As Dan Kennedy, author of the No B.S. marketing books says, “Every business is a marketing business.” Only after business owners understand this key point are they ready to grow their business. Take this test to see how good your marketing is.
Grade yourself on each of the following key points with a traditional letter grade from A (for
excellent) to F (for failure, or when there is nothing done in an area):
1. Do you have a short answer for this question: Why, with all the other choices out there
(including the choice of doing nothing), should I buy from you? Grade____
2. Do you know the lifetime value of a new customer? Grade___
3. Do you make it easy to buy from you? Grade____
4. Do you understand that every contact with a customer is a marketing opportunity?
Grade___
5. Is there a script for all of your staff to use for every contact point with a customer?
Grade___
6. Do you have a clear strategic marketing plan? Grade___
7. Do you have a written marketing implementation plan for the next 30-60 days?
Grade___
8. Do you use this marketing plan to guide your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual sales
and marketing activity? Grade___
9. Do you act on your marketing plan? Grade___
10. Do you contact all your customers by mail, email, or phone every month so that they
don’t forget you? Grade___
11. Do you personally call your top customers monthly looking for new ways to better serve
them? Grade___
12. Does your company have a plan to upsell or cross-sell to every customer? Grade___
13. Do you have a clearly defined customer benefit statement for each of your products or
services? Grade___
14. Do you have a way to capture contact information for all prospects? Grade___
15. Do you have a systemized plan to turn prospects into customers? Grade___
16. Do you have good sales material? Grade____
17. Are you only using advertising and marketing tools that allow you to track effectiveness?
Grade___
18. Do you concentrate on selling to a particular niche rather than trying to be all things to all
people? Grade___
19. Do you have sales training meetings? Grade____
20. Do you have a marketing-based website? (A website that leads to sales or an
appointment, rather than an electronic business card.) Grade___
21. Do you use email marketing? Grade___
22. Do you use social media to educate your customers and build loyal fans? Grade___
23. Do you look for ways to WOW your customers on every sale? Grade___
24. After you have wowed them, do you ask for testimonials? Grade___
25. Do you look for ways to create marketing partnerships that are beneficial to both parties?
Grade___
26. Do you remember to thank your customers at least yearly? Grade___
Review the grades you gave yourself and work on improving any grades lower than a C.