Follow-Up With Your Customers November 29, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentIf you’re interested in finding new customers, you might want to start with the ones you already have. How many of your existing customers are repeat customers? Of the ones who are not, WHY NOT?
If you don’t know the answer, it’s probably time to find out. Most salespeople don’t like to follow-up after the sale, as many seem to think it’s akin to asking for problems. “No news is good news,” they reason. Of course, no news is really no news.
Following-up with your customers makes sense for a number of reasons:
- It’s an opportunity to fix any problems that might exist. This could potentially turn an unhappy customer into not just a happy customer, but a fiercely loyal one
- It’s a chance to get feedback on your product or service. This amounts to practically free market research. After all, there might be some critical opportunities for changes that will take your product from run-of-the-mill to extra-ordinary.
- There’s a good chance, of course, if you have a quality product or service, that your customer will have nothing but praise. And let’s face it—couldn’t we all use a few minutes of listening to positive feedback? Best of all, by following-up, you’ll have planted a seed that tells the customer you care.
Finally, you might just find a customer who’s willing to send you more customers. As Seth Godin suggests:
If you really want to generate those referrals, don’t ask for a referral, ask if everything was great. Offer to help. Do it in a gentle way, with no strings, no additional addons, no sales pitch. If you really and truly care, why not ask? Not a form, not a survey. Just one caring person, asking. Not that hard, actually.
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What’s Your Story? November 27, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentAs Seth Godin points out, “Every organization tells a story, want to or not.” And every member of every organization contributes to that story, want to or not.
The best advertising in the world will not be able to overcome members of your team who aren’t on the same page or are working against the message. For example, the bureaucrats at the TSA:
“No Cake!” the screener yells. “No pie either!” and they make the person traveling to her family throw out her home-baked cake.
We got up to the line. I had an ounce of gel left in a five ounce
bottle. They made me throw it out because the label said 5 ounces
(though it was clearly more than half empty).The story?
- We don’t care. We don’t have to.
- We don’t make judgment calls. We’re not allowed to and we don’t care that management treats us this way.
- Don’t you dare say anything.
- Be afraid.
- Bothering everyone is smarter than hiring talented people to find the .0001% of the population that’s harmful.
No Cake!
What story are your people telling?
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Free Service Leads to Loyal Customers November 20, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing , add a commentFree samples? Free service? Volunteering? It will most likely make you feel great. And it might just earn you some new customers, as Seth Godin points out via a note from one of his visitors:
Rick writes:
Our little tire shop repaired her tire and had her on her way in a few minutes. Now, we’ve just moved to this small Texas town, and though we’ve lived in Texas for years, what happened next still took me a bit by surprise. My wife inquired about payment, and they wouldn’t hear of it- she needed help and they gave it to her. Well, she decided it was time for some new tires and told them she’d be back in the morning for two.
Maybe it’s something about helping folks with a flat, but what a great example of how easy it is to build a brand when you help someone in need.
Helping someone when they really need you is just icing on the cake. Give some thought to giving something back or at the very least, giving something away. If not for altruistic reasons, at least do it to gain some new (and fiercely loyal) customers.
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Wal-Mart Expects a Merry Christmas November 14, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: wholesale, business, retail, finance, marketing , add a commentWal-Mart showed a better-than-expected quarterly profit of 11.5 percent and gave a fourth quarter profit forecast that was close to Wall Street expectations.
The world’s largest retailer said price cuts on toys and electronics are already drawing customers and expects them to drive better holiday (or should we say “Christmas”) sales.
From Reuters:
Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott said third-quarter U.S. sales were softer than planned, but holiday season price cuts should boost fourth-quarter demand.
“This season, no one will doubt Wal-Mart’s leadership on price and value,” he said.
On a recorded message detailing third-quarter results and fourth-quarter plans, Scott said specials such as a $398 laptop computer sold out quickly, and he vowed the “most aggressive pricing strategy ever” for the holiday season.
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Acetaminophen Recall Causes a Headache for Tylenol November 13, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: wholesale, business, manufacturing, retail, marketing , add a commentTylenol has the makings of a huge problem on its hands.
Perrigo makes acetaminophen for a large number of retailers and has recently decided on a recall due to problems that allowed bits of metal to be mixed in with some of its product.
The recall itself was obviously a huge problem for McNeil Consumer Healthcare, makers of Tylenol, as people generally associate acetaminophen with the Tylenol brand name. Radio spots and website alerts from the company are already pointing out that Perrigo was the company affected and bottles of Tylenol are safe.
Add to that the tampering that took place with Tylenol in 1982, and the company’s got a real PR problem on its hands.
And then Seth Godin went and pointed out what would be the straw that broke the camel’s back if I worked for the company:
A quick search on Google News for “acetaminophen” turns up the result shown above, complete with a picture of Tylenol. The search engine, of course, isn’t trying to make things worse for Tylenol; it’s just doing what many consumers do—associating acetaminophen with Tylenol.
How will McNeil’s marketing and PR departments recover from these unfair associations? Stay tuned.
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Wal-Mart Troubles with Nazi T-Shirts
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, retail, marketing , add a commentWal-Mart has been caught selling t-shirts that carry a Nazi SS logo, apparently inadvertently.
I stopped in at Wal-Mart today after I got off work. I had to pick up a few things. As I was walking past the men’s clothing area, something caught my eye. I noticed something weird over at a wall of t-shirts. One of the t-shirts had a design on it that looked remarkably like something related to Nazis. Specifically, the Totenkopf or “Death’s Head”.
I took a picture of it with my camera phone.
The Death’s Head symbol was worn by the members of the German Nazi SS. The Totenkopf on the Wal-Mart t-shirt looks very similar to the divisional insignia of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf. As you can see, It’s almost an exact copy.
Neo-Nazi’s sometimes use the Totenkopf image because it is not as easily identifiable as other Nazi symbols such as the swastika. You might see one of these tattooed on someone’s arm while standing in line at Burger King and think it’s just an poorly done pirate skull. It’s not.
Is Wal-Mart purposely trying to sell clothing with Nazi symbols on it? I doubt it. They wont even sell CD’s with bad words on them. I doubt someone at Wal-Mart corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas decided to sell clothing with Nazi symbols on it.
Whoever designed this shirt had to know where the skull image came from. I have no idea what the date 1978 refers to.
Walmart has acknowledged their mistake with this reply (via The Allen Almanac):
We were not aware of the origins of the image until this morning when we learned about it through the blog Bent Corner.
We are deeply sorry that this happened, and we are in the process of pulling all of these t-shirts from our stores.
Respect for the individual is a core value of our company and we would never have placed this t-shirt on our shelves had we known the origin and significance of this emblem.
We are reviewing our product review process in an effort to ensure this never happens again.
Obviously, this was not done by Wal-Mart on purpose, but this is the kind of mistake that can sink a company—especially a small one.
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“Merry Christmas” is Back in Retail November 10, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: wholesale, business, retail, marketing , 2 commentsTaking a step back from the trend in recent years Wal-Mart and other big retailers, including Kohl’s and Macy’s, are bringing “Christmas” back into their marketing.
Mounting criticism that resulted from eliminating or de-emphasizing Christmas in the stores’ advertising has resulted in a change in plans.
From the Associated Press:
“We learned a lesson from that. Merry Christmas is now part of the vocabulary here at Wal-Mart,” said Linda Blakley, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. Wal-Mart said Thursday that it will launch its first Christmas-specific TV ad in several years, feature Christmas shops, previously called Holiday Shops, and increase the number of seasonal merchandise labeled “Christmas” instead of “holiday” by 60 percent.
Macy’s is adding Christmas signage in all of its department stores and Kohl’s is playing up Christmas this year in its TV, print and radio advertising, according to Vicki Shamion, a Kohl’s spokeswoman.
Not everyone, of course, is following suit. Best Buy’s advertising, for example, continues to omit any reference to Christmas. Dawn Bryant, a company spokeswoman says, “We are going to continue to use the term holiday because there are several holidays throughout that time period, and we certainly need to be respectful of all of them.”
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Keep in Touch November 7, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing , add a commentA colleage is fond of telling anyone who’ll listen, “You haven’t started selling until you hear the word ‘No’.” Let’s face it: anyone can take an order. A customer calling for a repeat order doesn’t require a lot of skill. But once the prospect declines your offer, the real selling begins.
Many marketers, however, give up after a few tries. After all the money and work that goes into generating a bona fide prospect, why toss the lead into the garbage?
If you’re not adding these people to some sort of database, you’re missing a lot of opportunities. These prospects should receive a note, promo, postcard, phone call or some form of communication on a regular basis. Afterall, this is the most targeted list you’ll ever get your hands on. Use it wisely—keep in touch.
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Want a Sample? November 6, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing , add a commentWendy Maynard is talking about what she calls “Tiny Spoon Marketing” and it’s a great piece:
When you walk into an ice cream store and look at all of the flavors, it can be a bit overwhelming. So, you ask for a taste. And they give you a little bit of ice cream on a tiny spoon to help you decide. Don’t you love those tiny spoons filled with yumminess?
This is a brilliant strategy that ensures that you purchase a cone or cup at that moment. It’s also a way to get you to try something new, like their flavor of the day. A lot of times, it also entices you to buy a pint or two of ice cream flavors to take home.
What can your business do to attract customers using this method? Here’s a few ideas:
- Offer free samples of your product
- Get prospects to sign up for your newsletter
- Create a “special report” of articles, research or comparisons of your competitors’ products
- Offer a free consultation
- Create an e-book or informational website about your industry or a topic you have knowledge in and give it away
- Give something away to prospects just for listening to your pitch
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Eighteen Business Killers October 19, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentThough writing about the mistakes that kill startup businesses, Paul Graham could easily be talking about any small-to-medium-size business. There’s a lot of insight here, gleaned from years of experience and the post is definitely worth a read, though it does lean to the computers and programming world (while you’re reading, substitute “programmers” with “employees” and “users” with “customers” and the advice will work for just about any business).
Here’s the eighteen mistakes:
- Single Founder
- Bad Location
- Marginal Niche
- Derivative Idea
- Obstinacy
- Hiring Bad Programmers
- Choosing the Wrong Platform
- Slowness in Launching
- Launching Too Early
- Having No Specific User in Mind
- Raising Too Little Money
- Spending Too Much
- Raising Too Much Money
- Poor Investor Management
- Sacrificing Users to (Supposed) Profit
- Not Wanting to Get Your Hands Dirty
- Fights Between Founders
- A Half-Hearted Effort
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