Vicious Cycle

Six months ago a grocery store near my home changed hands.  The company that acquired it is a local chain that has been adding many locations in the last couple of years.  At first, the acquiring company redid the interior, opening up the space by taking down dividers, adding refrigerated frozen food units, and expanding the liquor department with a second access from inside the store. From a consumer’s perspective, these changes looked positive.

When a store is being re-merchandised, having bare shelves for a few days is normal.  Deliveries may not arrive on time.  The construction and reset of shelving may not happen on schedule.  Orders may not be processed in the anticipated time frame.   Consumers tolerate these bare shelves as par for the course in store resets. 

However, the bare shelves at this store have not been filled.  In fact, more and more shelves are completely bare or have a single item facing on the edge of a deep shelf.  The magazine holders by the checkouts are completely empty.  The last time I shopped at the store I mumbled to myself, If I didn’t know better, I’d think this store was going out of business.

Then I thought, How do I know it is not?

I based my assumption that the store is not going out of business on the recent acquisition of the location and all the time and money invested in the reset.  Management usually does not risk more money if it is uncertain as to the store’s status.  I also noted that the dated items including produce, bakery, meats, and dairy are all fresh.  The bare shelves house non-perishables such as groceries and liquor.

I’d read an article in the paper that the company had a dispute with a vendor.  In the course of doing business, that can happen to any company.  Thus, I didn’t know if that was an isolated incident or indicated a more pervasive problem.   

From a marketing vantage point, continuous and increasingly bare shelves do not look good to consumers.  They made me feel that I could not find what I wanted, whether that was true or not.  I felt that I was missing something.  I also felt that I would have used my time more wisely shopping elsewhere.

I’m not the only one with those thoughts.  On at least two occasions, others have commented,  “I heard that store’s going out of business.”

To which I responded, “I don’t think so.  It just changed hands.”

The reality is that I don’t know.  I just don’t think so. 

Store management has not said that the store is closing.  Management has said nothing.  That silence has created a vacuum that is leading to speculation on the part of consumers.  Since the bare shelves look like a store that is closing, consumers have come to that conclusion and are spreading it around via word of mouth.  As we know, word of mouth is powerful marketing, whether it is good or bad for the business.

When a business has a problem, it needs to be addressed.  While problems happen that management cannot control, management can control communication with customers, and customers want to know what is going on.  They want the truth.  If they don’t get it, they will create their own explanations and spread them around via word of mouth.  The result will impact the business negatively and create a vicious cycle of customers going elsewhere.  Doing that could weaken the business enough to cause it to close. 

If you have a situation at your business that affects your customers negatively, tell them the truth.  Do it as soon as possible.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What situation have your explained to your customers?
E-mail me your answer.  

What's in a Name?

In the 1950’s Forrest Raffel, a graduate of Cornell University Hotel and Restaurant Administration, and his younger brother Leroy, a graduate of Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania, bought an uncle’s restaurant equipment business.  This company turned out to be an excellent entry into the foodservice business for the two brothers, and they quickly became one of America’s leading foodservice consulting firms.   Their company designed and installed hundreds of foodservice facilities including the flight kitchens at the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, the interiors of six Ohio Turnpike restaurants, and the foodservice facilities for the Hospitality Inn motel chain of Standard Oil of Ohio.

Being good businessmen who looked for opportunities, the Raffel brothers felt that fast food had profitable potential, but they wanted to start a franchise that served something other than hamburgers.  Late one rainy Halloween night, they joined a group of people who wanted to get a $.79 roast beef sandwich. That night they got the idea for what to serve in their fast food restaurants, roast beef.

After making that decision, they discussed what to name their new venture.  They wanted “Big Tex.”  I am not certain why unless in their minds roast beef tied to the main product of Texas, beef.  When I think of Texas beef, I think of barbeque beef, not roast beef.  However, I am looking back at their thoughts many years later.

An Akron businessman owned the name Big Tex, and the Raffel brothers negotiated with him to obtain the name.  They were unsuccessful in these discussions, forcing the Raffel brothers to make another choice.  Forrest tells what happened.  “We came up with Arby’s, which stands for R. B., the initials of the Raffel Brothers.  Although I guess customers might think the initials stand for roast beef.”

I’m not certain how they arrived at adding the A before R and B and the Y after them, but they did create a new word that represented a new category of fast food, a restaurant that served roast beef.  They were correct in several aspects.  The name they created was easy to pronounce.  It was distinctively different, which fit the new category they started.  The word started from scratch with no associations to other words, foods, or categories.  That meant they could build the meanings of Arby’s.  They created a blank slate in customers’ minds to impress what Arby’s was and what customers would get from eating there.  Today people around the world know Arby’s serves roast beef. 

That’s a wise way to name a business.

Last week I heard of a business that had been in operation for ten years whose owner is changing its name due to the addition of a new service.  The new name is in Norwegian, a language not generally understood in the United States.  The name change will cause confusion with current customers who likely will think that this is a different business and that the original business not longer exits.  Since those customers and potential customers will not understand what the new name means, they will not know what the business offers and what they would get out of shopping there.  Unlike the Raffel brothers, this business owner is making all the wrong moves regarding a business name. 

What’s in a business name?  Everything.  It is a business’s first communication with customers.  It tells customers what the business offers.  It piques their interest by differentiating the business.  These only apply if the customer quickly receives a clear communication of what the business offers.  If the name is unclear, causes confusion, or doesn’t make sense, the customer will not give the business attention and move on to other businesses. 

Take time deciding a name, whether for your business or for a product or service.  Make certain customers can easily, quickly, and clearly understand what the names represents.  Ask others what the name communicates to them before you finalize a name. 

The name you choose could make or break your venture.      

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What name have you encountered that was either clear or unclear?  E-mail me your answer.

Interpretations

I watched an interesting story on buyers’ interpretations of sellers’ real estate descriptions. Here are a few examples:
Cozy means too small.
Charming is too old.
Conveniently-located represents too noisy.
Efficient kitchen tells that a kitchen is too small.
Usable land describes no trees.

Do you agree? Do any of these surprise you? Have you used them?

Many times we use words that appear to be attractive from our points of view. We fail to consider the customer’s point of view. As you can see from this list, what the seller thought would be attractive wording was not interpreted that way by the potential buyer. I suspect that many buyers did not even consider properties with these words in the descriptions due in large part to the wording.

That fact would be a big shock to the sellers.

The story went on to suggest what to do to get the buyer’s attention. I heartily agree with the suggestions. The first was to start with an attention-grabbing headline. Most print and electronic ads lack a headline. Why have one? The headline piques the reader’s interest and pulls him into the ad. In order to do that, the headline must tell the reader what’s in it for him to read the ad. The story’s examples included “No Closing Costs” and “Close in Seven Days.” Both of those are benefits to the buyer, aren’t they?

Those benefits save a customer money or time. Either one would likely pull a potential buyer into the ad.

The second suggestion was to be specific. Look back at all the descriptions above which customers misinterpreted. All of them have one thing in common. They are all vague. They are words chosen to sound good. Today’s buyers know that and are immediately suspicious. Sellers use the words in hopes of enticing buyers, but the opposite is happening.

I see this regularly in a company’s advertising, too. Rather than specifically speaking to the customer about what’s in it for him to do business with a company, the company uses fluffy, nice-sounding terms which are meaningless to the customer. While the company thinks it has written beautiful copy, there is no substance to it. This is interpreted by the customer as not worth his time.

Instead of those vague terms, the story recommended something such as “Mid-century modern with mountain views.” That phrase gives a great deal of information. The buyer now know the style of the home and the view. From this information the buyer can make a decision on his next step, whether to look into the home further or not.

Take a close look at how your company’s advertising is worded. Are you using words which clearly communicate with your customer from his point of view? Are you giving him information which will help him make his decision? Are you employing specific words which will be interpreted by your customer as you intended?

Make certain that your words are specific and clearly communicate your message from your customer’s point of view.

Annoying Communication

A couple of weeks ago, Lake Superior State University released its 37th annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse, and General Uselessness.” Those conducting the study asked participants to nominate terms they consider tired, overused, or annoying. From those submissions they created the list of twelve terms that they recommend not to use in 2012.

The terms are amazing, baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, ginormous, the new normal, win the future, trickeration, pet parent, and thank you in advance.

After the events of last year, some of these terms have new meaning. Some of them are new creations. Some have been around a while but, due to overuse last year, have become annoying.

At least one of them, amazing, is a term that has been in our vocabulary for a long time. Interestingly, it received the most nominations, 1500. Why is amazing an annoying word?

It is overused.

Notice people’s speech. Listen to commercials. Watch articles and ads in print. Everything is amazing. Sometimes an exclamation point follows the word in print. When spoken, the voice inflection raises and perhaps gets louder. These are done to put additional emphasis on the word amazing.

In fact, that is usually the reason amazing is used. Amazing is intended to emphasize and bring attention. Often, it is a one word response to communicate surprise and be complimentary. Unfortunately, its overuse has led to annoyance. This annoyance makes it a useless word.

As a useless word, amazing has lost effectiveness. It no longer conveys the communication which the sender intends. As such, amazing has joined other words that are overused and, therefore, ineffective. Those words include quality, selection, and value.

The problem with all overused words is the sender’s lack of specificity. Rather than saying specifically what about something is amazing, the person uses the general term amazing. This generality annoys the receiver because it tells the receiver nothing. So you think something is amazing! What does that mean?

A much less annoying, much more informative communication gives the receiver something new. For example, instead of an amazing washing machine say a washing machine that washes a twenty pound load. Instead of an amazing movie say a movie that pulled me into the story. Instead of an amazing experience say an experience that scared me and made me laugh at the same time.

Instead of “That’s amazing!” say specifically what you find amazing.

When you are tempted to use an overused, misused, and annoying word, stop. Think specifically why you want to use that word. Then, communicate your “why” instead of using the general, overused word.

Your communication will be much clearer and not annoying.

An Unclear Message

The other day I saw a sign that shocked me. It read “Experience College the Way It Was Meant to Be.”

“What does that mean?” I thought.

According to the movie depiction of college, “College the way it was meant to be” would include drinking, partying, and having a good time. Being a part of a sorority would be more important than studying. Fielding a winning sports program so that the institution receives funding from alumni would be a high priority. Getting away from home and doing your own thing would drive a student.

Was that what the sign meant?

Was it prompting a retro version of college, the way it was? If so, that seems skewed in favor of the institution, not the student. Many students who attend the movie depiction of “College the way it was meant to be” don’t graduate. Others take more than four years to graduate. Some don’t have the grades to graduate. In these cases, the institution wins, but the student does not.

Can today’s student afford “College the way it was meant to be?” Today, college needs to offer students more than a degree. College needs to offer knowledge. A degree might get a student into an interview, but knowledge will get him the job and help him do well at that job. Knowledge has been found to be the most important determiner of the health of a country’s economy. Is knowledge a part of “College the way it was meant to be?”

I don’t know. What do you think?

Whatever any of us thinks and anyone else who reads this sign thinks is all a guess, isn’t it? None of us is absolutely certain that we know what “College the way it was meant to be” means. The only person who knows is the person who thought up the phrase. It made sense to him or her. It was catchy. It clearly stated the reason to attend that school. Unfortunately, we don’t share that thought.

To us it is very unclear. Sadly, this phrase which was deemed worth putting on a sign with the idea of piquing interest in the school did not accomplish its goal. It requires too much interpretation.

Don’t leave your message to interpretation. Test your message on your customers. Ask them “What does this mean to you?” Find out before you use a message that it communicates what you want. Be certain that it clearly tells your customers “What’s in it for them.”

A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Yesterday I watched a business owner in action who loves her customers. She was telling a potential new client about her doggie daycare. As they stood in the lobby by the window which looks into the daycare, Heather pointed out different dogs. “That’s Shelby. She’s so tired today. She came in and just stood against the wall. The black one over there with the tuxedo front is Jasper. He’s such a squirrel. The one with the three legs is Josephine. She got hit by a car and was taken to the Humane Association. The vet couldn’t save her leg and had to amputate it. She was here for daycare while she was being fostered by one of our employees. While she was here, one of our clients fell in love with her and adopted her. The client named her Josephine to fit in with her brother Napoleon.”

“They all look like they are having so much fun,” Sue, the potential client responded.

“Oh, they do,” Heather replied. “Due to the heat, today we had several clients bring in their dogs and hand us the leash. ‘My dog is just crazy!’ all of them said. Here they can run and play in air-conditioned comfort.”

“Right now my dog is home in the kitchen,” Sue added. “I think he would love being here.”

The conversation turned to training, and Heather mentioned a teaser course in agility that was starting Monday night. “I’ve always wanted to train my dog in agility,” Sue said, excitedly.

“You’d love this,” Heather explained. “We take everything very slowly so that it’s easy for both you and your dog. We had a golden retriever who didn’t want to walk up the ramp. He wouldn’t respond to any kind of treat, not even raw meat. We finally got him to walk up by placing his ball at the top.”

“Sign me up,” Sue confirmed. “I’ll fill out the form for the doggie daycare and get back to you with that, too.”

After Sue left, Heather walked over to me and my dog. “Dusty, how are you today?” she asked while stroking Dusty under the chin. “Did you get your dental work done? Were you a good girl?”

Watching Heather’s interaction with people clients and doggie customers reminded me of a conversation that she and I had had last week. “Chad and I were kayaking up north last weekend. He told the others with us that I would run into some dog that I knew. When we got to the spot where we were planning to put our kayaks into the water, a dog ran up to me. It was Harley. Chad claims that I run into customers everywhere we go.”

She recognizes them and knows their names instantly.

I’ve given you a few examples of Heather‘s knowledge of her customers. Astoundingly, fifty or more dogs were in daycare yesterday, and Heather knew all their names and histories. She knows their owners, too.

When a business person knows her customers, she speaks volumes to prospective clients. Rather than saying, “I know my customers,” Heather illustrates that she does by recognizing and telling stories about them. She remembers their backgrounds and histories. She knows them because they are individuals and important to her. She communicates that to others without making an effort to do so.

We all like to do business with those who remember us. After all, the most important words to each of us are our names. When our names are remembered, we are impressed. Add something else about us, and we become loyal customers. This is not from neediness or shallowness but from wanting to do business with those who have our best interests in mind. We want to do business where everybody knows our names.

How many of your customers’ names do you know?

Defense Does Not Develop Customers

My dogs are addicted to a treat from Merrick Pet Food, which I had been ordering directly from Merrick. Last fall, Merrick decided not to handle direct retail sales any longer, and, when I went to Merrick’s site to order, I was directed to Pet Food Direct instead. I placed my first order with Pet Food Direct, and, since I am always perilously close to running out of these treats, I immediately set up automatic ship. Ten days after the automatic shipment was scheduled, I contacted Pet Food Direct and asked the shipment’s status. I was informed that the treats were not in stock, and the person suggested that I order a replacement.

I was not surprised that the company was out of stock because I had not yet received the shipment. I was surprised that I had not received an e-mail that the automatic shipment was not being sent. I was shocked that the person suggested ordering a replacement. Obviously, this person did not have a dog or, at least, not a picky dog. She would have given much better customer service had she asked first how important that treat was to my dog. Had she discovered that the treat was not that important, she could have suggested a replacement. However, to suggest a replacement without first knowing the situation was very unwise.

Added on top of the lack of communication regarding the delay in the automatic shipment, her response irritated me.

I responded straightforwardly, telling of my disappointment in her lack of communication and her ignorant suggestion. I also stated that Pet Food Direct was losing a customer. Before I wrote my e-mail to her, I had contacted Merrick and discovered that Merrick had the treats in stock, and, according to Merrick’s records, so did Pet Food Direct. I mentioned this in my e-mail, too, and suggested that she check her inventory levels.

Her response was very defensive. “I do check the inventory levels everyday and process the orders as soon as possible. You do have to remember when an item is out of stock, sometimes we have issues getting the item from our supplier, or sometimes they can short our order.”

Although she ended her reply with “I’m sorry that we are losing you as a customer,” she expressed no other regrets. She had no regrets for the automatic shipment not be shipped. She had no regrets for the inventory levels. She had no regrets for the inconvenience to me. Expressing regret for a customer’s inconvenience is critical to retaining that customer. It demonstrates a focus on the customer, which Pet Food Direct does not embrace.

That was also apparent in the lack of communication regarding the automatic shipment. If a customer has set up an automatic shipment, that customer is relying on the shipment to occur. The customer wants to receive the merchandise within a already-assigned time frame. To have that time lapse with no communication is rude, unprofessional, and poor customer service.

Perhaps the lack of communication is not surprising, however, in light of the tone of her response to my inquiry. Rather than looking at the situation from the customer’s point of view, she became defensive. She instructively wrote me what she does and how their system runs. Why do I care? I wanted the treats; that’s all. I didn’t care about her problems. I just wanted mine solved.

That is the basis of good customer service.

When a problem arises with a customer, focus on the solving the customer’s problem not defending your position. Defense does not develop customers, focusing on the customer does.

Ineffective Communication

A couple of days ago, I watched a commercial which I had seen several times. This commercial always gets my attention because it starts with a little girl sitting alone on a school bus. She is the last rider of the day. The bus driver asks her questions.

“How was school today?”

“All right,” the little girl replies.

“Do you like your teacher?”

“Yeah.”

At this point, the first time I saw the commercial I wondered just why the bus driver was quizzing the little girl. After the next question, I understood.

“Did you miss your mommy?”

The little girl gets out of her seat, scurries down the aisle, jumps into the bus driver’s lap, and wraps her arms around the driver‘s neck. “Yeah, I missed you, Mom.”

No matter how many times I have seen this commercial, I feel a swell of emotion during that scene.

Then I wonder, “Whose commercial is this, anyway?”

I tend to think that it is for a kid’s treat or food, something that Mom might give a child after school. Usually, I am so caught up in the emotion from the little girl hugging the bus driver that I forget to notice what business name is listed at the end of the commercial.

When I watched the commercial the other day, I made an effort mentally to register the business. As the little girl and her mom walked away from the buses hand-in-hand, the voiceover said, “For life’s important moments, Marshfield Clinic.”

Since I am suspicious that I am an unusual consumer of advertising, I turned to my roommate. “Did you just watch that commercial?”

“Yeah, I like it.”

“Who was it for?”

She gave me a perplexed look. “I don’t know. Some food company?”

“No,” I replied. “Marshfield Clinic.”

She was astonished. “Really? I never would have guessed that.”

This is a wonderfully-written, well-acted, attention-getting commercial that is woefully ineffective.

Why? First, it does not deliver a message, unless you maintain that the closeness of the mother and daughter is a message. Second, this commercial does not make any reference to Marshfield Clinic until the end of the commercial, which is not enough. Third, nothing in the commercial has anything to do with healthcare. A consumer’s mind must make many flips and somersaults to connect what is shown in this commercial with Marshfield Clinic. Who was sick and got well, the child or the mother? How sick was she? How recently did she recover? No one will think this far. Viewers will mentally turn off the commercial because Marshfield Clinic’s connection to it does not make sense.

As evidenced by me and my roommate, the viewer not connecting the commercial with the business is the most devastating result to Marshfield Clinic. I am certain that we are not alone nor unusual in our responses.

While creating an attention-getting commercial is important, sacrificing effective communication to achieve attention makes the marketing effort a waste of time and money. Your message is more important than creativity. Make certain that your message is clear and that your business is easily connected to your message.

That is effective communication.

Take a Fresh Approach

Today I drove by a sign that caught my eye. Dominating the sign in large, block letters clearly printed on a white background was “25¢.” Underneath in small letters was printed “sale.”

“What a fresh approach!” I thought as I continued on my way.

Now I did not follow the arrow on the sign and check out the sale. However, I assume, probably correctly, that someone was selling stuff that he or she did not want. Instead of calling the sale what everyone else calls a sale of that sort, either a garage or a thrift sale, this person wisely gave the sale a different name. This person called the sale a “25¢ sale.”

While many items on garage or thrift sales are 25 cents or less, calling the sale a 25 cent sale immediately caught the attention of anyone who saw the sign. That amount of money made me think, “Hey, that’s cheap! Anyone could afford 25 cents.”

Others reading the sign probably thought likewise.

With a garage or thrift sale sign seemingly on every corner lately, this sign also set the sale apart from its competition of other garage or thrift sales. A sale dubbed “garage” or “thrift” sale immediately suggests old, used stuff that someone else does not want. I know that you can find treasures at garage and thrift sales, but you can also find a great deal of stuff that you do not want.

Since this 25 cent sale did not use either “garage” or “thrift” sale on its sign, I have no idea what items were being sold. The mystery of what was on sale was intriguing. Whereas I usually suggest telling as much as you can about your product or service, piquing interest by telling less is an effective marketing technique, particularly when what you tell directly appeals to what your customer wants.

Customers who are attracted to a garage or a thrift sale are interested in something that is cheap, hopefully unbelievably cheap. When a sign speaks to what they want, cheap, that sign gets their attention. A sign that gets their attention has a high likelihood of prompting them to check out the sale, and, ideally, their doing so increases sales. That makes the sign’s fresh approach profitable marketing.

Look at what your customer wants and what you offer. How can you rephrase your communications to speak to what your customer wants?

Just like the person running the “25¢ sale,” break away from the pack and position your business differently from your competition.

Take a fresh approach.

Make Communication Powerful

As I was enjoying a Pepperidge Farm cookie (or two) this morning, I read the side of the package. I liked the writing so much that I wanted to share it with you. Here is what it said:
The Art of the Cookie
by Pepperidge Farm
Begin with a baker’s soul. Seek the finest ingredients. Explore nature’s infinite variety of flavors and textures - sweet, crunchy, rich…oh, and chocolate.
Entertain inspirations. Embrace decadent cravings. Reward yourself.
Open…Taste…Delight.
Thank you for letting us share our creations with you. Gratification guaranteed.

Notice how each sentence opens with a verb. These are not just any verbs, but ones which have been carefully selected by an talented writer. Begin, seek, explore, entertain, embrace, reward, open, taste, and delight are verbs which intrigue, invite, and ignite the reader.

In addition, beginning the sentence with a verb sets “you” as the subject of the sentence. That pulls in the reader and personalizes what he or she is reading. Involving the reader delivers the message effectively.

Most importantly, the verbs tell the reader what to do. They start by explaining how Pepperidge Farm creates these cookies, “Begin with a baker’s soul….” They continue by getting lost in the experience of enjoying one of these cookies, which are scrumptious. They end with a “Thank you.” After reading this, I felt that the writer was sitting at the table indulging in one of these cookies along with me.

This was written from the customer’s point of view.

Writing from the customer’s point of view is an effective way to connect with your customer. These words share that Pepperidge Farm is giving the customer what the customer wants. They show how Pepperidge Farm begins with the customer’s wants in mind, creates what the customer wants, and appreciates the customer’s business. They tell the customer what the customer gets when he or she savors one of these cookies and that this experience was deliberate. They communicate that the customer’s enjoyment was Pepperidge Farm’s goal.

Are you doing this with your communications? Are you sharing why and how you do what you do? Are you telling your customer that you understand your customer’s point of view?

Take a look at your communications with your customer. If you are not doing this, adjust so that you do.

Remember, using the customer’s point of view makes your communications powerful.