Author View (Don Sexton)

Once when I was the first person getting on an airplane, I heard one of the attendants exclaim, "Here come the animals." For that attendant, passengers were a nuisance and it is very likely that that attitude carried over into how the attendant dealt with passengers during the flight. You don’t have a problem like that in your company, do you? I hope not, because in order for your enterprise to succeed, members of your organization must show respect for customers -- not thinly disguised contempt (TDC). When customer orientation grows, profits grow too. Consider Sanity Music, a chain in Australia, which doubled more...

If you ask a group of entrepreneurs how their enterprises could make more money, nearly all of them will give you the same answer: “We need more customers.” That is a smart answer. The broader your customer base, the greater your profit potential. Yet smart entrepreneurs can also increase profits by targeting their current customers more effectively. Growing with current customers has two main advantages over finding new ones: 1.      You already know your current customers and what their needs and priorities are. 2.      You are already in contact with them, so you have opportunities to persuade them to purchase more. The key to making more from your current customers is to more...

If you’re a new entrepreneur, your daily to-do list is already a mile long. You’re hiring, managing your managers, getting your systems in place, bookkeeping and all the rest. But how much time to you spend thinking about your customers? If you’ve been too busy to think about them, you’re making a serious mistake. All business failures can be traced to a lack of knowledge about customers’ identities, wants and needs. Here are five groups of customers you need to meet and get to know. Current Customers They could be past customers who are following you into your new enterprise, or the historical customers of a business you have more...

Customers are the source of all your financial returns - your revenue, profits and cash flow. Satisfying them while making a profit at the same time can be difficult. But doing so is the only way to remain successful over time. Many books have been written about customer satisfaction, some of them quite complex. But any organization can manage customer satisfaction by following my COPS model, which stands for Culture, Organization, Process and Strategy. My book Trump University Marketing 101 explores the COPS model in depth. But here’s an overview that can help you review how effectively your organization is satisfying its customers more...

You have spent a lot of time thinking about who your customers are. Perhaps you sell educational products to young professionals with children. Or you sell moderately priced clothing to retired people on fixed incomes. Yes, you know who your customers are, and that is essential. But the wisest marketers take it one level deeper. They  sell more - by understanding the roles of all the decision-makers who participate in a decision to buy. Let’s say, for example, that you own an auto dealership. One day a family of five comes into your showroom. They aren’t just a demographic group. They all are involved more...

The television show I was watching last night was punctuated by some pretty crazy ads. I saw flying cars and a talking toilet.   To judge from those ads, you might think that you need to be a creative advertising genius to get your customers to buy anything from you. Not so. These classic approaches can get your message across simply, without breaking your advertising budget: Target the competition by giving facts about why your product or service works better, costs less, or has other basic advantages.  Just show your product attractively. (This doesn’t work if you have an ugly product.) Showcase your brand. Just more...

A post on this blog a few weeks ago described the marketing traction that small businesses can develop by sending out press releases to local media. Today, I would like to add to that strategy. The first step is to have your company contribute to the quality of life in your community. You could buy a new piece of medical equipment for a local hospital, offer jobs to local retirees, or sponsor a new playground. Once you have done your good deeds, send out press releases about your activities to local media - newspapers, radio stations, regional cable networks. They will be more...

In my blog post this morning, I would like to confront a rampant misconception about marketing. It is that marketing is something that a company does - just another activity like HR, accounting, training or product development. I would like to blow that misconception to bits. Because marketing is not something your company does. Marketing is your company Nor is your company bricks and mortar, or even a Web page. Which leads me to another statement. Your company is your customer If you don't orient everything you do around your customer, you don't have a business. If you doubt what I am saying, let's consider the more...

In my post of November 3rd, I promised that I would follow up in a few days with a post about guerrilla advertising. Here it is - a packet of ideas on how to create high-impact advertising on a low budget. Use newsletters to stay in touch with customers or clients. Your publications should have the same look as all your other communications and contain information of value. If you own a hardware store, for example, give advice to do-it-yourselfers. If you would like to use mass media such as print or broadcast advertising, keep in mind that some print and broadcast advertising more...

Powerhouse marketing strategies from Trump University's Marketing Mastery ProgramWhen you start a new company, chances are you do not have the marketing budget of a Toyota or Procter & Gamble. How can you attract new customers?It might surprise you to learn that you need to apply the same marketing principles usedToyota and P&G. Just like they do, you must target your market and position your product. The difference is that you need to be more creative and strategic about how you do those things. Irecommend an approach called guerrilla marketing. It relies on the basic tenets of marketing, but is more more...

Even though the term Benefit Advantage may not sound too exciting, it is what you absolutely need to have to beat your competitors in the marketplace. It is the heart of your marketing strategy.Your benefit advantage is . . . The reason your customers should buy from you instead of from your competitorsTo work for you, your benefit advantage needs three key elements:Clarity - Pin down a few of your key benefits that are easy to understand and communicate. Jiffy-Lube, for example, became successful by offering fast oil changes without the need for an appointment.Relevance to your customers - Your benefits more...

Companies that talk to their customers succeed. Companies that don't, fail. I hope you are communicating effectively with your customers. If you don't know who they are or what they want, how can you possibly sell them your products or services? If you aren't talking to your customers, you have probably fallen into one of these traps: Losing attitude #1 - You are so pressured to get short-term results that you overlook long-term strategies. Of course, there are times when you need to generate profits quickly. But at some point, you need to understand your customers and market to them strategically. If not, any more...

The most valuable asset owned by Microsoft, IBM and Coca-Cola can't be found in their warehouses. Their most precious holding is their brand. In fact, based on information from Business Week and Forbes, I would estimate that 50 percent to 80 percent of the market value of major consumer corporations resides in their brands. What is true for those large organizations holds true for small companies too. Your brand represents a tremendous amount of the value that you build as you grow your business. The stronger your brand, the greater the return you will get from your enterprise.Don't expect your brand more...

Competitive wisdom from the new book, Trump University Marketing 101 Treasure your competitors. Accept the fact that you need them. They keep you tough. Your competitors really are good for you, provided that you deal with them strategically and wisely. If you answer these four questions carefully about your competitors, you will become vastly more competitive and successful in the marketplace: 1. Who are your competitors? Sometimes it is obvious who your competitors are. For example, you run a landscaping service and there are other landscapers in your area. But far more often, it takes work to tell who your competitors are, or who more...

Bedrock marketing insights from the author of Trump University Marketing 101 When I was growing up, my family had a business installing water systems for country clubs, farms and housing developments. Whenever I went and worked alongside my father at those places, I could see how much people respected him for his honesty and integrity. He delivered what he promised. If a system failed at any time of the day or night, his customers knew they could call him and he would arrive promptly to fix the problem. At that time, I had no idea what marketing was. I certainly had no idea more...