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How to create a marketing plan for your small business - build a brand, target customers and set prices that will maximise sales.

The internet has transformed business marketing. No matter what you do, the internet is likely to be at the heart of your marketing strategy.

Social media is firmly established as a marketing tool. Having a presence opens up new lines of communication with existing and potential customers.

Good advertising puts the right marketing message in front of the right people at the right time, raising awareness of your business.

Customer care is at the heart of all successful companies. It can help you develop customer loyalty and improve relationships with your customers.

Sales bring in the money that enables your business to survive and grow. Your sales strategy will be driven by your sales objectives.

Market research exists to guide your business decisions by giving you insight into your market, competitors, products, marketing and your customers.

Exhibitions and events are valuable for businesses because they allow face-to-face communication and offer opportunities for networking.

Four golden rules for making the sale easy

When you have a customer asking to buy from you, particularly when you haven't had to do much sales activity to attract them, the golden rule is to make it easy for them to complete the purchase. A customer who is ready to buy is surely a prize customer? Not always, as this personal experience illustrates

"I was trying to organise a flat in London, as I was spending so much time there and became fed up of staying in hotels. A number of letting agents were contacted with a brief, and viewings were arranged. A letting agent informed me that he had a flat which fitted my requirements almost exactly, whereas all the other flats offered involved compromise.

"So, ideal flat, right price, and an agent to handle the process - great! However, the journey to obtaining my dream flat was far from smooth.

"The agent failed to understand me as a customer, and instead of making it easy to do business with him, he made it extremely difficult and disruptive, impacting on my travel/accommodation arrangements and making it hard to plan my move.

"If they had got their act together, I would have moved in weeks earlier and they would have gained an extra month's rent, but instead the property sat empty.

"This experience provides us with a timely reminder of the following golden rules."

1. Understand the process and its impact on the customer experience

"What they failed to do was to explain everything that needed to happen in order for me to move in. I didn't understand the requirements such as references, inventory company visits and so on.

"They failed to manage my expectations effectively, resulting in some nasty surprises, delays and extra time, effort and cost, purely because the 'process' wasn't explained.

"So the rule is: don't assume the customer knows what needs to happen."

2. Don't tell the customer one thing and then deliver something else

"Be honest. If you don't know the answer to a query, admit it and then find out. Don't bluff, as the customer is likely to find out and will start to question your integrity and knowledge. Then trust and confidence will drop."

3. Understand your customer and adapt your sales/service to match

"I was an easy sale for the agent, yet they made life extremely difficult. The cost of sale could have been extremely low in this instance, mainly a paperwork transaction, and yet they made it very complicated.

"Don't overcomplicate things for your customers - unless regulatory requirements are involved, eg when purchasing financial products. Make it as easy as possible for customers to do business with you.

"And don't try to distract them - the customer will just feel that you are trying to cross-sell or up-sell something else."

4. Don't rely on the product alone

"If the customer really wants the product and it's unique to your business, how far can you rely on just the product?

"A product can be copied/adapted by one of your competitors and they could deliver it with exceptional customer service. Once they've done that, it's highly likely that customers will switch, because they have the choice.

"It's an interesting dilemma for customers - emotional versus rational buying decisions. When they are emotionally (and perhaps rationally) attached to the product, but the service is poor, how much will they put up with before they decide to abandon the purchase?

"If you do have an exclusive product that the customer wants, yet your service is not good - whilst you may achieve the sale for that one product, you are not building a long-standing customer relationship.

"That customer is unlikely to be loyal and, if you have a range of products, they are unlikely to buy other products. And, perhaps most importantly, they will not recommend you to others.

"Think about whether it is really sustainable to operate in a way where the customer buys in spite of your service, not because of it."

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