Circuit City shut its doors, office supply stores are reporting slow quarters, and consumers are staying home. The slow economy has reduced sales in just about every retail store. If your company is selling in the retail channel (or thinking about it), the news can be frightening.

One year ago I could read the writing on the wall. The retail channel was either dead or mortally wounded. Consumers’ buying habits had changed and product sales in brick and mortar stores were in a steep decline. I had the dubious pleasure of steering a once profitable sales channel into the ground.

During a period when retail sales reports were appalling and getting worse each week, Palo Alto Software chose to review every aspect of its retail channel plan. We didn’t expect to be able to fully rebound; we were hoping that we could find a way to slow the decline. We looked at every partnership, channel position, and retail decision. We challenged ourselves to make wholesale changes where necessary. We threw out all of our preconceived notions and started from scratch.

Was our software selling on-shelf in the right stores? Did our pricing model maximize revenue? Did we know where our customers were shopping? What was our competition’s strategy? Were retail sales in the process of dying off? Every aspect of our retail strategy was researched, challenged and weighed. Our start-from-scratch approach immediately brought glaring problems to the surface.

By asking the right questions, our management team was able to get a better understanding of the retail market. We were able to correct our mistakes and identify some very significant opportunities. A year later, Palo Alto Software has a thriving retail channel that continues to realize significant growth, month over month. Retail is not dead, it’s not wounded, it’s just changing!

In retail, the learning curve can be very steep and unforgiving.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be blogging about the lessons we learned in retail. Hopefully this series will challenge your business to take a fresh look at retail. It is a complicated, time-consuming sales channel, but the returns can be well worth the effort.

David Shear is the Channel Sales Manager at Palo Alto Software, where he oversees all academic, corporate, government and retail sales.  David came to Palo Alto Software from the banking industry where he was a regional and national sales manager for Indymac Bank, Optium Financial and Rainland Mortgage; David worked in correspondent and wholesale mortgages for over a decade.

Having attended University of Oregon’s Law School, David is quick to point out that while the Oregon Ducks are his first love, sales come in a close second.

(editor’s note: David’s status with UofO was incorrectly listed as being an Alum. This is completely a miss on ‘Chelle’s part and not a devious attempt on David’s. )

Tags: David Shear, inside look, retail, sales
Posted on February 5th, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Lead generation is the process of turning a “suspect”, one that you believe needs what you have to offer, into a prospect, or someone who has “raised their hand” and engaged you or your company in some way.  But in order to turn that prospect into a happy, repeat customer and referral partner your “marketing” or communications must match the experience.

A couple of months ago, I received a direct mail piece from a local dentist promoting his company and trying to engage new customers.  The mailing provided information about the services performed; touted the warm, personal  nature of his practice, and finally provided a discount offer for new customers.  From a marketing perspective, the mailing had most of the key elements of a good marketing piece:  attention grabbing headline, educational copy and an offer to act.  It was the “perfect” storm.  I was looking for a new dentist in my home town and here comes the mail.  So far so good.

I arrived at the scheduled time, filled out the necessary paperwork, gave it back to the front person.  I was quickly escorted into the hygienist for my cleaning.  The hygienist was pleasant, did the job without too much talk or blood and my experience is winding down.  The hygienist handed me a goodie bag with toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and sends me back to the front desk to set my next appointment.  Everything is great, right?  Not so fast.  As I’m walking down the hall to the receptionist, I can’t help thinking, I never saw the dentist.

Well the marketing piece touted the personal nature of the practice and how patients were treated like “family”.  (I”m happy to report, my family doesn’t treat me this way)  What happened?  I asked the receptionist if the dentist was in.  Her reply was yes, he is here.  I said I thought it was a bit odd that the dentist didn’t come in to say hello and check my teeth, especially since I was a new client.  Her reply, “Oh, he won’t see you unless there is a problem”.

Guess what?  There is a problem.   You almost had me but not quite.  Almost everything was done properly; mailing with offer, cordial customer service people, on time with my appointment and a not too painful dental experience.  But, then the dentist drops the ball big time by not at least coming in to introduce himself and thank me for the business.

Moral of the story:  It’s not good enough to say all the right things in your marketing materials; you have to live it; it needs to be embraced by the whole company; the customer’s experience must match the promise or you will have a bunch of first timers that never return again and never refer you to anyone.

Joe Costantino is owner of Business Marketing Success in Boston, a marketing company that helps professional service firms learn how to effectively market their businesses with a step-by-step marketing system.  He is also a certified Duct Tape Marketing Coach and East Coast Regional Guide assisting in recruitment and training of new Duct Tape Marketing coaches.  Joe also provides keynotes, seminars and workshops on a number of marketing topics.  You can learn more about Joe at www.businessmarketingsuccess.com or by e-mail at joe@businessmarketingsuccess.com

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Joe Costantino, lead generation, sales
Posted on November 30th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Purchase incentives are an every-day occurrence. We see them everywhere, from simple coupons to instant rebates to frequent flier miles.

Does your business offer a purchase incentive as a marketing tactic? How much good does it do for your business… really? Does your fulfillment deliver the goods?

I’m a geezer who remembers mailing in breakfast cereal box tops for plastic Moon Rocket kits. These were great marketing tools in the Sputnik age. Howere, sometimes those Moon Rockets never arrived. And boy, was I one angry little kid! I quit eating that brand of cereal… that showed them!

Incentive fulfillment is now an industry in its own right, with good and bad offers and good and bad businesses. We all know the good examples, such as the rebate checks that arrive in three weeks instead of eight weeks. They leave us with a good impression of the offering company.

When fulfillment is slipshod, or poorly delivered, or misrepresented it is the offering company that loses its good reputation, not the fulfillment company. For example, my wife recently decided to try out a different brand of home product because it offered a $15 rebate. However, when the rebate arrived, it was not a check but a voucher for credits at a third party redeem-for-product website. What the….!?!? Grrrrrrrr!

None of the products offered were of any interest so she passed the credits along to her sister. Unfortunately, the third party website company deducted credits for transfer, and deducted credits for checking the credit balance, etc. until there were not enough credits left to redeem a pack of facial tissues (to say nothing of the shipping and handling).

And who is taking the heat for this scam? Not the fulfillment company, not the people who sold this system, and not the third party website that we would never have visited (and never will again). Nope. All the frustration and ill will that was generated by this thoroughly unsatisfactory purchase incentive falls squarely on the product company. The incentive may have gotten them one sale from us, but they’ll not get another.

So this marketing tactic backfired. And any good impressions chalked up by other marketing expenditures by the product company were wiped clean off the board. Money wasted.

If you are going to offer a purchase incentive, decide if you really want to offer something of value, and whether your goal is a bunch of one-time sales or if you want to attract repeat customers. Then, find a reputable fulfillment company with a good track record, and a commitment to serving you and your customers well.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software

Tags: , fulfillment, incentive, Marketing, offers, rebates, sales, tactics
Posted on July 28th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

…can be so confusing.

I was bemused, once again, over the various ways we measure success in our society.

We were watching a movie, Martian Child, with John Cusack and Bobby Coleman. John’s character was trying to teach his adopted son to hit a baseball. As he explained “If you hit 3 out of 10 you’re a star. If you do just a little better, you’re a superstar!” That theme recurs in the film.

It was heartening in the film’s context. If we apply it to our daily lives, the little bit of wisdom can be freeing and encouraging. It gives us lots of room to try, to experiment, (and yes, to fail and try again), to learn, and to grow. We don’t have to be perfect the first time, every time. 3 out of 10 and you can be a star. Heady stuff.

But that idea contrasts with so much else we hear.

“Nobody wants to be a 0, but everybody wants to be a 1, and there’s so little room in between.”
– Laurie Anderson, songwriter/singer.

In school if you were to get only 3 of 10, you’d not only get an F, but never get into college. Today you need to get all those advanced placement credits to get a 5.0 on a 4.0 grading scale. (And what kind of math does that teach, eh?)

And of course, if you’re a figure skating or ice dancing Olympian, you strive to be a 10. (And who can remember that very forgettable movie by the same number?)

We spend our lives searching for and nurturing love….unless you play tennis, in which case “love” is the dreaded lowest score.

And this relates to business how? By being realistic in your measure for success. Write your business plan, set your goals, establish your timelines and milestones.

Then review how you’ve done, run a plan vs. actual analysis. And adjust your plan as necessary, making decisions using real data.

If you converted 100% of your marketing leads into sales you’d be doing fantastically well. If you set your goal and measure of success as converting 100% of your leads you’ll be both deluding yourself, and very very disappointed.

Be honest and set realistic goals for yourself. If you converted 3 out of 10 marketing leads you would be a star, and quite likely have a very successful business.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: , , 10, 3 of 10, business plan, business planning, marketing leads, measure of success, sales, Success
Posted on June 2nd, 2008 | No Comments »

Here are another two stories about the importance of good customer service.

I’m heading back to Illinois to move the last of my mother’s furniture from her newly sold house to her new place in Ohio.

We were searching online for moving van/truck rentals and price estimates. One place we looked was Penske.com. The next day we received an email from Penske, following up on our inquiry and asking why we hadn’t booked with them. The email gave us a toll-free phone number and a promise of a discount.

I called them back and the customer care rep helped me make the reservation. Gave me the discount from the email, and a Web discount, checked on the return location, confirmed times and the whole lot. In all we saved over $175 over the competitor’s best rate.

Now, compare this with the tale of my Physical Therapist. She went to the local Eugene Honda dealer to buy a new hybrid sedan. She was a loyal Honda customer coming back for another car. The salesman she was dealing with showed her the car. The color was not even close to the one she’d ordered. After badgering her a bit he walked off to do some other business.

While she waited, thinking he was going to return, another salesman harangued her with “You’re only buying the hybrid for the gas mileage. What does it matter what color it is?”

Hey, even the car company founded by Henry Ford (of “you can have any color you want as long as it is black” fame) realized early on that customers wanted cars with colored paint, and they wanted the color they liked.

Well, my Physical Therapist was so angry at her treatment that she chose to drive an hour to Salem to a different Honda dealership to buy a car in a color she liked.

Here we see again the difference that customer service can make to your business. In one case we have a good program that followed up a contact, and with a friendly and knowledgeable phone representative, clinched a sale for the company.

In the second case the badgering, condescending, and dismissive sales staff lost what started out as a sure deal of $25,000+. Now, maybe $25K is a throwaway deal to these guys, but many businesses can’t afford to cavalierly lose returning customers.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software, Inc.

Tags: customer care, customer service, lost sales, sales
Posted on May 7th, 2008 | 1 Comment »