Marketing Moments - Making a Buying Decision on Price

by Dr Greg Chapman

Recently there was a test with top concert violinists comparing Stradivarius violins with the best modern ones. The violinists were required to wear welder’s goggles, so it was literally a blind test. They were to decide on the basis of sound and playability, and ultimately, which violin they would prefer to take on a tour.

Surprisingly the cheap modern violins won out. (OK, not that cheap, at $30,000, but about 100 times cheaper than the average Stradivarius.) Do you think that this news will cause a crash in the price of the Stradivarius?

Ad of the Month – Refresh

by Dr Greg Chapman

If a business has a campaign that has been running a long time, there is a temptation to replace it even if it has been successful. There are many examples where businesses have thrown the baby out with the bathwater because they, rather than their audience, think it’s showing its age, and feel it’s becoming stale, and regretted the change. (New Coke anyone?)

Defending the Sharks

by Dr Greg Chapman

A recent article in the Small Business Section of The Age was critical the TV program, the Shark Tank. This is where 5 very successful business people receive pitches from small business owners for an investment from them in return for equity in their business. The journalist thought the sharks treated these people with ‘complete distain’ and hence she loathed the program. I don’t think they do, and that she completely missed the point.

The journalist compares the Shark Tank with other reality shows, and says that the sharks treat the pitchers far worse. Seriously, has she seen the talent shows which always have a judge who is paid to be nasty to contestants?

How to Double Your Profits and Put Your Marketing on Autopilot

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

The ideal for any business owner is to turn their business into a Profit Machine that can run without them. However, in order to achieve this, a critical step is to take control of their marketing.

Discover the 5 Step Formula Guaranteed to Double Your Profits &
Put your Marketing on Autopilot

Discover the simple steps at this free webinar training for small business owners, and get a copy of my Five Profit Drivers Toolkit & Instant Business Plan to put you in control of your marketing, just for attending.

May Your Business Be – As You Plan It!

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Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems. He is also the author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success and Price: How You Can Charge More Without Losing Sales.

Big Enough to Trust

Dr Greg Chapman

When selecting a new supplier for a product or service, particularly for a more complex sale, there is always a risk that you might not get what you want. So you look for clues to give you confidence.

Who recommends them? Do they have a guarantee? What sort of after sales support will they provide? Are there independent reviews? Who else has bought from them? What is the quality, or does the low price indicate it won’t last? On the other hand, when you micromanage, you demotivate your staff, they won’t take any initiative, and you become the bottleneck. So what’s the answer?

Good, Better, Best: Which would You choose?

by Dr Greg Chapman

Unless you are selling a commodity product or service, such as petrol where all prices displayed on roadside boards where you can compare 3 or 4 stations’ offers before you have to stop to refill, you need to give your buyers clues on the value of your services. Even brands may be treated as a commodity in this respect. You have decided on a particular brand and model of plasma screen TV and now you browse the internet for the cheapest price.

The fuel example is a commodity product and the TV screen example is a commodity service (a retail distribution service of a non-commodity product).

So even if you aren’t selling a commodity product, the first question many people ask is: “How much will it cost?” and if you tell them, it could be a very brief conversation, unless you are the cheapest. More...

May You Business Be - As You Plan It!

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Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below. [Note to those seeking a free ride on our google ranking, blog spam will be deleted,but genuine contributions will be happily published.]

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems. He is also the author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success and Price: How You Can Charge More Without Losing Sales.



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Trust but Verify

by Dr Greg Chapman

There’s always a tension between empowering your staff and overpowering them with micromanagement. When you leave staff to their own devices, there is always a risk that they will make decisions you don’t agree with, or carry out tasks incorrectly.
On the other hand, when you micromanage, you demotivate your staff, they won’t take any initiative, and you become the bottleneck. So what’s the answer?
There are two essential steps that must be taken to get the balance right.

Getting the most from your people

by Dr Greg Chapman

One of the biggest impediments to growth in most small businesses is lack of people systems. When there is poor alignment between your staff’s and your business’ objectives, this becomes a major obstacle to your success.

In this Small Business Success Club podcast learn how to obtain peak performance from the most important assets in your business with good people management systems.