5 Ways ‘Quality over Quantity’ Can Boost Business

“Quality over Quantity” is a maxim most of us are well-aware of. It’s a simple concept that has been repeated to us over and over again all through our formative years, yet many of us rarely give it the gravity it deserves.

In our quest to make money fast and in the highest possible margins, quantity trumps quality in so many ways. Come to think of it, it’s more time consuming and costly to produce high quality products, which must be sold at a much higher, less attractive price to an average consumer, than it is to produce a huge number of low quality versions of the same product.

That’s how many of us reason, though the truth is a far cry from it. That said, let me take you through the five ways you can use quality to boost your business in a way that quantity doesn’t stand a chance: 

Use quality to stay on target.

Directing your marketing campaigns aimlessly will render most of your effort fruitless. Taking your time to research or analyzing your marketing campaign to make sure it’s appropriate for a given demographic can save your business the thousands of dollars that could have otherwise gone to waste had you choose to advertise your business purposelessly.

Knowing your target market is paramount. Essentially, success of your business is dependent on it. It is a way of communicating with your target market so they (your customers) will buy your products and/or services. It is a necessary element of business because a constant marketing effort is required to establish, stabilize and grow a successful business. How do you identify your target market?

4 Ways to Identify Your Target Market:

1. Demographics:  The age, gender, income, family composition and size, occupation, and education of your customers.
2. Geographic: The location, size of the area, density, and climate zone of your customers.
3. Behaviors:  The needs they seek to fulfill the level of knowledge, information sources, attitude, use or response to a product of your customers.
4. Psychographics:  The general personality, behavior, life-style, rate of use, repetition of need, benefits sought, and loyalty characteristics of your customers.

 

Steer clear of customer service automation. 

Unless you’re among the few entrepreneurs who lack customer service skills, then using automation to interact with your customers is not good for your business.  In a recent online survey by Nuance Communications, a provider in automated customer service solutions;  the top complaint of 1,000 U.S. consumers top was not being able to reach a real person via an automated system.

Instead of letting the lazy part of your brain take dominance, take your time to train your customer service representatives to handle the job appropriately. And if the calls you get overwhelm you, simple logic would demand that you hire more agents to reduce your workload.

 

Keep all your products near perfect.

None of the products you produce or the services you offer will ever be perfect. But that’s NOT to say you should balk at striving for perfection.

Instead of producing 100 mediocre products, stick to one and only move to the next when you’re convinced the first one meets all your expectations. In doing so, you’ll end up creating a community of loyal customers who’ll stick around come what may, which is actually a good thing if you’re aiming for a long term growth.

 

Pass up any Search Engine Optimization ‘SEO’ shortcut.

That’s right, if you are tempted… don’t do it! Tactics such as keyword stuffing, using duplicate content and. link scheming have been widely used, but will surely cause your website a drop in ranking due to algorithm changes.  No one has ever used black hat tricks to bolster their popularity in the worldwide web and ever gotten with it.  

If Google won’t catch up with you and penalize you for it, be rest assured none of the visitors you get will be there for a long-stay. If you’re lucky, this may work for you in the short run, but it’s just a matter before the roof caves on you to ruin your fest.  So, if you don’t want to see your business go from a viable source of revenue to dead weight, avoid using ‘SEO’ shortcuts.

 

Always aim for quality leads. 

Low quality leads are a complete waste of effort, time and resources. If the leads you’re hunting for don’t actually guarantee sales, then you’re better off directing your effort elsewhere. Speaking of which, high quality leads are good for better reporting, segmentation and automation.

Take your time to research on your best possible group of buyers and shift your focus entirely on them to add value on the number of leads you get.

Here are 3 ways to get more targeted leads:   

• E-mail: Create an effective e-mail campaign to target more qualified leads. The idea is to create an irresistible opt in offer that your idea client will sign up for in exchange for contact information.
• Seminars or Teleseminars: Whether online or in-person, hosting a ‘how to’ informational event will allow you to capture a group of people interested in your message at one time. In addition, this event can be recorded for re purposing later.
• Direct mail: Think direct mail marketing is dead… think again! A study done by the Direct Marketing Association revealed that the response rate for direct mail to an existing customer averages 3.4 percent, compared to 0.12 percent for email. With most correspondence being done via email, there is nothing nicer than receiving a postcard with a personal note from you, as your company’s President. Here are 3 ways to make your direct mail count:
  • Offer a great coupon or promotion – Nothing is more enticing than the feeling of ‘saving’ on a quality product or service. By offering a ‘deal’ for first time buyers or returning customers will keep your company at the top of their mind when the time arise to make that purchase.
  • Personalize your pieces – it will improve the odds of a potential customer reading and taking action.
  • Educate the consumer – don’t assume people know about your company, take time to educate them in your message. Make your headline appealing enough to draw them in to the body of your copy.

 

As you can see, only a bigoted entrepreneur can bank on the idea of quantity over quality. Successful entrepreneurs, mostly because they’re always focused on the big picture, understand the primacy of quality in determining the success of a business. That said, how else do you think quality can be a great plus for up-and-coming entrepreneurs who are in for long term growth and success?