In an earlier blog this year (which you can find here) we looked at how important it is to get clear on where you are, before you set off on any journey. If this is a marketing journey, it is especially important to know where your business is. Do you know what your business is about, what resources you have and what sort of reputation you can call on? If you don’t, then I recommend that you read the last blog before you carry on reading this one.

Done that? So the next thing to think about at the start of your journey is what you actually deliver to your clients – the services for which they pay.

A note on the differences between products and services, in case you’re not sure:

A Product is something:

• Tangible that can be picked up, touched, held and looked at
• That can be directly compared to a similar product
• Like a book, a fact sheet that can be printed, or a CD.

A Service is something:

• Intangible that can’t be picked up, touched, held or looked at
• That can’t be directly compared to something else in terms of how it looks, feels or sounds
• Like a coaching session or a consultancy session.

Many consultants and coaches only sell services to their clients – you sell yourself and your time. Some also sell a range of products such as books, CDs or DVDs.

Whether you sell products or services, when you describe them, you need to be really specific. If you’re an HR Consultant, don’t just write down that you provide HR consulting services. How do you deliver that consulting? Is it through one to one sessions, group meetings, monthly advice on the phone or some other way? Do you work on a retainer or on an ad hoc basis? Do you package your services, for instance in a series of 10 coaching calls? However you do it, you need to list them all and how much you currently charge for them.

Who Are Your Current Clients?

Later in this blog series we’ll look at how to work out who your ideal clients are – the people you really want to work with. For now, you need to be able to describe your current clients.

Who are they? What sort of people are they? Can you describe them in terms of age and gender if you work with consumers and individuals? Do you know where they work and what they do? How much do they earn? What issues are they struggling with, that bring them to your door? How many of these clients do you have?

If you work with businesses, describe them in terms of size (of turnover, staff or both), the type of business they are in, their specialty, their clients and their location. What issues do they face that you help them with? How many of these businesses do you work with?

This exercise is a useful way of starting to segment your clients. For instance, you might work with companies with 5 to 500 employees. Do you notice any similarities between the ones with 5-50 employees, those with 51-100 employees and the others with 101-500 employees? They probably have different needs, so you will need to work with them differently and provide specific services. Be aware of this as you start describing them.

If you’re new to business and you don’t have any clients yet, then this activity won’t take you very long at all!

Getting clear on what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to is another vital part of starting your marketing journey. If you can’t describe what you do, how it helps your clients and who they are, you will struggle later on to talk to prospective clients about your business.

If you’d like more help with this area of marketing, then why not join the Magnetic Marketing course? Each week you’ll receive an email full of advice, a video explaining all you need to know and clear activities to help you move your marketing and your business forwards. Click here to find out more and join the Magnetic Marketing community.