I just received an email from a vendor I've used a number of times in the past offering me "exclusive pricing" on some of their products. Interested in what I may have qualified for as a client, I read on. That's when I hit the first HUGE mistake made in this promotion.
As I would hope, there was a deadline on this "exclusive pricing" which, in theory, should make me feel some urgency to place an order. But immediately following the expiration date notice was a statement that indicated a new "exclusive pricing" offer would be sent to me when that one expired.
WHAT?
That took the urgency right out of the picture. Apparently I can order any time I want and get a deal. No rush, right?
Then the thought hit me: If this blatant a blunder was made in this promotion, is my "exclusive pricing" even really exclusive? So I went to the company's website. Yep...you guessed it. My "exclusive pricing" is posted right on their website for anyone who happens by. And I thought I was special.
When we run promotions, we must be sincere. We need to create real urgency. We must make genuine deals to our audiences that really are whatever they are purported to be. Running a promotion right can bring a windfall of sales. Blunders like those I've shared from this company's train wreck of a promotion can cause permanent apathy--a marketers worst enemy.
Remember the boy who cried wolf? You don't want to be him. Especially when it comes to your marketing.
Here's to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
No fluff. No hype. Just real-world marketing insights for real business decision-makers
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
3 Fast Ways to Increase Revenues NOW! (Method 2 of 3)
In my last installment on this topic, I discussed holding an open house, seminar, or other event as a fast way to increase revenues. Today’s method is even quicker.
Method #2: Send a Special Offer to Existing Contacts
Most businesses have contact records for past clients, current clients, and prospects. If you don’t, your assignment is to devise a way to begin capturing such data and never (never, never) let a client or prospect interact with you again without obtaining his or her contact information--at least in its simplest form.
On that note, I once served a retail store owner who was struggling and had not captured any data on the company’s customers. The first thing we did was create an offer to make to each person who entered the store in exchange for his or her information so special VIP client deals could be personally extended to them. Within a week or two, the idle store clerks were making calls to these people informing them of a special offer in a brief, 20- or 30-second phone call, allowing them to easily break from their calls when clients entered the store. Within a few months, sales were strong and the company was out of trouble.
The five most popular ways to extend special offers to contacts are:
:: in person
:: by phone
:: by direct mail
:: by email or text
:: through social media.
Email, text, and social media have become particularly strong contenders as vehicles for carrying special offer messages due to their low cost and convenience. While this isn’t a bad thing, remember that they are low-cost and convenient for everyone, making them heavily used and, in some cases, less effective than other methods. Being a high-touch contender in an electronic world may serve you well. Consider all your possibilities carefully before deciding how you will extend your special offers.
So what is your special offer for your prospects? What about existing clients? How will you extend your offer to them? Gather your team, decide on the strategy behind your offer, develop the campaign, determine the best vehicle for your message, and execute.
I’ve increased clients’ top-line revenues by 20%, 50%, even 100% in as little as one month using this one technique. How will you employ it? Don’t just think about it. Do it today!
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Method #2: Send a Special Offer to Existing Contacts
Most businesses have contact records for past clients, current clients, and prospects. If you don’t, your assignment is to devise a way to begin capturing such data and never (never, never) let a client or prospect interact with you again without obtaining his or her contact information--at least in its simplest form.
On that note, I once served a retail store owner who was struggling and had not captured any data on the company’s customers. The first thing we did was create an offer to make to each person who entered the store in exchange for his or her information so special VIP client deals could be personally extended to them. Within a week or two, the idle store clerks were making calls to these people informing them of a special offer in a brief, 20- or 30-second phone call, allowing them to easily break from their calls when clients entered the store. Within a few months, sales were strong and the company was out of trouble.
The five most popular ways to extend special offers to contacts are:
:: in person
:: by phone
:: by direct mail
:: by email or text
:: through social media.
Email, text, and social media have become particularly strong contenders as vehicles for carrying special offer messages due to their low cost and convenience. While this isn’t a bad thing, remember that they are low-cost and convenient for everyone, making them heavily used and, in some cases, less effective than other methods. Being a high-touch contender in an electronic world may serve you well. Consider all your possibilities carefully before deciding how you will extend your special offers.
So what is your special offer for your prospects? What about existing clients? How will you extend your offer to them? Gather your team, decide on the strategy behind your offer, develop the campaign, determine the best vehicle for your message, and execute.
I’ve increased clients’ top-line revenues by 20%, 50%, even 100% in as little as one month using this one technique. How will you employ it? Don’t just think about it. Do it today!
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Monday, August 16, 2010
3 Fast Ways to Increase Revenues NOW! (Method 1 of 3)
Most of the people who talk with me about marketing are looking for a quick fix. I hate the see this because consistently engaging in effective marketing practices can go a long way to removing the need for these emergency blitzes. I certainly understand, however, that sometimes a business just needs a shot in the arm to get over a hump. Over my next three installments, I’m going to share three ways virtually any business can create an income boost that can bring in new money in as little as one day, but absolutely within 30 days.
Method #1: Hold an Open House, Seminar, or Other Event
Regardless of the type of business you have, you either have a place of business people can come to, valuable knowledge you can share with your audience, or both. This means you are a candidate for holding an open house to allow prospects to get to know you better, a live or tele-seminar to share your knowledge, or some other similar type of event that gets you noticed.
:: Decide what type of event you are going to hold. It doesn’t have to be fancy or over-the-top. It just needs to meet your audience’s needs.
:: Involve the media and your contacts in getting the word out. Sit down and look at all the places and people who can help you publicize your event. You have at least a few, including the local paper, online community calendars, vendors, and clients; but chances are good you have many more than that. Get your team involved and think through all the possibilities.
:: When you have your plan in place, launch your publicity campaign two to four weeks in advance of the event, depending on the time commitment your event requires on the part of an attendee. A drop-open house only needs a couple weeks’ advance notice, while a full-day seminar calls for four weeks. Remember, though, that most of your attendees won’t RSVP (if that is required) until a few days before the event. That’s just human nature.
:: Keep it simple, especially if you’re new to such an event. Let your fears go, make your plan, and DO IT! You’ll be surprised at how effective events can be in raising your profile, improving client and customer loyalty, and improving your top-line revenues.
Watch for my next two installments. They offer even quicker ways to bring in new money NOW.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Founder
Marketing Success Institute
Method #1: Hold an Open House, Seminar, or Other Event
Regardless of the type of business you have, you either have a place of business people can come to, valuable knowledge you can share with your audience, or both. This means you are a candidate for holding an open house to allow prospects to get to know you better, a live or tele-seminar to share your knowledge, or some other similar type of event that gets you noticed.
:: Decide what type of event you are going to hold. It doesn’t have to be fancy or over-the-top. It just needs to meet your audience’s needs.
:: Involve the media and your contacts in getting the word out. Sit down and look at all the places and people who can help you publicize your event. You have at least a few, including the local paper, online community calendars, vendors, and clients; but chances are good you have many more than that. Get your team involved and think through all the possibilities.
:: When you have your plan in place, launch your publicity campaign two to four weeks in advance of the event, depending on the time commitment your event requires on the part of an attendee. A drop-open house only needs a couple weeks’ advance notice, while a full-day seminar calls for four weeks. Remember, though, that most of your attendees won’t RSVP (if that is required) until a few days before the event. That’s just human nature.
:: Keep it simple, especially if you’re new to such an event. Let your fears go, make your plan, and DO IT! You’ll be surprised at how effective events can be in raising your profile, improving client and customer loyalty, and improving your top-line revenues.
Watch for my next two installments. They offer even quicker ways to bring in new money NOW.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Founder
Marketing Success Institute
Monday, July 26, 2010
Doing What is Required
“It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.”
I’m sure Winston Churchill wasn’t talking about marketing specifically when he made this statement, but he may as well have been. It applies here as it does everywhere else.
If you feel you’ve done your best, but your marketing isn’t bringing the results you’d like, perhaps you’ve missed some requirements. You may not be spending the time you need to. You may not have the right team in place. You may be sending the wrong message out. You may be sending that message to the wrong audience… The possibilities for falling short of meeting the requirements necessary to be successful in our marketing efforts are many.
Quick self-assessment:
:: Is your marketing everything you’d like it to be? Are you getting the results you want?
:: Are you really doing your best? Are you aware of things you should be doing that you aren’t?
:: Are there things you should be doing you’re not even aware of? What are you going to do to become better educated?
Always do your best. That goes without saying. But along with doing your best, make sure you’re doing what is required. The best of misdirected efforts won’t bring the results you are seeking.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
I’m sure Winston Churchill wasn’t talking about marketing specifically when he made this statement, but he may as well have been. It applies here as it does everywhere else.
If you feel you’ve done your best, but your marketing isn’t bringing the results you’d like, perhaps you’ve missed some requirements. You may not be spending the time you need to. You may not have the right team in place. You may be sending the wrong message out. You may be sending that message to the wrong audience… The possibilities for falling short of meeting the requirements necessary to be successful in our marketing efforts are many.
Quick self-assessment:
:: Is your marketing everything you’d like it to be? Are you getting the results you want?
:: Are you really doing your best? Are you aware of things you should be doing that you aren’t?
:: Are there things you should be doing you’re not even aware of? What are you going to do to become better educated?
Always do your best. That goes without saying. But along with doing your best, make sure you’re doing what is required. The best of misdirected efforts won’t bring the results you are seeking.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Monday, July 19, 2010
Accountability in Marketing
I once attended a breakfast meeting in which the speaker asserted that marketing is all the soft things we do in promoting our businesses that cannot be measured, while advertising constitutes the hard, measurable activities in which we engage. How unfortunate that he, and anyone who subscribes to his way of thinking, is missing out on the lion’s share of actionable, measurable marketing that goes on every day for those who understand otherwise.
I’d like to apply my thoughts on accountability to our in-house teams--the people who make the products we sell, fill the orders, provide services, answer the phones, enter client data, and even sweep the floor. All these things play a role in marketing our businesses--especially if we see our businesses as marketing businesses first, regardless of the products or services we provide.
A number of years ago, I worked with a company that was failing. As I evaluated the situation, I found quality defect issues, equipment problems, low production numbers, and general lack of employee morale. I corrected this situation by establishing aggressive accountability measures; but not in the way one might imagine. Here’s the five-step approach we took:
1. With my executive team, we determined what the company needed in terms of production levels, acceptable reject rates, and so on. These were non-negotiable if we were to succeed.
2. I called our entire team together (yes, delivery drivers, production personnel, office staff…everyone), told them what the company needed out of them, and asked what they wanted to make it happen.
3. They devised their own reward system. It was nothing like anything I would have suggested. It fit well within the financial needs of the company. I approved their package deal.
4. I had to do very little in the way of holding anyone’s feet to the fire. The team became a real team. They helped each other. They kept each other motivated. They collectively enjoyed the financial, physical, and emotional fruits of their efforts.
5. The company’s production numbers, quality level, revenues, and profits soared.
It’s tough to sell products when you can’t deliver. It’s even more difficult when the delivered products are sub-standard in quality. Does this apply to marketing? You’d better believe it!
Look inside your own organization. Where are internal shortcomings thwarting the overall marketing efforts of your company?
Focus on these issues. Fix them. Marketing encompasses the entire client experience. Stop thinking in terms of “marketing” meaning only the vehicles that carry your message to your audience; or worse, that “marketing” is that department down the hall.
What I’ve shared today is just one of many facets of the face of marketing. You may have this one under control in your business. Where else can you apply accountability in your marketing?
If you can’t measure your marketing, you’re doing it wrong. Period.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
I’d like to apply my thoughts on accountability to our in-house teams--the people who make the products we sell, fill the orders, provide services, answer the phones, enter client data, and even sweep the floor. All these things play a role in marketing our businesses--especially if we see our businesses as marketing businesses first, regardless of the products or services we provide.
A number of years ago, I worked with a company that was failing. As I evaluated the situation, I found quality defect issues, equipment problems, low production numbers, and general lack of employee morale. I corrected this situation by establishing aggressive accountability measures; but not in the way one might imagine. Here’s the five-step approach we took:
1. With my executive team, we determined what the company needed in terms of production levels, acceptable reject rates, and so on. These were non-negotiable if we were to succeed.
2. I called our entire team together (yes, delivery drivers, production personnel, office staff…everyone), told them what the company needed out of them, and asked what they wanted to make it happen.
3. They devised their own reward system. It was nothing like anything I would have suggested. It fit well within the financial needs of the company. I approved their package deal.
4. I had to do very little in the way of holding anyone’s feet to the fire. The team became a real team. They helped each other. They kept each other motivated. They collectively enjoyed the financial, physical, and emotional fruits of their efforts.
5. The company’s production numbers, quality level, revenues, and profits soared.
It’s tough to sell products when you can’t deliver. It’s even more difficult when the delivered products are sub-standard in quality. Does this apply to marketing? You’d better believe it!
Look inside your own organization. Where are internal shortcomings thwarting the overall marketing efforts of your company?
Focus on these issues. Fix them. Marketing encompasses the entire client experience. Stop thinking in terms of “marketing” meaning only the vehicles that carry your message to your audience; or worse, that “marketing” is that department down the hall.
What I’ve shared today is just one of many facets of the face of marketing. You may have this one under control in your business. Where else can you apply accountability in your marketing?
If you can’t measure your marketing, you’re doing it wrong. Period.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Jump On This "Train"
Have you ever found yourself in the situation of being a new-hire who is expected to perform “by the book,” yet not only is there no book, there’s no real formal hands-on training? We all have at some point in the past. So my big question for you as a business owner or marketing decision-maker is this: Are your employees suffering from this problem?
A significant part of marketing is delivering the experience promised, or even alluded to, in your ads, articles about your business, on your blog, on your website, or anywhere else a prospect may encounter information about your company and develop an expectation. And delivering this experience can’t happen without quality, consistent employee training.
Here are a few thoughts from my history as an employer that will help you engage in more effective, consistent training that will ensure your clients of the experience they are seeking:
1. Training is not a one-time event. A 30-minute, full-day, or even multi-day training session is not going to immerse your new employees in the culture you want to create for them and your clients.
2. Training is not something that should be detached from the work experience. If all one’s training is in a classroom, yet all his work is done at a service counter, on a production floor, driving a bus, helping clients on the phone, or anywhere else (other than a classroom, I suppose), you’re missing the most powerful training opportunities. Get hands-on in real-world scenarios to make the training stick.
3. The most powerful, yet most subtle, training comes from you as a leader every day. Every thought you think about your employees and clients, every word you say, every action you take screams your true beliefs. Are your thoughts, words, and actions training your employees the way you’d like?
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Founder
Marketing Success Institute
A significant part of marketing is delivering the experience promised, or even alluded to, in your ads, articles about your business, on your blog, on your website, or anywhere else a prospect may encounter information about your company and develop an expectation. And delivering this experience can’t happen without quality, consistent employee training.
Here are a few thoughts from my history as an employer that will help you engage in more effective, consistent training that will ensure your clients of the experience they are seeking:
1. Training is not a one-time event. A 30-minute, full-day, or even multi-day training session is not going to immerse your new employees in the culture you want to create for them and your clients.
2. Training is not something that should be detached from the work experience. If all one’s training is in a classroom, yet all his work is done at a service counter, on a production floor, driving a bus, helping clients on the phone, or anywhere else (other than a classroom, I suppose), you’re missing the most powerful training opportunities. Get hands-on in real-world scenarios to make the training stick.
3. The most powerful, yet most subtle, training comes from you as a leader every day. Every thought you think about your employees and clients, every word you say, every action you take screams your true beliefs. Are your thoughts, words, and actions training your employees the way you’d like?
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Founder
Marketing Success Institute
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
3 Concepts Embodied in Ultra-Successful Companies
I’m going to share three concepts with you. You’ve heard them before. But perhaps you haven’t linked them together to see the powerful situation they can create for your company. And none of us, regardless of how diligently we work at perfection, ever “arrive,” so we need to keep working to be our best and make our companies all they can be.
Concept #1: Every truly successful company is a marketing company first
Too often, we focus on our products or services, thinking we have to make them better. While consistent improvement of our offerings is good, consistent improvement of our clients’ or guests’ experiences is more important. From the first time someone becomes aware of our existence to our ongoing relationship with them, it’s all marketing. It’s all about the client.
Concept #2: Marketing is a mindset, not a department
If we’re really going to create a marketing company, marketing can’t be the sole responsibility of a department or individual. Marketing is a way of doing business. It’s a cultural mindset. Which leads us to our final concept…
Concept #3: Every employee, agent, or other company representative is the company
For good or bad, every human point of contact a prospect or client has with our company creates the face of our company. Years of pleasant association and rapport can be destroyed by one careless moment on the part of one thoughtless company representative. By the same token, the person who goes above and beyond the call of duty in the name of the company can create an instant bond between our company and a newly won client.
As I stated earlier, you’ve heard these concepts before. Where does your company rank in the implementation of them? What steps can you take today to set a path toward becoming a full-on, world-class marketing company?
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Concept #1: Every truly successful company is a marketing company first
Too often, we focus on our products or services, thinking we have to make them better. While consistent improvement of our offerings is good, consistent improvement of our clients’ or guests’ experiences is more important. From the first time someone becomes aware of our existence to our ongoing relationship with them, it’s all marketing. It’s all about the client.
Concept #2: Marketing is a mindset, not a department
If we’re really going to create a marketing company, marketing can’t be the sole responsibility of a department or individual. Marketing is a way of doing business. It’s a cultural mindset. Which leads us to our final concept…
Concept #3: Every employee, agent, or other company representative is the company
For good or bad, every human point of contact a prospect or client has with our company creates the face of our company. Years of pleasant association and rapport can be destroyed by one careless moment on the part of one thoughtless company representative. By the same token, the person who goes above and beyond the call of duty in the name of the company can create an instant bond between our company and a newly won client.
As I stated earlier, you’ve heard these concepts before. Where does your company rank in the implementation of them? What steps can you take today to set a path toward becoming a full-on, world-class marketing company?
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
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