Marketing Consulting
In the previous two blog posts, we highlighted two of Focus on Aging’s services: continuing education and recruiting. Now, we would like to share more about the backbone of Focus on Aging — our marketing consulting services.
How Focus on Aging’s marketing services have evolved
I always explain that I entered the marketing world through the back door. I started in the older adult nonprofit world, writing grants and developing community programs. In order to maintain the grant money for these programs, they had to be fully operating with clients. Though the work done to build these programs was never explicitly labeled as marketing work, it provided invaluable exposure to marketing in the aging industry. This experience led to the creation of Focus on Aging.
After many years of providing marketing consulting in the elder care field, Focus on Aging saw that many of the same marketing strategies we used for our clients were applicable to most other fields. Upon this realization, Focus on Aging decided to branch out beyond elder care and began providing marketing services to lawyers, physicians, nonprofits and mental health services. This change prompted us to add a tagline to the business name, and thus over five years ago, Focus on Aging and More was born.
When does our typical client approach us?
- When they feel they could ramp up their sales and marketing departments
- When a dip in their sales numbers is apparent
- When new trends require a change in marketing
- When an existing company or start-up want our expertise in their field
What we do as marketing consultants
We use a multi-faceted approach to marketing and tailor our approach to each client. Since each business is unique, we don’t use a “one size fits all” strategy. We always look at the big picture and start with an in-depth interview and assessment. We review the strengths and weaknesses of our clients to see how we can help. From there we create an easy-to-follow marketing plan. Oftentimes we assist with the implementation of the plan. Some clients hire us for a more detailed strategic marketing plan which could be as long as 60 pages and take months to complete.
As our marketing efforts take effect and our clients see positive results, we emphasize the necessity of keeping the marketing strategy in place. Often, we are hired by repeat clients who need a little marketing regeneration. Even successful businesses can begin to wane, but having a steady marketing plan will allow business to easily grow again.
Our Marketing Strategies
We use many different marketing strategies, but have always excelled at helping our clients build relationships. We help identify and target our clients’ primary referral sources, resulting in business growth. Although many businesses already know their obvious referral sources, we also help our clients explore where there could be other non-obvious referrals waiting for them. After we pinpoint many of the non-traditional potential referral sources, we work with our clients to develop sustaining relationships with them.
The following list is a sampling of important business aspects to keep in mind while marketing:
- Competition: Know what your competitors are doing. Also, there will be times when they could be in a position to refer to you.
- Customer Service: Problems will always occur, but how you handle them reflects your business.
- Delivery: Always deliver what you promise.
- Close the Sale: Oftentimes it is just a matter of asking for their business.
- Follow-up: Too often, someone starts building a relationship, has one meeting, but then drops the ball.
- Passion: Potential clients and referral sources can tell when passion for your products and services is fake. It’s hard to be successful when you don’t like what you do.
If you have any questions about Focus on Aging or our marketing consulting services, please contact us.
