When I was growing up in the 1950’s, Shell, the petroleum company, was advertising that their gasoline contained “TCP” an additive that increased horsepower and made an engine run better. There was no reference to fuel economy that I can recall—who cared? …gas was about 25 cents a gallon!

Anyway, Shell sold a helluva lot of gas with this tactic.

Thing was, all gas contained TCP, but only Shell took advantage of the fact.

Back then, there were a lot more gas station brands to choose from, so competition was fierce. And at 25 cents per gallon, there wasn’t a lot of room for price-cutting. Gas company credit cards were in their infancy so there wasn’t any brand loyalty coming from card usage either.

The mavens at Shell knew they needed to create a perceived difference and they nailed it with TCP—didn’t matter that no one really new what TCP stood for—if it was in the product and made it better, customers were in the market for it …in droves.

Since then there have been zillions of product claims of “active ingredients” that make the product “new and improved” or in other words, “better than the stuff you’ve been wasting your money buying from us for years.”

Advertisers are continually at war with one another to prove their product is better than the competitors’. In the ad industry this is known as the “unique selling proposition” (USP) and it is still one of the mainstays of advertising today.

So how is your product or service different, and therefore better, than the competitions? Take a look at what you’re selling and ask yourself,” What do we provide or do that makes us stand out? What could we do or add to our product/service that would make more people want to do business with us? What could we say we do that would make people ask for more information?”

One way to find out is to ask your customers why they do business with you. Tabulate the answers and see what comes up most often—perhaps it’s the answer to what makes your business stand out from others.

Or, ask people about the problems or “pain” that your services might solve. This is a bit more difficult. Say you were a lawyer, and you found out that a great many people could not get to a legal office due to infirmity or daytime commitments—you could advertise that your firm has flexible hours or makes house calls. If you were a mechanic and you found out that most women hated to bring their car in because they thought they’d be taken advantage of, you could advertise that you were the garage that treats women like men! Get the idea?

If you find a niche that needs filling, why not fill that niche with your unique product or service and stand out from the rest? It’s like having “active ingredient 90″ only this one makes your business run better and be more profitable.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin, news
Posted on July 21st, 2009 | No Comments »

When the internet was new, finding a web site was largely a hit or miss proposition. Although there were relatively fewer sites, the sophisticated search tools, like Google, Yahoo, MSN and others were not around. People tended to “surf” going from one site to another via links on those sites.

Needless to say, things have really changed a lot; search engines are now indispensable as the way to pinpoint exactly what you’re after when searching the web. The development of “local search” has now made it easy to find goods and services right in our own neighborhoods—who needs a tree trimmer if he’s in Nebraska and you’re 3,000 miles away?

A high “search ranking” is the all-important Holy Grail—you want your site to appear on the first page listing that comes up when someone searches for what you offer, and the higher up the page the better.

So how’s your site do in the search rankings? Search Google, Yahoo or MSN for what you’re offering, in the area where you do business, e.g. if you’re a plumber, key in “plumbing (your town name)” and see if your site appears in the listings. If it does, and you’re on the first page high up, congrats! If not, let’s see why.

Rankings in search engine directories depend on a few things like “keywords”, popularity and unique content. Keywords are words, and phrases, that are probably the very words people will key in when searching in a search engine, so if you’re a plumber, keywords like “plumbing, plumber, leak repairs” etc. will be necessary to add into your page code—even better if these same words are actually used in the page copy. For local search, be sure the names of all the places you do business in are included.

Popularity has a lot to do with the sites that are linked to yours and who you link to. The more quality sites that are linked to yours, the higher your popularity score, but I stress, we’re talking quality here. So linking to something completely unrelated to your business, or an amateur’s hobby site will not count. A plumber might link to a reputable plumbing supply, a kitchen and bath store, a manufacturer of shower stalls—all people he does some business with and who will provide “reciprocal” links. Up goes the popularity score!

Unique content simply means that if you just make a carbon copy of another web site with the same information etc., you won’t impress the search engines. Many times, a franchise operation will offer their franchisees a web site but it is really just a copy with a few pictures and the local name changed. No score. So write some interesting and unique stuff about you and your business that no one else can say. Find some fascinating facts about the business you do and write them up in your own words. Watch your score shoot up!

All of this is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s a very complex and ever-changing craft. Too much to cover here but here’s a few more tips:
Be sure all your pictures have “alternate tags” that contain keywords. These are the words that show up when you hover the curser over an image. Our plumbing example might use the tag, “Leaking faucet repair in (name of town)” over a photo of a kitchen sink.

Be sure every page has a title, possible different from page to page—don’t use “Welcome to our plumbing web site”, make the title keyword rich e.g. “John’s the Plumber for fast reliable plumbing repair service in (town name).”

There’s much, much more involved, and if you are really serious, you can hire an SEO specialist to do this for you, but be warned, it’s pricey and it is an on-going job. Start with the suggestions here as the site is being constructed and you’ll be well on your way.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin, news
Posted on July 14th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

We subscribe to Marketing Experiments.com for its marketing research results. We get to see data we can trust on issues of real importance to our clients—like this investigation into how to make the subject line of an email work best.

It’s common sense to say that emails reaching out to clients and prospects won’t work if they don’t get opened, but this experiment demonstrates that there are other things you can and should be measuring if you don’t want to leave money on the table.

Let’s look at the experiment, and what you should learn from it:

In this case, a florist wanted to increase the effectiveness of a “Thank you” email campaign to previous customers, and entice more of them to increase their purchases. They sent out two emails, with exactly the same content but different subject lines. Any differences in results could only come from the difference in the subject line.

They used an email service that allowed them to measure the “who opened the email and who didn’t” open rate, and the “who clicked through to a web site and who didn’t” clickthrough rate. Customers could also order on line, so they could also measure the sales resulting from the program. Both emails offered a 15% off special offer.

Subject Line #1 was “Thank You For Making Us Your Florist Of Choice”.

Subject Line #2 was “15% Off – Our Way Of Saying Thank You!”

Here are the open rate results: 20% of recipients of version #1 opened the email, but only 15% opened version #2, the one with the specific 15% Off offer. That’s a 26% difference.

Does that mean putting a specific offer in the subject line is a bad idea? Based on this, many people might think so—it looks at first glance that being too aggressive will put people off.

But look what we see when we dig a little deeper. 60% more people who received version #2, with the 15% offer, clicked through to the website. And version #2 ended up earning 56% more dollar sales.

Sure fewer of them opened the email, but they spent a lot more money.

What can you learn from this?

First, what you measure is important. In this case, if the florist only looked at who opened the email, she would have been badly misled. She might have planned future campaigns that practically guaranteed she would miss out on sales by 56%!

Second, testing is important. This advertiser had at least a 50-50 chance of guessing wrong with “gut feel”—and a potential huge business loss.

Third, if you use email, you need a batch or broadcast email solution that allows you to do this kind of testing and measurement. Don’t just send out to a huge “to” list—you will never be able to get the measurement and practical, business-building knowledge you need.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on July 8th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Statistics show that 70% of entrepreneur-owned businesses do not survive the founder. Did you work this hard, for this long, to see your life’s work implode?

One of the most important features about good marketing process is its impact when it comes time for the owner to move out. Whether you plan to sell out or pass the business on, having a system installed that generates leads and converts them to loyal, profitable clients will significantly improve your business’s value.

Your marketing system should include a clear statement of how you are different and better; a complete sales kit filled with persuasive reasons to do business with you; a lead-generation process that includes the internet, advertising, public relations and referrals; and a process that effectively and efficiently converts leads to loyal customers.

Succession planning is more than just marketing, however. Here are seven other areas you need to consider:

1. Retirement isn’t death. Small business owners don’t plan for succession because they genuinely hate the idea of not working—no control, no work, no identity …so only about one quarter have a plan. Not planning leaves your staff and their families incredibly vulnerable.

2. Retirement isn’t just deciding not to go into the office anymore. It’s ensuring you have enough money to retire on from the sale of your business. Will your business even carry on or will you sell it? Who’s going to manage the business? How will ownership be transferred?

3. The biggest business “killers” are taxes and family discord. So succession planning is about management, ownership and taxes. Will an owner manage the business or not? Will all owners have the same number of shares? How will you reorganize the company to reduce your taxes?

4. Outsource. If you’ve been successful, you already depend on a network of help to manage your financial, tax, and legal; maybe even marketing, distribution and HR issues. Small business owners are typically too emotionally involved to make good succession plans, so let someone else you trust do it for you.

5. Train and mentor your successor(s). Okay we know you hate this one—who has the time? But how can you expect your business to continue to thrive without you if you don’t train? And remember, you’ll be throwing away your life’s work if you don’t.

6. Start business succession planning early. Okay we know you hate this idea too. But five years in advance is good. Ten years in advance is better. Many business advisors tell budding entrepreneurs to build an exit strategy right into their business plan.

7. Read. You owe it to yourself, your family, your employees and your suppliers to know the issues that will affect them once you’ve left.
Canadian Resources

An overview by the Financial Post of retirement planning, after the sale, taming your tax liability, financing the sale, and accurately evaluating the business.

“Investing in Your Future: Building a Succession Plan” to members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Transition planning tips from the Business Development Bank of Canada

“Closing or Selling Your Business—A Succession Plan Info-Guide” from the Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre. Includes toll-free numbers to get detailed information on legal and tax requirements, plus helpful information.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Canadian Tire CEO Stephen Wetmore is growing his “smart stores”. Some store sales have grown between six and eight percent, and some departments have more than doubled. You can grow your retail business by copying some of his proven ideas. Here’s how:

photo by flickr user www.ericcastro.biz

• Give more attention to growing categories. For Canadian Tire, these are sports, recreation, home storage and pet and auto care products.
• Treat each section like a fashion boutique, with displays featuring the latest trends.
• Identify the main “power aisle” and make sure it takes shoppers to your most-wanted section.
• Set products out in a setting that shows products in use to help encourage multiple purchases.
• Move the “destination” section—in Canadian Tire’s case, tools—to the back with an eye-catching wall of products on display.
• Move impulse-driven items to the front—sales can double.
• Put “go-together items,” like hardware and tools, in the same section to capture more sales.
• Take bulky items out of their boxes and display them.

Now that you’ve re-merchandised your store, don’t forget customer service. Here are some real words from actual customers about what they value in a retail shopping experience.

“They listen to my repair plan and suggest items, all the while realizing that I, the individual, in a Thursday evening panic, am their meal ticket. Something I will gladly pay for, and will offer patronage for.”

“The owner himself walked with me through the cavernous store to find what I wanted and helped me take the item to the cash register. Service is what motivates me to return to this store.”

“I do not have the patience anymore to run around in a big store to find items that I do not often buy. As an example, for all my plumbing stuff I go to a small store close by, pay a couple of dollars more but buy quality products and the person at the counter has all the knowledge that I need.”

This new approach to merchandising is paying off for Canadian Tire. Hockey and camping gear sales jumped 140 percent from a year ago. Auto accessories have more than doubled.

Smaller, local retailers can learn a lot from national chains that are investing millions into store design. You may be positioned to do even better on delivering the personalized customer service that drives customer loyalty and margins.

Full disclosure: we both live in old houses, so we are regulars at Canadian Tire, Home Hardware and Home Depot, but we make a point of supporting small business whenever we can. We’d love to hear your comments.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on May 21st, 2009 | 1 Comment »

You expect a business to have a telephone. Well, these days, a business is expected to have a web site as well—it’s a credibility issue.

And although it’s a complicated subject, once launched, what could be easier than using the internet to spread your marketing message, educate your prospects, and convert prospects to clients?

In the early days of the web, businesses thought they could just put up a site and expect the phone to ring. A successful web site today is a tool that integrates and connects all of your marketing efforts. It’s where your prospects begin the process of knowing, liking and trusting you and your business.

A properly constructed web site will:

Build awareness – it’s where many prospects start their search for what you’re offering.
Shorten the Selling Cycle – prospects get to know you, your business and your product before they even meet with you.
Provide Access to Information – prospects in the market for your product or service can find out what they need to know any time they choose.
Become a Referral Tool—people recommending your business can simply refer the prospect to your web site as an easy starting point.

Forget about a home page with some lame “welcome” message—get right to the facts of the matter with a compelling headline about how you solve your prospects’ biggest problem or frustration. Keep the copy short and to-the-point and include pages on:

Your Difference – why dealing with you is a better experience than with your competitors.
How You Work – some information up front will help your customer to know what to expect if a transaction takes place.
Your Story – this humanizes your business—customers like to know how the business got started and how it has evolved.
Your Ideal Client – sure, go ahead and describe the kind of customer who really benefits by doing business with you. That way, prospects will know where they fit with what you’re offering.
Your Products/Services – of course this is all-important. Give brief, but accurate descriptions and pricing—show pictures where applicable.
Case Studies – these help prospects visualize what the product or service might do for them and they are proof of your success with others.
Client List – if applicable, list your satisfied clients. This is also a good place to work in some client testimonials—further verification of the worth of your product.

Every page should have your contact information: name, telephone, fax, email and your address—why hide it until the end?

Now there is much more to a web site than we’ve covered here—design, navigation, linking strategy, blogs, and search engine optimization to name but a few things. We’ll get to those in other articles. But for now, start thinking about your new or revised web site, because if you’re not harnessing the internet, you’d better prepare to become obsolete.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on May 11th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Part of the fun we have in our practice is hanging out with small business owners. These people are smart, driven, competent and experts in their chosen industry. We always learn something, and we are always in awe of how successful they are at doing something we couldn’t imagine even understanding, let alone doing for a living.

But they all have something in common — they work really long hours, they think about work constantly, and they worry—a lot.

This is where we come in. We may not understand how to run a fabricating plant, but we do know why prospects agree to stay in touch; why people buy things and why customers decide either to stick around and spend more of their money or leave, taking their business with them and telling ten of their friends why they should do business elsewhere.

Here is what we have learned are the biggest reasons why small businesses will not double their business this year (yes, this year—even in the current economic climate):
1. They don’t know who their ideal customers are. These are the customers who pay on time, give you most of their budget and can recommend other people just like them.
2. They don’t create best customer relationships that lead to a constant stream of referrals—great high margin business with practically zero cost of sales.
3. They lose sight of their prospects. These days it takes at least seven touches before a prospect tries you for the first time—and it can take fifty, or even a hundred. Most small
businesses stop at four, sometimes two.

And of course they do! Who has the time, the sales force and the money to pursue leads that may or may not pan out?

Well, take a look at this: 99% of small businesses do not consistently follow up with their prospects and customers. And this leaves a whole lot of money lying on the table for your competition to grab hold of.

For example: if your average sale is $10, and you have 1,000 people coming into your store four tines a year, that’s $40,000 in sales. If you could get half of those people to make one more visit, you’ve just grown your business by 12.5 percent.

Here’s one more: if you have 100 prospects, maybe 25 are “hot” and maybe you close 25 percent of them, or six people. If you could increase your close rate from 25 percent to 35 percent, you would now have nine customers—a 50 percent increase.

If on top of that you could increase your “hot” leads from 25 to 30, you would now have ten new customers—a 66 percent increase. The variables may seem small, but you can see how things start to multiply.

Of course you’ll need a system to do this, and we’ll be writing more about how to install one in future articles.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin, news
Posted on May 9th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Our friend Dave called last night, he’s started a small engine repair business and he asked us to review a sales letter he’d written. Dave’s letter was actually pretty good; the only problem was that it did not give a really good reason why anyone should do business with him! There was no incentive; no “special introductory offer”; no inducement for anyone to dash to the phone and call him. Of course we offered to rewrite the letter.

The number one objective for a sales letter is get the letter read. And the second is to persuade the reader to take an action and start a business relationship.

How do you do this? First, create a powerful headline with an immediate clear benefit for the reader, not some wishy-washy “Hi, here we are” statement. Ask a question that shows you understand their needs,

Are you still looking for someone who can guarantee your mower, tractor, trimmer, cultivator or compactor will be ready to work when you are?

This show’s you understand their needs and are not just jumping into a “rah rah” selling pitch.

Then tell them you have the solution,

Our 10 point small engine tune-up will keep you running strong all summer long-we absolutely guarantee it.

Give them your business credentials. Dave could say, “I’ve been repairing all makes of lawn and garden equipment for over 15 years and I love it!”

Now offer them something they can use, in other words: tell them what’s in it for them if they buy your product or use your service right away. Don’t be afraid to be bold. Use Capitals, underline, or bold type–let the offer leap off the page so that if they read nothing else, they’ll at least see the offer you’re making.

Take advantage of our FREE get-to-know-us offer!

Now add some credibility-people want to know what others say about you, so tell them-add two or three testimonials.

Be sure your letter has a high interest factor by adding some free advice or tips and tricks. Dave could tell how to make an engine run better by selecting proper fuel mixtures or how to keep a lawn mower blade sharp.

Clearly state what the next action should be and give them a reason why it’s important to act right away.

Be sure you’re ready for the growing season–call us NOW!

Use plain language and don’t use language that you would not normally use–be sure it sounds like you.

Thank the reader for reading your letter and sign it personally. If you know the reader, add a note at the bottom in your own handwriting.

Last, add a P.S. This is a great place to reiterate the offer and maybe even sweeten the deal.

Take advantage of our FREE “get-to-know-us” offer by April 30th and we’ll throw in a free tank of gas for your mower or tractor.

Of course you must have a good list to send this out to–one that is accurate and up-to-date. Sending a great letter to a non-existent person is a waste of time, so phone your contacts before you mail and make sure your list is up to date.

Do a test. Send out a few dozen per week, and follow up by phone. Vary the offer and see what happens.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on April 28th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

It’s always surprising to us to see so much advertising, especially in print, which does not work. It simply doesn’t contain the ingredients needed to successfully communicate with customers.
If you make a cake, you don’t leave out any ingredients — right? Then why leave out an important part of your advertising message?

With a small budget and not a lot of space, many people run so called “business card” ads. The ad consists of the same elements that are on a typical business card: business name (usually a logo), your name, telephone numbers, and address, email address and website. Sometimes a catchy slogan too!

But where’s the offer? Where’s the call-to-action? Business card ads simply don’t do anything but take up space.

Think of your ad as a “salesperson in print.” What would happen if your salesperson dropped by a prospect and said, “Hi, I’m Ned from the ABC Company. Here’s my phone number and address. Hope you call sometime. Bye!”

Would that work? Nope, and it’s the same with ads.

If you want your ad to get results it must contain six key elements.  Here’s the recipe:

One:  make it crystal clear who you are talking to, e.g. “Small Business Owners” or “Sports Enthusiasts” or “Golfers” or whoever your prime target group is — get their attention by putting this at the top of the ad.

Two:  use emotionally strong words to outline a concern, need or frustration this group has that your product or service satisfies, e.g. “Tired of staying up late doing your bookkeeping?” or “Are you worried about data loss, security, viruses, and keeping your network safe from hackers?”

Three:  offer a solution. “Our easy-to-use bookkeeping system lets you keep track of your business without losing sleep.” Or “We can analyze your computer network, diagnose any problems you are currently having, and look for hidden problems.”

Four:  offer something they can get free that doesn’t present a risk. — Visit our web site” for a downloadable sample, a report, or tips and tricks. “Drop by the store for your free whatsit.” “Call me by five pm on Friday if you want your very own free whatever.” “Get our free computer system audit.”

Five:  sign the message with your contact info — your name, phone, fax, email and web address, and, of course, your logo and tagline.

Six:  have you got a good picture? Include a product shot, or a picture showing the situation prospects are facing because they do not have your product or service. Here’s a secret: often the most powerful picture is one of you! Now readers can put a face on your company.

There, that was easy wasn’t it?

Next time you are putting an ad together, in a place where you are sure your Ideal Clients hang out, you will communicate far more effectively than you’ve ever done, and yes, the phone will ring.

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: advertising, Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin
Posted on April 15th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

When we begin to work with a new client, the first thing we do is review the current state of their business and do an “audit” of their general business health, and how their marketing is doing.

It’s a good time to keep our eyes open for “Red Flags”.

photo by Flickr user DRB62

What’s a Red Flag? It’s something that looks too good to be true—a program or practice the client is investing in that we know just doesn’t work. It could be a belief, that our client is basing decisions on, which we have learned time and time again may not be valid.

Seeing Red Flags is based on experience. A plan that looks like it should work, often doesn’t. And therefore, we don’t get the results we want, or at worst, we fail spectacularly!
Here are some examples that start the Red Flags waving in our minds:

Red Flag – “I need to spend time with all of our customers.” 
We’ve had clients where only two percent of their customers match their Ideal Customer profile. In another case, 31 percent of a client’s business came from one percent of their customers. In yet another, one third of their customers were worth 300 percent more than the other two thirds. In these examples, 33 percent to 98 percent of executive time was actually being wasted. Let’s face it, all customers are not all created equal, and you must be clear about where to invest your valuable time.

Red Flag – “We don’t track our advertising response.” 
When we look at actual numbers and return on investment for advertising dollars spent, we often make some interesting observations. For instance: You spent $3,000 to get one new client that’s worth only  $1500. Ninety nine percent of the people you sent flyers to did not respond to them in any way. Your newsletter advertising got no responses or clickthroughs. If you don’t track what happens to your money, you won’t see where you are wasting it.

Red Flag – “Word of mouth is our best business-builder.” 
This is one we hear over and over again, and when we look at the situation more carefully we inevitably find the numbers don’t support the claim. For instance, actual referral sources only generated 15 percent of total income, and you can’t accurately predict when the business is going to come in. Referrals can be your best business-builder, but in the current economic climate, you must have a program in place to ensure you get the measurable results you need.

Have you heard any Red Flags flapping in the wind at your business lately?

Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Elizabeth Walker, Ken Burgin, Marketing
Posted on April 8th, 2009 | 1 Comment »