Service Related

1. Make follow-up calls after service, sales or installation to ensure satisfaction.
2. Provide home-delivery service to increase convenience.  This is a great time to offer a free demonstration on how to use and/or maintain your product.
3. Examine your instruction manual  to ensure it’s effective and clear.  Use diagrams and list the steps for programming various features.
4. Add frequently-asked-questions section to your website.

Price Related

1. Offer money-back or price guarantees such as matching your competitors’ prices.
2. Offer renewal or repurchase discounts or maintenance coupons.

Other Ideas

1. Highlight alternative uses for your product, i.e., think of baking soda and vinegar.
2. Install kids’ play area if serving families with small children or at least have toys and books available.
3. Make contribution to charity for every product sold.

Please return to this site in a few days as this article will be expanded!

But before I list these ideas, a business should always begin a marketing campaign by clearly identifying who you are targeting.  At the first step, it’s easy to state whether you’re focusing on existing customers or new customers.  Then, tackle the specific geographic, demographic and psychological characteristics of your target. 
Marketing experts tell us to develop customer profiles which are the detailed descriptions of your desired customers, i.e., target market.  Here are two examples.

1. Company S, an upscale sporting goods company, targets American male executives between the ages of 30 and 45, with an average household income greater than $100,000.  These men enjoy outdoor sports and purchase sporting goods at least twice per year for recreation and travel.
2. Company P, a printing company, is targeting firms within a radius of 20 miles, with annual revenues of $10 to $25 million and a need for four-color printing runs of approximately 5,000 pieces.

Assuming you have undertaken the necessary research to develop your customer profiles, here are ideas involving your target market.  Examine the characteristics of your target market to ensure you’re really communicating with those who benefit from your product/service.  By this, I mean that you know who your target market is based on who uses or needs your product/service and how to reach them. 

1. Can they be reached by newspaper, magazine or the Internet?  Have you obtained their address at time of purchase or inquiry?
2. Do you have a small base that can be effectively reached by personalized direct mail pieces?
3. Do you have permission to email them? 
4. Is it feasible to use local newspapers to geographically target where your customers and prospects live or work? 

Second, if you have a storefront, compare the demographics of your geographic location with your target market.  If you’ve been in the same location for quite some time, have the demographics of the area changed?

1. Are greater shares of your customers driving greater distances to your store?
2. Has your community become more of a mature market with empty nesters and fewer families with young children, or is it experiencing change in its ethnic make-up?

The remaining eight suggestions are promotional ideas for improving the visibility of your small business.  One low-cost idea is to publicize (through the media and to your customers and prospects directly, if appropriate) the charitable donations and favorites causes of your business.  Women in particular often take note of the charitable contributions made by the companies they support.

A second low-cost idea is to offer your storefront or office as a deposit center for a charitable drive, such as clothing, food, toys or books, or hosting a blood drive.  Third, write and distribute a story about how your product or service benefited a particular user. Human interest stories are for the most part very positively received.

Never forget that one of the most powerful marketing words is FREE.  By offering a free sample of your product or a free or low-cost demonstration of your service, you’re likely to attract new prospects. A few ideas to spark your imagination are bottomless cups of coffee or free batteries with purchased products requiring them.

By holding a contest or sweepstakes, you can draw people to your storefront or generate a lot of interest based on the type of contest or sweepstakes. 

• A contest involves some type of ability or skill, such as writing the best story or developing the best recipe.
• Sweepstakes are promotions in which prizes are awarded on the basis of chance, not skill, and entrants cannot be required to make a purchase in order to enter.

I would be remiss if I didn’t stress the need to carefully plan and research contests and sweepstakes.  Marketing experts advise consulting with an attorney or local authorities to ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws.  In Texas, refer to the Texas Sweepstakes Act that is part of the Business and Commerce Code.  A few specific ideas are asking customers to fill out an entry blank every time they visit your business for the chance to win a valuable prize, and working with a local elementary school in which the classes compete with one another in a window-decorating contest.

Finally, for the last three ideas, let’s focus on your actual promotional messages.  First, always assess or evaluate your messages prior to putting them to use.  Have non-vested parties provide feedback on your business cards, flyers, coupons, brochures, website, etc. 

Second, do you ever find that your eyes are drawn to large print?  When it comes to building awareness, your initial effort may be telling of your existence.  Using large print in ads and coupons is one way to increase the likelihood that your advertisement will get noticed at a faster pace (i.e., less required repetitions).  This can be beneficial if your name easily tells what your business offers and you have a highly visible location.

Third, consider developing co-op advertising with other tenants in your shopping center or office building along with suppliers and other non-competitors whom you’ve met through networking.  Here are a few examples.  Consider manufacturers, such as jewelers or clothing, who develop co-op deals with local retailers.  The manufacturers don’t have the boutiques and stores to sell their products to the public, and the local merchants welcome the partnership opportunity for reducing advertising costs.  On a local level, think how a dry cleaners, video store, card shop and hair salon of the same shopping center could combine forces as they’re all targeting residents within the same geographic area.

If you would like to discuss these ideas or others in greater detail, contact Kate Barlow at 817-488-2761 or kgbmarketing@hotmail.com.  Now is also a good time for small businesses to examine the effectiveness of current marketing efforts and new ideas worth considering.

• Devise incentive  for existing customers to buy additional products/services
• Strengthen customer relationships with the goal of diminishing the likelihood of customers switching to your competitors.

Here are suggestions for a successful reward program.

1. Prepare to implement the program by clearly explaining it to customers and fully training employees.
2. Utilize your customer database by deciding how you will make the offer at the time of their next purchase.
3. Develop progressive reward system by making rewards easy to obtain and offer the best incentives for  larger ($) purchases, such as your high-end products/services.
4. Offer meaningful rewards that also benefit your business by striving to increase the sales of your most profitable products and services.
5. Use your database to customize future offers based on customers’ purchase behavior and gain insight for finding new customers who match the profile of your best customers (target marketing).
    

First, focus on strengthening relationships with your best customers.  Who are the twenty percent generating eighty percent of your revenue?  Use your tracking system to identify them if you don’t already know.  If you don’t have an effective tracking system and customer database, now’s a great time to start developing them!

When was the last time you had a personal conversation with these key customers?  What are their concerns?  Do you need to modify payment terms?  Do you need to reward them with special services that may only cost a small amount but generate additional loyalty?  Do they provide referrals?

Second, examine your current marketing activities.  Focus on those producing the greatest return on your investment of time and money.  If you can’t quantify your return, now’s the time to develop a practical method.

Third, now is not the time to cut corners on customer service.  If you lose profitable customers due to a decline in service, you may not regain them after the economy improves.

• Would you like French fries with your burger?
• Do you need a warranty?
• Do you need a printer along with your new PC?
• This belt or these shoes would look great with those slacks!

Up-selling occurs when one suggests a better or more expensive product.  Examples include offering

• a larger size of French fries or shake
• a faster computer
• a golf membership with greater privileges.

These two sales terms are often interchanged with one another, and many on-line articles seem to suggest these strategies are exclusive to Internet sales.  But they’re not as they’ve been around for quite some time!

Third, as the printer, you not only control the value of the coupon but also its lifespan.  You get to choose whether the coupon is offering a free product, a percentage discount, a volume discount, or the bearer will be given a gift with his/her purchase.  Fourth, while you can freely give them away or pay to have them distributed, there are endless ways to dispense.  Coupons can be directly mailed in various forms such as postcards or coupon books / decks, or within invoices.  Other options include distributing them within newspapers and magazines or from your website.  Or one may leave them on windshields, front doors, or counters. Lastly, you may attach them to a product of a current sale, i.e. Pizza Hut boxes, or include them within gift bags. 

The fifth reason is that coupons give your business an opportunity to establish alliances with other establishments within your shopping center or with a related product or service provider.  If you’re in the carpet cleaning business, perhaps a window cleaning operation could give away your coupons.  Or, if you’re in the dry cleaning industry, perhaps a shoe repair or small boutique might want to align with you.  And finally, your coupon can be made to look like a miniature version of your print advertisement.  By increasing exposure, prospects and customers are more likely to remember your business as you build familiarity. Plus, according to Jay Conrad Levinson, coupons can make an advertisement up to 26 percent more effective. 

In 2006, $331 billion worth of coupons were distributed and $2.6 billion were redeemed. 

• Overall, in-store coupons garnered the highest redemption rate at 34 percent. 
• Eighty-nine percent of 2006 coupons were distributed through newspapers in some form of an insert, and almost 93 percent of all 2006 coupons were sent directly to the home.
• Two recent trends are shorter expiration dates and lower face value. 
• Source: Donna L. Montaldo on About.com and CMS.com

I want to close this brief article by sharing three useful tips. 

1. First make sure your coupon clearly states all your important contact information such as address, phone number, website, etc.  What good is the coupon if they don’t know where you’re located, can’t call you to find out your hours, or gather information about your specific product lines, service policies or warranty programs?
2. Second, make sure your coupon is coded so you’ll know how and when it was distributed.  This information will be helping in determining the effectiveness of your attempt through tracking.  One coding method is to use a letter for the type of distribution, such as N for newspaper, R for other retailer, and M for mail.  By using numbers, you can track in what month they were distributed.
3. Third, find out if your competitors are using coupons.  You’ll want to know how they distribute their coupons, what discount they’re offering, and how often are they distributed. 

If you would like to learn more about other low cost marketing efforts, please call Kate at 817-488-2761.  Our first hour long consultation is always free. 

Thus from this comparative analysis, you’ll want to develop marketing messages that incorporate those items that personally mean the most to your customers and prospects.  Remember that your customers are bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands of marketing messages each day.  By applying this strategy, your message is more likely to reach them and/or tug at them in an emotional manner. 

So to get started, let’s examine features, advantages and benefits.  A feature is a statement of fact about some aspect, element, or prominent part or characteristic of a product or service.  Features can often be the technical jargon your industry uses on a daily basis, but the end user may not understand or relate to such terms as GHz or network interface card. 

An advantage helps the customer or user in a specific manner, i.e., something the feature provides or delivers to the user.  An advantage can also describe how the product or service is better than an alternative feature, and/or a feature offered by the competition.   

A benefit is what the consumer or user gains from the feature and/or your product.  For many products, start by thinking of the problem or problems your product or service solves.  The benefit is what you want to offer and sell to your customers and prospects.  As stated above, customers are primarily concerned about themselves and want to know how a product benefits them.  In an on-line article by Laura Clampitt Douglas, the author recommends thinking of benefits as the end “result” for the customer.  So if you prefer, interchange the terms benefits and results. 

Research indicates the following are some of the primary benefits sought by a purchaser.

1. Improve quality of life / save time / life made easier / high reliability
2. Save money
3. Save lives / safety concerns
4. Improve health and well being
5. Improve one’s status – wealth / appearance

After you develop your message, always remember to test it.  Ask non-vested people or some of your customers for their feedback.  And don’t be surprised if women have a longer list of benefits since they tend to seek a solution to a greater number of needs and wants.   

I thought it would be helpful to provide some examples to start your creative process.  Codes are “F” for feature, “A” for advantage and “B” for benefit/result. 

F: four wheel anti-lock brakes

• A: help the car stop faster
• A: safer than the competition’s car
• B: save the consumer’s life 

F: non-stop airline service

• A: gets the passenger to his/her destination faster (compared to a one or two stop itinerary)
• B: save the consumer’s time 

F: wireless mouse

• A: less wiring and fewer cords on top of desk so it’s clearer
• B: customer can be more organized and effective 

F: clothes soap with more cleaning power

• A: clothes get cleaner
• A: improve your appearance
• B: customer may feel and look better 

F: over-the-counter cold medication

• A: purchase without a prescription
• A: stop a runny nose
• A: relieve congestion
• B: improve customer’s health and/or she/he feels better faster 

F: accepting credit cards

• A: no need to have cash at time of purchase
• B: customer convenience 

F: feature, advantage, benefit analysis

• A: makes one sit down and truly think of the benefits from the customer’s perspective
• A: develop more effective marketing messages
• B: improve the return on your advertising    

If you would like more information about this strategy, contact Kate at 817-488-2761 or kate1.kgbmarketing@verizon.net 

Martha Barletta, author of Marketing to Women, does an excellent job in describing the differences between male and female consumers. The following summary highlights three main points made in her book, and will likely make many women smile! 

 If women frequently shop in your store, use your services, or buy your products on-line, why should you consider taking a different approach when marketing to women? 

 1. Women have a different purchasing process than men

· They consider more factors and generally do more research

2. Women have different attitudes,  priorities and (often) responsibilities than men

· They are more likely to bounce ideas off others, generally favor “we” over an “I” attitude, and want everyone to get ahead

3. Women have different responses to marketing messages than men

· They prefer realistic people in ads, respond to emotion and human situations, rely on word of mouth so if a product works for someone else, it’s likely to work for her situation 

On the flip side, this popular type of qualitative research can be very subjective as findings are not representative of the full market segment and conclusions vary based on the perspective of what department (sales, operations, customer service, accounting, etc.) is viewing the discussion.  

Focus groups are best at providing help with identifying major issues, problems, and a range of desirable services and features.    One can gain in-depth personal information on customer attitudes, perceptions, behavior, lifestyles, needs and desires in a creative format.  In particular, focus groups can help with examining a new product concept or how to possibly advertise it, explore the criteria consumers may use to make purchasing decisions, or generate terminology for developing a questionnaire. 

The format can be flexible enough to allow delving into a particular response on the spot.  Participants can use their own words to answer questions versus a pre-determined list on a written survey.  A real world example occurs when attorneys use focus groups to gain insight into how people speak, think and feel about specific topics. 

Experts recommend a group size of six to twelve participants.  If you have a very opinionated group such as executives or a shy group of teenagers, consider reducing the group size to four to six.  One highly vocal participant can dominate the discussion and influence responses from others no matter the size; thus certain group and meeting management skills are essential! 

This type of research compliments quantitative research, such as written surveys that are number/statistic driven.

 Some standard “nuts and bolts” about consumer based focus groups include:

• Plan on recruiting (external sources can help) and compensating participants who are targeted for certain characteristics (gender, age, occupations, hobbies/interests, etc.)
• allow a minimum of one hour for each session with two hours usually the maximum
• prepare to hold a minimum of three focus groups per target market segment, such as three involving men, three involving women, and three for each age segment
• tape each session to allow multiple viewing of the exchanges and  responses (advise participants upfront that people are observing the session and it is being recorded)
• develop an outline of open-ended questions, usually moving from general to specific
• hold off site, such as in a hotel suite or office building conference room
• hire a trained moderator / facilitator to obtain the best results
• use name tags.

If you’re wondering about the role of the moderator/facilitator, his/her job is to explain the process and general guidelines, encourage discussion, restrain dominating personalities, remain emotionally detached from the subject or topic, ensure key questions are addressed, and maximize the use of probing questions.  

Other practical hints include making sure participants are provided assurances to give their honest opinions and are comfortable and relaxed.  Thus try to make sure the room isn’t cramped, too hot or too cold, and neither too dark nor too bright.   

If you’re a small business on a limited budget and want to conduct casual focus groups involving your key customers, you may be able to offer little or no cash compensation, but provide an appropriate thank you gift along with a meal and refreshments.  Experts advise to plan on paying a greater amount for the participation of highly trained professionals, such as attorneys and doctors.   

Here are a few ideas to spark your creativity.

• A toy developer could observe and tape kids at a local day care center interacting with a new toy concept.  In this case, permission from the parents would be an absolute necessity.
• A fitness center could seek information on new programs or customer satisfaction noting priorities between women and men.
• A grocery store could seek information on a new marketing campaign targeting families of different income levels.
• A bank could seek customer service information from new customers versus long term customers.
• A youth organization could try to find out what new programs would appeal to youth at a certain age and distinguishing between inner city and suburban youth.
• A technology store could research how their products are being used by age and gender.
• A title company could research an idea for a new service based on residential versus commercial realtors.
• A school district could question how technology impacts teachers and students in the classroom.
• A business or organization could use the format informally to meet with employees about various topics, such as benefits, organizational issues.

Experts on the women’s market state that various forms of focus groups can be very useful when collecting information from women since they like to share stories in great detail and often relate products and services to people and lifestyle. 

Focus groups differ from town meetings, brainstorming sessions and study circles as the former have a clear plan and utilize a controlled process with greater structure, along with the fact that participants are selected based on characteristics they share.  Impractical uses of focus groups are trying to build consensus or educating a market segment. 

If you would like to visit about the various methods for obtaining customer information, please contact us at 817-488-2761 or email kate1@kgbmarketing@verizon.net.  We’ll be delighted to meet with you! 

1. Prospecting, trying to build a list of contacts or “filling the pipeline.”  This phase includes networking and non-personal promotional activities such as advertising.
2. Following up with prospects / contacts.
3. Turning prospects / contacts into presentations.
4. Converting presentations into sales.

Additionally, I’ve also provided a few questions and suggestions to help address these common mistakes.   

First, not taking or making the time to clearly define and promote your benefits.  As an example, you may be talking about the features and advantages of your product, instead of focusing on what the purchaser needs and how your product or service will benefit them.   

Potential benefits may be saving time, saving money, increasing revenue, simplifying a process, or saving a life. This of course can also apply to staff at a retail store.  Are they trained to state benefits prior to features and advantages?  Do your advertisements promote benefits? 

Second, not focusing on the correct target market.  Have you taken the necessary steps to identify your target market to know who really needs your product at this point in time or in the near future?  Do you know where they live?  Do you know what they read, listen to or watch?   

What information do you have about existing customers that can be researched for answers?  If you’re starting a business, what industry information can you obtain about your competitors and their customers’ needs? 

Third, not being able to succinctly state what he or she does.  When you’re meeting new people, this core message is called an “elevator speech” or USP, unique selling proposition.   No matter what you call it, you want to tell people how you solve problems, such as helping small businesses fix their computer problems, or helping people maintain a healthy lifestyle.  This statement encourages them to ask for more information, instead of just stating “Oh that’s interesting” when you tell them you’re a computer repair specialist or a fitness instructor.   

Fourth, if you have a website, not providing enough information to generate leads.  Does it clearly state benefits and provide testimonials and examples?  Have a few non-vested people look at your website to obtain objective input about the design, content, colors, ease of using, etc.  Websites can be interactive to sell, handle customer service and/or accounting issues, or they can be just an informational site. 

Fifth, not using an effective contact database system.  Have you established a system to routinely update your database with new contact information?  Are you keeping track of enough information to ask additional qualifying questions?  

One expert recommends the use of index cards for maintaining contact information only if you have less than three hundred contacts.   Perhaps you might benefit from asking patrons to fill out a card when visiting your store or leave their business card. 

Sixth, not adequately listening. Remember, based on customer service research conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Institute, the number one thing people want from someone they do business with is to be listened to!   

Do you focus on what the prospects are telling you in terms of their needs?  Your business may not be able to help them solve a big problem, but you might know someone who can.  Personally, I think of this follow-up stage as the time to develop meaningful relationships.  

This also applies to retail staff.  Do they have adequate information about the various products sold in the store, where they are located, or how to obtain service and installation? 

Seventh, not following up with enough contacts.  What type of item or contact would be useful to your business and fit your style.  Should you write a monthly or quarterly newsletter?  Should you send out postcards with helpful information?  Are phone calls the best option for your industry? 

Eighth, not identifying meaningful solutions.  Have you clearly understood the need or the urgency of the prospect’s situation?  Are you adequately answering their questions, or are you providing a cookie cutter response?  Are you talking too much during the presentation?  Are you showing enough examples of your work, providing enough references or sharing enough testimonials?   

Ninth, not adequately preparing for presentations.  What type of feedback have you received about your written and verbal skills?  Are you comfortable with public speaking if that is an essential part of your presentation?  Should you consider taking some type of class or joining a group that provides public speaking opportunities?  Can you honestly say you know your material well enough that you’re flexible to address all of or the majority of issues that might surface during a presentation? 

This list does not address the importance of focusing on repeat customers and the six marketing fundamentals for all businesses posted under the Strategy category on April 16, 2007. 

If you would like to discuss solutions to these and other marketing problems that you may be encountering, please contact us at 817-488-2761 or kate1@kgbmarketing@verizon.net 

The third way to personalize your marketing efforts is to ensure your company is known for customer service.  I’ve segmented this approach into four categories.

• Customer expectations
• Employees
• Response time
• Value-added ideas.

In order to exceed customer expectations (and yes I know this term is over-used), think about your recent transactions at other establishments, whether positive or negative. 

When visiting a store, we appreciate the efforts made when employees walk you to the location of a product, answer your questions about product options, and then ask if you need additional assistance with another item.·         It’s hard to feel highly valued when you’re just told the aisle location and you’re unfamiliar with the store layout or are in a hurry.  And then again, do you get frustrated when checking out and am asked “did you find everything?” and when you tell them no, they show no concern for your input? It’s important to identify your customers’ priorities if you want them to be life-long customers.

• When I worked at American Airlines in the eighties, we studied how other businesses within the travel industry were responding to the influx of women business travelers and learned safety was the top concern.  As an example, women didn’t want their room number stated out loud at check-in.
• It’s a great feeling when a restaurant remembers your preferred seat or a hotel remembers your non-smoking room preference.

Furthermore, it is beneficial to ask your focused customers or allies how your product or service is performing.  Then, implement changes and advise them of these changes.

• You may find that people are willing to pay more if you spend more time listening to them (a selfish, but important factor).
• My July 2006 newsletter identified numerous ways of gathering information and listening to your customers.
• Remember to obtain information about different “time points”: purchase, delivery, service calls and after the customer actually uses your product for a period of time.
• Hiring a mystery shopper can provide first-hand qualitative input on how your customers are treated.

A second way to focus on customer service is to think about your employees.  If you respect, value and train your employees and recognize them as an important asset, these employees are more likely to pass along the same treatment to your customers.  Plus, you may have lower employee turnover. 

• Ask your employees for suggestions on ways they can offer outstanding customer service, such as learning more about products or your competitors.
• Modify or eliminate rules preventing employees from providing great service. 
• As your company provides training, offer employees opportunities to practice the new skills prior to interacting with customers and prospects.  New skills need time to become habits.

The third area is response time.  If you have a website, what is your response time to answer questions or comments? 

• What are your response rates when it comes to returning phone calls, shipping products, scheduling and completing service calls, or providing replacement parts?
• With so many people short on time, have a procedure for notifying your inability to keep an appointment.

The final area of customer service that can be personalized is value-added services.  What procedure do you have in place when an item is out of stock? 

• I was quite surprised when a high-end local grocer had no record of my request for a special product I was seeking.  At the time I left my contact information, I mentioned the two special trips made to their store for this item.  Since that experience, I’ve reduced the number of visits to that establishment. 

Do you mail out postcards or make a phone call when the product is re-stocked?  How do you keep customers informed of special purchases?

• Just they other day I received a call from the service department of my car dealership reminding me that I haven’t been in for service in some time.  Personally, I value that reminder since our lives get busy and it’s not convenient or fun when the car needs servicing!

Do your technicians solve an immediate problem that’s likely to repeat itself OR do they find a long term solution so it doesn’t repeat itself?  This easily applies to appliance, computer and cable service repairs.

• Perhaps you’ve come across a problem with a piece of equipment and you make the effort to contact customers who purchased that item.

Do you notify focused contacts of your busiest time of the day or week so they can avoid long lines and delays?

• Wouldn’t it be great if the local post office could tell you when they have the most agents working?

Please don’t hesitate to share your comments and thoughts about these three methods for personalizing your marketing efforts.  It’s a topic that never loses relevancy. 

Instead, I’m focusing on those little “human” touches that mean a lot to your best customers, prospects, industry allies and employees.  I refer to this group as your “focused contacts.”  The first part, posted on June 25, addressed handwritten messages.

The second way to personalize your marketing efforts is to demonstrate how much you appreciate your customers. 

First are on-going methods such as

1. acknowledging customers by name
2. offering a place for customers to display a stack of their business cards so others may take one
3. touching base with a prospect about some other need they mentioned during your presentation or discussion 
4. providing a simple way for contacts to opt out of receiving your company’s routinely distributed promotional materials
5. organizing free workshops in which you partner with related professionals to offer meaningful information   
6. sending a testimonial from an existing customer to a prospect
7. writing thank you notes and placing phone calls as previously discussed
8. establishing a client or customer board of the month featured at your office, retail store, newsletter or website.

Financially, you may

1. offer discounts if they bring in a postcard or mention your notice about customer appreciation day or week
2. hold a monthly drawing for FREE use of a chauffeur, prepared meals, financial check-up, golf packages, etc.   
3. donate to your focused contact’s favorite charity in his or her name
4. invite focused contacts to try a new product or service at no charge or at minimal cost, dependent upon the product or regulations  
5. establish a frequent purchase program (yes, this does require you to keep track of all customer purchases) to provide rewards.  Use this opportunity to have some fun and select meaningful items or services.
6. inform customers of special sales involving their frequently purchased items (here again, don’t forget the usefulness of a customer database), or if you have a top-selling item that your best customers frequently purchase
7. publish a picture in the local paper, perhaps quarterly, of an important customer, employee or ally
8. host an event where you don’t talk business such as a picnic, BBQ or softball tournament.

  The final part of this series will focus on personalizing customer service.

1. Repeat customers spend more than new customers.
2. Referrals from repeat customers are greater than new customers.
3. It costs less to sell an item to an existing customer than a prospect.

So how do we make great customer service a daily occurrence?  Focus on the various interactions you have with your customers before, during and after their purchase.

1. How easy is it to find your location, phone number or website?  Include this information on as many of your company materials as possible.
2. During the sale, do you offer helpful assistance, practical packaging, and payment options?  Make sure your staff has the training and knowledge they need.
3. After the sale, are delivery and installation convenient?   Will your product be more useful with training?  Is your automated phone system customer-friendly?  Are your return and warrant policies reasonable?  A positive experience at this phase can significantly impact the number of customer referrals!

In this process, I’m also advocating greater utilization of your contact and/or customer database.  I suggest either upgrading it to include contact specific information, or referring to it on a more regular basis.  Some examples of personal information include: how you met, where a person went to college, how many children they have, where he/she grew up, what are their favorite vacations, which competitors or suppliers they use, who they report to, etc.   

Beyond the basic contact information, customer specific information might be what are their preferred products and payment or delivery methods.  As an example, a pest control service could maintain information on whether or not residential customers have outside pets and thus always make phone contact prior to scheduling service.   

Before we get into methods, I’ll briefly list some of the potential goals of these personalization efforts: 

1. building loyalty so you and your business are more likely to be remembered
2. keeping your name in front of your customers in a non-sales, impromptu manner
3. building relationships and trust
4. making your focused contacts feel valued and appreciated.  Your note might motivate, encourage or uplift the receiver, either personally or professionally.

The three broad categories I’m going to discuss include

1. handwritten notes
2. customer appreciation
3. customer service.

As you read each idea, evaluate it to see if it’s something that fits your budget, your schedule and your personal style. 

One of the most personal methods is to send a handwritten note.  Stop and think about it: don’t you almost always open the personally addressed mail first?  So what are meaningful reasons for a personal note?

1. appreciation for being your customer, prompt payment or a referral
2. acknowledgement for special achievement
3. acknowledgement for a mistake made by you or your staff
4. expression of sympathy or concern
5. comments accompanying an article highlighting their business or industry
6. anniversary with your company
7. important contact met at a networking event
8. inquiry to simply find out how they’re doing, you’re thinking about them or to highlight an important personal matter
9. his or her birthday.  I’m going to add a word of caution as I feel this can be overdone as in the case of a P&C insurance agent sending birthday cards to the children of customers. 

Perhaps you want to acknowledge your focused contacts during small business week, save your vision week (optometrists and eyewear stores), national family week (if you business provides relevant products and services), or their alma mater scored a major academic or athletic victory.  For more fun ideas look under the Strategy category of this website for the article titled “Adding some clean fun to your promotional activities.” 

I recommend maintaining an ample supply of pre-printed stationery that fits your style, whether note paper, note cards or postcards.  The pre-printed information could include your name, title or business, phone and address.  You’ll note I’ve omitted fax number, email address and website, as this information may be crossing over the line into more of a sales message.  The rest of the card should have ample space for your short, brief message of three or four sentences.  Some people tend to find it easier to hand write something more personal then when emailing or typing a note.  Pre-printing your return address is a time saver!   

If you feel you’re better on the phone, make the effort to speak with your customers, prospects, allies and employees.  They will more than likely appreciate your personal touch! 

Two examples of professionals who have benefited from this approach are accountants and financial planners.  In the case of the financial planner, he practiced for fifteen years before adopting this tactic.  He stated that within six months, he gained extensive new referral business that significantly exceeded all other previous marketing efforts!

The next posted article will provide ideas for personalizing customer appreciation efforts.

These concepts and issues are relevant for other business-based networking opportunities such as a chamber of commerce and civic groups.  Please note there are many other valid reasons for networking, but this article is strictly focused on business networking. 

Business and Marketing Considerations 

1)    Visit other similar groups or chapters if they’re nearby.

a)    Use this opportunity to speak with members who are professionals from your industry.  Ask about both time and money commitment and whether they’ve benefited financially and/or professionally. 

2)    Analyze the membership in terms of your target market.

a)    As an example, does the group consist of more business-to-consumer entities or more business-to-business entities?

i)      In my case, there were certain businesses I was never able to refer to such as home security.  We’ve lived in the same community and house for over ten years, and I tend to recommend businesses I personally know or use.

ii)    What is an acceptable amount of time to spend meeting with people outside of your target market at this stage of your business? 

b)    If you have a geographic target market, where do members live and work?  Additionally, a business may target customers based on other factors such income, age or lifestyle.  And of course, B2B markets will utilize different criteria.

3)    Consider your sales cycle.

a)    Members with short sales cycles (carpet cleaning, clothing alterations, hairstylists) will usually gain business immediately.  Industries such as financial planning and consulting can be involved for six or more months without receiving any referrals.

b)    Be prepared to remain in the group for at least six months to one year.  As with any promotional effort, make the commitment and think of this opportunity as a long term investment in building relationships and developing trust.

c)     If your business is young, this opportunity can be invaluable for testing ideas.

4)    Examine the group in terms of the quality of members.

a)    You have to balance what time you have for this marketing activity versus how much you may need to give to make the group highly valuable (inviting potential members or your industry allies, one-on-one meetings, etc.)

b)    It can be uncomfortable to recommend a person based on a few meetings if you haven’t seen or experienced their work.  Plus due to human nature, there are bound to be certain people with whom you don’t click.  When it comes to referrals, your reputation is on the line! 

Personal Considerations 

1)    Focus on the time of the meeting as your personal situation may work better for lunch meetings than morning or evening meetings, or vice versa.

a)    Interestingly, I’m continually hearing about a greater number of networking groups meeting bi-weekly or monthly. 

 2)    Find out what meetings are required outside of your regularly scheduled meeting. 

a)    We were expected to meet at least once a week with another member and to meet with every member.

b)    While the group is sold as only requiring ninety minutes each week, the time commitment was realistically three to four hours each week. 

3)    If considering a leadership position, ask questions about how much time it takes, does the member feel the extra commitment has paid off, and what type of training is available. 

a)    As incentive, the top three leaders of our group obtain additional months of membership for their service.

b)    In our group, training always required some type of fee (under $20) and was not necessarily geographically convenient.  For my particular position, limited free materials were provided, but the majority of materials required a purchase. 

Group Considerations 

1)    Learn about membership retention rates and try to gauge the priority of the group.

a)    Our group was very young. 

i)      Thus, many members felt our top priority was to recruit new members.  This can lead to projects requiring additional time and money.

ii)    Leadership stability can be important.  We had three different group leaders (i.e., president, director) and two second-in-command leaders in 10.5 months.

iii) During those months, twenty-six members left the group for various reasons.  At the time I joined, the group had roughly thirty members.  At the time I left, the group had twenty and at one point was under 15.

b)    Learn about the types of businesses that have remained in the group if it’s older than two years.

2)    Ask about membership policies.

a)    You may be required to invite a certain number of potential members involving letters, phone calls, etc.

i)      These numbers can be substantial.

b)    Ask about financial commitment. 

 i)      We paid an initial registration fee, annual fee and monthly dues to cover our breakfast and meeting facility; these fees totaled over $870 for twelve months. I’m aware of some groups having monthly dues of $50 to $60 if meeting for lunch.

c)     What type of training is available?

i)      In our case, a basic required course offered useful suggestions for maximizing your participation.  These ideas were applicable to other networking situations.

d)    Make sure you fully understand attendance policies, such as whether a substitute is or is not expected.

i)      Of the forty plus meetings I attended, we always had at least one member absent.  In some cases, we had seven or more absent out of 20 or 25 members.  When members are absent, it detracts from the value of the group.

e)    If more than one person from a profession applies, how is the member selected?

f)      How are non-productive members handled?

g)    If the group tracks referrals and business, how are they calculated?  Different groups within the same organization may use different methods.

h)    A mentoring program is great but again requires additional time.

i)      If the group has a website, spend adequate time researching it.

3)    Visit as many times as permissible to observe the flow of the meeting. 

a)    Our group leader received formal training on how to run the meeting, and thus each one generally followed the recommended format.  I’ve been told not all groups do so. 

b)    Are the members friendly to visitors?  Are the members actively speaking with one another?

c)     Try to learn about the quality of direction given by paid personal if the group has a formal management organization. 

i)      Will the organization offer any type of discount for providing poor management from the paid/staff level?   If this group is run as a for-profit business, you’ll have an idea if gaining new members is significantly more important than providing customer service to existing members. 

d)    If there are terms you don’t understand, ask for explanation.  Just like any industry, these groups have their own terminology! 

What I learned and experienced in a nutshell.

1. Business-wise, since I have a geographic target market and primarily focus on clients in the B2B market, I would likely generate greater benefits by establishing my own networking group of small B2B businesses serving my geographic area and relating to my field.
2. I obtained enough business to pay for all fees and expenses but the time commitment was extensive.
3. I will maintain contact over the long-term with a handful of professionals from the group who I can either refer to or receive referrals.  Plus, some have become personal friends.
4. Professionally, since I’m a home-based business, it was great incentive to dress in formal work clothes, get out of the house, and sharpen my speaking skills through a leadership position.  Other home-based members and those who have recently relocated to our area share my sentiment! 
5. I highly recommend business networking for professionals who’ve been out of the work force for a period of time and will benefit from the structure and leadership opportunities as it’s easier to get back into the professional mode.
6. Overall, my participation in this group helped more with professional growth than business growth.   

Whether you’ve had positive or negative networking experiences, or want to share comments, please don’t hesitate to email me at kgbmarketing@hotmail.com.

Some specific uses include direct marketing materials to create interest and response dependent upon a person’s stage within the sales cycle; personal notes or postcards for those whom you know personally and want to recognize such as veterans, nurses or teachers; or events to offer interaction such as customer appreciation day or week.  Two other ideas may be a sales promotion tied to a special product or service, such as Bicycle Safety Day, or the desire to tell your target audience about your selection of a local charity.  As mentioned in prior articles, creating and using a contact or customer database is essential for your marketing activities. 

I’ve included a few ideas for each month and applicable businesses or professions for these events.  If I didn’t mention your industry, sources for other holidays and celebrations are listed at the end.  To my knowledge, some of these dates change from year to year.   

January

Jan. 13 – Make Your Dreams Come True Day, financial planner, insurance agency or interior designer

Jan. 23 – National Handwriting Day, stationery retailer 

February

Feb. 13 – Bicycle Safety Day, bicycle store

Feb. 17 – Random Acts of Kindness Day, non-profit

Feb. 21 – Love Your Pet Day, pet store or veterinarian

Feb. 25 – Quiet Day, bookstore 

March

Mar. 3 – Employee Appreciation Day, any business

Mar. 8 – International Women’s Day, any business catering to women

Mar. 27 – Photography Day, camera store or photographer

Mar. 30 – Doctor’s Day, physicians 

April

Apr 5 – Read a Road Map Day, travel agency or tour operator

Apr. 7 – World Health Day, businesses in the health care profession

Apr. 22 – Earth Day, businesses in the landscape industry 

May

May 6 – Nurses Day, health care industry

May 10 – Peace Day, non-profits

May 15 – International Day of Families, water park

May 31 – National Save Your Hearing Day, ear specialist 

June

June 1 – International Children’s Day, day care business

June 5 – World Environment Day, organic landscaping business or retailers accepting trade-ins

June 23 – birth date of Johannes Gutenberg, 1400, printing business 

July

July 2 – halfway point of the year, accountants and bookkeepers

July 30 – Comedy Day, comedy club 

August

Friendship Day – first Sunday of August every year, greeting card store

Aug. 9 – International Art Appreciation Day, art gallery

Aug. 13 – International Left-Handers Day, for someone your personally know

Aug. 22 – Tooth Fairy Day, pediatric dentist 

September

Sept. 17 – Constitution Day, attorneys

Sept. 20 – International Student Day, educational consultants or tutors 

October

Oct. 9 – World Post Day, postal / mailing centers

Oct. 20 – National Fruit Day, health food store

Oct. 27 – Make a Difference Day, non-profits 

November

Nov. 11 – Veteran’s Day, thank customers who are veterans

Nov. 15 –America Recycles Day, business offering recycling of printer cartridges 

December

Dec. 4 – National Cookie Day, bakery

Dec. 5 – International Volunteer Day, thank customers who you know are active community volunteers

Dec. 15 – Game of Basketball invented in 1891, sporting goods store

Dec. 17 – Orville and Wilbur Wright made first successful flight in 1903, travel agency 

Sources: www.enchantedlearning.com/activitycalendars and Linda Bean, owner of Be In Touch, www.beintouchday.com  

As you can see, there are numerous events and methods to consider based on your industry, personality and budget.  The good news is with a little planning and creativity a method can be tailored to fit your situation.

So what are some of the benefits and end results of placing emphasis on customer knowledge? First, you’ll be able to update your customer database. And if you currently have names on pieces of paper, this process could be the reason for creating a database. Within the database, you can create a specific column to designate if the customer if a key customer; i.e. one of those twenty percent who produce eighty percent of your revenue. Or a column for special notes such as where they went to college, where they’ve lived, what are their hobbies, or how they found you. Take the time and make the effort so your database will work for you!

Second, perhaps you’ll learn about the best way to communicate with your customers. Some people only use email. Maybe they’ll tell you they don’t want to be phoned at their home, or would prefer a postcard reminder. Third, take knowledge about your existing customers and apply it to identifying prospects. This information should help you narrow down the key benefit or benefits of doing business with you, and that’s extremely useful for your promotional efforts.

Fourth, if your business is outstanding, you have an informal sales force to tap. Nothing is better than a recommendation or a ready to implement referral network. Fifth, if you’ve learned about your weakness, you can try to fix it. Some solutions might be employee training or revised hours. An idea shared by one or more of your customers may help you tailor a product or service and charge a higher price, or find a way to shorten your delivery time benefiting the customer and saving you money.

The last question is how can you obtain information from these important people? Some standard methods include phone interviews; written surveys distributed via mail, email, and fax; and in-person interviews. Or meeting those best customers periodically for lunch or better yet, if you’re in the business-to-business sector, introducing them to someone who will help them prosper.

Additionally, I’ll refer to my July 2006 newsletter that focused on ways to gather customer information and demonstrate you’re listening.

• Establish advisory groups, customer councils or board of directors, especially involving your best customers
• Conduct focus groups
• Use after-purchase surveys
• Ask employees for feedback based on discussions with customers
• Use customer suggestion boxes
• Undertake formal written surveys sent within a newsletter or promotional piece
• If you distribute a newsletter, ask for customer comments
• Seek follow-up to customer complaints after problems are solved
• Hire mystery shoppers, especially retailers.

After you’ve decided the benefits from and how you might implement this process, a great place to start when developing questions are issues directly impacting the marketing mix elements. Here are some examples.

Product

• What are the most prominent benefits your customers receive and/or experience from your product and/or service?
• Who are the key employees with whom they interact?
• Do you need to revise your warranty or return policy?

Place

• Is your location convenient? Are your store hours adequate?
• How can you improve the knowledge of your sales and service staff?
• Is it easy to communicate with your business?

Price

• Have your customers compared your prices to your competitors?
• Do you need to revise your financing or payment options?
• Do you have a niche that will allow you to raise your price?

Promotion

• How did your customers originally hear about you?
• Do they want to hear about sales promotions or receive service reminders?
• Should you considering including some of your customers in your promotional materials?

As you can see, there are numerous questions to ask. The good news is these questions and the methods for gathering answers can be tailored to fit your situation.

According to Datran Media’s December 2006 survey, 83 percent of business respondents listed email as their most important advertising tool for 2007.

Datran Media also found that 89.4 percent of respondents plan to use email for customer acquisition and 87.2 percent for customer retention. Datran Media, founded in 2001, is based in New York.

VerticalResponse, a San Francisco based company offering online tools, conducted a study in 1Q2006. This study found differences in response rates by industry, and similar to other advertising studies, concluded there’s significant value in targeting your audience in order to improve response rates.

This study found that in all but five industries, the normal trend is click and open rates will decrease as the size of the list grows.

If an email notification bounces (defined as unreceived email for a variety of reasons), one company opts to send the same message via postcard.

Marketing requires a commitment.

• Balance time, effort, money and creativity.
• Establish a specific amount of time to market your business on a regular basis, such as phoning or visiting prospects and other contacts. Take the time to prepare a script, or at least notes on what you want to say. Marketing goals and calendars come in handy!
• As Jay Conrad Levinson states in his books about Guerrilla Marketing, if you can’t rely on money, use creativity and effort in place of expensive promotional activities. These efforts can yield significant benefits if your business is based on building long term relationships.
• Establish a program and give it adequate time to produce results.
• Visit the competition or study their marketing materials.

Marketing is an investment.

• An often used example compares marketing to investing in a blue chip stock. The value of this stock has highs and lows, but over the long run is profitable.
• Just as the stock market responds to factors such as gas prices, hurricanes and politics, your marketing efforts experience peaks and valleys.
• Think about the impacts from seasonality, technology improvements, training, and employee turnover.
• Don’t hesitate to ask questions before spending your money!

Marketing should be consistent.

• Seek to build trust with your customers so they know what to expect from your product or service. Consider how long it takes you to trust others before you’re willing to do business with them, or refer someone else to them.
• Clearly state the benefits of your products and services throughout all your marketing messages. Identify the key benefits and focus on them!
• If you provide a product or service that isn’t frequently purchased, you need to assure customers you’re still in business.
• Think about the marketing messages sent to your home or business. How many times must you see a message before you give it a second thought, or call the business?

Marketing efforts can be improved with testing.

• If you are planning to place an ad, use direct mail or even design a new business card, test a few options to see which brings the best response.
• Experts recommend involving people who have no vested interest in your success so they’ll be honest with you.
• Again, what recent messages have been the most effective for you? Look through various publications and gather samples of what you find effective.

Marketing activities should be tracked and measured.

• When your phone starts ringing, ask your prospects how they heard about you. If a retailer, ask a few questions when purchases are made.
• Track mailed promotional items.
• Compare the cost versus the effectiveness of your efforts. As an example, I’ve joined a BNI group and I’m weighing the cost in terms of dollars and time invested versus the amount of business I’ve gained and professional contacts made.

Marketing requires more than one tool or method.

• Examples of marketing tools include business cards, elevator speeches or tag lines, note cards for saying thanks or glad we met, client testimonials, websites, seminars, trade shows, coupons and samples.
• Examples of paid advertising include newspaper ads, billboards, and CDs/DVDs.
• Again, it’s beneficial to evaluate the effectiveness of each method.

And if you haven’t guessed, marketing success and your business’ success is dependent upon knowledge about

• your costs
• your customers
• your competition.

1. If your customers’ buying patterns change. As an example, companies that traditionally sold door-to-door had to find new methods as more women work outside the home.
2. If your market is expanding, geographically or another use has been found for the product, find additional ways to reach these new customers. One option is expanding from company owned stores to specialty retailers.
3. If you have new competitors, they’ll likely develop new distribution methods. As an example, consider how the U.S. Postal Service is evolving due to competition from UPS, FedEx and mailing centers.
4. If new methods of distribution become available, such as the Internet, are they cost effective for you?

And don’t forget, the customer will likely expect you to maintain records of all their purchases from different methods and receive an appropriate discount based on total purchases.

• The first time a man looks at an ad, he doesn’t see it.
• The second time, he doesn’t notice it.
• The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
• The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it.
• The fifth time, he reads the ad.
• The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
• The seventh time, he reads it through and says “Oh brother!”
• The eighth time, he says, “here’s that confounded thing again!”
• The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
• The tenth time, he will ask his neighbor if he has tried it.
• The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
• The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
• The thirteenth time, he thinks it might be worth something.
• The fourteenth time, he remembers that he wanted such a thing for a long time.
• The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
• The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it someday.
• The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum of it.
• The eighteenth time, he swears at this poverty.
• The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
• The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys the article or instructs his wife to do so.

Amazingly, it was written in 1885 by Thomas Smith in London, at a time when consumers were receiving significantly fewer daily marketing messages.

1. Their customers’ demand for the product or service
2. Their competition’s pricing structures
3. Their own costs, both fixed and variable.

Small businesses, in comparison to larger organizations, generally have limited resources for studying and analyzing pricing options. Here are a few practical big picture questions to address when your small business is focusing on pricing issues.

1. How easy is it for your customers to obtain prices from your competitors?
2. Do you have a large or a small number of competitors?
3. If you price too low from the start, will it be too hard to raise your price?
4. Is your product or service price-sensitive, including small changes in price, prices ending in “9” or “5” or the overuse of sales? Do you have industry information or your own data to guide you?
5. Do your costs vary by customer? Accountants and financial documents provide meaningful insight.

Many of you will likely agree from personal experience that referrals are the most efficient means of producing new sales.

One expert found that within the financial industry, one sale is gained for every 3.3 referrals. In comparison, it takes 10 seminar attendees, 50 cold calls or 60 letters to generate one sale.

Furthermore, according to Paul and Sarah Edwards (authors of Getting Business to Come to You), up to 45 percent of most service businesses are chosen by customers based on the recommendations of others.

So how does a business get more referrals? Undertake an intentional effort to get the right people talking about your company and your products and services.

Chicago-based Gaebler Ventures recommends these five steps when developing a referral program:

1. Select the best clients
2. Ask them
3. Provide promotional tools
4. Develop rewards
5. Track results

1. What are the number of and types of special individual needs of your customers?
2. What level of contact do you maintain with your customers? Does your site need to be interactive (selling, customer service and/or accounting) or will it just be an informational site?
3. Consider what changes you may need to make if you start selling on the web. Examples include vendors for shipping, packaging materials and payment options (credit cards).
4. Costs will include establishing your domain name, the web hosting service and maintenance. One expert also recommends registering variations and misspellings of your domain name.
5. Is the message of your website consistent with all your other marketing items?

(Compiled from various sources including Chris Espinosa, ceGraphics)

So what are some great uses for postcards? Here are some ideas, especially for targeting your best clients.

1. Pre-print with your logo, address, slogan and/or picture, add meaningful comments and mail while on a trip, business or personal, to stay in “front” of your clients.
2. Utilize for important announcements including new services or products, new employees or location, revised hours, upcoming meetings or seminars, or new strategic alliances.
3. Pre-print with important industry facts or new regulations impacting your business, industry or services.
4. Provide notification of upcoming special sale or discount, or use as a coupon.
5. Use as thank you, reminder of their next appointment or need to schedule an appointment.
6. Employ to solicit comments about an idea, or even a resume, for personal use.

Here are some ways to gather information from your customers that demonstrates you’re listening to them!

1. Establish advisory groups, customer councils or board of directors, especially involving your best customers
2. Conduct focus groups
3. Use after-purchase surveys
4. Ask employees for feedback based on interactions with customers
5. Use customer suggestion box
6. Undertake formal written surveys sent via mail, email, fax, telephone, or within a newsletter or promotional piece
7. Conduct personal interviews over the phone or in-person
8. If you distribute a newsletter, ask for customer comments
9. Seek follow-up to customer complaints after problems are solved
10. Hire mystery shoppers, especially retailers.

• 68% upset with the treatment they’ve received
• 14% dissatisfied with product or service
• 9% begin doing business with the competition
• 5% seek alternatives or develop other business relationships
• 3% move away
• 1% die

Customer loyalty and the lifetime value of a customer can be worth up to ten times as much as the price of a single purchase.

For every complaint a business receives, there are approximately 26 other customers with unresolved complaints or problems.

A dissatisfied customer will tell up to ten people about his/her experience. Thirteen percent of those unhappy customers will tell up to 20 people!

(Source: U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce)