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.

Here are questions to ask yourself as a small business owner / operator or marketing professional.

1. Which key (20 percent) customers and key products or product lines generate 80 percent of your revenue?
2. Which few sales staff or employees are responsible for the majority of your revenue?
3. When you’re seeking new customers, do 20 percent of those also generate 80 percent of your new revenue?
4. Which 20 percent of your customers or products generate 80 percent of your complaints?
5. When it comes to marketing,  are you focusing roughly 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20 percent of your work that’s really important?

¨ 2007 Money Magazine Top 100 Best Places to Live

¨ Average Household Income of $108,000

¨ Current Population of 38,400;  40 percent growth since 2000

¨ Median resident age: 34.6 years

¨ Primarily served by Keller ISD, Keller’s largest employer serving over 28,000 students 

Points of Interest

¨ Unique mixed use development called Keller ArtHouse within Town Center

¨ Focus on developing extensive hike and bike trail system

¨ Implemented half cent sales tax for park development

¨ Economic Development Board meets monthly

¨ Historic Old Town Keller

¨ Other major employers are Corning Cable Systems and Southstar Logistics 

Important websites

City: www.cityofkeller.com

Chamber: www.kellerchamber.com

School: www.kellerisd.net 

Source: numerous sources

1. Who are you targeting and why?
    Generally your target will be new customers or existing customers.  Furthermore, you’re likely to be driven by a need to introduce new products/services or focus on a new competitor who’s entered the market.

2. What are your specific goals?
    Your goals, whether to increase awareness or to increase sales, must be measurable.  Examples are a gaining a certain number of new customers, enlarging mailing list by a certain percentage, or increasing sales by a certain sales amount during your slowest month.

3. What steps are needed to carry out the campaign?
    Your timetable should focus on activities such as establishing appropriate promotional methods for reaching your target market, testing your message, conducting training, setting a realistic budget, preparing for additional calls and purchasing inventory.

4. Finally, how will you measure if your campaign has been successful? 
    Refer to your goals, use on-going tracking and write down what you’ve learned about customers, costs and competition for the next campaign. 

• 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.

Southlake Jewelers, located in the Village Center Shopping Center (with Kroger as the anchor) on East Southlake Boulevard, has always treated me very well.  Whenever I’ve visit their store, they’ve not only always cleaned my rings for free, but they’ve also repaired various broken necklace clasps for free while I waited! 

The Albertsons at West Southlake and Davis Boulevards made a special trip to our home with a case of chips I had special ordered.  I visited their store twice in one day to pickup the merchandise after receiving a phone call that the case had arrived.  The food manager who placed the order was not in at either time when I stopped by the store.  They found the case of chips immediately after I left the store but couldn’t catch me in the parking lot.  They called our home before I arrived home and asked where I lived as one of the employees who had been involved in the search for the case of chips was getting off work and wanted to deliver the chips!

Both articles are written in everyday language and hopefully provide practical ideas for your small business.  My mission is to explain the variety of terms employed in strategic planning that are also used in budgeting and other planning processes.  I’m relying on common definitions, explanations and examples of the most frequently used terms.  As previously mentioned, if you read a variety of books on strategic planning, you’ll find authors using and offering varying descriptions of these terms.

As we switch gears to the annual planning process, we’re talking about goals, objectives, strategies and tactics.  Here’s a quick overview of these four terms based on definitions found in Barbara Findlay Schenck’s highly recommended book Small Business Marketing for Dummies.

A goal is a sales or professional target set for a specific time frame and employs the use of numbers or percentages.  A goal answers the WHAT we want to achieve question and is measurable. 

An objective is a measureable result to achieve a goal; one goal can require two or more objectives.  Objectives address HOW to meet a goal.  Action words such as introduce, gain or improve are put to use.  An objective statement often includes the use of a verb, a noun and then a precise description. 

A strategy is a plan for achieving each measureable objective; it should be flexible to respond to external forces.  A marketing strategy generally addresses one of the four P’s of the marketing mix: product, place, price and promotion.

A tactic is the specific ACTION you’ll take to enact your strategy.

At the first level of annual planning, we start by setting our goal or goals for the year.  Webster’s offers this definition: a goal is the end toward which effort is directed, or the AIM.

Let’s think of a small business’ goal or goals as the one or two financial targets you really want to achieve, whether net profit or some type of unit goal.  And yes, you may establish more than one goal for a year!  Also, one should have a tracking system in place to measure these goals.

In The Successful Marketing Plan by Hiebing and Cooper, the authors discuss how goals vary by industry. 
• If a manufacturing entity, you’ll probably focus on dollar and/or unit goals.
• In retail, focus on dollars and transaction goals, or unit goals.
• If a service provider, the focus is usually dollars and persons served.
• Non-profits are likely to set a goal for funds raised to support their programs and the number of volunteers involved or volunteer hours contributed.

They also point out that dollar sales goals should be set to provide a profit to the business.  If you set a gross sales goal, you may meet it but you may not have enough money to pay for expenses and earn a profit.  If you solely focus on units, transactions or persons served, you again may meet the goal, but may not earn a profit. This doesn’t mean that you won’t track or set goals for gross sales, but that net sales or revenue is a more meaningful goal.

Here are examples of goals.
• Increase net revenue by six percent
• Increase occupancy by four percent
• Achieve an average $2000 net profit per month
• Increase membership by five percent

After establishing your goals, you’ll now want to establish objectives to meet these goals.  (Please note that numerous business planning authors discuss the need for setting objectives but may not have both goal and objective setting steps.  Additionally, if you refer to dictionaries and thesauruses, the terms goals and objectives are interchangeable.)
  
I favor the establishment of both goals and objectives (similar to Ms. Schenck) so one has an opportunity to break down each goal based on measurable categories within our business, such as new customers and existing customers, residential and commercial customers, dining-in versus take-out.  At this stage, we can focus on target markets; a target market is a group of people or businesses with a set of common characteristics.

And just to reiterate, both goals and objectives should be specific, quantifiable, and measurable, such as related to a certain time frame (i.e., quarterly, annually, etc.).  If you’re just starting your business, you may want to set gradually increasing goals and objectives.

Here are examples of objectives.
• Increase the number of new customers by four percent or acquire 200 new customers
• Increase the average sales per customer by 1.5 percent
• For a spa, retain 95 percent of your existing customers by ensuring they visit your store and make a purchase (services or products) at least once every three months
• Purchase a new truck for a service route with an outlay not to exceed $20,000
• For an insurance agent, increase from six to ten the number of monthly presentations to new prospects.  If you offer both car and homeowners insurance, the agency could have different objectives for these two types of insurance.  They could also establish objectives for year 1, year 2 and year 3.

At the third or strategy stage, we’re going to focus on different methods or ways to meet your objectives as we concentrate on affecting the behavior of your target market(s).  Here’s the chance to use more descriptive terms, and as Ms. Schenck mentions look to the four components of the traditional marketing mix. 

Here are examples of strategies.
• Find two new products for your home improvement line (product)
• Eliminate the three poorest performing products (product)
• Segment or categorize customers to identify their purchasing habits, if you don’t already do so (product)
• Undertake a study of customer satisfaction (product)
• Find one new distributor for your line of engraved baby linens (place)
• Extend delivery service hours (place)
• Develop a frequent buyer program (price)
• If a floral shop, increases prices by five percent over Valentine’s holiday and Mother’s Day (price)
• Offer quarterly seminar on a specific topic (promotion) 
• Market to one new zip code (promotion).
 
At the final or tactics stage, we’re getting down to specific actions for putting strategies into play.

Here are examples of tactics.
• Join the Chamber of Commerce by a certain date.
• Contact two customers each week; maintain contact log including whom called, issues discussed, action taken or needed.
• Take one customer out for lunch once each month; maintain activity log.
• Develop a tracking system of residential versus commercial accounts and review every two weeks.
• Locate a consultant to help with a customer satisfaction study
• Study competition to determine if and what types of seminars they offer
• Donate two products to the local PTO fund raiser.

Here’s a brief example for a gift / card shop in which I only identify one goal and one objective with related strategies and tactics.  Since tactics can involve very specific details, a marketing plan may just list high-level details or dates.

Goal: Increase net revenue by five percent

Objective: Increase the number of existing customer visits from once/month to twice/month at a minimum.  (This assumes you know the average number of times customers visit and you’re able to track visits by sales receipts or credit card/debit transactions.)

Strategy:
1) Conduct a six-week long sweepstakes for prizes in which customers complete an entry form when visiting your store; purchase not required.  (May be able to collect missing or important customer data on the entry form!)
2) Implement a frequency shopping card program which offers increasing rewards the more often they shop.  (May need to have a minimum purchase requirement.)
3) Offer mystery coupons over a two-month period (that differs from the timing of the sweepstakes offer) in a sealed envelope that are awarded at one-visit and may only be used at the next visit when un-opened envelope returned to the store.

Tactics:
1) Develop and print sweepstakes rules.
2) Design promotional program for sweepstakes promotion.
3) Design and print entry forms.
4) Train employees on sweepstakes rules.
5) Obtain on-site collection box for entry forms.
6) Evaluate sweepstakes promotion.
7) Develop and post card program rules.
8) Design promotional program for reward program.
9) Train employees on reward program rules.
10) Develop and print reward cards.
11) Conduct quarterly evaluation of reward program.
12) Develop and print mystery coupon program rules.
13) Design promotional program for mystery coupon promotion.
14) Train employees on mystery coupon rules.
15) Purchase envelopes for mystery coupon promotion.
16) Develop and print mystery coupons.
17) Evaluate mystery coupon promotion.

I want to close by encouraging the use of a marketing calendar which organizes and reminds what you and/or your staff should be doing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.  If you attend the Chamber monthly luncheon on the third Thursday of each month, place that in your calendar for each month.  If you desire to contact two existing customers each week, post it on every Tuesday or whatever day works best.  If you want to visit a competitor’s location once a month, pick a day such as the 10th or 15th, and schedule it for the next twelve months.  The use of a calendar is a great way to develop positive habits.

In a perfect world we would be able to establish a year long calendar; but plan to enter as much as possible even if you start by just entering dates for starting the planning and execution of all details for each strategy, and then routinely updating your calendar!

If you would like to meet to discuss how strategic planning can be put to use for your business, please contact us at kgbmarketing@hotmail.com.

Both articles are written in everyday language and hopefully provide practical ideas for your small business.  My goal is to explain the variety of terms employed in strategic planning that are also used in budgeting and other planning processes.  I’m relying on definitions, explanations and examples of the most frequently used terms.

When an organization discusses and develops its vision, mission, or statement of purpose, they’re focusing on statements to guide the entity for the long term and are quite broad.  You’ll find that organizations of all sectors undertake this process including for-profit companies, non-profits and governmental agencies.

So at this top level, we’re talking about the WHY of a business or organization.  These statements
• don’t involve the use of numbers
• won’t change from year to year (that is until the next visioning process is undertaken)
• will be incorporated in numerous company documents
• should be shared with employees, customers and prospects.

If you read a variety of books on strategic planning, you’ll find authors offering varying descriptions of these terms; I want you to remember as a small business that you really just need to have one of these statements that expresses what you want your business to become in the long term.  Whether you call it a vision, mission, or statement of purpose is not significant, but creating one is!  The following definitions are based on Barbara Findlay Schenck’s highly recommended book, Small Business Marketing for Dummies. 

A vision is a statement of what your company strives to be in the desired future.  A vision statement uses verbs or action words such as eliminate, make, or find.

A mission is a statement of how to create your vision, i.e. the core purpose of and the approach you’ll take to achieve your vision.  Some experts refer to it as the general path. A mission statement uses verbs and action words such as build, travel or rehabilitate.

A statement of purpose is usually a combination of the vision and mission.  This statement defines your purpose and states your long-range goals and core values.  It might also state the positive changes you are trying to create.

Here are examples:

• Microsoft – to enable people throughout the world to realize their full potential
• 3M – to solve unsolved problems innovatively
• Southwest Airlines – The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.
• Merck – to preserve and improve human life
• Avis – to ensure a stress-free rental experience by providing safe, dependable vehicles and special services designed to win customer loyalty
• Walt Disney – to make people happy
• Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream – A product mission stated as: “To make, distribute & sell the finest quality all natural ice cream & euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the Environment.” This mission inspired Ben and Jerry to build a cause-related company.
• Mary Kay Cosmetics – to give unlimited opportunity to women
• Wal-Mart – to give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people

If you’re currently working on your vision, here are a few quick guidelines.
• Define a person or an organization by setting out the basic purpose for being
• State what you value and are trying to accomplish
• Use to inform, motivate or involve
• Incorporate the parent company’s mission into yours if you’re part of a large organization.

If you’d like to share your vision or mission statement, just email it to me at kgbmarketing@hotmail.com.

The second article will focus on the annual process of planning and strategizing for your small business.  The primary terms we’ll discuss are goals, objectives, strategies and tactics.

• 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!

By the 1990’s, economies all around the world had dramatically changed over the past sixty years and governments began discussing the need to make changes in their classification systems. The new structure, introduced in 1997, is also a hierarchical system that utilizes six-digit codes with twenty major categories or divisions; it’s called the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS.  NAICS groups establishments together based on production processes and is compatible up to the five digit level with the systems used by Canada and Mexico.  Additionally, it’s compatible up to the two digit level with the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities of the United Nations.

Now that you know a little about the background, let’s address why a basic understanding of the U.S. business classification system is important for a small business.

First of all, by researching business data using a standardized code, such as the NAICS code, one can find out how many businesses like yours are operating and where they are located.  As an example of a geographically congregated industry, you’re likely to find a high percentage of furniture manufacturers located in North Carolina.  Furthermore, these codes will be helpful in preparing your marketing plan as you need to be able to clearly describe your business, suppliers (if applicable), and competition.  If you operate in the B2B market, you can also use use an industry coding system when describing your target market(s).

Second, one can use this industry data to study trends of past activity to make estimates of what may happen industry-wise in the future.  As an example, if the government had been tracking blacksmiths or manufacturers of buggy whips, one would have noticed a continual decline in these industries.  Two modern examples are the decline we’re seeing in the number of video-rental stores and independent travel agencies.

Third, one can use industry data to compare and contrast basic characteristics within your industry, such as employment (size of business) and full and part-time employment levels.  By visiting www.census.gov you’ll obtain a quick overview of the types of business and industry surveys and reports made available by the U.S. government. 

Fourth, a NAICS code is necessary for a wide range of documents.  Federal and state entities ranging from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the IRS and the Census Bureau will require a business to provide their NAICS code on many of their applications and reports.  Other practical uses include attorneys filing required government documents, banks evaluating loan applications, insurance companies accessing risks and mailing list publishers compiling business data. 

If you’re familiar with the old SIC system given below, you’ll recognize carryover to the new system. The ten categories of the older SIC system are:

1.  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
2. Mining
3. Construction
4. Manufacturing
5. Transportation, Communications and Public Utilities
6. Wholesale Trade
7. Retail Trade
8. Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
9. Services
10. Public Administration 

The twenty categories and the corresponding first level two-digit codes of the newer NAICS system are: 

• 11         Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
• 21         Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
• 22         Utilities
• 23         Construction
• 31-33    Manufacturing
• 42         Wholesale Trade
• 44-45    Retail Trade
• 48-49    Transportation and Warehousing
• 51         Information
• 52         Finance and Insurance
• 53         Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
• 54         Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• 55         Management of Companies and Enterprises
• 56         Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
• 61         Educational Services
• 62         Health Care and Social Assistance
• 71         Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
• 72         Accommodation and Food Services
• 81         Other Services (except Public Administration)
• 92         Public Administration

For those of you who live in the greater Southlake, Texas area, here are highlights by industry (utilizing NAICS divisions) of businesses in this market as published in the 2005 County Business Patterns.  In 2005, 4,563 establishments were reported in the greater Southlake market based on a compilation of data for the seven zip codes in this market.  Roughly 14.7 percent of all businesses were involved in Retail Trade, 13.5 percent were involved in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and 9.4 percent were classified in the Health Care and Social Assistance division.

If you would like to learn more about using NAICS codes to make your marketing efforts more profitable, please contact Kate Barlow at KGB Strategic Marketing Solutions. 

Goals and priorities for niche marketing may include:

1. Completing more transactions
2. Generating more referrals
3. Increasing cooperation with allies
4. Combining marketing tools
5. Placing greater focus on details such as devising highly personalized messages and polishing your marketing script/message
6. Making greater use of your database.

Three general steps in creating a niche are:                                         

1.  Studying your business’ strengths
2.  Identifying market segments benefiting from your product, service or expertise
3. Developing strategies to reach them based on identified characteristics. 

One example is the highly competitive local real estate market.  As examples, a realtor might have a niche based on geographic area,  housing type, stage of life, or housing value.

Take the time to look at businesses within your industry but located outside your geographic area for ideas!

If you need more information about niche marketing, please contact me at your earliest convenience.  The initial consulation is always free unless we address a specific project.  I can be reached at 817-488-2761 or via email: kgbmarketing11@verizon.net.

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 

 Greater Keller Women’s Club

• founded 1989
• primary goals are community service and fund raising
• hosts annual Fashion Show and a variety of on-going social/networking activities for members
• www.gkwc.org 

Colleyville Woman’s Club

• founded 1981
• holds annual Fashion Show and Holiday Homes tour for their fundraisers
• has monthly meetings September through May
•  www.c-w-c.org 

Grapevine Chamber Women’s Division

• hosts numerous special projects and activities that benefit the community and beyond
• active for at least 33 years!
• www.grapevinechamber-womensdiv.com

 Greater Grapevine Newcomers Club

• primarily a social group
• Contact 817-488-8949

 Greater Southlake Women’s Society

• founded 1997
• supports numerous local philanthropic causes and events throughout the area
• holds annual art auction and annual blood drive
• www.southlake-gsws.org 

Southlake Newcomers Club

• sponsors annual Holiday Home Tour and Auction
• www.southlakenewcomers.com

 Southlake Women’s Club

• founded 1985
• sponsors two major fundraising events, Art In The Square and the annual School Supply sale
• hosts annual Valentine Luncheon for local senior citizens
• www.southlakewomensclub.org

 Trophy Club Women’s Club

• founded 1981
• sponsors annual garage sale, golf tournament and progressive dinner
• www.tcwc.info

 If you would like more specific information about marketing to women, please contact Kate at 817-488-2761 or kate1.kgbmarketing@verizon.net  I would love to meet with you!

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 

 According to Raleigh Pinskey, author of 101 Ways to Promote Yourself, just about any small business can find a way to contribute to “almost every event imaginable.”  In many instances, your participation may primarily be limited to time and/or services.   

Your business can benefit from this participation when

1.  event promoters publicize sponsors and volunteers
2. you and your employees network at the event and pre and post events
3. your business name appears in the event program.

 Other promotional objectives might include developing community goodwill, improving image or stimulating trial of your service or product.  Your employees may also enjoy an opportunity to volunteer, meet new people and provide service to the community.

If you would like to share some of your personal experiences, I would enjoy hearing about them.  Either phone me at 817-488-2761 or email me at kgbmarketing@hotmail.com.  Also, if you operate in the greater Southlake area, visit our DFW Marketing section to learn more about major local events in our market.

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.

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.

There are significant advantages for small businesses by identifying and then targeting niche markets. First, you will save time and effort by reducing the amount of information you must acquire and master, such as legal issues, technical changes and improvements and competition. Second, you will reduce costs in various ways. You can purchase fewer subscriptions, join fewer networking organizations and lower advertising costs. As you study your markets, you will spend less on traditional advertising compared to a generalist as you discover who are and how to reach your customers.

Third, from a marketing perspective, it should take less effort to refine your marketing message (promotion) and position your services and products (price, place/distribution and product) as marketing efforts become more efficient and effective. As your competence increases, the overall quality of your services and products improve, followed by positive gains in revenue and profit. Over the long term, you may be able to add new revenue streams as an expert speaker, seminar presenter and author. Furthermore, you may have greater flexibility in choosing your projects.

Realistically, one cost that will likely not change is market research expenditures as your business needs to maintain in-depth knowledge about your niche market’s needs and wants. At a minimum, research should focus on the traditional marketing mix issues – how to price, distribute and promote your products or services. But hopefully, by studying your specialty markets, it should become easier to customize and differentiate your service and products. And with in-depth knowledge, you are again the expert who should be able to outshine your competition.

If your small business targets consumers, variables that can narrow down your niche markets include some of the following. Geographically, you may focus on a certain part of the metropolitan area, state or country. One example is an engineering firm focusing on cities west of DFW Airport. Demographically, your business may choose to focus on lifecycle stages, gender or income. A prime example is an attorney specializing in divorce or adoption. A third segmentation is psychographic which involves segmenting consumers based on psychological or personality traits, lifestyles or values. An example is a fashion store targeting consumers who make frequent purchases based on the latest fashion trends. A fourth variable within the consumer market is based on purchaser behavior in terms of their knowledge or attitude toward specific products or services. Some behavior factors include how purchase decisions are made, when products are purchased or consumed, or benefits received by purchasing a certain product or service. An example is a travel agency specializing in international vacations for frequent travelers.

There are also ways to segment the business market that will help a small business identify its best niche(s). Some client criteria to consider include company size, purchasing decisions based on service or price, small versus large orders, and companies with values similar to yours. Two examples of niche business markets include accountants focusing on health care professionals and insurance agents specializing in non-profits.

Briefly, the process to develop a niche marketing strategy entails studying your business’ strengths, identifying market segments that benefit from your products or services, and developing strategies to reach them based on identified characteristics.

For more information about niche marketing strategies, contact KGB Strategic Marketing Solutions

1. Two-thirds of all consumers have purchased at least one gift card.
2. Fifty-five percent of gift card recipients need more than one trip to deplete the value of their card.
3. The average recipient spends 20 percent more than their card’s initial value.
4. In 2004, the average value of gift cards was $59.
5. In 2005, consumers spent at least $35.3 billion on gift cards.
6. Two-thirds of adults who like to receive them enjoy receiving them throughout the year.
7. Eighty-one percent of consumers purchase gift cards for birthdays versus 67 percent for holidays.
8. When retailers switch from paper gift certificates to gift cards, they sell anywhere from fifty to one hundred percent more.

(Sources: American Greetings, epaynews.com, Green Sheet Quarterly, National Retail Federation)

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)

1. Should you reward certain or all customers when they habitually pay their invoices early or promote your products or services? As an example, offering one time discount for new successful customer referrals.
2. Should you establish a tiered pricing program based on type or size of customer, product line or location? Are there benefits to keeping certain clients to establish a greater niche presence, or growing a new location?
3. Should you adjust prices when customers use a combination of services? As an accountant or attorney, how valuable is a client who uses your firm for both business and personal services?
4. Should you reduce prices for a short period of time to increase sales? Will higher sales volume allow you to reduce purchasing costs or help to recoup the costs of new software or training?

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 a few useful hints to start employing today, if you aren’t already!

1. Make special effort to remember names – we all like to hear our name said out aloud. Occasionally repeat someone else’s name when talking to them, and strive to introduce them to at least one other person.
2. Focus on your talents more than your title or company. It should be easy for you to talk about what you do well and what you need.
3. Come prepared with a list of topics you really want to mention and to whom you want to speak. The purpose of these topics could demonstrate you’re an expert, teach others to trust you, and/or lead you to resources and opportunities.
4. Listen so you’ll learn what your contacts need. Apply the old rule: you have two ears and one mouth, so use proportionately.
5. Display an upbeat attitude when entering a networking event.

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.