Posts tagged small business


Is this any way to sell a mansion?

Jun 10th

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One of the unfortunate side-effects of the recession is that yard sign-style advertisements are popping up like mushrooms after a rain. For $4.95 a sign, people are trying to out-shout the other guy by placing more signs in more places, resulting in a terrible community eyesore.

Amid the signs for house painters, tree trimmers and other day laborers I noticed the most ridiculous use of these signs — Jefferson Park, a waterfront development that is so upscale it recently hosted 5,000 visitors to a charity tour of homes. There are signs pointing the way to Jefferson Park on every street corner within a five mile radius of the development. I wondered, if I followed them, would it actually lead me there? I wound around town like a mouse in a maze and yes, I found it.

I spoke to the real estate representative for the community and asked her if the yard signs actually worked. “Well, they’re part of a larger branding program,” she said. “I don’t think it will sell a house, but when they see our ads in the newspaper and television and then see these signs, it helps their remembrance.”

In my humble estimation, this advertising technique demeans the brand and only creates visual pollution. Let’s find the lesson in this. Remember — everything you do and say communicates about your brand. What does this say about the Jefferson Park developers? These signs communicate: “I’m low-class and desperate.”

Is that a place YOU want to live?
Visit Schaefer Marketing Solutions at www.businessesGROW.com
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Are you big enough to have a brand?

Jun 9th

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Many business owners think their companies are too small to have a brand. Do YOU have a brand?
Yes, you do!

A brand is your promise to your customers.

It is the personification of your company.

It is defined by …

… everything you do and say
… everything you DON’T do and say
… what your customers say about you
… what your customers have to say about you

To demonstrate the power of the idea of “brand,” let me pose a question. What would you think if Coca-Cola announced it was moving beverage production to China to save money? You would be outraged, right? But why? Thousands of companies have out-sourced overseas with nary a whimper from the public. But Coke … well it’s all American, it’s the real thing. No! Not China.

Right?

So somehow this company has established a personality and a “promise” for sugar water. Pretty neat, huh? Take a look at the images above. Can a single letter elicit an emotion from you? THAT my friend is the power of a brand!

What about you? What do your customers think about when they hear about your company? What are you known for? What is YOUR promise to your customers?

If you can’t answer these questions, you better do some homework. If you haven’t defined your brand, your customers will. And, increasingly, your customers will, to. Through the Internet. everyone is a critic, publisher and reviewer. Word about a bad customer experience could be broadcast within moments of when it happens.

Today an influential blogger had a bad experience with an Apple store. He wrote a scathing article called “Go to hell Apple” … FROM THE STORE!

So yes, you have a brand. And it’s probably your most important business asset. Now go defend it!

Graphic credit: In The Picture Design

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What to do when customers are pounding you

Jun 4th

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It’s a buyer’s market and you are probably getting whacked with a big heavy customer stick to LOWER PRICES! There’s nothing you and I can do about the balance of power right now. However, I wanted to provide eight ideas for you to eke out some competitive advantage even in an environment of buyer power:
1) Raise switching costs. What can you do to make it excruciatingly painful for your customer to change to a competitor? In one example, I provided a customer with a software solution that my competitors didn’t offer. It made it so easy to do business with my company that even if the other guy came in with a lower price, it was going to be difficult for the customer to rip out that software. I was able to keep the business, even at a higher price.
2) Know your role in the supplier base. Are you the industry leader? Are you a new entry trying to gain share? Is your customer just using you to lower prices against the incumbent? Knowing these answers will help determine your pricing strategy.
3) Look to the long-term. The recession is a war. Are you in a position to win or lose? How are you trying to position yourself for the END of the recession? Is this the chance of a lifetime to build marketshare at the risk of short-term losses? Do you have the financial strength to outlast the other guy? Consider the long-term opportunities amid the short-term pain.
4) Involve the entire supply chain in the bid. Do unto others … if you are being pressed for price concessions, it’s only fair and wise to seek similar help from YOUR suppliers. What can be done to lower your costs of goods sold to put yourself in a better position to compete? Is it possible to strike pay-for-performance incentives with suppliers to help you win share?
5) Engineer the bid to be in your favor. Make sure the customer’s specifications incorporate ALL the value-added services that YOUR company can provide, making it just a little more difficult on the competitor. Here’s an example, in a highly competitive bid for an aluminum contract, I pointed out to our customer that specifying large coil sizes would improve their plant’s productivity. It just so happened that the leading competitor couldn’t manufacture that coil size. Oh well ….
6) Expand the pie. Instead of thinking about bidding on one piece of the pie, can you use this painful bidding process to create a bigger pie for the long-term? Can you trade price concessions in one area for opportunities to participate in other lines of business? Ask the question, “If we help you in this area on price, would we have a chance to bid on another product we don’t sell to you today?”
7) Use this as an opportunity to build loyalty. You are getting beat down by lower prices but your customers are probably suffering too. Don’t dismiss the fact that doing something BOLD to help your customers get through this recession may build deep loyalty to you and your company that will pay-off in the future.
8) Take the emotion out of it. All too often people make regrettable business decisions in the heat of the moment. Make sure you are making decisions based on the cold hard reality of financial advantage, not a personal will to “win.” Let your accountant help you when the emotions are running high! Know your walk-away price and stick to it.
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More marketing for less: Think inside the box.

May 26th

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Constant innovation should be a central part of your business strategy but when the budgets get crunched, there is still plenty of value in the “old-school” marketing basics.

Bargains in traditional media. Marketing dollars are moving toward Internet marketing, but there is still a place for TV, radio and newspaper — and the value has NEVER BEEN BETTER! Newspaper ad sales were down 38% in 2008 – it’s a buyer’s market. More than 90% of Americans spend an average of 236 minutes a day with TV. I recently worked with a customer who was paying $9 for a 30-second commercial on a targeted cable TV demographic.

Focus on existing customers. Up-sell, cross-sell and micro-market to your existing customers. It’s 80 percent less expensive to sell more to existing clients than attracting new ones. How have their needs changed during the recession? There are probably new product and service niches being created with your valued customers. Go find them before the other guy!

Is your website alive? You’ve probably already invested in the website infrastructure and this is a highly cost-effective way to attract new customers. Is your site aligned with current customer needs? Does it have fresh, compelling content? A bold call to action? How is it differentiated from competitors?

Service essentials. Follow up on every lead quickly. 88 percent of people are happy to hear from a vendor after download within 24 hours. Waiting 96 hours drops that number by half. And think about using personal, hand-written notes to cut through the clutter and really delight your customers. Writing a letter … now that is REALLY old school!

Destroy complacency. I see so many customers spending money on advertising channels simply because this is what they have always done. Are your channels still relevant and targeted? Have your customers shifted to another gathering place? Here’s a more detailed article on this topic: http://tiny.cc/9VYRI

Measure what you treasure. It takes no capital investment to make sure the way you measure your success is still appropriate and driving the right actions in your business. Is your marketing plan integrated and measurable?

Re-discover email marketing. This can be an easy and inexpensive way to stay in front of customers, especially if you have a built-in mailing list. This is a tricky channel, but done right, can be highly effective.

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