Launching a project, but no first clients? Has the project started and product launch failures are constantly occurring? We decided to help budding entrepreneurs sort out the most common mistakes in marketing and sales.
However, be vigilant of legal matters. If there is any unpaid tax, clear it before tax investigation HMRC contacts you or send you a notification.
Here is how the entrepreneurs make the top 7 mistakes which you shouldn’t do:
1. Test the Product/Service
All startups conduct a test run of the service or to see whether the product /service is in demand or not and whether competitive advantages are clearly formulated. As customer feedback generates sales.
But then the question of time arises: do we give enough time to test the product/service? Very often we come across the fact that when testing a working hypothesis, projects simply do not give the client time to understand what the new product or services will be about.
It is recommended to not to spend more than 1-2 months in a test run and then move on to building a brand.
2. Promotions and Sales
Too much enthusiasm for the first sales: promotions, discounts, free testing, etc. does not allow building a brand for a new service. And building a brand is critical for a startup and a new product. Everything is based on trust, understanding how the service will work, on building relationships between the client and the service. Description of the price, start immediately with discounts without explaining the value of the product.
Take the time and attention to develop a name for the new service; it should contain value to the customer, a play on words, and competitive advantages. Don’t use false tactics for promotion and generate revenue otherwise you might get a notification of HMRC investigation. Therefore, be careful with your sales plans and discounts, promotions, promos should not exceed 30% of the budget.
3. Product Benefits or Customer Values
The advantages of the product, service, and brand values should be formulated not only in the internal documents of the company but also in all advertising materials (on the landing page, social networks, all advertisements). The question is, how do you communicate your competitive advantage? It is not the attributes of the product itself that are important to the customers, but how you help solve their problems and satisfy their needs.
Deliver value to the customers: a) you can build long-term loyal customers; b) it will help you grow your business and build a positive brand reputation. So, communicate brand values to the customers and tell them what benefits they will receive.
4. Telemarketing
Services that are complex in technical development need the support of the call center, even if the founder thinks that the product is understandable in one click, as a rule, the user needs to explain how the innovation works, guide it through the new interface, and for this it is important to create instructions for the call center. Often, advertising campaign marketing is not related to telemarketing, or even calls center sales.
5. Late in Innovation
For most startups, the most painful thing is finding a balance: to do investment in a product, bring it to perfection or launch a promotion of a quickly raw product. As a result, they receive complaints from the users. Unfortunately, there will not be a ready-made recommendation here, everything depends on the individual. Those businesses that fall behind in the innovation usually are not able to match with the new technologies later.
As a rule, it is important for a startup to move at high speeds, and to provide the market with a “raw” but relevant solution, because niches are filled very quickly by other players.
6. Educational Marketing
As a rule, people don’t know anything about a new product, and it is important to educate the consumer to use the new service. It is important to create educational lectures, workshops, marathons to immerse the consumer in the context of your product. The more innovation is in a product, the more important training is.
Despite the seeming simplicity of the recommendations, for many startups, the path from intuitive planning to the formation of processes takes about a year, and well-oiled processes allow them to scale the business and increase the company’s profit.