It’s all about…THEM

You’ve all heard people (somewhat) jokingly say “It’s all about me.” And truth be told, even the best of us can sometimes feel and act that way, if only unconsciously.

The business version of this would be “It’s all about us.” And unfortunately, many companies tend to behave that way most of the time, despite mission statements that describe how customer-centric they want to be.

This is both understandable and regrettable.

Understandable because the most important thing to a company is naturally its own survival.

Regrettable because the company’s best chance of survival is to focus on what the customer wants, not what the company wants.

Let’s focus on sales messages. During a recent American Marketing Association meeting Bob Gilbreath (CMO of Bridge Worldwide) talked about three levels of customer needs.

--The most basic is solutions: communicating valuable information, incentives, and answers.
--Next is connections: providing useful or entertaining experiences that can be shared with others.
--And at the top of the needs pyramid is achievement: things that someone can use to improve themselves, their family and friends, or the world.

Note that nowhere in this list of needs is

“know about company XXX”
or
“know about company XXX’s product(s)”

Yet that information usually makes up the bulk of the communications we send to our customers and prospects. So why should we be surprised and disappointed that 15% is considered a typical “open” rate for emails, people fast forward through our TV commercials, and 1% a great response rate for direct mail?

Here's the point: people will only pay attention to messages they think THEY will get value from.

Before you can get prospective customers to listen to you, you have to get inside their heads! You have to break free of the 20th century mindset of talking about yourself (ie. your company) under the mistaken impression that people care. Instead, you need to identify your target market(s), zero in on what THEY care about, and customize your messages to their interests and needs.

Your message content is the key! The only way to get your message read or listened to is to tailor it to one of Bob's three levels of needs. Do it often enough, and well enough, and those open and response rates will start going up.

I don’t have the room here to give you examples of how to do that-- but I’d be happy to provide as many as you like over a cup of coffee some time. I’ll even buy. Give me a call!

Now is a great time to improve your products!

Today’s economy gives five added incentives to tune up your product portfolio.

1) With business down, many firms aren’t working at capacity. So it is easier to free up people to examine your products for competitiveness and profitability and take steps to improve them.

2) Compared with other marketing expenses, product improvements can be relatively inexpensive to implement.

3) Many firms are reacting to the downturn by discounting their price, which hurts short-term profitability and degrades long-term value perceptions. Product improvements allow you to maintain or improve profitability and increase the perceived value of your offerings.

4) Product improvements create news, attracting attention without the need for expensive advertising. They also boost the effectiveness of any advertising you do.

5) Product improvements help keep current customers from bargain shopping among your competitors.

Five product improvement steps:

1) Talk to your customers! Find out what’s important to them.
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Brand Keys conducted an analysis of 1,847 products and services, in 75 categories, via their Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. On average, the study found that only 21 percent of all the products and services examined had any points of differentiation that were meaningful to the consumers. This is nearly 10 percent less than a benchmark study that was conducted in 2003!
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Two good questions are “What one thing about our product should we never change?” (Then probe for others) and “If you could change one thing about our product, what would it be?” (Then probe for others).

2) Chart your position versus competition, comparing target segments, features & benefits, cost, profit margin, distribution, marketing, service, and other relevant factors.

3) Clearly identify what you want your products to stand for. Then be sure you live up to your positioning. Lip service won’t cut it with customers. For example, don’t claim high quality unless you can provide it!

Once you stake out a position, review your marketing mix to be sure there’s no dissonance (for example, don’t position your product as high quality and then discount the price…)

4) Don’t keep improvements a secret. Tell people about it! Make sure they are trumpeted on your website, in your sales collateral, and in relevant industry and general publications. Remember, competitive advantages are short-lived, so you want to maximize the initial impact of product changes.

5) If the competitive advantage created by product improvements is short-lived, an ongoing differentiation process is necessary. Don’t wait for the next recession to follow this advice again. After completing step #4, schedule a return to step #1 and repeat!

I have developed and introduced 21 different products and product lines, and tested over 4,000 new products. If you feel you might benefit from outside help in tuning up your product portfolio, give me a call.

Business Blogging—a marketplace differentiator

Yeah, I know, when you think about competitive advantages, your mind instantly turns to price, packaging, promotion, and all that other MARKETING 101 jazz. But what if you’re already doing all of that and (because everyone else is doing it too) you still need more of an edge? Well, how about blogging?

Remember:
· People do business with people they like.
· People do business with people like themselves.

Blogging is a great way to convince current and potential customers that you fit into one of these two categories. And it offers the chance to reinforce that conviction repeatedly over time.

In an earlier “marketing thought” I described the persuasive power of stories. Blogging is an efficient way of telling stories that will present your people and product(s) in a positive light. Business contacts tend to be impersonal. Blogging puts a personal face on your company and product or service, building an emotional connection that increases your chances of acquiring and retaining customers.

Potential blogging topics
1. Think anecdotes and personalities—“personal face”—remember?
2. Talk about how your company was founded—what are its “roots.”
3. Provide personal details about your employees (include pictures!) tied to what they do at work.
4. Talk about the procurement or manufacture or quality inspection of your products.
5. Discuss your employees’ qualifications for providing whatever service(s) you provide.
6. Provide pictures (literal or through words) of your facilities.
7. Talk about what went into developing or introducing a new product or service.
8. Provide a case study or testimonial.
9. Provide a tip or suggestion, and describe where it came from (who and why).
10. Describe your experiences at (or reactions to) an industry event like a trade show; provide information about upcoming events.

You can provide a link to information about products or promotions, but make it an “afterthought.” Lead up to it indirectly, keep the reference brief, and provide a link to the detailed information.

Who should blog
Unless you have someone who is unusually prolific and verbose, you’re going to need either an outside writer or a team of several contributors. Not everyone will be a good blogger—do an internal “talent search.” Look for passion, and hire professionals to “polish” your postings if necessary.

How often to blog
At least once a month for B2B, and probably not more than once a week.
At least twice a month for B2C, and probably not more than twice a week.
The more “pithy” and relevant your blogs are, the more people will want to read them.
Create a publishing calendar or schedule. Don’t leave your timing to chance.

Treat this like any other marketing initiative; set objectives and track readership and results.

If you think blogging sounds too “artsy-fartsy” to provide concrete business results, then you’re going against the corporate marketing wisdom of companies as big as Boeing, Dell, Kodak, and General Motors, and as small as... me!

Intrigued, but don’t know how to get started? I can help with everything from technology to identifying potential contributors to creating postings. Give me a call!

How can social media networks increase sales?

Everyone is talking about social media these days, but many people have told me they just don’t understand how things like Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, or blogging can build their business. Here is how I answer them:

Let's assume your goal is to generate either direct sales or leads for your sales force, and you want the internet to help you. So you create a website where prospects can find the detailed information needed to convince them your offering is the one they need.

But there are literally millions of websites out there—how do you increase the chance of prospects finding yours? Social media networks can act as advertising to help guide people to your website.

Twitter—gives you the ability to email VERY brief “tweets” (maximum 140 character email messages) to a group of people who have agreed to “follow” (receive messages from) you. Use tweets as “headlines” that make people want to come to your blog or website to read more.

Facebook—once you’ve created a personal profile, you are allowed to create a separate company profile. Just as people link to each other by becoming Facebook “friends,” people can become “friends” of your company; in effect creating a network of interested people to which you can email information! Linking your Facebook company profile to your website provides another way for internet searchers to “find” you.

Linked-In—increases the number of times your company name appears during internet searches. Each of your employees can be listed, and each employee’s listing can contain links to your company’s blog, Facebook page, and website.

Blogging—your website provides one way for internet searchers to find you, and you can use search engine optimization to increase the chances of that happening. But blogging provides many additional chances of a searcher being led to your website. By writing about topical subjects, bloggers (writing individually or as part of a corporate “team” of bloggers) can greatly increase the amount of internet content tied to your company, and hence increase the chances that an internet search will lead to your company.

For the business person, social media networks can be thought of as additional forms of advertising. But to be effective, social media require the same thing that good advertising does—content that is relevant and valuable.

Think about it. If you were at a party, would you waste time talking to someone who was boring, or who just repeated the same story over and over again? No. You would want to spend your time with someone who was interesting.

Well, the people who use social media networks are looking for interesting connections. And if you want to get people to “follow” you on Twitter, become your friend on Facebook, look you up on Linked-In, read your blog, and come to your website, then you have to provide content they find relevant and valuable, and do it in a witty, easily understood manner.

Are your employees a rusty asset?

Companies spend a ton of money communicating their marketing message to prospects and customers, but most do absolutely nothing to formally communicate that message to their own employees, the people who have the most contact with (and often the most influence on) those key groups.

Nor do most companies spend any time teaching employees how they can reinforce and leverage the company’s marketing during their interactions with prospects and customers. At best this is a lost opportunity. At worst, companies are actively sabotaging their own marketing efforts.

You expect sales and marketing to know “the company line.” But what about the people in billing, shipping and distribution, operations, and legal? What about the receptionist?
How well do they know your branding messages and the features and benefits of your products or services?

Why does it matter? Because during their public interactions these employees can not only extend the reach of brand messaging; their product knowledge and brand-reinforcing attitudes can generate positive word-of-mouth and increased customer loyalty for the company. And because when employees feel more like part of the corporate “family,” you will probably see improvements in internal morale and retention.

Here are some easy-to-implement ways to educate employees:

· Provide a brand presentation as part of new employee orientation
· Provide a simple one-page handout listing your brands’ reason for being and primary messaging (you’ll find preparation of this piece will also help management focus).
· Expose employees to all company advertising and sales collateral.
· Provide examples of how you would like/expect employees in different departments to interact with the public.
· Give employees a list of public FAQs, and contacts for less frequent questions.
· Post reinforcing signage in employee areas, and include reinforcing messaging in employee communications.
· Praise, reward, and publicize employees who receive “attaboys” from the public.