How many times in your accountancy firm have you spent time and money on the wrong things?

For example, how much time and money has been spent on marketing your firm’s products and services without focusing on aligning your products and services with your clients’ needs and desires?

It’s so easy to focus 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:

• Recognise that branding is not just about logos or even communication. Branding is aligning and engaging the whole business with customer requirements
• 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)

How confident are you that your clients are totally happy with your products and services…

When was the last time you asked your clients how they feel about what you offer?

When you ask your clients 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 cans 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 lines 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.

It’s good to take time to listen to your clients ever-changing needs, just like Heinz did.