Got sales questions? Call: 0800 802 1557
Got sales questions? Call: 0800 802 1557
How to choose the right sales & marketing systems for your business
Gareth Everson
Key takeaways
You can systemise your sales and marketing for as little as £16.43 per day, including advertising-based lead generation.
A critical success factor of scalable, consistent businesses is that they manage to avoid 'blip weeks', where leads or sales are patchy or non-existent.
Advertising traffic to drip leads into systemised funnels delivers the most consistent source of leads.
As a general rule of thumb, invest at least 10% of your target business revenues on marketing activities.
Earlier in your growth, devote more budget to creating foundations of scalable, repeatable systems (65-70% of your marketing budget), and the remainder to get eyeballs on your marketing funnel content via advertising.
As you grow, you will gradually spend higher proportions on advertising and promotion.
A £24,000 to £60,000 revenue per year business will spend approximately £500/mo (or just £16.43/day) on systems (70% of total marketing spend) and advertising (30% of spend).
A £250,000 revenue per year business will spend approximately £2000/mo (or just £65.75/day) on systems (48% of total marketing spend), advertising and outbound marketing (52%).
Introduction
This guide will help you to choose the sales and marketing systems to help run your business without paying for expensive services that somebody else runs for you.
It's for service, therapy or high ticket product businesses who have been trading for a few years. It will help you to choose what to systemise in your business at different stages of its growth. If your business is smaller, then jump to this section.
Your goal - where possible - is to automate key parts of your customer journey using technology, not people. Technology is more scalable and profitable, and your customers will have better, more consistent experiences.
The table below covers good systems to focus on based on the size of business you're looking to be at the end of the next rolling 12 months. If you have questions, please ask.
Marketing systems investment overview
Business Size
Approx. Turnover
Getting Going
£2000 to £5,000 / mo
VAT Threshold
~£7000 / mo
Growth
~£10,000 / mo
Scale Up
£20,000+ / mo
Goals For Your Success
Get leads from multiple organic sources with some remarketing ad budget, then use email to stay front of mind.
No blank weeks.
Have a great entry offer to promote that gives you consistent, profitable leads every week.
Funnels that include premium and deluxe offers. High quality experience for your audience & customers.
Multiple scalable lead sources. Systems that manage customers' experiences across multiple team members.
Budget
Systems: £350
+ Advertising: £150
(£5/day ads)
Total: £500 / mo
Per Day: £16.43
Systems: £450
+ Advertising: £250
(£7.50/day ads + £25)
Total: £700 / mo
Per Day: £23.01
Systems: £650
+ Advertising: £350
(£10/day ads + £50)
Total: £1000 / mo
Per Day: £32.88
Systems: £1050
+ Advertising: £950
(£20/day ads + £350)
Total: £2000 / mo
Per Day: £65.75
Systems To Run
Systems that will grow with your business:
Everything for 'Getting Going' businesses, plus:
or Facebook Ads
SMS marketing
Everything for 'VAT Threshold', plus:
Everything for 'Growth' businesses, plus:
System-By-System Guide
Lead Generation Systems
Lead generation systems help you to systematically add more leads to your sales pipeline. Choose options from the list below that will generate leads consistently for your business.
Website & Funnels Lead Capture System
What this system is: Your website, social media profiles and funnels should have one function: to capture more leads. Visitors come to one of your pages via search, ad or social media profile visit because they have a problem. It is your duty to take them to the next step to solve that problem. To do this, you need to capture their details as a lead. If they do not become a lead, you cannot help them.
Businesses who need it: All business sizes, but it is especially important that smaller businesses get this right. Your reputation, or past customer database won't carry you through the dips where you're not capturing new leads.
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages
Outcome: A consistent and predictable flow of new leads every week
Opportunities: Make every page on your site count with multiple ways to capture leads: opt-in forms, telephone numbers to call, a number to text an enquiry, a chat widget, a meeting booking form etc
Ways to automate: Landing pages, enquiry forms, pop-up forms that appear when somebody goes to navigate away from your site ('exit intent offers'), blog pages with download opt-ins, infographics. Use the Lemonade Plan page builder to create a Linktree-style profile link page that you can send traffic to from your social media profiles.
Problems to avoid: Don't get buried in creating content for content's sake. A distracted visitor will not take the action you want them to take and will leave your site, profile or funnel page without leaving their details.
Facebook Custom Audiences System
What this system is: Facebook Custom Audiences are advertising 'lists' of your database contacts and website visitors who have things in common. With the best will in the world, not all your leads read all your emails, nor do all your visitors return to your website.
So by automatically sending these leads from your Lemonade Plan CRM into segmented Facebook Custom Audiences, you can use those audiences to run 'remarketing' ads on the platform, ads that are cost-effective to run and keep your message and offers in front of people who have not yet bought from you.
Businesses who need it: All business sizes
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages: the functionality to create audiences in Facebook is included in all plans. You just pay for the ad budget on Facebook.
Outcome: Speed up the time it takes past leads and visitors to rediscover you, present your offer more frequently to them than they'd otherwise see, and gently move them towards buying from you via one more marketing medium.
Opportunities: Highly-targeted and - because of this - one of the much lower cost ways of advertising to your audience. As your Facebook Custom Audience lists grow in size, you can also ask Facebook to create 'Lookalike Audiences' of people who do not know you yet but who have very similar characteristics to people on your existing lists.
Ways to automate: We'll help you to apply the Facebook pixel to your website, landing pages and funnels, and to set up Lemonade Plan's automation workflows to send people to Facebook and manage the Custom Audiences they're members of based on their status with you: new lead, old lead, customer, past customer etc.
Problems to avoid: Make sure your Facebook properly convey who you are in other settings they'll have seen you, and regularly vary the ads they see from you to keep things interesting for them.
Google AdWords Management System
What this system is: Google Search Ads (keyword searches) is the most accessible way to get a variety of ready-to-buy, or action-ready visitors to your website and funnels. It's a direct route to tap into people typing into Google searches the problem that they have, and your service appearing towards the top of that list of pages to solve it. Unlike SEO or traditional media where you have less control, the best thing is that you can set the flow of leads from the tap to a level of that works for you, and increase or decrease the flow as you need. You can also test ad and landing page messaging, split testing different settings to optimise results that come from it.
Businesses who need it: VAT Threshold, Growth & Scale-Up Businesses (£5,000+/mo)
Cost: £100/mo or £1,000/yr (17% saving) for the automated management system. You just pay for the ad budget on Google, setting a budget that works for you, from ~£5/day and upwards.
Outcome: A consistent and predictable flow of new leads every week that drop into your CRM when you're working on other things. By showing responsive (automated) follow-up you can show leads that you're committed to solving that problem they went to Google with in the first place.
Opportunities: There are more leads to source from Google AdWords than you will ever need and lots of competition that we can spy on to get your ads and landing page copy dialled in for success.
Ways to automate: We'll help you define your AdWord campaigns, create targeted landing pages / funnels, and then manage your ad spend using optimisation rules that adjust your bids for different circumstances - positions, times of day, days of the week, locations etc. This saves you stress, hours of manual effort and budget.
Problems to avoid: AdWords success comes from precision. And by definition, runaway costs come from imprecision, or oversight. Our management system will help you to avoid general keywords (known as 'broad match'), keep an eye on keywords we don't want to pay for (known as 'negative keywords'), and monitor your weekly budgets. Cost Per Click ('CPC') is usually higher the closer the language the user's search is to being ready to buy ('buying intent'). This can make the Cost Per Lead ('CPL') expensive, so it is important that you understand your offer and margins you need to cover.
To address these challenges, Lemonade Plan's CRM tracks leads by their source so that you can see what keywords and campaigns lead to paying customers for even more accuracy. Most businesses waste significant percentages of their spend on Google AdWords but we give you the management systems to stay in full control.
Facebook Ads Management System
What this system is: Where Google Ads was a 'reaching demand', with prospective buyers typing in the problem they have and you appearing towards the top of those exact searches, Facebook Ads is more about you 'agitating demand' in your target audience. You tell Facebook the type of people you want to target - by interests, demographics, what you know about their common traits - and you present your ads to them to stimulate an underlying need, or emotion to take action on something. The viewer hasn't logged in to Facebook to see your ad and you're disrupting their flow and thought process to present your opt-in offer.
Businesses who need it: VAT Threshold, Growth & Scale-Up Businesses (£5,000+/mo)
Cost: £100/mo or £1,000/yr (17% saving) for the automated management system. You just pay for the ad budget on Facebook, setting a budget that works for you, from ~£5/day and upwards.
Outcome: A consistent and predictable flow of new leads every week that drop into your CRM when you're working on other things. With the right nurturing, they then bubble up to the surface as booked sales appointments once they're qualified and in buying mode.
Facebook Ads are great for 'poking the bear' services, encouraging somebody to take the action they were putting off, or thinking they should do anyway but hadn't done until now, or to take an action that is low risk and easy to do.
Opportunities: Facebook's user base is huge and its ad targeting gives you a way to target prospective buyers in more ways than any other advertising platform. Leads are likely to cost less, but are less qualified.
Ways to automate: By contrast to Google Ads where your target can be further along the buying decision process, Facebook Ads are likely to attract somebody much earlier in that discovery / decision cycle, less qualified to buy immediately. So you need to be prepared for your follow up to add more value and insight for longer with more follow-up.
Problems to avoid: As with Google Ads, imprecision costs money. The more targeted your audience and your messaging, the more effectively your ads are likely to perform. Being less precise will cost considerably more per lead. Once you have the lead, don't be pushy. Calls to action should be gentler ('if this is you, book an appointment'). Their journey to becoming a qualified lead in buying mode may well take longer. Be prepared for that longer nurture and education process.
Direct Mail Outreach Campaign System
What this system is: In a world where your message can get hidden by other emails or busy social media news feeds, sending physical mail can be a great way to stand out and get noticed.
Automated direct mail is known as 'hybrid mail'. It's where you trigger mailings digitally in your CRM to an online delivery service that hosts your digital templates online. They then print your mailings using high quality print machinery, 'merging' the contacts' information into those templates. Once printed, they're delivered Standard or 1st Class by Royal Mail. Mailings can take the format of letters, postcards, folded newsletters or letters with inserts.
It's an excellent format to use to (1) re-engage past customers, (2) to share case studies and examples with people who are similar to those who've bought from you before before and, (3) for new cold leads, to get your message in front of highly targeted suspects who do not yet know you.
Businesses who need it: Growth & Scale-Up Businesses (£7,000+/mo)
Cost: £100/mo or £1,000/yr (17% saving) for the automated management system which includes design and template set up support, plus the cost of mailings (£0.63 to £0.99 per unit depending on format).
Outcome: For those who open and read your mailings, you capture their attention for longer in a format that few of your competitors are using.
Opportunities: Direct mail is great in B2C or B2B settings. In a B2C setting you might use it to target buyers like those who've already bought from you. This might be the houses either side of a home you've worked on, plus three opposite neighbours. In a B2B setting it can be used to put your message in front of people who wouldn't normally discover you.
In both settings, it's also an excellent way to accelerate action for those who've taken an initial opt-in step with you, further nurturing them towards action in a more attentive way than email alone.
Direct Mail Outreach is a great way of staying in contact with tricky to reach or to engage people and will often lead to positive results even months after sending as recipients hold onto the mailings in a way they never would with email.
Ways to automate: Direct Mail requires clean, verified addresses and contact information. It can be triggered in sequences by automation workflows or one-off mailing triggers. Automation sequences can be automatically stopped when a contact takes the desired action, or continued until completion.
A3 format documents folded as A4 sized pages, and sent in A5-sized envelopes are one of many excellent formats. There is plenty of real estate to get your message across and the print looks really professional. They're £0.99+vat per mailing and a timed sequence of 6 mailings over a 90-day window will cost £5.94+vat. A well-targeted and well-written sequence with a good offer may result in a 5-7% lead conversion rate from cold; or up to double that rate from warmer lists. That equates to ~£99 per qualified lead from cold, or ~£50 per qualified lead from warmer lists. Is that good value for your business? If you're already getting leads from other sources but could top up your diary with leads at that rate would it make sense to do so? Book a call if you'd like to explore options.
Problems to avoid: Direct mail success is a factor of 3 things: (1) the targeting and accuracy of your mailing list, (2) how engaging the copy is for that audience, and (3) how compelling the offer is to take a next action with you. Any of those factors can impact the success, so it's important to test variations, make gradual improvements and measure the outcomes.
Cold Email Outreach Campaign System
What this system is: Cold email outreach as a system is an outbound lead generation method that uses emails sent to targeted recipients who do not yet know you with the goal of getting the person receiving the email to take up an offer to book a meeting with you.
It is a marketing medium that allows you to target large numbers of leads who - under other circumstances - might not discover you or know about your service.
It is against the law to cold email consumers (B2C), but you are permitted to email companies (B2B), as long as you apply the guidance that the Information Commissioner's Office advises. They say:
"You can email or text any corporate body. However, it is good practice – and good business sense – to keep a ‘do not email or text’ list of any businesses that object or opt out, and screen any new marketing lists against that."
Sending cold emails without 'unsubscribe' links this is not GDPR compliant practice. We will help you to include links to unsubscribe in all your emails.
Even though you are permitted by law to send cold email to businesses, the recipients may still perceive your email as spam. To minimise the risk and impact of this, we will help you to set up systems to target businesses that your offer is relevant for and to send emails that are both GDPR compliant and give the recipient easy ways to tell you that they do not wish to receive it, that are more obvious than marking your email as spam. To remove any reputation risk on your main business and email domain, we'll help you set up alternative email domains to send from.
Businesses who need it: Scale-Up Businesses (£10,000+/mo) who sell in a B2B setting. This is a marketing mechanism for well-established businesses who have a well-optimised first offer.
Cost: £250/mo or £2,500/yr (17% saving) for the automated management system. The system includes a separate CRM account and 500 new leads per month. This allows you to send cold emails to approximately 25 new leads per working day. When these leads take action, they'll be automatically added to your primary CRM.
Outcome: For the right businesses, this system produces a consistent and predictable flow of new leads every month that book time with you in your diary in an automated way, while you're working on other things. They are pre-qualified and filtered, and are open to discussions about your well-established offer.
Opportunities: Cold email outreach allows you to find and approach leads who wouldn't discover your service under other circumstances.
Ways to automate: Our system helps you to source leads at the start of the month and then run drip-fed email campaigns across the rest of the month to target approximately 25 new leads per working day with a 3 or 4-step email follow up workflow.
Those who do not take action on the introductory email sequence can be added to your targeted Facebook Custom Audience remarketing lists advertising system.
Problems to avoid: This is definitely not a marketing medium for businesses who have not yet optimised a customer offer. Nor is it a carte blanche to send emails to any and every business that your offer is not relevant for. The best successes come from very well-targeted lists and good or great offers.
Affiliate Marketing & Referrals Rewards System
What this system is: Affiliate marketing is a way to reward referrers who introduce leads to you. It tracks introductions using affiliate links. Affiliate links are website links unique to specific referrers that when used in emails, on blog posts or in social media can track the source of a lead who fills in a form or buys a service back to the original referrer.
For leads who eventually become customers, you pay out one-off or recurring referral fees to referring affiliates from sales you've made. We will help you to set up the affiliate management system up to do manage the administration of this process for you.
Affiliate marketing is a popular model for businesses who have a clear value proposition, compelling and established offer for customers and excellent customer service. It's popular for referrers because they can be rewarded for the value of their network and word of mouth introductions without having to fulfil projects.
Businesses who need it: Scale-Up Businesses (£10,000+/mo)
Cost: £50/mo or £500/yr (17% saving) for the automated management system. Affiliate payouts can be made directly from cleared payments from customers so it is always a cash-flow positive marketing mechanism.
Outcome: Affiliate marketing is valuable for businesses because you only need to pay out when a lead becomes a customer, so can be very profitable and cost effective.
Opportunities: Affiliate marketing is a great way of rewarding your delighted clients, who might refer your services anyway, but are more likely to do so and to systemise the process in their own business if doing so can become a valuable income source for them.
Ways to automate: Identify products and services that you would like to reward referring affiliates for introductions into. Set up those products and your affiliates on the affiliate management module that we will provide you with and offer training to us. Then provide affiliates with training and marketing resources to promote your opt-in offers. Establish a diarised cycle of communications and payouts each month that let your affiliates know how many referrals they've made, how many have become customers, and what their payout is that month.
Problems to avoid: You need to maintain strong relationships with your affiliates, answer questions promptly, and provide joint marketing materials or customisable resources that they can use to easily tailor and refer leads to you. It's also important that you pay out promptly, accurately and consistently. Nothing damages your reputation as an affiliate manager than being slow to payout or inaccurate in your affiliate commissions. We'll help you to create monthly checklists and systems to manage this process.
Sales Management Systems
Sales management systems help you to close more qualified leads with more consistency and effectiveness. Choose options from the list below that help you to stay on top of your sales pipeline.
Opportunity Management & Tracking System
What this system is: Opportunity management and tracking gives you a visual picture of where all your leads and sales opportunities are.
One of the most common reasons businesses look to systemise their sales and marketing, or - at the very least - implement CRM software is to be able to stay on top of leads and sales opportunities. Leads who get lost turn cold are costing your business two-fold: (1) it's a waste of the money or time it took to get that lead in the first place, and (2) it's starving your business of sales revenues you would be making if you were staying on top of your follow up.
Businesses who need it: All sizes of businesses need to be able to stay on top of their leads and opportunities. Solopreneurs get busy and distracted, and teams overlook opportunities that team members think somebody else is looking after.
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcome: Manage all your leads and opportunities in one single view in a CRM, tracking stages they've reached and following up in a timely and stage-related context.
Opportunities: 'Lost' leads become a thing of the past when you can visualise which opportunities sit where. Team sales reviews have a clear focus and from an optimisation perspective, it's possible to identify gaps, delays and ways to improve performance and sales pace.
Ways to automate: With the way you can capture leads into Lemonade Plan from any communications source (forms, emails, DMs, phone), it's also possible to automatically create sales opportunity records that are trackable and manageable.
Problems to avoid: Collecting sales information and opportunities in a consistent, accessible format is valuable for your business. But that value erodes if you don't schedule regular reviews - hourly, daily or weekly depending on the relevance - to stay on top of those opportunities. Left alone, it doesn't take long to end up back where you were with follow-up chaos and overlooked leads. Systemising a process using software only goes so far. Establish the review and management processes that go along with how software helps you to manage this.
Sales Funnel Automation System
What this system is: Sales opportunities change over time. Many move between stages, some go stale. Sales Funnel Automation allows you to automate moves between pipeline stages when your prospect takes an action like booking a meeting, or when an opportunity has been in one stage for a period of time (e.g. after 30 days). With those moves, you can also systemise actions like moving to different email automation workflows, trigger task reminders for staff, or automatically record notes on the record. It's another tool in your kit to keep leads engaged so that you don't lose them.
Businesses who need it: All sizes of businesses need to be able to stay on top of their leads and opportunities. Solopreneurs use automations to improve the customer experience, teams use them to standardise the way that they operate.
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcome: Your leads, prospects, clients and past clients feel engaged, informed and supported, even when you have a tiny team and couldn't manage all this engagement and support just on your own.
Opportunities: With every stage move - automated or manual - have a plan that keeps your lead engaged and nurtured, even if it's just one or a handful of emails. Staying in touch, and keeping them informed of what's happening or what value you're helping them with adds credibility and trust.
Ways to automate: Think of stage moves as triggers for 'micro-automations'. Put yourself in your lead or customer's shoes and consider what you would like to receive at that point. Is it a quick text, an email acknowledgement, answers to their FAQs (or your value-adding 'SAQ's - 'Should' Ask Questions), a thank you card or letter? Give thought to other services you might link in to the process: should we be adding them to a specific Facebook Custom Audience? Or removing them from one (e.g. if they've just bought?!).
Problems to avoid: Don't leave contacts to go stale. Nothing creates a bigger 'cliff drop' in a customer's journey than the communications experience going from 'active', to 'non-existent'. Consider this especially when a customer has just bought from you.
Automated Meeting Booking & Follow-up System
What this system is: An automated meeting booking and follow-up system allows you to set availability in an online calendar and allow leads to book time directly into it. Once they have done so, the 'follow-up' part of the system sends a diary invitation, and email reminders and other FAQs in the run up to the appointment. You'll likely have seen partial solutions online by businesses such as Calendly, who offer appointment booking but without the same level of email automation customisation in the run up to the meeting.
An example of the automated meeting booking workflow is the one below where you can book time with me.
Businesses who need it: All sizes of businesses can benefit from automated meeting booking and follow up.
For single person businesses, it reduces time you have to spend playing 'email tennis' getting meetings booked in and your prospects don't have to wait for you to be available to confirm.
For multi-person teams, you can offer appointments that look at multiple team members' availability so that you can be more responsive to prospects who want to book at times that are on their terms. Your clients can also book onto multi-person / group sessions, or an ongoing series of appointments which works well for treatments or coaching. And to minimise meeting / Zoom fatigue, you can set a maximum number of appointments that can be booked per day.
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcome: Get appointments booked in your diary at times that work for you and for your leads or clients.
Opportunities: Save time with back and forth email 'appointment tennis' or phone tag trying to book appointments in your diary. It keeps sales momentum and makes client activities run smoother.
Ways to automate: You can show different appointment booking calendars at different stages of your sales pipeline and on different funnels and pages. When you use different appointment types, you can also automate the follow up in ways that are relevant for that appointment type.
Problems to avoid: There are few downsides or gotchas to be aware of with this. If you have multiple online diaries - for example a work and a personal calendar - then just make sure that the connected work account has those personal appointments blocked out in it so that you don't take bookings at times you do not want to.
Send Offers & Get Paid Systems
What this system is: Getting paid promptly is crucial to business operations. This business system is all about being able to send offers via email or text, automated or within a pre-defined template. The lead receives a unique payment link that takes them to a secure order form. This is known as 'text-to-pay' or 'click-to-pay'.
Businesses who need it: All sizes of business benefit from being able to get paid quickly.
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcomes: Positive cash flow, time saved chasing payments and a positive, professional customer experience.
Opportunities: As well as the opportunity to get paid quicker, text-to-pay also offers businesses a simple way to offer upsells.
Ways to automate: Offers can be incorporated into your automation workflows at appropriate times.
Problems to avoid: Don't overcomplicate your range of services or products. Offer choice but don't compromise your ability to deliver a high quality customer service experience by offering services that aren't within your realm of expertise.
Create & Send Quotes / Proposals System
What this system is: In some circumstances and business settings there's more of an expectation from leads that you'll provide them with documented quote or proposal follow-ups to sales meetings. Quotes are usually summary tables of products or services with a short text section describing the work that you will provide; proposals tend to be longer, more detailed and slightly more involved, describing the journey of the work or experience that you will take the new customer through, often including images or diagrams.
Without a system to create these, the time it takes to create these sales documents can run away with your attention, eat into time that you'd planned for other activities, or squeeze the margins that you make from jobs.
Businesses who need it: Growth & Scale-Up Businesses (£7,000+/mo)
Cost: £50/mo or £500/yr (17% saving) for the automated management system and design service. We'll help you create a bank of ready-to-complete quotes or proposal templates that you can complete and send after sales appointments and get agreed promptly by clients to keep momentum with the job or project and get money in the bank quickly.
Outcome: If you have partially written templates, accessible quickly via your CRM software, then it's easier to complete and send the quote or proposal to the prospect. Linking their contact information and job details automatically into the document saves time, as does being able to pull in products and services that already exist in the sales pipeline or products section of the CRM. 80% prepared in advance with good, easily accessible and manageable templates is a good rule of thumb start point.
Opportunities: Being slow to follow up from sales appointments sets a very poor impression with your prospects. This is what you should avoid. This is the way your competition operates. By positive contrast, sending quotes or proposals quickly following sales meetings sets a very good, professional impression with clients. You become the service benchmark against which they're comparing others and even if you charge 10-20% more than the alternative, their perception of you as a professional, organised service provider may well see the client choose you. Small details make a huge difference.
Ways to automate: As well as having a process to send the quote or proposal - including a professional cover email - another factor that makes a big difference with prospects is how you follow up on a quote or proposal. Try to send the quote or proposal on the same day as the sales appointment, then task yourself with calling or making a quick video for the prospect 36 hours later. After that, follow up in a timely but helpful fashion in the days, weeks or even months following. For more of an idea on what you can automate or how you can follow up, see this 'Quote Follow Up Must-Haves' video, and this video on 'How Long Should You Follow Up On Sales Quotes'.
Problems to avoid: Don't fall into the trap of having too many quote or proposal templates. Remember that speed and quality wins the perception race, and you're far more likely to be able to deliver a high level of customer service if you stick to delivering products and services that you delivery frequently.
Online Product & Membership Site System
What this system is: The Online Product & Membership Site System is your gateway to creating a sustainable, engaging online community. It's a platform designed to help you deliver exclusive content, courses, or services, maintaining a steady revenue stream with minimal effort.
Businesses who need it: Growth & Scale-Up Businesses (£7,000+/mo)
Cost: £50/mo or £500/yr (17% saving) for the software and support to manage your membership system.
Outcome: By implementing this system, you'll enhance customer loyalty, ensure a steady income, and build a strong community around your brand. It's not just a revenue stream; it's an investment in your brand's future.
Opportunities: This system opens doors to diverse income streams - from exclusive content and courses to member-only services. It's a chance to monetise your expertise and create a dedicated audience.
Ways to automate: Streamline your operations with automated payment processing, content delivery, and membership renewals. Focus more on content creation and less on administrative tasks. Re-purpose snippets of your member training and community webinars into scheduled social media posts to grow awareness and interest.
Problems to avoid: Steer clear of overwhelming your audience with too much content, neglecting member engagement, or underestimating the value of your offerings. Balance is key to maintaining a thriving membership site.
Content & Communications Systems
Content and communications systems help you to interact with your leads and customers in a consistent, repeatable and accessible way.
Choose options from the list below that help you to stay on top of how you do this.
Content Generation & Copywriting System
What this system is: Harnessing the power of AI and ChatGPT, this system revolutionises your content generation. It's your go-to tool for crafting compelling web copy, email newsletters, and social media posts that resonate with your audience. With its intuitive interface and advanced capabilities, this system simplifies content creation, making it accessible even if you're not a seasoned writer.
Businesses who need it: All sizes of business
Cost: £100/mo or £1,000/yr (17% saving) for the AI software and guidance to create a body of engaging content for emails, social media and blog content each month.
Outcome: Expect a significant uptick in engagement and conversion rates. Your content will not only be more consistent and on-brand but also tailored to captivate your target audience. This leads to stronger customer relationships and higher retention rates.
Opportunities: This system opens doors to unexplored marketing avenues. Leverage AI-driven insights to tap into new customer segments, enhance your brand's voice, and stay ahead of trends. It's an opportunity to consistently deliver value and stay relevant in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Ways to automate: Streamline your content workflow with automated scheduling, topic generation, and performance analysis. This system integrates seamlessly with your existing tools, ensuring your marketing efforts are efficient and data-driven.
Problems to avoid: Beware of over-reliance on automation. While AI is a powerful tool, it's crucial to maintain a human touch in your content. Ensure personalisation and brand authenticity to avoid sounding generic. Regularly review and tweak AI suggestions to align with your unique brand voice.
Single Inbox Conversations System
What this system is: Having a single inbox in your CRM for your communications centralises all your customer interactions across email, SMS, WhatsApp, and social media messages. It streamlines communication, ensuring you and team members never miss a beat with your customers.
Businesses who need it: All sizes
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcome: You'll experience a more organised, efficient way of handling customer queries, leading to improved customer satisfaction and retention.
Opportunities: With everything in one place, you'll capitalise on every conversation, turning queries into sales and complaints into opportunities for service excellence.
Ways to automate: Integrate your CRM and use AI-driven tools to categorise, prioritise, and even respond to standard queries, saving you time and keeping your focus on growth.
Problems to avoid: Be wary of information overload. Keep your team trained and ensure they understand how to effectively manage the centralised inbox for optimal results.
Lead Nurture & Education Follow-Up System
What this system is: This system is a tailored email marketing strategy that nurtures your leads through consistent, informative content. It's designed to build trust and demonstrate your expertise, transforming problem-aware leads into customers who are ready and eager to buy.
Businesses who need it: All sizes
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcome: You'll see a marked increase in lead engagement and conversion rates. This system ensures your audience stays informed, interested, and moves smoothly through the buying process.
Opportunities: You'll unlock the potential to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. By regularly sharing valuable insights, you increase the likelihood of repeat business and referrals.
Ways to automate: Utilise automated email sequences tailored to different stages of the customer journey. This approach ensures timely and relevant communication with minimal manual effort.
Problems to avoid: Avoid overwhelming your audience with too frequent or irrelevant content. Balance is key; ensure each communication adds value and is strategically timed to nurture the relationship effectively.
Google and Facebook Reviews System
What this system is: The Google and Facebook Reviews System leverages automated tools to encourage satisfied clients to share their positive experiences on Google My Business and Facebook. It's designed to streamline the process of gathering and managing online reviews, ensuring your digital footprint shines with glowing testimonials from happy customers. You can also use it to reply to negative reviews and to manage the process of challenging spam reviews.
Businesses who need it: All sizes
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcome: Expect an enhanced online reputation and increased visibility. Positive reviews can boost your search engine ranking, making it easier for potential clients to find and trust your services.
Opportunities: Harnessing the power of positive feedback, this system opens doors to greater customer trust, improved online presence, and the potential to attract new clients.
Ways to automate: Utilise automated email and messaging campaigns to prompt customers for reviews post-purchase or service completion. Set up alerts to monitor and respond to new reviews efficiently - even automatically if you like -, to maintain an active and engaged online presence.
Problems to avoid: Be wary of aggressive solicitation for reviews which can deter clients. Also, stay vigilant against spam and manage negative feedback promptly and professionally to maintain a positive online reputation.
CRM & Business Process Automation Systems
What this system is: CRM and Business Process Automation Systems are your trusty sidekicks in managing customer interactions seamlessly. Picture a system that automates mundane tasks, like sending personalised emails or updating client records, so you can focus on what really matters - growing your business. It's like having an invisible assistant who knows your customers as well as you do, ensuring every interaction is smooth and personalised.
Businesses who need it: Scale-Up Businesses (£10,000+/mo)
Cost: This system is included in all Lemonade Plan packages.
Outcome: With this system, you'll see a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Your team will be more organised, and customers will appreciate the swift and tailored responses. It's all about creating a customer experience that feels both professional and personal, making sure your clients always feel valued and understood.
Opportunities: This system opens doors to deeper customer engagement and more efficient operations. By automating routine tasks, your team can concentrate on strategic initiatives, like developing new services or enhancing customer service. It's a chance to elevate your customer relations to new heights, turning every interaction into an opportunity to impress.
Ways to automate: Imagine automating appointment scheduling, follow-up emails, and feedback collection. These tasks, once time-consuming, become effortless, allowing you to capitalise on every opportunity to connect with and impress your customers.
Problems to avoid: Beware of over-automation. It's essential to maintain a personal touch. Ensure your automated communications are tailored and relevant to each customer. Also, keep a close eye on your system's performance to avoid glitches that could lead to customer dissatisfaction. Remember, the goal is to enhance customer experience, not replace the personal connection.
Sales & marketing systems for smaller businesses
This guide is aimed at businesses that have established themselves with a few years of trading, but what can you systemise if your business is smaller, or less established financially?
First systems for smaller startup businesses
When you're less established, you have to make the resources you have stretch further. Of the automated systems listed under the 'Startup' column above, the following summarises those activities you can run more cost-effectively, and those that eat into your budget, crossed-out.
Your website, socials and funnels should have one function: capture more leads
Use a CRM to track sales opportunities
Manage all communications in your CRM
Get appointments booked online
Get paid quickly
Use AI for better content ideas.Instead, you'll need to find time to create the social media, landing page and blog content for your business.Use email automation to follow up for longer.Instead, you'll need to send emails in broadcast mode, more manually, perhaps an email to your lists every couple of weeks.Automate Google & Facebook review requests.Set yourself reminders to ask for reviews once you've completed review-worthy work for your customers.Run remarketing ads on Facebook.At this stage you don't have budget for advertising. Save this until you're more established.
There's an entry-level tier of Lemonade Plan, called 'Connect'. It's available for £197/mo, or £1970/yr.
If your target business revenues at the end of this trading year are in the region of £20,000 or above, then it will make sense to to begin your business systemisation journey here.
Next Steps
Got Questions or Want To See More?
If you have additional questions, or would like to see more, why not book an appointment directly using the form below where we can explore your systems needs further. Want to see all the features in one place? See the full feature list here.
Book an appointment with Gareth Everson
Book a Lemonade Plan Demo
Contact
Lemonade Plan
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Got sales questions? 07445 047000