries.

It’s as simple as that. Market, Message, Media.

If you need help getting your marketing triangle right then email me now or call me for a chat on 07900242918.