“We Treat You Like Family”

Lately I’ve noticed several businesses using some form of the tag line “We treat you like family.”  This is a great example of Junk Food Marketing.  With the idea that family is treasured, some businessperson thought it was a nice touch to say in the business’s marketing that customers are like family to that business.  Always on the lookout for marketing ideas, some other businesspeople thought, Yeah, we feel that way, too, and promptly started using the a similar theme in their marketing.  

That’s Junk Food Marketing:  Copying another business’s marketing idea without putting it through the filter of your own marketing plan.  Like 90% of businesses, these businesses do not have a marketing plan.

I know these businesses do not have a marketing plan because, if they did, management would have thought twice before using the phrase, “We treat you like family.” 

Why do I say that?  Think a minute.  As much as you love your family, what kind of treatment do you receive from them?  Do family members always show you their best side?  Do family members always serve you their best meals?  Do family members always wear their best attire to greet you? 

I think not.  We are not necessarily on our best behavior with family members.  We are often not the best dressed in their presence.  We don’t prepare holiday level meals every day for them.  We are relaxed with family.  We are at home.  We are not at our best.

When I am transacting business with a company, I want the personnel to be at their best.  I want them to treat me courteously.  I want them to view me as a respected guest.  I don’t want to be treated as family.

How do you want to be treated?

Better yet, how does your customer want to be treated?

Think about that before you offer a marketing message.  Find out from your customer how he/she wants to be treated.  Use that information in developing your marketing plan.  Do create a marketing plan and use it.  Do not practice Junk Food Marketing by copying another business’s marketing before you put it through the filter of your marketing plan. 

Discover your own way to communicate how your company treats customers.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What did you discover when you created your marketing plan?  E-mail me your answer.

The Lesson in Best Buy’s New Service

In reaction to increasing competition online, Best Buy is kicking off a new service this month.  Designed to unlock latent consumer demand, the service features Best Buy personnel meeting with customers in their homes to answer their questions, assess their situations, and recommend what devices and technology fit their lifestyles.  “This is Best Buy looking at a long-term user-based strategy rather than a one-off, shopper-based strategy,” stated Carol Spiecherman, an expert on retail and brand positioning.  “Something like this is truly solving a need vs. attempting to come up with shiny objects that will appeal to an emerging generation.”

Jeff Shelman, Best Buy spokesman, further clarified the firm’s positions.  “We know that consumers love technology but frequently need help getting the most out of it.  We feel uniquely positioned to serve consumers by offering products, services, and support wherever the customer wants it, including our 1,000 stores, on BestBuy.com, and in homes millions of times a year.”

In researching what Best Buy can do to better compete with online stores such as Amazon, company personnel discovered two important factors.  Shoppers are spending more time at home than in stores, and they are uncertain as to how to use emerging technology.  From this information, management decided to roll out this new service.  

Best Buy has tested this service in five markets, assigning it different names to check on different target markets.  In the Twin Cities, the service was called Assured Living and aimed at assisting adult children in setting up technology in the homes of their aging parents.  The monitors and devices they had installed in their parents’ homes allowed them to keep track of their parents.  The intent was to keep their parents’ independent and provide peace of mind to the children. 

The national roll out of the new service is not so narrowly focused.  With it, Best Buy is offering in-home consultation to anyone who walks into the company’s stores and talks to a sales associate about the store’s products.  The associates are now trained to suggest an in-home visit to customers.  The person doing the visit will be a sales associate who is not paid by the results of the visit but by the hour.  While Best Buy is promoting this service as a way to help customers, skeptics are concerned that these consultations will encourage customers to buy unnecessary products.

If Best Buy management is wise, that will not be the result.  However, one aspect of this service points to that happening.  The service is free.  Now you may think, Isn’t free a good idea?  That’s a way to help customers and get them to purchase what they need.  It’s also a way to differentiate Best Buy from online competitors who cannot from a distance have that person-to-person contact.  It’s a showcase of Best Buy personnel’s expertise, an extension of the Geek Squad. 

While that may all be true, here’s the challenge.  Unlike the Geek Squad whose work can be directly assigned to the revenue generated, these “free” consultations will not be directly assigned to revenue.  The sales associates performing the consultations will be taken off the floor to visit homes.  In doing so, they will not be able to cover the floor.  That means additional personnel will need to be hired to cover those floor hours.  This could increase floor payroll substantially.  If these visits do not result in corresponding revenue gains, management will deem the visits too expensive and likely discontinue them.

Unfortunately, Best Buy management discovered an opportunity and acted on it without thinking it through.  That may herald the demise of the new service.  Had they thought it through, they would have realized that customers who want assistance with technology would pay for these visits.  Rather than treat these visits as come-ons for more business, management would have seen them as new streams of revenue.  Instead they may disappear because they either will not generate enough revenue to support the additional payroll, or they will push unnecessary product onto customers and further deteriorate the Best Buy brand.      

When you find an opportunity for more revenue, think it through before implementing it.  Look at it from all angles.  Get input from your customers. Consider how it can generate revenue.  Will customers pay for it?  Give it the best chance to be successful.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is How did you think through a new opportunity?  E-mail me your answer.

Never Use This Phrase in Your Marketing

I very seldom use the word never, but I am using it today because I feel so strongly about this phrase.  After hearing it this morning, I was prompted to write about it today.  The phrase is “We have everything you need.”  You may have heard other versions such as “For all your (fill-in-the-blank) needs,” “The only store you need,” or “Your one stop shop for (fill-in-the-blank).”  Any version has the same impact.

None.

I understand why businesspeople use these words.  They want to communicate that their business has an extensive selection, and, therefore, the customer can find “everything” at their stores.  They want customers to shop only their stores and think that making this statement will help accomplish that goal. 

In truth, they are just wasting words.  The word everything indicates too much.  What store has everything?  That is not possible and, thus, unbelievable.  Everything is also vague and general.  Everything of what?  Oh, that’s right.  Everything I need.  How does that store know what I need to say nothing of everything that I need?  Again, that is unbelievable.  I don’t even know everything I need.  If I hear of something new tomorrow, I may feel that now I need that item.  Yesterday, I didn’t think that I needed it.  I didn’t even know it existed.  How did the store’s management know?  

Did the store’s management add the item to the store’s stock because of me?

Of course not.

Actually, what the store’s management did in using the phrase is lose an opportunity.  They used meaningless words, “Everything you need,” instead of specific words that tell customers exactly what they can find at the store.  All target markets have particular items that attract them.  Citing those items communicates clearly to customers that the store has what they want.  They get the message and react positively to it.

Meaningless words do not get a reaction.  They do not encourage customers to frequent the store.  They also indicate that management has not thought through the message that they want to convey to get customers into the store.  Instead of identifying the store’s market and thinking through what the store offers that market, management is merely throwing out some words to create an ad. 

Management is not placing value on the words employed in communications with customers.  I call these $100 words.  However, these words may be worth much more than $100 because of the revenue they generate.  Specific words in a message prompt customers to contact the business.  These words are priceless.

Seek them out and use them wisely.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What specific words have helped you generate revenue?  E-mail me your answer.

A Cautionary Tale

A couple weeks ago I wrote about a regional grocery chain that had expanded rapidly and was exhibiting empty shelves.  Sadly, the chain is falling apart.  Several stores have been closed with hours’ notice.  A couple have been sold to another regional chain.  Every week more stores are dropping from the chain. 

Of course, that is very bad for the chain in many ways.  One way is the vicious cycle of the announcements of closings. These further discourage customers from shopping the remaining stores and subsequently weaken the rest, whether they are healthy or not.  How this cycle ends is unknown.  Interestingly, the chain started from the success of one local store. 

That success grew from the efforts of the founder.  Likely, he ran the store by the seat of his pants.  He followed changes that were happening in the industry and implemented them, probably after they had been proven effective by other stores.  He is a nice man and a strong part of his community, which endeared him to the residents and prompted their patronage.  His efforts worked for his business in a less competitive environment.

Just like most small businesses, I suspect that he never had a written marketing plan.  If one had been suggested to him, he probably would have said, “Why do I need one?  My store is doing fine.”

What he didn’t know was the revenue a marketing plan would have generated. 

He also didn’t realize that the lack of a marketing plan was a weakness.  Evidently, his sons thought the same way when they rapidly expanded the business into a regional chain. Like their father and countless other small business people, they didn’t understand that planning is the most important function of management.  It requires 90% of management’s efforts and is the foundation of the other functions of management, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Think about it.  How can you organize anything within your organization if you are not following a plan?  How can you lead your organization if you do not know where your organization is going? How can you control any facet of your organization if you haven’t set a basis for where your organization ought to be via a plan?

A marketing plan uncovers weaknesses in reaching your objectives.  It helps you think through what you want to accomplish.  It identifies your customers.  It defines what you offer.  It reveals what you will have to do to make the product or service available to the customers you seek in order to attain your objectives.    

The failure of this chain’s expansion loudly proclaims the a lack of a marketing plan.  Had managers completed a written marketing plan, they would not have expanded more quickly than they could handle.  They would not be closing stores now.  They would not have severely damaged the good name of their brand.  They would not be under the threat of the business’s complete demise.    

Please learn a valuable lesson from this company.  Take the time to think through and write down a marketing plan.  Follow it.  Check it regularly to stay on track.  Update it at least annually. 

Do it for the health of your business.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is How has a written marketing plan helped your business?  E-mail me your answer.

The Dangers of Change

I had an experience recently that reminded me of the dangers of change.  Months ago, I booked a cruise and meal for a tour group.  I wanted to reserve the date and solidify the cost so that I could include it in a booklet which was sent to prospects for the event.  In discussing the event with the representative from the cruise, we estimated the number of participants with the stipulation that I could adjust the number closer to the date.  After the representative from the cruise company gave me the quote, I added a couple dollars more to the price just in case it went up when we got closer. 

Three weeks before the event, I was contacted by a different representative than the one with whom I had been working.  She sent an e-mail stating the balance due and wondering when it would be sent.  We had not yet finalized the count.  Thus, the bill was not final.  I called the second representative and asked what happened to the first one.  “She left,” the representative replied.

I started to tell her that we needed to finalize the count and that once I had that count we could determine the final amount, but she cut me off.  “I’m new and don’t know what to do so I’m turning you over to one of the owners,” she declared. 

I reviewed the situation with him, and he said that he would send me a new invoice based on my current count.  The invoice he sent me was seven dollars more per person than the original agreement, four dollars more than I had charged.  The additional amount he had added was a service charge that had not been on the original quote.     

I called him back and said that I did not want to short him, but I had only the money I had collected to pay him.  I offered him a couple of options of what I could do to make up as much of the difference as possible.  One option was that I could ask every participant to give a tip of at least four dollars.  The other was that, once I reached the number of participants to pay for the bus, I could give the bus fee for each of the additional participants to the cruise along with their cruise fee.  He did not tell me which option to exercise but that he would work with me. 

I was partially relieved but determined to get as many additional participants as possible.  I added twelve.  I sent the co-owner a couple of e-mails asking which option he wanted and never received a reply.  The new representative sent me a couple more e-mails asking for the balance due.  My responses to her were to talk to the co-owner. 

Our bus was delayed about five minutes in arriving at the dock to board the boat.  When we were about a block away, my cell rang.  In a interrogating tone, the new representative stated, “You booked a cruise today, and you are not at the boat.”

“We are a block away,” I said.

Once we were aboard, the boat had to wait about fifteen minutes to depart because the two vegetarian meals the co-owner had assured me we would have had not been sent.  While this didn’t bother my group, I found it interesting.

When our cruise was almost finished, I offered the person in charge a check for the amount that I had available from the second option.  “Does that take care of your bill?” she wondered. 

“I have no idea,” I replied and told her the story. 

The next day I received an invoice with a zero balance.

I’m sharing this lengthy example with you because as I mulled it over I realized the lessons in it.  Every time a person who has been dealing with customers leaves, the company is in danger from the change.  The danger involves misunderstanding and miscommunication between the new and/or other staff and the customer.  This risks business with that customer and may affect business with other customers, too, either because of the change or bad word-of-mouth.  I have read that a company losses thousands of dollars with each turnover of a salesperson.

How do you ensure a smooth transition with minimal loss of customer relationships and revenue?

I have experienced being assigned a customer as a new salesperson and not knowing the situation, and I have suggestions on how to continue a relationship instead of causing problems.    

First, talk to the customer to find out about current or recent transactions.  Talk, don’t text or e-mail.  Your initial contact needs to be a two-way conversation so that you can understand the situation.

Second, during that conversation, ask questions to understand.  Before the conversation, make a list of questions.  That helps you to stay on track and cover what you want to know. 

Third, during the conversation, listen actively.  As you hear the customer tell you what he/she wants, clarify by asking the questions that come to mind.  Get a thorough picture of what needs to be done.

Fourth, once you find out what needs to be done, do it and do it promptly.  Wow the customer with your quick response.  If nothing needs to be done immediately, send a handwritten thank you.  Follow this step, and you will make a lasting positive impression.  Take every action you can to set up a positive relationship from the start.  Don’t be “Just the facts, ma’m.”  Do not send an invoice out of the blue and ask when payment will be sent. 

Fifth, as an owner or manager, don’t put handling the situation on your back.  Train your new person to do it.  You have your own duties and responsibilities.  Taking on others’ jobs will likely lead to problems.  You may not respond to e-mails as you intended.  You may not communicate that vegetarian dishes were promised.  You may leave the customer quite unhappy, and that may not have been your intent.

Sixth, send e-mails that clearly come from you at your company.  Do not send an e-mail from “Events” or an unknown person.  The customer may not open the e-mail because he/she does not recognize the sender.

Follow these steps and your customer relationships and revenue will not suffer from the dangers of change.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is How have you handled the dangers of change successfully?  E-mail me your answer

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.  

No, You Don’t Have to Advertise

“You have to advertise!” an advertising salesperson exclaimed.

“No, I don’t,” my client replied.

She was right. 

Businesspeople do not need to advertise.  They need to market.  If they have not created a marketing plan, advertising is likely not productive.  The marketing plan details their objectives, targets their market, and prepares the company for the business advertising is intended to stimulate.

The marketing plan is the foundation and structure of the business’ marketing.  Advertising is the paint job.  To use another analogy, marketing is the cake while advertising is the sprinkles, chips, nuts, or coconut atop the cake.  A paint job or cake toppings are optional.  Similarly, a marketing plan may or may not indicate the use of advertising. 

The advertising salesperson expressed, “You need to advertise!” in desperation.  Sadly, some businesspeople respond to that line by thinking, Yeah, I do, and I don’t know what to buy.  Oh, well, maybe this will work. 

Then they buy the advertising.  They have no plan as to how to use it, what to expect, or what preparations to make in running it.  All this leads to a lack of follow through and disappointment.  The end result is frustration for the businessperson and the advertising salesperson.  The businessperson doesn’t understand why advertising doesn’t work, and the salesperson doesn’t understand why the businessperson doesn’t make the most out of the advertising.

Laying out a marketing plan reveals the opportunities for advertising.  It indicates where advertising money is best spent.  It sets up the best potential to maximize profitable results.

My client didn’t need that advertising because she knows her objectives, has targeted her market, and knows what business she wants to stimulate.  That advertising would not have helped her with any of those. 

It wasn’t the paint job or the sprinkles she wanted. 

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What advertising have you turned down and why?  E-mail me your answer.

Check out my book Mistakes I Made Buying Advertising here.

Extra Touches

I just got a German Shepherd puppy.  The experience I had with the breeder from the first contact has been one excellent example after another of how to handle a customer.  My initial phone message was answered within ten minutes by a text that included a picture of each of the two puppies that were available.  In the text, Jamie, the breeder, offered to answer any questions.  After a phone conversation, I set an appointment to see the puppies the next day.

As I held the puppies, I asked many questions and saw the mother.  I chose one and paid half the fee.  Jamie had originally said the puppies would be ready at eight weeks, but she changed to an earlier option.  “You can take him at seven weeks, if you like,” she suggested.

“Okay,” I agreed.  “I’ll be back either next Friday or Saturday.”

The next week I texted her as to which day worked better, and, true to form, she immediately replied.  “Saturday works better for me” was her text.

I set a time of noon   Saturday morning she texted me to confirm that I was planning to come as discussed.  I said that I did and, since I had had to deal with something unexpected, moved my time to a half hour later.  When I arrived, she was waiting with the puppy in her arms.  He was clean and fresh from a morning bath.  I had written out several questions about his shots, worming, and his parents. 

Before I could ask them, she handed me a new red folder that matched the red collar on the puppy.  She flipped it open and pointed out the worming information.  She had copied the package of Liquid Wormer she had used and taped it on the inside pocket.  Alongside the package copy, she had listed when the puppy had been wormed and when the next doses were due.  She had also noted when the first shot had been given.  The actual package from the shot was tucked into the left pocket. 

In the right pocket was the registration application for the American Kennel Club.  She had completed the breeder’s section and had it prepared for me to finish and send to the AKC. 

“I’d like to get pictures of his sire and dam,” I requested.

“I’ve got them,” she replied.  “Send me your e-mail, and I’ll send them to you.”

When I got home, I did that, and she promptly sent me the pictures. 

About then, I realized how impressive her extra touches were.  In addition to always replying very quickly to my texts, calls, and questions, she provided thorough information about the puppy.  This is precisely what customers want.  They want information, answers to questions, and fast response.

A few days after I brought the puppy home, she did the ultimate extra touch.  I received a text from her.  “How is the puppy adjusting?” she asked.

I was shocked.  That simple statement demonstrated concern for the puppy and for me.  This was an extra touch of follow up that most people don’t perform.  Since it was unexpected, I was very impressed.

I sent a lengthy reply, telling her how well he was doing, especially in bonding with my six-year-old German Shepherd.  She echoed my relief about the dogs getting along well and asked the puppy’s name.  Beyond just asking one question, she engaged in a conversation that showed genuine concern.

“There is no traffic jam on the extra mile” is an expression that defines excellence in handling customers.  Jamie is definitely there. 

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What extra touches have you experienced? E-mail me your answer. 

Think Small

Every year for the last decade, the soft drink industry has experienced a decrease in consumption as measured by volume.  This is a result of a cultural trend.  A 2015 Gallup poll found that six in ten American adults were attempting to avoid soft drinks, whether diet or regular.  They were making other choices such as the wide variety of teas, coffees, and waters.  They were shifting their tastes.

Those who are still drinking soft drinks increasingly view them as an indulgence.  The markets that are particularly concerned include moms and upper-income consumers.  They want portion sizes that reflect these reduced consumption preferences.   

Partly to address that situation, seven years ago Coke offered a mini-can that held 7.5 ounces along with an 8 ounce glass and aluminum bottles.  The sales of these smaller sizes have been a plus for Coke with double-digit increases over the last three years.  In 2015 sales jumped fifteen percent in the first five months alone. 

These mini offerings are a 30% reduction in volume but an increase from 31 cents to 50 cents a can in sales.  This significant increase in revenue has contributed to more than an 80% share price gain since March 2009.  That has shareholders impressed.

I found this information interesting and wanted to share it with you for two reasons.  First, consumers are definitely thinking small.  Pay attention to the talk of downsizing and building smaller residences.  Notice the suggestions of smaller portions and portion control in food consumption.  Keep in mind that people are reducing their number of belongings.  The trend of less being more is permeating many areas of our lives. 

How is that trend impacting your business?

Second, we businesspeople are always juggling price increases, when to adjust prices, and how to present the changes.  We are concerned about retaining revenue and profitability while not losing customers.  Many of us are dealing with the concern by reducing the amount of product and keeping the price the same.  Consumers seldom notice the reduction.  If they do, some do not care that much because they don’t buy the items by the unit or pound.  They buy them by the package.  In Coke’s mini-can example, the company was obvious in its size change by creating a smaller can or bottle.  Consumers embraced the change because they wanted smaller portions and were not sensitive to the price.  They had not purchased for volume; they had bought for a small amount.

All of these considerations depend upon knowing your customers well and talking to them regularly.  That understanding helps when addressing price changes.  You will also be aware of trends within your target market and be able to adjust to them in ways that your customer will embrace and you will find profitable. 

When was the last time you interviewed your customers? 

This week's marketing trivia challenge is How has talking to your customers helped your marketing?  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.

An Amazing Message

From the smallest to the largest, every interaction your business has with customers involves marketing.  This includes what a customer encounters when he or she calls your business.  Although how a phone is answered may seem like a small matter, it is, in fact, an action that helps a customer determine whether to do business with a company or not.  With that in mind, I was amazed at the voice message I heard yesterday when I called a local grocery store.

“Hi, this is the Festival guy.  We’re glad you called Festival Foods in Eau Claire.  Let me  see if I can help you find the person or department you’re looking for.

“If you need a custom order from our scratch bakery, press 1.

“To talk to our incredible meat people, press 2.

“If you’d like information on our fabulous deli and catering, press 3.

“To speak to our produce experts, press 4.

“For the wine and spirits department, dial 5.

“Or, stay on the line and someone from the customer service counter will assist you.

“From everyone here at Festival Foods, make it a great day!”

Several factors of this message amazed me.  First, management was using its corporate spokesperson to voice the phone message.  The “Festival guy” as he calls himself has a commanding voice and speaks in an energetic, enthusiastic tone.  He also voices the grocery’s television and radio commercials.  Customers readily identify him and his voice with the store.  Threading his voice and friendly presence onto the phone message employs consistency and repetition.  He immediately makes customers like me feel welcome.  Recognizing his voice, I felt like someone who cared was leading me through the maze of how to reach the person or department I wanted.

He added to my feeling by speaking in clear and conversational language.  Notice that he began by saying he was glad I called and he would help me “reach the person or department I was looking for.”  He continued to go through each department with an appealing statement about each one.  For the bakery, he mentioned custom order and scratch, three descriptive words regarding baked goods.  He called the meat people incredible, the produce people experts, and the deli and catering people fabulous, all very complimentary terms.

He carried his friendly tone to the end by prompting me to “Make it a great day!”

While I waited for customer service to answer, I uttered aloud, What an excellent message.  Very well done!

Call your company and listen to how your phone is answered.  Does the message make customers feel welcome?  Does it help them easily find the person or department they want to reach?  Does it leave them with a good feeling even at the end?

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What phone message has impressed you?  E-mail me your answer.  

How to Use Space to Clearly Communicate

A couple days ago, I pulled up beside three cars lined up behind each other at a stop light.  Each had the same large sign on the roof of the car.  The sign promoted a “Big Sale” at a local furniture store for three days only.  The large signs on top of the car roofs got my attention, especially since I sat beside them waiting for the light to turn green.  Having three in a row increased the impact of the signs.  After staring at the signs for a few seconds, I wondered, Where is the sale?

I looked more closely and realized that the store name was in a slightly smaller font in the upper left corner of the signs.  It melted into the background, which is why I had to search for it. 

Hmmm, I thought.  They made a mistake not making the store name more prominent.

I was reminded of a business card I wanted to share with you.  On one side of the card was a beautiful full color photo of a patio with a stone floor and white pillars.  A wood table for eight was invitingly situated inside the pillars.  Attractive landscaping surrounded the patio.  On the other side of the card was the name of the business, Artisans of the Earth - Design Landscape, clearly printed in large letters across the top.  Beneath that on the left was the person’s name, title, phone, and address.  At the bottom of the card was the business’s Web site.  A logo was placed in the lower right corner. 

The card impressed me for several reasons.  First, both sides of the card were used.  Too many business cards only use one side of the card.  That is a lost opportunity.  Businesspeople are wise to use both sides to more fully communicate what a business offers.  Every business has something more that can be communicated on the other side of the business card.  Artisans smartly showed a picture of the end result of their work, a beautiful patio.  How can you use the other side of a business card to tell more about your business?

Second, the side of the card with the contact information was clear and easy to read.  A clean font without serifs contributed to the readability.  The type was not crowded and left a great deal of white space.  This also helped readability.  The logo did not dominate and impede communication of the information.  Tucked in the lower corner, the logo was there but not too much.

Finally, the card was a heavier stock than I have ever encountered.  The additional thickness made the card more professional, different, and memorable. 

Both the business card and the signs on the cars are examples of how to use space to communicate your message.  Choose your visuals well.  Make certain they quickly tell what you want to say.  Place your logo and/or business name so that the person reading the sign or card immediately identifies the name of the business.  Select a font that is easy to read.  Employ white space to help readability.  Take a good look at the design before you finalize the sign or card.

Ask customers what it communicates.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What sign or business card have you seen that clearly communicates its message? E-mail me your answer. 

Defying Gravity

How do you view the world?  Michael Grab had viewed it as a victim with circumstances and the world happening to him.  One day, he flipped that view and changed to a creator mentality.  “I moved from a view of limitations to one of possibilities,” Michael states.

That prompted him to use gravity as a glue rather than a force that held him back.  He began constructing awe-inspiring structures of stones and having gravity be the glue that kept them together.  “All you need is three points of contact to create the balance,” Michael advises.  “My hands find that contact, and focus and physics do the rest.” 

Michael applied his professional experience and his passion for creating to defy his mental view of what’s possible.  He realized that his mind was holding him back and overcame that obstruction by seeing the possible.  I was blown away that he can balance larger stones on smaller ones by his three points of contact and have the structures remain intact despite the forces of rushing waters in a stream or crashing waves in an ocean.  Click here to check out his beautiful structures.

His revelation and attitude made me think of small business people who operate without a written marketing plan.  They are viewing their businesses as victims of the economy, the weather, or governmental regulations, to name a few.  They are perceiving their businesses’ limitations instead of their possibilities.  They are operating as if circumstances are happening to their businesses instead of their creating what happens.  Gravity is keeping their businesses in place.

To defy gravity, these businesspeople need to change their mentalities.  They must become creators instead of being victims.  They must build their own limitless dreams instead of being held back.  They must think of what can be instead of what is.     

Once they flip their views, they need to maintain them through focus.  The best way to do that is via a marketing plan.  A marketing plan lays out your dream for your business and keeps you focused on achieving that dream.  The foundation of a marketing plan allows you to think in possibilities by setting objectives.  The research component of a marketing plan gives you the information you need to reach and cultivate your customers.  The finalization of a marketing plan lays out a road map that focuses you and your staff on achieving the dream you have for your business. 

After all, if you don’t know where your business is going, how are will you know if you’ve arrived?

Defy gravity and make your view one of possibilities.  Create a marketing plan and use it to keep your focus on your dreams.     

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What example have you encountered of defying gravity?  E-mail me your answer.

Attitudes Market

In order to get the style and color that she wanted, a friend of mine special ordered a new recliner.  After an eight week wait, she received a call from one of the delivery guys at the store.  “Your chair is in,” he stated.  “We can deliver it on Friday.”

“I wanted to ask you to help me move my current recliner,” she replied. 

“We don’t do that,” he snapped back. 

“I expect to pay extra for you to do it,” she responded. 

“We wouldn’t do it for nothing, but we still wouldn’t do it,” he said gruffly. 

Upset with his unfriendly attitude, my friend finished the conversation.  “Friday won’t work for me.  I’ll get back to you.”

She picked up the phone, called a friend, and asked if he would help her by delivering the new recliner and taking her old one to a storage unit.  She wanted to keep it in reserve temporarily in case the new one was not satisfactory. 

He said he’d be glad to help her out.  She called the store and informed the person that someone else would deliver the recliner.  “I want your delivery charge removed before I pay the balance of the bill,” she said. 

Interestingly, the person on the phone did not ask why she was having someone else deliver the recliner.  When she paid the balance a few days later, no one asked then, either.  Evidently, the store personnel didn’t care about deliveries. 

I understand that, although deliveries are a necessary customer service for some businesses, they can be costly.  I also understand and encourage businesses to set parameters of deliveries in order to control these costs.  I do not understand why someone at the business would not ask why my friend had changed her mind about having the store deliver the chair. 

I suggested that she tell someone at the store that she felt the delivery person who called her was rude and had a bad attitude.  She didn’t feel comfortable doing that.  Like most customers, she did not want to be confrontational.  Since no one at the business seemed to care, her comments would probably have fallen on deaf ears. 

However, the attitude of the delivery person will definitely affect her future business with the store. 

This incident is an excellent example of the importance of the attitude of every employee in a business.  Every employee’s attitude markets the business.  A single employee with a bad attitude can negatively affect a customer and possibly discourage that person from ever doing business with the company in the future.  Yes, I know we all have bad days, but we do not have to share them with the customer.  I highly recommend that you impress upon all your employees the importance of treating all customers courteously every day. 

Although you may never hear about it, one employee’s discourteous treatment could destroy all your efforts to get a customer’s business and retain it in the future. 

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What bad attitude from an employee has discouraged you from doing business with a company in the future?  E-mail me your answer.

Disappearing Markets

I was shocked at a statistic I heard last week.  In 1983, 46.2% of sixteen-year-olds in the United States had drivers’ licenses.  In 2016, only 24.5% of sixteen-year-olds have drivers’ licenses.  What reason do these teenagers give for not having a license?  “I don’t need it,” they say unanimously. 

While this statement amazes many adults who view a driver’s license as representing freedom, independence, and a huge step in adulthood, today’s teens view it differently.  Many say, “My parents can drive me around.”

Having spent a great deal of time as a child stuck in traffic sitting in the back seat, these teens do not have the love affair with cars of prior generations.  Due to the cost of gas and vehicle ownership, they are not eager to spend their money in that direction.  With the computerization of automobiles, they can’t save money and do the self-repairs that their parents could do. 

Their parents are often encouraging them to wait to get a license until they are older.  One mother cited the cost of a vehicle and the road rage of some drivers.  “I don’t think my daughter is ready to handle that,” Mom said.  “She can walk to school and work right now.” 

All this considered, what has had the biggest impact on teens’ disinterest in having a driver’s license? 

The Internet.

Teens no longer need to drive to the mall to meet their friends.  They just pick up their phones and text them.  If they want to talk to their friends, they video chat.  If they want to see what’s trending or order something that’s hot, they do it on their phones.  Smartphones and the Internet have changed teens’ habits and made their market disappear for car dealers, insurance companies, auto repair shops, auto replacement parts, and gas stations.

With the growing trend of ride-sharing, Uber drivers, and bike-sharing, how many may never get a license?

The answer to that question will determine the long-term effect of this change.

Your business may not be directly affected by the change.  Whether it is or not, we all are wise to learn from this story.  One lesson is that the Internet is changing people’s habits and affecting all businesses in some fashion.  Who would have predicted the Internet would change driving habits?  Not me.  A second lesson is to be alert to changes in your customers’ habits.  The only way to do that is to talk to your customers formally at least once a year.  Find out how your customer is changing directly from your customer rather than indirectly from your company’s shrinking bottom line.  A third lesson is to weave these changes into how you conduct business.  Plan your responses to these changes so that you can react profitably. 

This time of year, I hope you are finalizing your marketing plan for 2016.  As you do that, address how the Internet is affecting your business.  Make your reaction part of your plan.              

This week's marketing trivia challenge is How has the Internet affected your business? E-mail me your answer.

How to Get Attention

During the holidays, I encountered a woman who was quite creative in getting attention to the Salvation Army red kettle she was tending.  She used her dog.  With a Santa cap on his head, her dog stayed patiently by her side while she rang the bell.  While bell ringing often became so routine that it was easy to ignore, seeing a dog immediately attracted attention.  Many people walked over to pet the dog.  Everyone smiled at the woman and her dog.

I commented, “Bringing your dog is a smart idea.  What a great way to get people’s attention.”

“I brought him last year,” she replied, “and he did get a lot of attention.  Because of him, I talked to more people and got more donations.” 

“Most people like dogs,” I agreed.  “Good job!”  

I was so impressed by her idea that I wanted to share it with you.  Since we are in the January through March trade show season, many of you will be tending a booth in the next few weeks.  What do you do to draw attention to your booth?  Dogs may not be allowed, but you want something to attract prospective customers to stop by and talk.  Get them to interact with you.  Her dog did that well for this woman.  What can you do to accomplish that at your booth?

Sit down and think this through.  Ask yourself these questions.  What gets people’s attention?  What problems that potential customers have does your product or service solve?  How can you use the answers to the first two questions to set up something at your booth to draw in your prospective customers?

While food is always a good draw, those who stop to eat the food are not necessarily your target customers.  They are merely attendees who want something to eat.  I found that with chocolate.  A better way to get your target customer to stop is to have something that piques interest because it immediately shows that it solves a problem.  When you set that up, your time in the booth will be spent talking to prospective customers rather than to any attendee, many who may not have an interest in your product or service but may act as if they do to get the food.  Your follow-up time will also be better spent because you will be contacting people who have an interest in and a need for your product or service.

A profitable objective for a trade show is interacting with the best prospects that will lead to sales.  You are not there just to talk to a lot of people.  You are there to meet those with the highest likelihood to buy your product or service.  With her dog, the woman got attention, made people smile, and opened people’s hearts and subsequently their wallets.  Her dog brought the best potential donors to her red kettle. 

What are you doing to bring the best potential customers to your booth?

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What has attracted you to a booth and made you a customer? E-mail me your answer.

Why All Businesses Exist

A new UPS commercial aired yesterday.  With Deck the Halls playing in the background, the commercial opened with a guy trying to find the end of a roll of tape and then cut to a woman pulling the last short piece of ribbon off a roll.  The next shot was a guy turning over a package he had wrapped only to have sounds come from the package.  The next scene was a guy wrapping a package with duct tape and realizing that he had included his arm in the final wrap.  This cut to a woman attempting to get her fingers unstuck from tape.  She may have been the woman in the next scene taking out her frustrations by beating three inflatable snowmen.  In the following scene, a person set down a finished wrapped gift, and two arms popped out through the wrapping. 

This wrapped present was brought to the UPS store for packaging.  The announcer stated, “You deal with the wrapping.  Let the UPS store deal with getting it there.  We are your certified packaging experts.  Ask about our pack ‘n ship guarantee.”

In this holiday season, viewers can readily identify with the wrapping problems shown in the commercial.  These scenes get viewers’ attention and keep it.  Inserting the woman venting her wrapping frustrations on the inflatable snowmen increases this identification.  That scene makes me laugh. 

If the gift is being sent, packaging the gift for shipping is the next hurdle after wrapping.  Moving from the wrapping to the packaging step brings the viewer into the realm of UPS.  The message is to end the frustration of dealing with the gift once it is wrapped.  Bring it to UPS to handle the packaging and shipping.  The people at UPS are United Problem Solvers.

That is an interesting play on the UPS letters.

The commercial does an excellent job showing a problem and offering a solution.  The problem is dealing with packaging a gift after wrestling with wrapping it.  The wrapping is enough frustration.  Who wants to repeat that step with packaging for shipment?  Let UPS handle that step.  Be done with sending the gift and drop some stress by bringing the gifts to UPS for packaging.  Presenting this problem/solution in slice of life situations pulls in the viewer and increases the reception of the message.

Since all businesses exist to solve customers’ problems, using commercials to show the problem and offer the solution is smart marketing.  Do you make this presentation in your marketing?

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What marketing have you encountered that presented a problem and offered a solution?  E-mail me your answer.

What Prompts Exceptional Customer Service?

I met an exceptional customer service person in Joe Bill, the driver of a bus I recently took on a trip.  After safety, Joe’s priority is to do everything within his power to make the trip pleasant for those on the bus.  To that end, he always puts down the additional step for getting on and off the bus.  He stands by the door and offers assistance entering and departing.  He holds an umbrella to keep passengers dry from the rain.  He places a basket of candies at the front of the bus and encourages passengers to take whatever amount they desire.  He hunts for seasonal décor pieces so that passengers may easily identify the bus.

He trumps all these efforts with his sunshiny attitude.  He always smiles, offers a laugh, and has a kind word.  His caring is felt by all who ride his bus.  He enjoys talking with them and finding out more about each one.  He gets to know them individually.   

Customer service comes from within the individual, but like every action is nurtured and developed by repetition and reinforcement that come from the individual, customers, and management.  Joe receives internal reinforcement from helping people.  He loves interacting with them.  Their smiles and conversation prompt him to repeat what he does because their responses make him feel good, and that motivates Joe to give even more exceptional service.

These customer reactions to Joe are not intended to reinforce his behavior; they are merely human interactions.  However, customers can take purposeful steps to reinforce exceptional customer service.  A friend of mine shared how she did this.  She had stopped at a florist to purchase a jade plant as a housewarming gift.  As she was checking out, the employee asked if the plant was a gift. “Yes, “she replied.  “Jade plants represent good fortune.  That’s why I’m giving it as a housewarming gift.”

“Would you like me to dress it up for you?” the employee inquired.

“If you like,” my friend responded, hesitantly.  She wasn’t certain what the employee was planning to do, if it would cost additional money, and how long it would take. 

The employee expertly wrapped a bow around the plant, placed it in a nice bag, and stuffed colored tissue around it.  “Now it is wrapped,” the employee stated as she handed the bag to my friend. 

“How much do I owe you for that?” my friend wondered.

“Nothing,” the employee returned, smiling. 

“Wow!” my friend exclaimed.  “Thank you.  I appreciate your extra effort and your help in making my gift look good.  This is great!  From now on, I am coming here for all my gifts.  You have gotten a customer for life.”

After telling me this story, my friend reiterated that in the future she was going to that florist for every gift.  In addition to reinforcing the employee’s actions immediately, she also was spreading her enthusiasm about the employee and the business.

While my friend took it upon herself to talk about this experience, customers can be encouraged by managers to reinforce excellent service.  Managers can set up programs that do so.  They can celebrate unsolicited customer compliments to the individual in particular and also the entire staff.  These actions underscore the importance of exceptional customer service and create a culture which thrives on it. 

How do you celebrate exceptional customer service?   

This week's marketing trivia challenge is Give an example of exceptional customer service that you have rewarded, either as an employer or a customer.  E-mail me your answer.

The Best Marketing

A couple years ago, a business built a new building across the road from my place.  Everyday when I walk my dogs, I have several minutes to observe the activity at the business.  Apparently, the business services large trucks.  I’ve seen semis and many types of service trucks waiting in the yard or being handled in the one of the bays.    I assume the mechanics are excellent at their work because the vehicles in the yard turnover frequently.

These mechanics work long hours.  I’ve seen the shop open at 7 a.m. and not yet closed at 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.  Those of you familiar with these trucks will not be surprised with these hours.  The businesses that own the trucks and the drivers that use them need the trucks to be on the road, not in the shop.  They want down time minimized.

As I’ve watched this business from a distance, I have grown to respect its owner and mechanics.  They obviously care about their customers and work hard to keep their customers’ vehicles running.  Although I’ve never met any of them, I’ve been tempted to stop in, introduce myself, and shake their hands. 

I had this thought in mind when I noticed a change at the business a few weeks ago. 

Excavation equipment was moving dirt.  Large piles of it littered the edge of the business’s waiting area.  A few days later, large steel beams framed two additional repair bays.  “That business is expanding!” I said out loud.  “I’m not surprised.”

Each day the additional bays are getting closer to being open for business.  After starting with three bays, the business will now have five.  From the looks of the property, the owner has the capability to expand even further. 

I am certain this expansion is due to the business’s implementing the best marketing.  If you are thinking, C’mon, all business success is not due to marketing, I disagree.  Actually the best marketing does drive business’s success because the best marketing is satisfying the customer.  When a business gives customers what they want, they return.  They talk about the business positively and increase its revenue through referral.  They become profitable customers, the foundation of a business’s revenue.

A huge misconception exists among businesspeople that marketing is slick words and fancy ads.  In reality, marketing is a process of finding customers, communicating with them about what your business can do, and satisfying what they want.  After doing that once, keeping in touch and satisfying the customer over and over and over again perpetuates the process.

That is the best marketing.    

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What example of the best marketing have you found?  E-mail me your answer.

Putting Your Business Last

A commercial for a chiropractor being voiced by a mom whose children had great results from his care prompts me to remark out loud every time it airs.  Here is the audio script for the commercial:

“My girls and I love having routine chiropractic care that is keeping us healthy.  And I love to bring them to a place I can trust.  A chiropractor can help kids with a lot of chronic conditions from ADHD to asthma to autism to colic to ear infections. 

“Don’t forget about mom or dad.  They offer care for the entire family.  But don’t wait.  Prepare now for your children’s best school year yet. 

“If you’ve tried everything else, mom-to-mom, try mychildrenschiropractic.com for your kids.”

After reading that, what do you think gets my attention? 

Actually two parts of the commercial irk me.  The worst one is “If you’ve tried everything else.”  What? Really?  Seriously?  This chiropractor is the last resort?  His message is to try everything else and, when you have exhausted it all, then call him.  With this commercial, he positions his care as last. 

Having worked with chiropractors, I understand what’s behind his message.  He is addressing the fact that many people don’t consider chiropractic care.  This is particularly true for children.  Chiropractic adjustments are very helpful for chronic conditions that affect children, but parents do not realize that chiropractic care has proven very effective for these situations.

In an attempt to educate parents, the chiropractor used a mom who recently tried chiropractic care for her daughter for the first time and was surprised by the results.  The thought behind the commercial was to use the mom’s experience to get the attention of other parents.  That was a good idea.  Using the line “If you’ve tried everything else” was not.  A much better approach would have been to have the mom say that she hadn’t known about chiropractic care.  After seeing its effectiveness, she wished she taken her daughter for chiropractic care sooner.  She could have ended by advising viewers to “From mom-to-mom, take your child for chiropractic care.”

I strongly recommend to avoid using the word “don’t” in your messages.  People tend not to hear the negative word; they only hear the advice.  A message that says “Don’t forget” encourages people to forget.  One that says “Don’t wait” prompts delay.  Instead of a double negative such as “Don’t forget,” use a positive word such as “Remember.”  Rather than “Don’t wait,” just give the positive instruction of “Make an appointment today.”

Be careful with the wording in your messages so that you position your business correctly with recipients.  Tell them what to do with positive words. 

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What example of putting a business last have you encountered?  E-mail me your answer.