In my newsletter coming out Tuesday I talk about pesistence and not taking no for an answer in the sales process. You’ll soon see why I posted this video.
On The “Mark”eting
On The “Mark”eting…by Doug Smith
How often do you purchase a new car?
How often do you purchase laundry detergent?
How often do you buy a new pair of shoes? (For my wife, I think this is about every week)
The answers to those questions are your buying cycle for each category.
What is the buying cycle for your product/service? (If you don’t know it, I suggest you find out)
It is important to know the buying cycle of your product/service because it plays a big part in how your potential customers react to your advertising.
Take the target pictured above. Each red ring of the target represents a part of the typical buying cycle…..
– 
The outermost ring is when you are not in the market for a product/service. (You own a car you are happy with and buying a new one is the last thing on your mind.)
– The second ring is when you realize you may need that product/service. (Your car has been in the shop lately and you are wondering if it is time to get a new one)
– The third ring is when you’ve decided it’s time to purchase that product/service, but you want to shop around. (You hop online to do some research)
– The Bulls-Eye is when you are ready to buy. (You’ve had it with your car and it is time for some new wheels….NOW!)
The timing between each ring depends on the buying cycle of your business.
How often do your customers need to purchase your product/service? (For example…..the buying cycle for a new car is about 5 years. The buying cycle for gas for that car is about two weeks.)
The key to marketing success is how well you reach your potential customers BEFORE they get to the Bulls-Eye. If your marketing efforts are based exclusively on reaching the people in the market for your product/service RIGHT NOW, you better have the lowest price or you will lose out because you haven’t taken the time to differentiate yourself from your competition in the mind of your potential customer.
Cultivate a marketing message that creatively explains your businesses Unique Selling Proposition and then consistently hammer home that message.
If you consistently tell someone WHY YOU before they NEED YOU they will FIND YOU.
Doug Smith is a Senior Account Executive for WREW Rewind 94.9 and www.cincysavers.com in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. You can contact Doug at (513) 535-9123 or dosmith@hubbardinteractive.com
Creating Constant Continuous Referrals
What is the value of referral marketing? Would you rather create one client via the “Old Fashioned” cold calling or several clients with less effort through your referral power team?
Did you know that it takes the same effort to make one sale as it does to create several new clients by using referral marketing strategies? You create a referral power team with professionals who have the same target market and train each other your products and services. You work to create a strong relationship with your referral power team and to “Train” your sales force. The team is out their looking for potential clients for you just like you are looking for clients for them. Once you both get on the same page the referrals start rolling in.
So the time it takes to try to create one sale you can create three sales. You repeat this four times and you now have four referral partners and they are sending you three referrals per week. You are now getting twelve referrals a week and you’re not spending any more effort than it takes to create one sale.
You have created a sales force that is constantly looking for people who can use your products and services. How strong your relationship and whether you have done great job of training your referral partners will determine the closing ratio. There is a direct correlation between your relationship and your closing ratio.
Here is a diagram which shows these marketing strategies:
The above is what most sales people use to get new business “Cold Calling”. Below is how professional sales people who rely on referral marketing find new clients:
Take your business to the next level! Stop cold calling and start building your network of referral partners or your “Referral Power Team” today.
Duane Plapp is a professional business coach with The Referral Institute Cincinnati. Duane can help you create “Referrals For Life”. If you’re interested in learning more about referral marketing you can contact Duane at duper2947@aol.com or 859-240-6428
Darian Richardson makes the Cincinnati Enquirer
- Darian Richardson – Owner, RMC Franchise Connect – Cincinnati Franchise Consultant
RMC Franchise Connect helps match potential entrepreneurs, new business opportunities
DOWNTOWN – Darian Richardson is convinced that franchising will continue to be a hot career choice for entrepreneurs.
That confidence this year prompted Richardson to launch RMC Franchise Connect, a downtown-based firm that provides free consulting services to help individuals identify franchise opportunities.
RMC is paid a finder’s fee by the franchisor once a successful match is made between an individual and the company.
Richardson, 33, was co-owner from 2004 to 2009 of Pep (formerly Promotion Execution Partners), a Cincinnati-based firm that specializes in promotional management and execution services for companies, including handling direct mail and website initiatives.
He sold his stake in that company last year to help open RMC.
WHY DID YOU feel there was a market for your firm?
With the state of the economy due to downsizing, unemployment and job dissatisfaction, more people are re-evaluating their career options. They’re looking for ways to provide stability, financial security and work/life balance for themselves and their families. Statistics show that one in 10 Americans launched their own business in the second quarter of 2009 as a path to economic recovery. And franchising has been at the forefront of that trend.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE choose a franchise as a way to start a business?
Franchises have brand recognition that provides instant credibility to the business. For instance, most people recognize franchise names immediately: Cinnabon, Great Clips, Precision Tune, Ace Hardware and Molly Maid. Not only are you getting established brand identity, but more importantly, a proven business model that has been successful over time.
WHO IS A potential franchisee?
Any individual looking to start a business, a corporate executive in transition or someone looking for a side business to supplement his or her income. Another growing segment is stay-at-home moms.
WHAT ARE THE hottest franchise categories these days?
The first one is senior care, as the baby boomer generation continues to age. They will make up 25 percent of the nation’s population in the next five years, creating greater demand for franchises to service those needs. Another hot area is children services, including child care and in-home tutoring.
WHAT ARE THE biggest challenges to opening a franchise?
The biggest is getting financing to start the business. Other major obstacles include choosing the right franchise that fit your goals and taking the time to do the diligence to make a smart decision.
By Jeff McKinney • jmckinney@enquirer.com • July 3, 2010Advertising Is Easy – It's Marketing That's Hard…
- Matt Plapp – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Marketing & Social Media Consultant
Many times I hear companies claim their marketing doesn’t work. They play for me their :60-second radio commercial (WAY TO LONG) or their poorly produced cable spot (which runs next to high def Ikea spots). Next they pull out the mailer they just sent out to 10,000 people who don’t know their business with a 10% off coupon (10% off???). Then I break the news to them…THAT’S NOT MARKETING, that’s advertising. Yes, marketing and advertising are dramatically different.
Advertising is easy, you just purchase a useless ad from the sales person who comes by your store every week with the “Best Deal In Town”, that will not reach your target market and then you put a terrible message on it, or you let the sales rep who just got out of college write it for you. Marketing on the other hand takes time and effort.
Let me set the scene for you…In June the Cincinnati Reds had a “Skateboard Day” where the first 10,000 kids to arrive at the game received a FREE skateboard deck. Pretty cool promotion. Now here is where it gets interesting. If you have kids or you have ever owned a skate board you know what I’m getting ready to tell you. The skateboard deck is only a DECK. You still need grip tape, trucks, wheels and bearings at the very least. If you’re smart you need knee & elbow pads, wrist protectors and a helmet.
So, why am I telling you this? Well, if you own a skateboard shop this is a GOLD MINE. You get a few of your employees or team skaters together and you head down to Great American Ballpark and you pass out fliers about your shop. These fliers could have coupons (with more than weak 10% off coupons), surveys to capture your customers info and more importantly an invitation to these new skateboard owners to come to your store.
This is where it gets hard…YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO DO IT! Yes, you need to find out about events like this ahead of time, have inventory in stock to meet demand and put a street team together to go to GABP and market your company. The sad part is most companies don’t do this.
I had mentioned this opportunity to a client of mine from Glickin.com. Glickin.com specializes in helping companies market themselves at events like this. So they called a few skateboard shops in the area and asked if they were heading down to the game. Not one of them knew about the promotion and when asked if they’d like Glickin.com to help them do this, they said they did not need to do marketing like this????? One even said “I’m a destination shop, they know where I’m at and they’ll find me”? How can 10,000 kids and their families know who and where you are! If that was the case you’d have 20 stores by now and be a millionaire and not driving a 15 year-old ford escort.
So to recap we just talked about the following items:
1. Find events you can talk to your customers
2. Plan for these events.
3. Actually ATTEND and work these events
4. Ask customers to buy from you with GREAT offers.
5. Capture as many of the attendees information to build your customer database
That is why marketing is hard; you have to actually do something. You MUST plan to be successful in marketing your business and you must leave your shop and be creative. Oh yeah, the kids probably would have talked mom and dad into buying some shoes and a few shirts as well:)
Matt Plapp is a Marketing Consultant in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, guerilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com
You're at the Prom…Ask her to dance!
You just did all the work and successfully convinced a consumer to come to your store…NOW WHAT. In-store marketing is the easiest and most cost effective marketing available. One of the business categories that should be using it more than others are restaurants. I usually eat out 8-10 times per week with clients and the family. About 3 months ago I decided I was going to keep track of what restaurants where doing to capture their clients information. Why, well it’s simple, there are 3 basic hurdles in marketing:
1. The clients need to know WHO you are.
2. The clients need to know WHERE you are.
3. They need to BUY from you.
So if I’m a business that relies on repeat business, like a restaurant, then capturing my customers information is a MUST. I’m sorry and happy to report that I came across 2 in 3 months, yes 2 out of aprox 75 restaurants actually had a way of capturing their customers contact information by a texting program, social media promotion or frequent customer card. I say happy because that’s what my company, Driven Media Solutions, does for small businesses.
I was recently at a very good 1 location pizzeria in Florence, Kentucky. The owner and I were meeting about their marketing. As we talked I noticed 5 groups of customers who dined and left. I asked the owner if she knew them, she said “no”. I then asked does she want them to come back (loaded question) and of course she said “yes”. So I asked why she made no effort to capture their info. She had no answer, she had never thought about it. Why was there not a table topper that said “text XYZ to 12345 for a chance to win a FREE lunch”. Or follow us on facebook for special offers, or have the waitress have them fill out a quick survey that offers 50% off their next meal and a frequent user’s card. EVERY customer who came in would text in to win. Most would follow on facebook and the vast majority would fill out the survey to get 50% of their next meal and a loyalty card. Everyone wants something for FREE. Once you capture their information you have just accomplished the largest part of the marketing mix. You have a list of customers who know WHO you are, WHERE you are and currently BUY from you. So when it’s time to do a coupon, sale or promotion you already have the hardest part covered. Would you rather send a B.O.G.O (buy one get one free) to 10,000 random people of which less than 1% will redeem it or send it to 1,000 current customers of which a large portion will come back for more.
Think about the texting and facebook opportunities. Imagine that the electric is out in a large part of your city (like Cincinnati in September 2008) and you have electric. You have done the work and have a text list of 1,000 local customers and a facebook fan page with 800 followers. You send out the following text or facebook message “Our electric is on and we want to help your family. Come up now for 25% off any meal and sit in our ice cold dining room”. Or it’s a Tuesday at 5pm and you have not had good traffic on Tuesdays so you send out “Buy 1 get 1 Free dinner”. You WILL get traffic and you are marketing 100% to your target market.
So to recap we just talked about the following items:
1. Capturing Your Customers Information
2. Texting Specials
3. Facebook
4. Customer Loyalty Cards
5. Creating a Customer Database of CURRENT CUSTOMERS
I know, right now you’re wondering, this will cost too much. WRONG, texting packages start at $99 per month, customer loyalty programs are basically small print jobs and facebook marketing is FREE if you do it yourself. And don’t just think this applies to a restaurant, everything I mentioned above would work for any type of business: Auto repair, clothing, office machines, apartment communities, etc. What’s expensive is letting known buyers walk out of your store without ever trying to get their information. At the same time you’re showing the customer that you really don’t care if they come back and that hurts your brand.
When I ask my customers about their brand I usually get a response targeted to their advertising. When in fact, I’m looking for a statement that defines their company and how the public relates to it. Uniforms, phone-answering, sales training, clean restrooms, trained employees, consistent company colors, clearly marked showrooms, in-store marketing and more importantly a staff that understands exactly what your brand is and how they are to carry that out in their job EVERY DAY.
Matt Plapp is a Marketing Consultant in Cincinnati Northern Kentucky the area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, guerilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com
So you want to have 100% Referrals
So you want to have 100% Referrals
You are at a Networking event and you start a conversation with a mature gentlemen who looks very successful. You ask him how he gets all of his clients. He says I only work on referrals.
You think that would be the ultimate quest. It would be great to only get business by referrals……
Power Play #36 – The Power of Networks
I have recently connected with a group of people that belong to the Business Network International (BNI) organization. Ironically, I did not have any interaction with them as a group before these last few weeks and I say ironically – because when looking in and observing how them operate, I believe we can learn a great deal from them.
Check out these metrics of success …
In 2009, Business Network Int’l passed over 6.2 million referrals in 5500+ chapters with over 118,000 members in 43 countries resulting in more than $2.6 billion in business!
One of their basic tenants is that – referral marketing is one of the strongest ways to grow your business. And I agree. This is true for many reasons – for years, I have been talking about “The way we have done things for generations” and this is just one of them. Let me illustrate;
Imagine a nice summer day 5000 years ago in a small African village in the area we now call Mozambique; a 12 year old boy starts having feelings for a young girl in his village and has this stirring in his heart where he wants to feel and be known as a man. In his culture, that is typically demonstrated by bringing down and bringing home a large animal. He decides that bringing home a large buffalo would be too much, be decides to learn how to hunt a Gazelle. Where does he start!??
As would be logical then and now … he finds an expert; someone with a reputation of being a good hunter. But not just any hunter. He is looking for the best Gazelle hunter. So he asks his friends and family … people he trusts. He gets a name from his best friends father and since he is a bit nervous; asks if the dad could take him over to the hunters hut and introduce him. The friend’s dad agrees and the introduction is made. He now has an expert hunter who will show him how to bring down a Gazelle and he is happy. But before they leave, the hunter asks the boy two simple questions;
1. Why does he want a Gazelle? he is curious about what are they celebrating? and
2. How many people does he have in his hunting party?
These are important questions, because it will help him select the right Gazelle. But the boy is confused. Hunting party? there is only one girl involved! There is no event to celebrate and there is no hunting party? What is he talking about? its just me and nobody else! The hunter replies … can’t be done.
What? Can’t be done! the boy is confused and so the hunter talks to him about the “practices” related to hunting ….
First – you have to have a good reason to hunt a Gazelle, like celebrating a special event with your family or the village itself. That will determine the size of the Gazelle and based on the event, sometimes determine your need for female or a calf. Secondly, Gazelles are very fast animals and one individual cannot catch one; you need a team of people to help you. Each person has got a task, the main hunter will coordinate them, helping them work together and position himself in the right position to make the kill, but you need 6 or 7 people.
The hunter went on to talk about what each person would do and that some of them would have to be good runners while others would have to be able to sneak up on the Gazelle and be very quiet and experienced in being quiet in the jungle. He talked about the equipment and the tools they would need and then talked about the different hunting spots they would have to go to, to try to make the kill. Finally, the hunter talked to him about the dangers involved; from the cuts and bruises one could get from running through the jungle and the open plains to being attacked or bit by other animals and snakes to the Gazelles themselves. They could do real damage with their horns.
The boy began to understand the complexity and the level of structure and organization one needed to bring down a Gazelle. There was no way he could do this alone. He needed to get a few of his friends together to help him out and he needed to coincide his hunt with a ceremony; an event that would have bigger impact than just feeding his ego. He needed a bigger “Why”. By Golly!! there were rules!
This my friends is what BNI does for you; the small business owner. They have developed a systematic body of knowledge and business practice that help you understand the basics of Referral Marketing and they not only show you, but they also create the space for you to access and leverage “Your Team”; these are people who will actively help you bring bring down the Gazelles you need. And just like in the African village 5000 years ago; they want to know your “Why” and you better have a good one. They will also hold you accountable and will seek to have you earn their trust. Which you need to earn and keep … to stay on the team.
Join the Business Network Internation if you think you could use a team of trained people to help you access more customers.
Paul D’Souza is an award winning author and Professional Business Consultant, to reach Paul visit his website. http://www.pauldsouza.com/wordpress/
Build Your Business On Stone
Build your business on Stone
So you are now an entenpeneur and you are now going to create your business model. You ask “ Am I going to prospect by cold calling, advertising or direct marketing or am I going to build it through relationships”.
There are several questions you must answer:
-How long are you planning on staying in business?
What kind of business model do I want?
What future am I going to have?
What makes the most sense?
How much capital am I going to invest?
The answers are easy.
Build you business on a solid foundation which will stand the test of time. Relationships are the only way to build your business so It will stand the test of time. Relationships create trust and loyalty.
If we create business through cold calling and advertising we can create instant but short term income. There is no trust or loyalty established. So when we stop the advertising or price increases the income is gone. This is the same as building my house on the sand. Lets build our houses on stone. Stone lasts and sand erodes and then there is nothing left.
Relationships if developed properly will last a lifetime. If the advertising stops and the prices increase they are still there. If your price increases the client gives you the opportunity to keep the business because of the relationship. If that business comes from a cold call they just call someone else and never give you the opportunity to maintain their business.
The way to create business built on stone is through referral marketing strategies. It has been said that we all want to create our business through referrals but very few ever develop the methodology to make it happen.
By developing referral marketing strategies you can create CONSTANT CONTINUOUS PREDICTABLE REFERRALS WITHOUT COLDING CALLING WHICH WILL CREATE REFERRALS FOR LIFE.
Amazing an idea which will help us build our business on stone.
The next question : HOW DO WE DO THIS?
We need to get educated in referral marketing. We need to get immersed in the strategies of referral marketing. We need to get our referral partners educated by the referral marketing experts.
S.Duane Plapp Sr.
Coach and Certified Trainer
Referral Institute-Cincinnati
Are you learning from your past?
I’ve known this for a while, but I’ve never wanted to admit it. However, today is the day I come clean. My dad wasn’t as dumb as I thought he was when I was growing up. When I purchased my first car at 16, it was my dad’s idea that I should get a car with some size because the chances were good that I would be in an accident and I needed a car with some protection. I wanted something small and sporty, but dad won the argument and the result was a two-tone brown 1982 Buick Regal which saved my life when I was hit head-on by a drunk driver. The car was ugly, but dad was right.
When I was a youngster, my dad would remind me every winter NOT to sled ride head first. It was more daring to go head first down the hill, through the trees, and over the ramps, so I always did it my way even though it had been pounded into my head that, sooner or later, I was going to run into a tree and that I shouldn’t test fate. Well, one cold winter afternoon fate won when I was going too fast and couldn’t steer away from a big tree that I swear jumped in front of me. With a bloodied and bruised face, my buddies helped me home. I was fortunate not to break anything, but dad was right.
I now understand that my dad was taking his past successes and past failures and passing that knowledge on to me. Unfortunately, when you are young you think you know everything and you need to learn the hard way.
That brings me to you and your business. Are you taking advantage of the past successes and failures of people in your industry? I believe that SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES. Over the course of history, there have been hundreds and maybe thousands of people who have done, or are currently doing, what you do. Some have failed, some have succeeded, and some have become great. But no matter THEIR outcome, you can learn something from it to help YOU today, tomorrow, and for years to come.
Who are the big success stories in your industry?
What did they do that made them successful?
Who are the biggest failures in your industry?
What did they do wrong?
If you can’t name at least one success or one failure for your profession, there is a good chance you are missing out on a golden opportunity to learn something that could help lead you to greater success. If you ignore these learning opportunities, you run the risk of running face first into a tree. Trust me, I know!
Doug Smith is a Senior Account Executive for WREW Rewind 94.9 and www.cincysavers.com in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. You can contact Doug at (513) 535-9123 or dosmith@hubbardinteractive.com