Where's The Sausage
How do you build your brand and your sales success on substance, not spin?
Engaging Tweets
What happens to the profits of your business when you get your core offer right?
When you increase your core offer you will have the substance needed to give your business style!
Marketing sizzle will result in lost profits if your core offer is not strong enough
Don’t waste your money on marketing sizzle, spend it on the sausage
Make your business offer the sausage that everyone at the BBQ wants to eat…
Understanding the success of your brand and its relevance to your customers is vital to the growth and success of your business.
Make your core offer directly relevant to your customers and boost the profits of your business
Stand out from the competition by tapping into the needs of your customers
How did one interior designer stand out from the crowd by strengthening her core offer?
Can simple customer research double the profits of one small business?
What happens when you take the ‘Persil’ approach to the value of your businesses core offer?
Persil is a household name and a recognised brand, but is their sausage worth all the sizzle?
When was the last time you really used your core message to sell your products and services?
Persil boosted their profits by asking customers what really want – have you asked your customers recently?
Don’t waste your hard-earned profits on marketing ‘sizzle’ - spend it on marketing ‘sausages’!
Before you commit time and money to sizzle it pays to consider WTS… Wheres The Sausage…
Get your core marketing message right and boost the sales of your business
Solve your customers concerns and frustrations and boost the profits of your business...
Remember a strong core offer - your sausage makes for a sizzle you can share with everyone!
Remember without the sausage, your sizzle isn’t believable or true.
Time to ask your customers the ultimate core offer question about your company and products?
Use customer feedback to change the fortunes of your business
Remember – listen to your customers, after all, without them you would not have a business
Ask your customers some well-crafted questions today
Are you listening to your customers? Their needs might surprise you…
Listening to your customers will give you the competitive advantage you seek
It’s time to think outside the can, like Heinz did …
How many times in your business have you spent time and money on the wrong things?
How much time and money is spent on marketing your product or service without focusing on the actual product or service you are trying to sell?
When was the last time you asked your customers how they feel about what you offer?
Are you aware how valuable the ‘ultimate core offer’ question is to the future success of your business?
If an established company liked Heinz can evaluate their core offer, then so can you…
How do you make sure you core offer is strong and your business is relevant to your customers?
How do you make your products or services stand out from the competition?
Asking your customers well-crafted questions will help understand what works for your customers and what doesn’t…
If incredibly well-established brands like WD40 can re-invent their core offer by listening to their customers, then so can you…
Don’t be complacent about your products and services, there is always room for improvement.
The ‘ultimate core offer’ question WD40 asked reinvented the product they sell. What will your ‘ultimate core offer question say about your products and services?
LinkedIn Updates
Update 1:
If you are serious about growing your business then you will be serious about marketing your business.
If you are serious about marketing your business then you will have spent time and money on getting it right.
BUT
Spending time and money on marketing sizzle such as your brand, improving your brand recognition and improving your distinctiveness will all be for nothing if your core offer does not appeal to your customers. Read here how to make your offer live up to your customers’ expectations.
Update 2
Marketing sizzle is the work you do to be noticed by your customers
Marketing sizzle will get people’s attention
BUT
Marketing sizzle will be your downfall if the core offer underneath isn’t strong enough!
When your core offer is strong the success of your sizzle will be strong too... click here to read why
Update 3
Understanding the success of your brand and its relevance to your customers is vital to the long-term growth and success of your business.
This might sound like an obvious thing to say…
BUT
What if your products and services are not selling?
What if your business is not growing?
Click here to learn more about how understanding your brand will give you the success you seek...
Update 4
A small interior designer shows us how she stood out from the competition – by strengthening her core offer.
London is overrun with interior designers - there is one on nearly every street - so how do you stand out from the crowd?
Our interior designer knows that unless her core offer (her sausage) is strong, she can have all the sizzle in the world but it still won’t help her sell more. Click here to read how her simple approach to selling exactly what her customers wanted helped her significantly boost the profits of her business…
Update 5
Persil is a household name and a recognised brand, but is their sausage worth all the sizzle?
In 2005 David Arkwright (former global director of Unilever’s laundry business) thought they needed to move away from the ‘whiter than white’ slogan and focus on a stronger core message.
Arkwright knew their current core message was not strong enough, read here how he challenged this message and boosted sales and profits…
Update 6
Does your business have a slogan? Does your business have a core message? Does your core message help sell your brand? Is it strong enough?
When was the last time you really used your core message to sell your products and services?
Take time to ask your customers what your core offer means to them! You might be surprised what comes out in the laundry! Read here how Persil changed their core message to ensure that customer needs were at the heart of everything they did.
Update 7
When was the last time you took a close look at your marketing activity to see if it is really delivering the business performance you want?
Before you jump in head-first committing time and money on the sizzle it pays to consider WTS ‘Where’s The Sausage’! What does this mean? Click here to learn more
Update 8
Too often business owners rush to improve marketing ‘sizzle’ by changing the logo, or corporate colours or website design…
BUT this will not solve the specific concerns and frustrations of your customers, click here to learn how you can find the ‘sausage’ – your core marketing message or offer - to boost the sales in your business
Update 9
As a business owner, how often do you talk to your customers?
Before you launched your last marketing plan did you take the time to ask your customers some targeted questions about what they are looking for from your business?
Getting the marketing of your business right must involve your customers, after all without them you would not have a business. Click here for more…
Update 10
Customer feedback helped Persil and Heinz change their marketing core offer, in fact Heinz changed their entire packaging of baked beans and the way they sold their products by listening to what their customers told them.
So, if large successful companies like them can do it, then so can you. Click here to learn how…
Update 11
How many times in your business have you spent time and money on the wrong things?
How much time and money is spent on marketing your product or service without focusing on the actual product or service you are trying to sell?
You are not alone in focusing on the ‘sizzle’ when really the majority of the focus should be on the ‘sausage’.
Click here to learn how to spend your time focusing on the right things….
Update 12
You many think that you customers are totally happy with your products and services…
But are they?
When was the last time you asked your customers how they feel about what you offer?
When you ask your customers the ‘ultimate core offer question’ it can reveal a valuable way to better market your products and services.
Just as it did for Heinz… Click here for more…
Update 13
How do you make sure you core offer is strong and your business is relevant to your customers?
How do you make your products or services stand out from the competition?
Asking your customers well-crafted questions will help you receive an insight into what works for your customers and what doesn’t… Click here to read more...
Update 14
When your core offer works for your customers it will give you the competitive edge you are looking for…
Click here to learn that if incredibly well-established brands like WD40 can re-invent their core offer by listening to their customers, then so can you…
Facebook Posts
1) If you are serious about growing your business then you will be serious about marketing your business.
If you are serious about marketing your business then you will have spent time and money on getting it right.
BUT
Spending time and money on marketing sizzle such as your brand, improving your brand recognition and improving your distinctiveness will all be for nothing if your core offer does not appeal to your customers. Read here how to make your offer live up to your customers’ expectations.
2) Marketing sizzle is the work you do to be noticed by your customers
Marketing sizzle will get people’s attention
BUT
Marketing sizzle will be your downfall if the core offer underneath isn’t strong enough!
When your core offer is strong the success of your sizzle will be strong too... click here to read why
3) Understanding the success of your brand and its relevance to your customers is vital to the long-term growth and success of your business.
This might sound like an obvious thing to say…
BUT
What if your products and services are not selling?
What if your business is not growing?
4) A small interior designer shows us how she stood out from the competition – by strengthening her core offer.
London is overrun with interior designers - there is one on nearly every street - so how do you stand out from the crowd?
Our interior designer knows that unless her core offer (her sausage) is strong, she can have all the sizzle in the world but it still won’t help her sell more. Click here to read how her simple approach to selling exactly what her customers wanted helped her significantly boost the profits of her business…
5) Persil is a household name and a recognised brand, but is their sausage worth all the sizzle?
In 2005 David Arkwright (former global director of Unilever’s laundry business) thought they needed to move away from the ‘whiter than white’ slogan and focus on a stronger core message.
Arkwright knew their current core message was not strong enough, read here how he challenged this message and boosted sales and profits…
6) Does your business have a slogan? Does your business have a core message? Does your core message help sell your brand? Is it strong enough?
When was the last time you really used your core message to sell your products and services?
Take time to ask your customers what your core offer means to them! You might be surprised what comes out in the laundry! Read here how Persil changed their core message to ensure that customer needs were at the heart of everything they did.
7) When was the last time you took a close look at your marketing activity to see if it is really delivering the business performance you want?
Before you jump in head-first committing time and money on the sizzle it pays to consider WTS ‘Where’s The Sausage’! What does this mean? Click here to learn more
8) Too often business owners rush to improve marketing ‘sizzle’ by changing the logo, or corporate colours or website design…
BUT this will not solve the specific concerns and frustrations of your customers, click here to learn how you can find the ‘sausage’ – your core marketing message or offer - to boost the sales in your business
9) As a business owner, how often do you talk to your customers?
Before you launched your last marketing plan did you take the time to ask your customers some targeted questions about what they are looking for from your business?
Getting the marketing of your business right must involve your customers, after all without them you would not have a business. Click here for more…
10) Customer feedback helped Persil and Heinz change their marketing core offer, in fact Heinz changed their entire packaging of baked beans and the way they sold their products by listening to what their customers told them.
So, if large successful companies like them can do it, then so can you. Click here to learn how…
11) How many times in your business have you spent time and money on the wrong things?
How much time and money is spent on marketing your product or service without focusing on the actual product or service you are trying to sell?
You are not alone in focusing on the ‘sizzle’ when really the majority of the focus should be on the ‘sausage’.
Click here to learn how to spend your time focusing on the right things….
12) You many think that you customers are totally happy with your products and services…
But are they?
When was the last time you asked your customers how they feel about what you offer?
When you ask your customers the ‘ultimate core offer question’ it can reveal a valuable way to better market your products and services.
Just as it did for Heinz… Click here for more…
13) How do you make sure you core offer is strong and your business is relevant to your customers?
How do you make your products or services stand out from the competition?
Asking your customers well-crafted questions will help you receive an insight into what works for your customers and what doesn’t… Click here to learn more…
14) When your core offer works for your customers it will give you the competitive edge you are looking for…
Click here to learn that if incredibly well-established brands like WD40 can re-invent their core offer by listening to their customers, then so can you…
Blog Posts
BLOG 1 - What happens to the profits of your business when you get your core offer right?
If you are serious about growing your business then you will be serious about marketing your business.
If you are serious about marketing your business then you will have spent time and money on getting it right.
BUT
Spending time and money on marketing sizzle such as your brand, improving your brand recognition and improving your distinctiveness will all be for nothing if your core offer does not appeal to your customers.
Marketing sizzle is the work you do to be noticed by your customers
Marketing sizzle will get people’s attention
BUT
Marketing sizzle will be your downfall if the core offer underneath isn’t strong enough!
When your core offer is strong the success of your sizzle will be strong too...
We have all heard the phrase more style than substance – when you increase your core offer you will have the substance needed to give your business style!
The summer is nearly here, and no doubt you will have or be invited to a BBQ…
The smell and the sizzle of the sausages makes your mouth water with anticipation…
BUT what if when you take the first bite you are disappointed by the taste of the sausage?
Will you eat the rest of it?
Will you have another one?
Will you tell other people to eat them?
Even though the ‘sizzle’ made you want the sausages the ‘offer’ did not live up to expectations.
Click here (URL to your webpage BBS) to read how to make your core offer appeal to your customers and make your sausage the one everyone at the BBQ wants…
BLOG 2 - How can a lesson in marketing from an interior designer boost the profits of your business?
Understanding the success of your brand and its relevance to your customers is vital to the long-term growth and success of your business.
This might sound like an obvious thing to say…
BUT
What if your products and services are not selling?
What if your business is not growing?
What if you are no longer relevant…
A small interior designer shows us how she stood out from the competition – by strengthening her core offer
London is overrun with interior designers - there is one on nearly every street - so how do you stand out from the crowd?
Our interior designer knows that unless her core offer (her sausage) is strong, she can have all the sizzle in the world but it still won’t help her sell more.
So, she keeps it simple:
· She does some simple customer research, asks her customers some targeted questions
· Based on the feedback she tests a new idea
· Then she looks at the results
· The results speak for themselves – she doubled her fee income
This is no accident – this is because she ASKED her customers what they wanted from an interior designer and then strengthened her core offer to give them exactly that.
Her core offer was directly relevant to the needs and concerns of interior design buyers.
This new approach made her different, made her stand out from the competition and gave her the competitive edge she was looking for in a city overrun with interior designers.
Click here (URL to your webpage BBS) to read more about precisely what our interior designer did to change the fortunes of her business and how this simple approach can be applied to your business too…
BLOG 3 - What happens when you take the ‘Persil’ approach to the value of your business’s core offer?
Persil is a household name and a recognised brand, but is their sausage worth all the sizzle?
In 2005 David Arkwright (former global director of Unilever’s laundry business) thought they needed to move away from the ‘whiter than white’ slogan and focus on a stronger core message.
Arkwright knew their current core message was not strong enough so Persil challenged consumers all over the world with the question ‘why is ‘whiter than white’ important?’
Through this customer research Persil uncovered the emotion buried inside dirty washing!!
The insight was ‘if you are not free to get dirty, you cannot experience life and grow’.
This totally changed Persil’s core offer from ‘white than white’ to ‘dirt is good’.
We all remember the adverts of kids painting, playing sport and having fun in the garden and then coming home covered in dirt!
This strengthening of Persil’s core offer boosted their sales and profits and made them one of the biggest brands in the world with global sales of $3 billion.
If Persil can revamp their core offer and win additional sales so can you.
Does your business have a slogan? Does your business have a core message? Does your core message help sell your brand? Is it strong enough?
When was the last time you really used your core message to sell your products and services?
Take time to ask your customers what your core offer means to them! You might be surprised what comes out in the laundry!
A strong core message must be at the heart of everything you do. (URL to your webpage BBS)
BLOG 4 - Don’t waste your hard-earned profits on marketing ‘sizzle’ - spend it on marketing ‘sausages’!
When was the last time you took a close look at your marketing activity to see if it is really delivering the business performance you want?
Before you jump in head-first committing time and money on the sizzle it pays to consider WTS ‘Where’s The Sausage’!
Too often business owners rush to improve marketing ‘sizzle’ by changing the logo, or corporate colours or website design…
BUT this will not solve the specific concerns and frustrations of your customers, here are 4 helping hands so you can find the ‘sausage’ – your core marketing message or offer - to boost the sales in your business:
1. Create a list of well-crafted questions for your customers – keep them short – but focus on their concerns
2. Ask a selection of customers one or two questions you think will have the best response
3. Analyse the results from the answers – collate the popular opinion
4. Create a core offer based around the concerns from the questions asked and test the core offer. Remember a test is exactly that – the key to all of this is to ensure you are meeting your customers’ needs – you may not get this right the first time.
Remember a strong core offer sausage makes for a sizzle you can share with everyone! However, without the sausage the sizzle isn’t believable or true.
Click here (URL to your webpage BBS) to read more about finding the sausage in your business.
BLOG 5 - Ask your customers the ultimate 'sausage' question and transform your business just like Heinz did…
As a business owner, how often do you talk to your customers?
Before you launched your last marketing plan did you take the time to ask your customers some targeted questions about what they are looking for from your business?
Getting the marketing of your business right must involve your customers, after all without them you would not have a business.
Customer feedback helped Persil and Heinz change their marketing core offer, in fact Heinz changed their entire packaging of baked beans and the way they sold their products by listening to what their customers told them.
So, if large successful companies like them can do it, then so can you.
If you don’t talk to your customers about their concerns, issues and frustrations how can you ever really meet their ever-changing needs?
Don’t waste your money on marketing ‘sizzle’ if you are not going to invest time and energy in perfecting your core offer (your sausage).
Ask you customers some well-crafted answers today and base the future of your marketing and your business on the answers you receive.
That way you know you are giving your customers exactly what they want and it will give you the competitive advantage you are seeking.
Click here (URL to your webpage BBS) to read more about how to find out the ever-changing needs of your customers.
BLOG 6 - It’s time to think outside the can, like Heinz did…
How many times in your business have you spent time and money on the wrong things?
How much time and money is spent on marketing your product or service without focusing on the actual product or service you are trying to sell?
You are not alone in focusing on the ‘sizzle’ when really the majority of the focus should be on the ‘sausage’.
In his book ‘Where’s the sausage’ David J Taylor highlights 2 pillars of marketing common sense:
1) Recognise that branding is not just about logos or even communication. Branding is aligning and engaging the whole business with customer requirements
2) Linked to this, there is a need to deliver both a great product/service “sausage”, not just emotional “sizzle” (the more touchy, feely bit of branding)
You many think that you customers are totally happy with your products and services…
But are they?
When was the last time you asked your customers how they feel about what you offer?
When you ask your customers the ‘ultimate core offer question’ it can reveal a valuable way to better market your products and services.
Just as it did for Heinz…
Established in 1869 and on our shelves since 1886, Heinz have a 64% share of the baked bean market.
1.5 million cans of Heinz Beans are sold every day!
Yet they recognised it was time they delivered fresh consistency of their well-recognised brand…
Why and how?
Because they asked their customers the ‘ultimate core offer question’
For Heinz this was:
Question: What has frustrated you over the years about tins of baked beans?
For most customers the issue was with the can not the beans. People complained that very often half the can is left and it’s messy and often gets thrown away.
Answer: Heinz Beanz don’t just come in a can these days…
Heinz added snack pots and fridge packs to its product line and have year on year continued to grow their sales and market share…
All because they dared to ask the ‘ultimate core offer question’
And most importantly they listened to the response from their customers.
Take time to listen to your customers ever changing needs just like Heinz did.
Focus on your sausage (your baked bean can) and not your sizzle (the logo and adverts) and dare to ask your customers the ‘ultimate core offer’ question. (URL to your webpage BBS)
BLOG 7 - Give your products and services a squeaky-clean overhaul just like WD40 did!
How do you make sure you core offer is strong and your business is relevant to your customers?
How do you make your products or services stand out from the competition?
Asking your customers well-crafted questions will help you receive an insight into what works for your customers and what doesn’t…
This will enable you to spend time on your core offer so that what you are selling (your sausage) rather than the way you are marketing it (your sizzle) rings true with your customers…
When your core offer works for your customers it will give you the competitive edge you are looking for…
If incredibly well-established brands like WD40 can re-invent their core offer by listening to their customers, then so can you…
WD40 was established in 1953, the core product was originally designed to repel water and prevent corrosion on the Atlas space rocket, but later found its way into households due to its numerous useful uses.
Their company mantra was ‘we are in the squeak, smell and dirt business’
WD40 have enjoyed sustained, profitable growth over all these years, just from that one product.
I bet there is not a household in the land that does not have a can of WD40 under the sink, in a garage or in a shed!
WD40 still comes in a spray can today!
However, WD40 were always searching for fresh consistency to their brand and therefore dared to ask their customers the ‘ultimate core offer’ question.
‘What frustrates you about using WD40?”
The responses WD40 received resulted in the WD40® smart straw® - this was the solution to the customer feedback.
A permanently attached straw that:
· could never be lost
· could flip up and be used for spraying hard to reach places
· could flip down for the general wide spray application
This one tiny flip-up straw has resulted in increased profits and year on year growth for WD40 – all coming from one product.
Don’t be complacent about your products and services, there is always room for improvement.
Click here (URL to your webpage BBS) to take a leap of faith and ask your customers that one ‘ultimate core offer’ question, you might be surprised at the results and it might be a simple as adding a straw.
Engaging E-mails
What makes your customers stay with you?
Hello,
How come some businesses spend time, money and resources on marketing 'sizzle' and get great return on investment (ROI), and other businesses get little or no ROI, from their marketing?
Marketing 'sizzle' (logo change, corporate colour change,website change, and more) can all be for nothing if your core offer fails to appeal to your customers.
Make your core offer stronger and you will increase the success of all your marketing sizzle too...
In this edition of Business Bitesize you will learn:
- how to improve your business’ score offer
- how Persil created a core offer that led them to global sales of over $3 billion
- what is the one question you must ask your current clients before you spend another pound on marketing sizzle
- which four simple steps a London interior designer followed to improve her core offer and double her income
Go here for ‘Sausage not Sizzle’
STOP focusing only on the marketing sizzle of promoting what you do for customers.
START seeking a stronger, more relevant and distinctive core offer for your products and services.
To live up to your marketing sizzle make your product or service both relevant to your customers AND different to your competitors
Business Breakthrough Subscriber Resources