The Power Of Advertising

A website is an island. Advertising is a bridge to that island. Large and small businesses online are discovering that truth in a hurry – or else. Advertising is not what it used to be. The internet has changed its purpose and its strength. Rather than making advertising in the traditional media weaker, the net has made it stronger. That’s why all guerrillas must be aware of the new power of advertising.

The first thing to know, and this should come as good news, is that advertising now longer has to make the sale.

Not very long ago, advertising’s main goal was to make the sale, though there are many other goals. But that has changed dramatically with the growth of dotcom companies all over the internet. Today, the goal of much advertising is not to make the sale but to direct people to websites.

Advertising has become the first step in a permission marketing campaign. It invites dialogue and interactivity with prospects and customers by directing people to websites, by offering free brochures, by generating the kind of action that leads to permission to receive marketing messages. Once people grant that permission, which they do at a website or by simply calling to request a brochure – printed or electronic --- that’s when serious marketing attempts to close the sale.

That means the prime obligation of advertising is to motivate an easy-to-take-action. This should come as good news because it places less of an onus on advertising than ever before. Motivating the action of getting person to click to your website is a whole lot simpler than motivating a person to part with his or her hard-earned money and risk spending it the wrong way.

Not only is it easier to motivate action, but that action is becoming even easier as being online is now endemic. Over 100 million people are now online, though America Online’s chief, Steve Case, pegs the number as being closer to 200 million.

It’s not always a whole lot of fun to visit your store or order from your toll-free number, but it is fairly enjoyable to click over to a website and take a gander at what is being offered and how you can benefit.

There is a risk when somebody responds to advertising with an order. There is no risk at all if they check your website. Advertising seems to grease the skids to the sale. It takes far less time to learn about you online than to cruise around a mall or drive to a location further away than their computer.

That means advertising can be short, concise, to the point. It no longer has to curry the favor of prospects with long copy, involved graphics or detailed explanations. The internet can do that for you, allowing you to save on advertising costs. Advertising your website works in all the media – from TV to radio, from magazines to newspaper, from direct mail to billboards. It doesn’t take a lot of time or verbiage to get them to spend a few moments checking how your website can improve their lives.

As all Company must know, the name of the game in marketing is creating relationships. It’s tough to accomplish this with an ad. It’s pretty easy with a website, which initiates dialogue by inviting it, by making it as easy as clicking a mouse.

Advertising has always been a method designed to change human behavior by getting people to purchase your product or service. The internet has changed that. Now, advertising merely has to deflect human behavior, to divert curiosity from an ad or commercial to a website.

There is little question that the online fire burns brightly. There is no question that advertising fuels the online flame.

The big and the small players online are learning from hard experience that they are invisible when they are online. Sure, their site might come up from a search engine or a link from a cooperating company, but the majority of people get their information offline – and that’s where Company marketing their sites. Offline and regularly.

It’s true that standard media advertising is interruption marketing, interrupting people in their perusing of the newspaper or magazine, in their viewing of a TV show or listening to the radio. Interruption marketing is crucial, however, as the first step in gaining permission from people to receive your marketing materials. And it is equally crucial in luring them to your website.

The top five products that internet users actually prefer to buy online differ from men to women. The top five to men are computer software, computer hardware, pornography, books and music. The top five to women are computer software, greeting cards, music, books and computer hardware. As Adweek magazine says, women are from Hallmark; men are from Bob’s Digital House of Porn.

Many so-called experts believe that the growth of the internet signals the demise of advertising. This particular expert believes just the opposite. Advertising now can loom as important as ever, as necessary as ever, and more mandatory for a proper marketing mix than at any time in history.

The larger the internet grows, the more important the role of advertising and the greater its power. Advertisers must no longer have to move a person from total apathy to purchase readiness with their advertising. Now, all they have to do is move a person from total apathy to mild curiosity. From that point, moving that person to purchase readiness is the job of the website.

The Marketing Process

Marketing is not an event, but a process. How long does the process last?

An insight for you to embrace is that a marketing attack is neverending. It has a beginning, a middle but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause in it. But you never stop it completely.

Of all the steps in succeeding with marketing attack, maintaining it takes the most time. You spend a relatively brief time developing the attack and inaugurating it, but you spend the life of your business maintaining, monitoring and improving your attack. At no point should you ever take anything for granted. At no point should you fall into the pit of self-satisfaction because your attack is working. Never forget that others, very smart and motivated competitors, are studying you and doing their utmost to surpass you in the marketing arena.

Marketing must understand the deeper meanings of the phrases "customer base" and "long term commitment." This enables them to reinvent their marketing -- just as long as they are firm in their commitment to their existing customers and prospects. An attack without flexibility is in danger of failing. But that flexibility does not allow you to take your eyes off the needs of your customers.

Keep alert for new niches at which you can aim your attack. Large companies don’t have the luxury of profiting from a narrow niche. No matter how successful your attack, never lose contact with your customers. If you do, you lose your competitive advantage over huge companies that have too many layers of bureaucracy for personal contact. Marketing Must always authentic marketing and never acts or feels to be impersonal, by-the-number marketing. It never feels like selling.

"Marketing Management" author Philip Kotler, says "Authentic marketing
is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver satisfaction to the customers, profits to the producers and benefits for the stakeholders. Market innovation is gained by creating customer satisfaction through product innovation, product quality and customer service. It these are absent, no amount of advertising, sales promotion or salesmanship can compensate."

Your attack must be characterized by a very strong tie with your own target audience. You know them. You serve them. They know it. Marketing attacks do not suffer from your lack of resources, but instead prosper because lack of capital makes them more willing to try new and innovative ideas, concepts ripe for marketer but not for huge companies.

Your attack will succeed in direct relationship to how narrow-minded you can be. Marketer must have the insight that precision strengthens an attack. They know the enormous difference between their prospects and their prime prospects. They are aware of the gigantic chasm separating their customers from their best customers. This perspective enables them to narrow their aim only to the best prospects that marketing money can buy and the finest customers ever to grace their customer list.

They are fully cognizant that it doesn’t take much more work to sell a subscription to a magazine than to sell a single issue. That’s why their marketing attack is devoted to motivating people to subscribe to their businesses mentally.

Once they have a customer, they do all they can to intensify the relationship, and they do not treat all customers and prospects equally. Consider the menswear chain with a database of 47,000 names. Mailings are never more than 3,000 at a time. Who receives the mail? Says the owner, "Only the people appropriate to mail to." When he received trousers of a specific style, he mailed only to those customers to whom he was certain they’d appeal -- and enjoyed a 30% response rate.

The cost of his mailing was a tiny fraction of the size of his profits. There’s not a chance of reveling in a healthy response like that unless you’re targeting your mailing with absolute precision. It’s something you’re going to have to do in a world where postal charges and paper prices are both slated to increase. Unless you’re hitting the bullseye, you’re wasting your marketing investment. And unless you’re treating your marketing as a continuing process, you’re wasting everybody’s time, including your own.

The Customers Is Truth

You may think you know why your customers buy from you, but there's a good chance they buy for reasons other than the reasons you think. Or they don't buy for reasons that may escape you.

People seek a wide array of benefits when they're in a buying mindset. If you are communicating any one of those benefits to the people who want them this very instant, you've virtually made the sale. People do not buy because marketing is clever, but because marketing strikes a responsive chord in the mind of the prospect, and its resonance makes that person want the advantages of what you are selling.

Your customers do not buy because they're being marketed to or sold to. Instead, they buy because you help them realize the merits of owning what you offer.

They often buy because you offer them instant gratification -- such as I sought when El Nino flexed his muscles and my roof began to leak. Sprinting to the yellow pages, I called the one roof repair company that offered emergency service, for there I was, smack dab in the middle of an emergency.

It was an easy decision for me. The company offered just the benefit I needed. I was in the market for a specific benefit and there it was, grinning up at me from the directory. If the company's ad heralded their new roofing materials, I would have ignored it.

Like most people, I was looking to buy a benefit, not a feature. Everybody knows that. But the truth is that people don't always buy benefits. They buy a whole lot more:

* They buy promises you make. So make them with care.
* They buy the promises they want personally fulfilled.
* They buy your credibility or don't buy if you lack it.
* They buy solutions to their problems.
* They buy you, your employees, your service department.
* They buy wealth, safety, success, security, love and acceptance.
* They buy your guarantee, reputation and good name.
* They buy other people's opinions of your business.
* They buy expectations based upon your marketing.
* They buy believable claims, not simply honest claims.
* They buy hope for their own and their company's future.
* They buy brand names over strange names.
* They buy the consistency they've seen you exhibit.
* They buy the stature of the media in which you market.
* They buy the professionalism of your marketing materials.
* They buy value, which is not the same as price.
* They buy selection and often the best of your selection.
* They buy freedom from risk, granted by your warranty.
* They buy acceptance by others of your goods or services.
* They buy certainty.
* They buy convenience in buying, paying and lots more.
* They buy respect for their own ideas and personality.
* They buy your identity as conveyed by your marketing.
* They buy style -- just the kind that fits their own style.
* They buy neatness and assume that's how you do business.
* They buy easy access to information about you, offered by your website.
* They buy honesty for one dishonest word means no sale.
* They buy comfort, offerings that fit their comfort zone.
* They buy success; your success can fit with theirs.
* They buy good taste and know it from bad taste.
* They buy instant gratification and don't love to wait.
* They buy the confidence you display in your own business.
It's also important to know what customers do not buy: fancy adjectives, exaggerated claims, clever headlines, special effects, marketing that screams, marketing that even hints at amateurishness, the lowest price anything (though 14 percent do), unproven items, or gorgeous graphics that get in the way of the message.

They also do not buy humor that hides benefits, offerings heralded with unreadable type, poor grammar or misspelled words, salespeople who don't listen, or things they don't fully understand or trust.

The best marketing of all involves prospects and informs customers. It builds confidence and invites a purchase. Best and most unique of all -- it gets through to people. That's why knowing the truth about them will help you to stand apart from your competitors and shine in the minds of your prospects and customers.

The Value Able of The Change

Marketing people can be divided into two categories: those who resist change and those who welcome change. You are in the second category. They not only welcome change, but they also are ready for change and respond to change.
They realize that change is inevitable and that if they resist change, they are falling behind. Change has never taken place as rapidly as it is right now, and that pace will pick up as we move into the new millennium. Marketing must have learned that Peter Drucker was right on target when he said the only two valid business purposes are to create customers and to innovate. They recognize that if they can innovate and adapt, they can prosper.
They know that the best changes must come from themselves. A lone inventor developed the variable-speed windshield wipers now used on all cars. When a major car manufacturer was asked why they hadn’t developed it, they responded simply that their customers had never asked for it. That’s the attitude in most businesses. They know that change is their responsibility.
Although they know in their hearts the value of commitment to a plan, they also realize that flexibility is more crucial now than ever before. Rather than being thrown off balance by the future, they’re keenly aware of what the future holds for them. This awareness comes from their clear view of the present.
From Louis Patler’s enlightening new book, "Don’t Compete -- Tilt the Field," we get that clear view of the present to help you see into the future. Prepare to be astonished by what you see:

• On average, around the world, an innovation in digital technology is copyrighted every three seconds. That’s no misprint; that’s a fact.
• In the U.S. in l960, there were approximately 5,000 people over 100 years old. In l996, there were 1,000,000. By 2010, that number will rise to over 5,000,000. In the western hemisphere, a child born in 2000 can expect to live well into the twenty-second century.
• As movie theaters gained popularity with the advent of TV, libraries are gaining popularity in tandem with the Internet. High tech seems to generate a commensurate need for high touch.
• World export of services and intellectual property in many countries now equals the export value of electronics and automobiles combined. In the U.S., intellectual property is now our biggest export.
• More than half of many companies’ revenues, from technology to food service to banking, comes from products and services that didn’t exist two years ago.
• 1996 was the first year that PC sales outpaced the sales of TV sets. In many nations, there was more email than snail mail.
• By 2002, there will be a 5000 percent increase in the number of telecommuters worldwide.
• Computer power today is 8,000 times less expensive than in l966. The same progress in the auto industry would mean you could get a BMW for $2 and it would travel 600 miles on a thimble of gasoline.
• In some parts of the world, online subscriptions are growing at the rate of 20 percent per month.
• Even though there’s been a huge technology explosion, the average employee of a multi-national corporation in l997 worked 20 percent more hours and slept 20 percent fewer hours than in l986.
• In l984, the average product development cycle was three years. In l997, it was six months. And it’s getting shorter each year.
• On average, multi-national corporations listed on the New York and Tokyo stock exchanges lose half their customers within five years, half their employees every four years, and half their investors in less than one year.
These companies undergo dramatic changes from top to bottom.
Your job make you must to know the difference between a change and an improvement and to gear your company to embrace improvements, adapt to the future, and innovate rather than stagnate. I hope the changes I’ve just listed motivate you to review your marketing, your target audience, your marketing weapons and your marketing mindset.

The Marketing Entrepreneurship

WHAT IS A MARKETING ENTREPRENEUR?
The marketing entrepreneur must knows that the journey is the goal. He also realizes that he is in control of his enterprise, not the other way around, and that if he is dissatisfied with his journey, he is missing the point of the journey itself. Unlike old-fashioned enterprises, which often required gigantic sacrifices for the sake of the goal, Marketing enterprises place the goal of a pleasant journey ahead of the mere notion of sacrifices.

The marketing entrepreneur achieves balance from the very start. He builds free time into his work schedule so that balance is part of his enterprise. He respects his leisure time as much as his work time, never allowing too much of one to interfere with the other. Traditional entrepreneurs always placed work ahead of leisure and showed no respect for their own personal freedom. their freedom as much as their work.

The marketing entrepreneur is not in a hurry. A false need for speed frequently undermines even the best-conceived strategies. Haste makes waste and sacrifices quality. The entrepreneur must fully aware that patience is his ally, and he has planned intelligently to eliminate most emergencies that call for moving fast. His pace is always steady but never rushed.

The marketing entrepreneur uses stress as a benchmark. If he feels any stress, he knows he must be going about things in the wrong way. entrepreneurs do not accept stress as part of doing business and recognize any stress as a warning sign that something's the matter -- in the work plan of the marketing or in the business itself. Adjustments are made to eliminate the cause of the stress rather than the stress itself.

The marketing entrepreneur must looks forward to work. He has a love affair with his work and considers himself blessed to be paid for doing the work he does. He is good at his work, energizing his passion in a quest to learn more and improve his understanding of it, thereby increasing his skills. The entrepreneur doesn't think of work as a marriage, he thinks fling.

The marketing entrepreneur does not kid himself. He knows that if he overestimates his own abilities, he runs the risk of skimping on the quality he represents to his customers, employees, investors, suppliers and fusion partners. He forces himself to face reality on a daily basis and realizes that all of his business practices must always be evaluated in the glaring light of what is really happening, instead of what should be happening.

The marketing entrepreneur lives in the present. He is well-aware of the past, very enticed by the future, but the here and now is where he resides, embracing the technologies of the present, leaving future technologies on the horizon right where they belong -- on the horizon until later, when they are ripe and ready. He is alert to the new, wary of the avant-garde, and wooed from the old by improvement, not merely change.

The marketing entrepreneur understands the precious nature of time. He doesn't buy into the old lie that time is money and knows in his heart that time is far more important than money. He knows that instead, time is life. He is aware that his customers and prospects feel the same way about time, so he respects theirs and wouldn't dare waste it. As a practicing , he is the epitome of efficiency but never lets it interfere with his effectiveness.

The marketing entrepreneur always operates according to a plan, He knows who he is, where he is going, and how he will get there. He is prepared, knows that anything can and will happen, and can deal with the barriers to success because his plan has foreseen them and shown exactly how to surmount them. The marketing reevaluates his plan regularly and does not hesitate to make changes in it, though commitment to the plan is part of his very being.

The marketing entrepreneur is flexible. He is guided by a strategy and knows the difference between a guide and a master. When it is necessary for change, the market changes, accepting change as part of the status quo, not ignoring or battling it. He adapts to new situations, realizes that service is whatever his customers want it to be, and knows that inflexible things become brittle and break.

The marketing aims for results more than growth. He is focused upon profitability and balance, vitality and improvement, value and quality more than size and growth. His plan calls for steadily increasing profits without a sacrifice of personal time, so his actions are oriented to hitting those targets instead of growing for the sake of growth alone. He is wary of becoming large and does not equate hugeness with excellence

The marketing entrepreneur is dependent upon many people. He knows that the age of the lone wolf entrepreneur, independent and proud of it, has passed. The marketing is very dependent upon his fusion business partners, his employees, his customers, his suppliers, and his mentors. He got where he is with his own wings, his own determination, his own smarts with a little help from a lot of friends.

The marketing entrepreneur is constantly learning. A seagull flies in circles in the sky, looking for food in an endless quest.. When it finally finds the food, the seagull lands, then eats its fill. When it has completed the meal, the seagull returns to the sky, only to fly in circles again, searching for food although it has eaten. Humans have only one instinct that compares: the need for constant learning. Marketing entrepreneurs have this need in spades.

The marketing entrepreneur is passionate about work. He has an enthusiasm for what he does that is apparent to everyone who sees his work. The enthusiasm spreads to everyone who works with him, even his customers. In its purest form, this enthusiasm is best expressed as the word passion -- an intense feeling that burns within him and is manifested in an unmistakable devotion towards his work.

The marketing entrepreneur is focused on the goal. He knows that balance does not come easily, and that he must rid himself of the entrepreneur never thinks of retirement, for never would he want to stop doing work the loves.

The marketing entrepreneur has no weaknesses. He is effective in every aspect of his enterprise because he has filled in the gaps between his strengths and talents with people who abound in the prowess he lacks. He is very much the team player and teams up with entrepreneurship like himself who share the team spirit and possess complementary skills. He values his teammates as much as old-fashioned entrepreneurs valued their independence.

The marketing entrepreneur is fusion-oriented. He is always on the alert to fuse his business with other enterprises in town, in America, in the world. He is willing to combine marketing efforts, production skills, information, leads, mailing lists and anything else to increase his effectiveness and marketing reach while reducing the cost of achieving those goals. His fusion efforts are intentionally short-term and rarely permanent. To do this, he must remain focused upon his journey, seeing the future clearly, at the same time concentrating upon the present. He is aware that the minutiae of life and business can distract him, so does what is necessary to make those distractions only momentary.

The marketing entrepreneur is disciplined about the tasks at hand. He is keenly aware that every time he writes a task on his daily calendar, it is a promise he is making to himself. As a marketing who does not kid himself, he keeps those promises, knowing that the achievement of his goals will be more than an adequate reward for his discipline. He finds it easy to be disciplined because of the payback offered by the leisure that follows.

The marketing entrepreneur is well-organized at home and at work. He does waste valuable time looking for items that have been misplaced, so he organizes as he works and as new work comes to him. His sense of organization is fueled by the efficiency that results from it. While he is always organized, the marketing never squanders precious time by over-organizing.

The marketing entrepreneur has an upbeat attitude. Because he knows that life is unfair, problems arise, to err is human, and the cool shall inherit the Earth, he takes obstacles in stride, keeping his perspective and his sense of humor. His ever-present optimism is grounded in an ability to perceive the positive side of things, recognizing the negative, but never dwelling there. His positivity is contagious.

The Qualifying Of Prospects Techniques

If your business relies on a great deal of cold calls and referrals, then you know the importance of properly qualifying prospects. Qualifying allows you to learn about your prospect and their needs in order to determine how your product can meet those needs. Marketing can save time by using the telephone as an effective tool to pre-qualify customers. The phone enables you to play the odds, covering a large geographic area to screen potential customers and set up appointments.

It is essential to accurately track these calls and designate whether a prospect provides low or high customer potential. When organizing your call schedule, move the lower-potential prospects to the bottom of the list. Catalog all the calls you make, maintaining a call-back schedule. Update this schedule frequently. It may be helpful to employ a software program specifically designed for tracking calls.

As a salesperson, your ability to qualify depends on the number of different questions you can ask in each type of selling situation. When its time to meet the customer face-to-face, be prepared with a list of those questions. Include every single question you might ask of a prospect in order to make her aware of an overlooked need or buried dissatisfaction.

A helpful technique is to ask qualifying questions to determine the customer's needs without mentioning your product. Your interest alone can pave the way to a sale.

By asking specific questions of your prospect, you can determine whether the prospect doesn't have a need for your product or buys the product from another supplier. If the customer doesn't offer your product, find out what she is currently doing so you can explain how your product can enhance her operations.

Often when a customer says "I don't need this," she may really mean "I don't need this right now." Your competition may have beaten you to the punch. If the customer isn't locked into a long-term purchasing contract, you may still be able to set up a future sale. Unless you can come up with a way for the customer to move her current inventory, though, this is a tough sell.

If your prospect reveals displeasure with her current supplier or product, your presentation should emphasize how your product can meet and exceed their expectations. When prospects are shopping for an item with specific features or a stated price, remember that they are "shopping." They may be flexible if you can capture their interest and extol the benefits of your offering.

Listen to your prospect's wish list and then present the merits of your product. Your presentation should include the key features, benefits and prices. Don't laud all the bells and whistles if the customer might perceive them as frivolous and get sidetracked. And unless a specific feature jumps out at you, determine the sequence of your presentation with the visible, tangible benefits up front.

Remember, you won't lose a sale by asking too many questions or learning too much about a customer. Many customers are not conscious of their needs. Your questions will stimulate their awareness, qualifying them and hopefully, getting you the sale.

Spread the Word of Mouth

It's as important to know what word of mouth marketing IS as what it ISN'T. Word-of-Mouth (W-O-M) is about involving, educating and satisfying customers. It isn't about abandoning your marketing plan and advertising campaign. It isn't enough to simply provide good customer service and wait for the buzz to build. Let's test your knowledge of W-O-M with this simple quiz. Select the most suitable answer to the following questions. Answers are at the end of the article.

WHAT IS WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING?

1. Great Word-of-Mouth is
a. an art
b. a science
c. a matter of chance

2. The leading form of communication is
a. Word-of-Mouth
b. print media
c. the Internet

3. The most influential factor in your business is
a. a marketing consultant
b. memorable advertising
c. an educated consumer

4. You can involve customers by
a. seeking their opinions and input
b. soliciting testimonials
c. sending gifts as incentives

5. Word-of-Mouth is primarily controlled by
a. your sales force
b. your competition
c. you

6. Promotional success results from
a. a combination of marketing efforts
b. high visibility advertising
c. a strong marketing plan

7. The most effective technique for handling negative Word-of-Mouth is
a. an immediate response
b. an accurate response
c. putting the right spin on it

8. Your Word-of-Mouth marketing and your advertising should be
a. consistent
b. collaborative
c. competitive

9. Customers are most likely to spread the word about your business if
a. they're happy with your service
b. anyone happens to ask
c. they're dissatisfied

10. A referred customer will probably
a. pass along the recommendation to others
b. approach you warily
c. expect a price break

Word-of-Mouth doesn't just happen. You have to generate it yourself. Too many entrepreneurs believe that simply providing an excellent product or service is enough to catapult people to their door. Marketing plans based on W-O-M require an understanding of the "science" of purchasing decisions. Think about a business that you yourself have recommended and consider what aspects inspired this endorsement.

People tend to share their disappointment rather than their satisfaction. Your customers are no different. Although great customer service can't hurt your business, it is more likely to decrease negative W-O-M than significantly increase positive W-O-M.

Always respond immediately to negative Word-of-Mouth. Determine whether the slander was cast by an unreasonable customer or a competitor and respond calmly with a solid point-by-point defense. When customers comes to you with a complaint, do what you can to send them away happy. Negative feelings occur in a heartbeat, but can linger for years if you do not deal with them immediately. Let your customers know that they can bring their complaints to you.

Involvement is a simple and effective way to build W-0-M. Involve your customers by providing them with valuable information about the quality of your product/service. You can offer a tour (either in person or on video) of your production facility to the public and clients. At the retail level, offer hands-on demonstrations of how your product/service works, explaining the benefits and providing tips on maintenance and service. Some manufacturers invite customers to participate on a product review panel.

Build W-O-M through testimonials. Testimonials are easy to understand and relate to and they allow prospects to visualize using your product. You can solicit formal letters, or--if you overhear a passing compliment or recommendation from a customer--request permission to quote them in your next ad or newsletter. Always get authorization before using the quotations and maintain a file in case you need to verify the source.

An often overlooked aspect of W-O-M is the way you treat your employees, suppliers, friends and acquaintances. Your ability to inspire trust will be communicated to your customers and prospects. Your policies and practices publicize that belief. Sales representatives, wholesalers, distributors, vendors, creditors, consultants, and industry experts also contribute to your reputation. Don't be afraid to use their influence. Provide them with the ammo to fire up your sales. Let them know that you build quality into your work. Tell stories of successful customers.

Where can you find inspirational stories? Ask your staff to collect customer interactions that depict your company's honesty and integrity. Share these stories at staff meetings. Use them generously in brochures, newspaper, radio and television advertising, direct mail pieces, newsletters and personal correspondence with customers.


______________________________________________
Quiz Answers: 1b 2a 3c 4a 5c 6a 7a 8b 9c 10a

Prepare Your Sales Materials To Succes Sell

Long after a sales call, your sales literature remains as a reminder of your products, prices and professionalism. Although you may not be able to afford expensive materials, you can still put together a powerful sales package. You know that your company's image is conveyed through everything from business cards to brochures and sales letters. The letterhead, slogans, placement of graphics and color, weave and weight of the paper all contribute to the impression customers have of your company.

All of your sales support materials should have a consistent theme. If you have a great logo, slap it on all your materials. The same goes for a catchy slogan or USP. If you can use the same color and weave of paper in sales letters and brochures, do so. Repetition keeps you in the forefront of the customer's mind.

Here are some suggestions for the most commonly used materials.

Business Cards:

Your business card is often the first thing a prospect sees after meeting you. All of your contact information should be included: your toll-free, office, cellular, and fax numbers, and e-mail address. Use the card to position yourself by announcing what business you're in and why you are in it. Include slogans or guarantees. If you want to list all your services or products or list some key benefits, use the back of the card or a fold-over card that can serve as a mini-brochure. Two-color business cards on a coated stock will impart a clean, professional image and allow you to coordinate with other materials.

Stationery:

Aim for a letterhead that reflects your business and your approach: muted tones are appropriate for a financial consultant but if you're a caterer, a hot red pepper gets the message across. Include a positioning statement or a list of products or services. To coordinate with your business card, use two-colors on matching color paper stock. For an expensive look, select a 25% cotton in a flat or textured finish. Use the same paper and ink for both note- and full-sized sheets and coordinating envelopes. You can also produce memo pads and post-it notes as a leave-behind gift. These should have your logo and main phone number.

Brochures:

The most effective brochures aren't always slick four-color jobs. A two page brochure, folded in half and stapled will give you eight sides for your message. If you are just starting out and your budget is really tight, consider pre-printed desktop publishing paper made for laser printers and copiers. Companies like Paper Access and Paper Direct sell perforated business cards, letterhead, rolodex cards, and brochures in a variety of colors and designs.

Before you make any decisions, examine the competition for what catches your eye and interest. If you are using photography or four-color materials, opt for a coated stock. If you use uncoated stock, select a paper which coordinates with the rest of your family of sales materials. Make sure that your paper is heavy enough to appear substantial and not bend easily.

Flyers:

Flyers are single sheets of paper printed on one or both sides. Use them to generate and follow up on leads. Follow the design of your brochure in creating these.

Rolodex Cards:

Like a business card, a rolodex card contains all your contact information and your company name and positioning statement. Unlike a business card, rolodex cards have a tab for the type of business. Center your phone number in a large print and list all your services, products and any essential information.

Price Lists:

Your price list should coordinate with your sales letter and brochure. You want your price list to look professional and convey the idea that your prices are set in stone. Of course they're not and if they change frequently, you can have your price sheet designed and typeset or desktop published in two- or four-color with all the information except the prices. Leave space for them and overprint your prices in black on the sheets as needed.

Sales Letters:

Sales letters are usually prepared on company letterhead and used to follow up or precede meetings with prospects. Your standard letter and variations should be on saved in your computer.

Remember that all of your forms can perform double-duty. Don't be afraid to use rolodex and business cards to transmit your positioning statement and contact information. A price list can contain your hours, guarantees, and warranties. Make sure that your family of sales materials can stand alone as well as work together to present a cohesive and confident representation of your business.

7 Steps for Creating Successful Marketing

To make your marketing actifity succesfuly I have seven step to work

1. Find the inherent drama within your offering.

After all, you plan to make money by selling a product or a service or both. The reasons people will want to buy from you should give you a clue as to the inherent drama in your product or service. Something about your offering must be inherently interesting or you wouldn't be putting it up for sale. In Mother Nature breakfast cereal, it is the high concentration of vitamins and minerals.

2. Translate that inherent drama into a meaningful benefit.

Always remember that people buy benefits, not features.
People do not buy shampoo; people buy great-looking or clean or
manageable hair. People do not buy cars; people buy speed, status,
style, economy, performance, and power. Mothers of young kids do
not buy cereal; they buy nutrition, though many buy anything at all
they can get their kids to eat -- anything. So find the major benefit
of your offering and write it down. It should come directly from the
inherently dramatic feature. And even though you have four or five
benefits, stick with one or two—three at most.

3. State your benefits as believably as possible.

There is a world of difference between honesty and believability. You
can be 100 percent honest (as you should be) and people still may not believe you. You must go beyond honesty, beyond the barrier that advertising has erected by its tendency toward exaggeration, and state your benefit in such a way that it will be accepted beyond doubt. The company producing Mother Nature breakfast cereal might say, "A bowl of Mother Nature breakfast cereal provides your child with almost as many vitamins as a multi-vitamin pill." This statement begins with the inherent drama, turns it into a benefit, and is worded believably. The word almost lends believability.

4. Get people's attention.

People do not pay attention to advertising. They pay attention only
to things that interest them. And sometimes they find those things
in advertising. So you've just got to interest them. And while you're
at it, be sure you interest them in your product or service, not just
your advertising. I'm sure you're familiar with advertising that you
remember for a product you do not remember. Many advertisers are
guilty of creating advertising that's more interesting than whatever
it is they are advertising. But you can prevent yourself from falling
into that trap by memorizing this line: Forget the ad, is the product
or service interesting? The Mother Nature company might put their
point across by showing a picture of two hands breaking open a
multivitamin capsule from which pour flakes that fall into an
appetizing-looking bowl of cereal.

5. Motivate your audience to do something.

Tell them to visit the store, as the Mother Nature company might
do. Tell them to make a phone call, fill in a coupon, write for more
information, ask for your product by name, take a test drive, or
come in for a free demonstration. Don't stop short. To make
marketing work, you must tell people exactly what you want them to do.

6. Be sure you are communicating clearly.

You may know what you're talking about, but do your readers or
listeners? Recognize that people aren't really thinking about your
business and that they'll only give about half their attention to your ad— even when they are paying attention. Knock yourself out to make sure you are putting your message across. The Mother Nature company might show its ad to ten people and ask them what the main point is. If one person misunderstands, that means 10 percent of the audience will misunderstand. And if the ad goes out to 500,000 people, 50,000 will miss the main point. That's unacceptable. One hundred percent of the audience should get the main point. The company might accomplish this by stating in a headline or subhead, "Giving your kids Mother Nature breakfast cereal is like giving your kids vitamins—only tastier." Zero ambiguity is your goal.

7. Measure your finished advertisement, commercial, letter, or brochure against your creative strategy.

The strategy is your blueprint. If your ad fails to fulfill the strategy, it's a lousy ad, no matter how much you love it. Scrap it and start again. All along, you should be using your creative strategy to guide you, to give you hints as to the content of your ad. If you don't, you may end up being creative in a vacuum. And that's

Serving the Nightmare Customer And Enjoy It

"The customer is always right." How many times have you heard that phrase? What does it really mean to you? Does it mean that you indulge the customer's whims even when they seem irrational? Unfortunately, in order to provide terrific customer service, you sometimes have to bite the bullet and cater to these whims. It's helpful to try and see things from the customer's perspective. Here are some common scenarios that you may encounter and some suggestions for resolving them to everyone's satisfaction. They may not turn your nightmare customer into a salesperson's dream, but they can help you maintain your cool and more importantly, maintain your customer.

- Presenting Price Increases

Nobody likes to pay more for the same product or service, but some customers can get downright belligerent. When presenting a price hike to temperamental customers, give them time to absorb the information. Commiserate with them. Let them know that you share their frustration. Explain why the prices have risen. Whether it's due to your distributor, market conditions, or postal rates, make it tangible for the customer. If your competitor's prices have also skyrocketed, point that out. If the customer requests a special rate, see if you can increase the order so that you both get a good deal.

- Announcing Change

Often customers become accustomed to certain routines. When your firm institutes a change--even one that makes the customer's life easier--you may encounter resistance and resentment. Without being patronizing, try to explain the reason for the transition. Ask the customer to try the new approach and report back to you about how it worked. If you are replacing their former representative, the resentment may be personally directed at you. Allow them to absorb your sudden appearance in their life and assure them that you are happy to be working with them.

-Establishing Credibility

If you enter a new line of business or take on a new territory, you may be bombarded with cynicism and doubt. Often a customer will question your knowledge and qualifications. If a customer spurns your offers of assistance, try to uncover the basis of his concerns and assure him of your competence. If you are new to the firm, describe your credentials. If you are challenged on the basis of age, gender or appearance, maintain your cool, keeping the conversation light and friendly.

When the Customer Isn't Right

Have you ever taken an order, called or faxed back for confirmation and upon delivery, had the customer report that you didn't deliver what they asked for? Every Marketing must knows that this is a lose-lose situation. Even if you can prove the customer wrong, you'll most probably embarrass them or inspire their anger. To defuse the situation, show sympathy and endeavor to fix the problem. Acknowledging her distress isn't an admission of blame. Next, get more details about how the misunderstanding occurred. In her recitation, the customer may come to realize that she was completely mistaken or at least partially at fault.

- When the Customer Is Right

Admit it. Sometimes you screw up. Or your vendor, supplier, receptionist or secretary does. In any case, it's your job to take the heat and it falls on you to rectify the situation and satisfy the customer. If the customer isn't understanding or willing to listen to your excuses, you may be in danger of losing the account. Quickly and sincerely apologize for the time lost and inconvenience. Find out how the mistake has impacted on their business. Offer to fix the problem as quickly as possible. Personally guide the issue to its resolution and then follow up with the customer, letting them know that you haven't dropped the ball.

- When the Customer Won't Pay

When a customer is late with a payment, it's your job to remind them. If the customer incurs late payment penalties, they may experience embarrassment and hostility. If you feel awkward contacting them by telephone, send invoices after 60 or 90 days. Try to determine whether the customer is purposely withholding payment as a protest against what they perceive as poor service, or whether they are experiencing a financial problem. It helps if you can make the debt impersonal. Explain that "the account" is overdue, rather than stating that they owe you money. You might consider offering discounts to customers who pay promptly. In the long run, this will save you over the costs of late payment penalties.

Most of the time, it just takes kindness, compassion and common sense to turn nightmare customers around.

Sales Letters that Close Tho Sell

The sales letter is an essential part of your direct mail package and often stands alone when following up a cold call. Writing a good sales letter can be time-consuming if you care enough to get it right. Too many sales people overlook or minimize this aspect of marketing your business. Why? The simple truth is that most people just don't know how to write a sales letter. Here's some tips.

1) If possible, use the prospects' name and title.

2) Make the sales letter friendly and personal.

3) Be descriptive and pepper the letter with anecdotes and case studies in order to capture the reader's interest.

4) Try to write like you talk. Read your first draft aloud to see if you've achieved a conversational tone.

5) Keep your paragraphs brief and use simple, evocative language.

6) After writing your first draft, put it aside for a day and then read it as if you were the prospect. Examine your response. Would you toss this one into the circular file, take action and buy, or put it aside to act on it eventually?

7) If you want a honest appraisal of your letter, ask a friend or colleague to read it without telling them that you are the author. Solicit their comments and criticisms.

8) While keeping to a standard format (one- inch margins, plenty of white space, a 10 or 12 point fonts) go for something eye catching like brightly colored paper.

9) If you are judicious in your use of boldface, italics, and caps, they will be more powerful.

10) Always use a P.S. in your letter. You can repeat your USP, ask for the order or offer a discount.

11) Use testimonials whenever available. This is another highly effective but often under-utilized tool.

12) Make an offer that is nearly impossible to refuse! Also, give your customers something of value for free.

13) Send out one, two or three follow-up mailings. Even if a prospect wants to do business with you, your first few mailings may be sitting in a "To Do" pile.

14) Shake up procrastinators by offering great deals with expiration dates.

15) Don't just make an offer, ask for the order! Tell the customer what you want them to do. Give them step by step instructions.

16) Make your sales letter compelling, exciting, and inviting.

17) Besides Free, other power words are Save, Today, Introducing, Easy, Now, Amazing, and Breakthrough.

18) Whenever possible give a money back or satisfaction guarantee. Most people won't return things but it gives them faith in your company.

19) Say it and then say it again. Tell the reader more than once what they should do. Give your telephone number several times.

20) Offer customers a toll-free phone number and credit card, check, and money order options.

Almost everyone has better things to do than read your sales letter. They will only respond when there is something real and tangible in it for them. A poorly written sales letter is a waste of your time and money and will alienate your potential customer. Follow these tips and write a letter that gets read.

A Hundred Marketing Weapons to Make a Deal

These marketing weapons should all be considered for promoting your product, make a deal, close the selland make the customor satisfaction. Notice how more than half of them are free.

1. Marketing plan
2. Marketing calendar
3. Niche/positioning
4. Name of company
5. Identity
6. Logo
7. Theme
8. Stationery
9. Business card
10. Signs inside
11. Signs outside
12. Hours of operation
13. Days of operation
14. Window display
15. Flexibility
16. Word-of-mouth
17. Community involvement
18. Barter
19. Club/Association memberships
20. Partial payment plans
21. Cause-related marketing
22. Telephone demeanor
23. Toll free phone number
24. Free consultations
25. Free seminars and clinics
26. Free demonstrations
27. Free samples
28. Giver vs taker stance
29. Fusion marketing
30. Marketing on telephone hold
31. Success stories
32. Employee attire
33. Service
34. Follow-up
35. Yourself and your employees
36. Gifts and ad specialities
37. Catalog
38. Yellow Pages ads
39. Column in a publication
40. Article in a publication
41. Speaker at any club
42. Newsletter
43. All your audiences
44. Benefits list
45. Computer
46. Selection
47. Contact time with customer
48. How you say hello/goodbye
49. Public relations
50. Media contacts 51. Neatness
52. Referral program
53. Sharing with peers
54. Guarantee
55. Telemarketing
56. Gift certificates
57. Brochures
58. Electronic brochures
59. Location
60. Advertising
61. Sales training
62. Networking
63. Quality
64. Reprints and blow-ups
65. Flipcharts
66. Opportunities to upgrade
67. Contests/sweepstakes
68. Online marketing
69. Classified advertising
70. Newspaper ads
71. Magazine ads
72. Radio spots
73. TV spots
74. Infomercials
75. Movie ads
76. Direct mail letters
77. Direct mail postcards
78. Postcard decks
79. Posters
80. Fax-on-demand
81. Special events
82.Show display
83. Audio-visual aids
84. Spare time
85. Prospect mailing lists
86. Research studies
87. Competitive advantages
88. Marketing insight
89. Speed
90. Testimonials
91. Reputation
92. Enthusiasm & passion
93. Credibility
94. Spying on yourself and others
95. Being easy to do business with
96. Brand name awareness
97. Designated guerrilla
98. Customer mailing list
99. Competitiveness
100. Satisfied customers

Thinking Freely

This is the time to think freely. This is the time to think as hard as you can of what you can give away to your prospects for free. If you can possibly give away your product or service for a limited time, you have a good chance to habituate your prospects to your offering and a great chance to prove your service superiority. The idea behind this strategy is: give your prospects an ownership experience for free.

If you can enable your prospects to feel like your customers, you’re acting just like a marketer. You’re in business because you offer a product or service that delivers desirable benefits. You’re in business because you’re better than many of your competitors. You’re in business because you want to earn hefty profits consistently.

You are able to surpass customer satisfaction and allow those who patronize your business to experience customer bliss. They can tell how conscientious you are by means of your follow-up, by the way you pay attention to details in their life and business. Customers are as contented as customers can get.

That’s why you must give serious consideration to transforming all of your prospects into customers. If they won’t do it by purchasing what you have to offer, regardless of your investment in marketing, perhaps they’ll purchase what you have to offer if they first can try it at absolutely no cost. If they have the experience of owning what you offer, they’ll understand the advantages of being your customer. And then, they’ll be far more likely to actually make the purchase.

This means that your prime marketing investment will be your freebie. It will be a limited time use of your product or a limited time use of your service. You’ll be giving those valuable things away for free, risking that you’ll get nothing in return. But if you’re confident in your quality and service, that risk is minimized.

Of course, you can always give gift certificates, brochures, free consultations, free demos, free seminars, free tours and a wealth of free information on your Website.

In addition to these, Marketer are creative in dreaming up what they might give for free. Of course, many advertising specialties such as calendars and scratchpads, mousepads and ballpoint pens are emblazoned with their names and theme lines, but exercise extra creativity as well.

The highest form of that creativity is displayed when they give for free what they ordinarily sell. HotMail attracted more than ten million customers for its free email service. Now, that service is supported by advertising. By ending each free email from the sender with an offer for free email for the recipient, HotMail used word-of-mouse to the ultimate.

It’s true that some bozos will sign up for your freebie and then you’ll never hear from them again. But many customers will be so impressed by your quality and service, your caring and dedication, that they’ll end up making the purchase you want them to make. Many will become lifelong customers, making you forget those free-loading bozos entirely.

The investment of your free product or service for a limited time must be measured against your current marketing investment. But if you’re marketer, your quality and service must prove more than anything you can ever say in a marketing context. Your customers truly enjoy being your customers. Now, they know why you are so confident in your offering. Nothing can substitute for an actual ownership experience.

I realize that all companies cannot give what they sell for free, not even for a limited time. But if you can see daylight in giving your offering for free, you might lift your marketing to the highest level while forming bonds that might otherwise have never been established.

Unleash Your Hidden Creativity now

Most people think of creativity as something you're born with, like broad shoulders or curly hair. In reality, creativity is a gift to nurture and develop. Many of you were wildly imaginative as children but have become more conservative as adults. By keeping in touch with the child within, you can reawaken your sense of adventure and be more creative.

One of the most innovative people I know is a graphic artist named Brian Sasville. The secret of his success is that he's a big kid. Now don't get me wrong. I helped him blow out the 35 candles on his last birthday cake and I've seen him take meetings with CEOs. What sets Brian apart from the competition is his ability to keep the child in him alive and kicking. He takes the same joy in his new PalmPilot that he did 25 years ago in his Etch-A-Sketch.

There's a fine distinction between being childlike and being childish. Throwing tantrums certainly won't enhance your imagination. Here are some techniques that will unleash your creativity.

1. Relearn to Play

Did you ever takes scissors and markers and turn an empty appliance box into a house? Or maybe you used blankets to create a military base in your living room. Try to recall your childhood exploits and use them as inspiration to innovate.

2. Read Books

As a lifelong bookworm I can attest to the power of words to educate and inspire. In addition to igniting your creativity, reading has direct benefits like increasing your vocabulary, and improving your ability to reason and think logically.

3. Travel

Traveling is an excellent way to awaken your creative spirit. By leaving behind what is familiar, you'll experience new sights, sounds and smells. You'll challenge yourself to pick up a foreign language and adapt to new customs. Traveling can shake you out of your complacency.

4. Experience Arts and Culture

Music, theater, movies and art can all provide a temporary lift, allowing you to travel without a passport to other realms. If you can create your own art, crafts or music, even better. Music can soothe and calm. Crafts such as knitting and sewing involve setting goals, problem solving, dedication, determination and imagination.

5. Use Technology

Technology frees you up to be more creative. By automating many of your daily tasks, you'll have more time for developing marketing concepts. Information management software can help you collect and store data that can in turn stimulate your imagination. Software can assist you in creating a Worldwide Web page to present your products or services in an eye-catching and informative manner.

6. Take Risks

One of the biggest risks you can take is to break with your rituals. Do you have comfort food that you eat every day or a soap opera that you watch religiously? Try changing your ritual. You'll need to leave your comfort zone in order to take risks. Taking physical risks are one way to get your blood pumping. Risking your time and money by following a business hunch is another. Just by putting an unorthodox idea out into the market and risking derision is a way to take a creative risk.

What's Marketing in the First Places?

Marketing is absolutely every bit of contact any part of your business has with any segment of the public. Company must view marketing as a circle that begins with your ideas for generating revenue and continues on with the goal of amassing a large number of repeat and referral customers. The three keys words in that paragraph are EVERY, REPEAT, and REFERRAL. If your marketing is not a circle, it's a straight line that leads directly into Chapters 7, 11, or 13 in the bankruptcy courts.

HOW IS YOUR DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL MARKETING?

Marketing that is unconventional, non- traditional, not by-the-book, and extremely flexible. are you? Ten factors make it different from old-fashioned marketing:

1. Instead of investing money in the marketing process, you invest time, energy, and imagination.

2. Instead of using guesswork in your marketing, you use the science of psychology, laws of human behavior.

3. Instead of concentrating on traffic, responses, or gross sales, profits are the only yardstick by which you measure your marketing.

4. Instead of being oriented to companies with limitless bank accounts, Company marketing is geared to small business.

5. Instead of ignoring customers once they've purchased, you have a fervent devotion to customer follow-up.

6. Instead of intimidating small business owners, marketing removes the mystique from the entire marketing process, clarifies it.

7. Instead of competing with other businesses, Marketing preaches the gospel of cooperation, urging you to help others and let them help you.

8. Instead of trying to make sales, Marketing are dedicated to making relationships, for long-term relationships are paramount in the nineties.

9. Instead of believing that single marketing weapons such as advertising work, You Must know that only marketing combinations work.

10. Instead of encouraging you to advertise, marketing provides you with 100 different marketing weapons; advertising is only one of them.

These are ten very critical differences and are probably the reasons that the concept of marketing has filled a void in the world's economy,

What 's Your Company?

You know exactly what your company is, what it stands for, what it offers to its target audience and what it hopes to accomplish. But is that really your company?

Not really. In reality, your company is the marketing that people see. It’s the big things such as your website and your features and benefits, but it’s also a combination of seemingly minor details -- all anything but minor. Your company is the way your telephone is answered. It’s the way you listen to customers and prospects. It’s your ability to render superlative service. It’s every letter you send, every phone call you make, every person you employ.

There is an enormous difference between reality and perception. You know in your heart the reality of your company, but chances are that your prospects and customers perceive you not by that reality but by the attitude and professionalism of your marketing. Their perception of your company counts for every bit as much as the reality of your company.

Your company is your involvement with the community, your willingness to provide speed and convenience in all your transactions. It’s the regularity of your follow-up, the experience of other customers you’ve had, even the way you greet your prospects and customers.

One of your primary jobs is to make certain that the perception of your company matches the reality. You’ve got to realize that your long-time customers may know exactly what your company is all about, but your prospects only know you by your marketing -- or lack of it.

Your website, along with your other marketing, must convey your company identity because more and more people every day will be learning of your company online and not offline. To them, you are your website.

Your ability to tailor your offerings and service to the needs of your customers is your company. The quality of information you provide and the generosity with which you provide it -- those also are your company.

Your newsletter and brochures, your fliers and promotions -- they are your company. Today, more than ever, you can craft your marketing to reflect exactly what your company is. You can use your computer and a wide array of software to create dynamic marketing materials that communicate your company is professional, caring, unique, and covers all the bases. You can use customer questionnaires to learn about your customers so that you get a good bead on their perceptions of you, both good and bad. The information they provide shines a beacon on their opinions of you, allowing you to make the necessary changes to match their perceptions with the perceptions you want them to have.

Your company is the sum total of what it truly is -- combined with the marketing you put out to the world -- or the marketing you do not practice. That’s why active and aggressive marketing is the hallmark of successful companies. That’s why they measure their marketing to be certain it is hitting home and communicating the actuality of their firms.

Most owners of small businesses focus upon their company far more than they focus upon their marketing. The two should be inseparable. And the vast majority of the world who are not yet your customers know you only by your marketing. If it comes up short or isn’t noticed by them, it makes no difference how superlative your quality and dedication may be.

Never forget that one of the tiniest groups of people on the planet are your customers. They know your company by what it really is. But the billions of people who have never purchased from you -- they know your company only by your marketing efforts.

Marketers pay as much close attention to their marketing as they do to their business. They do not delude themselves into thinking everybody knows about their excellence. Instead, they put out the word and continue spreading it, making certain that it accurately reflects their company. We’ve all had experiences when we were shocked to learn that a company was drastically different from its marketing. Never let that happen to your company. It never will when you always remember that your company is two things at all times: what it really is and what people think it is based upon your marketing.

What's Your Frequent Buyer Program?

Despite your better judgment you may sometimes indulge in the belief that the world is a fair place and that you can offer the same deal to everyone, regardless of their size, interest, loyalty and buying power. But the realities of the market require you to customize your offerings to prospects and customers, offering great deals to some customers and mediocre ones to others. Frequent use cards make it easy to differentiate.

Customers know that the offers they receive will be based on their past loyalty and the size of their budget. This concept was first explored when airlines instituted frequent flyer programs to reward and encourage customer loyalty. Retailers soon jumped on the bandwagon, offering frequent use cards that reward customers with a free item after they buy a specified amount. It works for loaves of bread, pounds of coffee, video rentals, haircuts, and exercise classes to name a few products and services.

Lets face it, profit margins are tight and there's a limited amount of funds that customers designate for purchasing. It is only logical that you direct both marketing efforts and special deals to those customers who will yield the greatest return. Differentiation means that you abandon the Herculean task of trying to be all things to all people in favor of being some very specific things to certain people. Many salespeople and entrepreneurs have applied this technique and increased profits.

Differentiated marketing has blossomed as companies of all sizes have installed computers and databases. The computer's ability to collect, process, and analyze customer information makes it easier to institutionalize customer-specific marketing and pricing strategies.

In his book "Customer Specific Marketing," Brian P. Woolf discusses the two levels of differentiation. The first level of differentiation is offering prices and privileges to all customers who present your frequent-shopper card when they shop. This means you have a two-tiered pricing system. For the majority of your customers who provide the bulk of your sales, you offer discounts. Woolfe claims that your gross margin will have increased because you will no longer be giving markdowns on sales to non-cardholders. The big profit gains come at the second level of differentiation Here, different offers are made to different cardholders based upon the value of the relationship. As your marketing costs align with customers' sales and profitability, the return on your marketing investment increases correspondingly.

Once you have locked in the customer's loyalty, it's time to apply qualifying levels to receive rewards. By directing your rewards towards more profitable customers, you'll increase your profitability. Ensure that your rewards are proportional to customer spending and profitability. The more a customer spends, the more she should receive, proportionally, in rewards. If your rewards are proportional, you should be able to recruit your competitors' best customers and continue to reward and retain your own best customers. In setting up differentiation programs, try to avoid spending caps or else you may breed resentment or sneaky behavior.

Remember, the goal of differentiation is to shift your marketing dollars from customers who produce a or low return on your investment to those with superior returns.

The Two Worlds of The Marketing

Once you have even the spark of a notion to market online, let that
spark ignite thoughts of how you'll promote your site. Have the insight
to know this means thinking imaginatively about two worlds.

The first is the online world, where you'll think in terms of multiple
links to other sites, in terms of banners leading to your site, search
engines directing browsers to your site, postings on forums alerting
onliners to your site, chat conferences heralding your site,
recommendations of your site by internet powers, emailing to parties
demonstrably interested in learning about the topics covered on your
site, writing articles for other sites in return for links back to your
site, mentioning your site in your email signature, advertising online to
entice people to your site, preparing an online version of your press kit
to publicize your site online, and connecting with as many other online
entities as possible, all in a quest to make your site part of the online
community, an internet landmark to your prospects, a not-be-missed
feature of the web.

The second world in which your imagination should run rampant in a
mission to achieve top-of-the-mind awareness of your site is the offline
world. Most of the population of the real world still resides there.
That's where they continue to get most of their information -- for now.
And that's where you've got to let them know of your online site --
teeming with information that can shower them with benefits -- for their
business or their lives or both.

Tout your site in your ads, on stationery, on your business cards, on
signs, on brochures, fliers, Yellow Pages ads, advertising specialties,
packages, business forms, gift certificates, reprints of PR articles, in
your catalog, newsletter, and classified ads. Mention it in your radio
spots, on television.

More than one company now has a jingle centered on their website. Never
neglect to direct folks to your site in direct mail letters and
postcards, in all your faxes, almost anywhere your name appears. If the
world begins to think that your last name is dotcom, you're going about
your offline promotional activities in the right way.

Some companies think that by including their site in tiny letters at the
bottom of their ad or by flashing it at the end of their TV commercial,
they're taking care of offline promotion. They're not. All they're
doing is going through the motions. Talk about your website the same way
you'd talk about your kid -- with pride, enthusiasm and joy. Make people
excited about your site because they can see your pride.

Will local or industry newspapers write about your online site? Of
course they will if you make it fascinating enough for their readers.
That's your job. Promotion will get them to your site. Killer content
will get them to make return trips.

The insight about content for a website is it should be the information
your prospects and customers want to know the most. It's not necessarily
the content you want to put forth and boast about. Instead, it's data
about how your company can have a positive impact on visitors to your
site.

To create the best content, work backwards -- beginning with the goals
you wish to achieve with your site. Put into writing the specific goals
you wish your website to obtain for you. The more specific you are, the
more like you are to hit those goals.

Next, put into writing the obstacles that may stand in the way of your
company attaining its goals. Usually, these obstacles center around a
lack of information by your target audience. When you're clear on that
information, become a bridge-builder. Build a bridge between your goals
and your target audience. Construct it of valuable information.

They know well that their sites will succeed or fail based on how
much overlap there is between their content and the needs of their target
audiences. They realize that exquisite design and spectacular promotion
are meaningless if their content doesn't fill the needs of their market.

To develop that kind of content, answer these questions, for your
specific answers will provide your content:

* What is the immediate, short-term goal of your website?
* What specific action do you want visitors to take?
* What are your specific objectives for the long term?
* Who do you want to visit your site?
* What solutions or benefits can you offer to these visitors?
* What data should your site provide to achieve your primary goal?
* What information can you provide to encourage them to act right now?
* What questions do you get asked the most on the telephone?
* What questions and comments do you hear most at trade shows?
* What data should your site provide to achieve your secondary goal?
* Where does your target audience look for information?
* How often do you want visitors to return to your website?
* What may be the reasons you don't sell as much as you'd like to?
* Who is your most astute competition?
* Does your competition have a website?
* What are ways you can distinguish yourself from your competitors?
* How important is price to your target audience?

Your answers point the way to what competitive advantages to stress, what
to show, what to say, what to feature. Serve up your content in
bite-sized pieces, all valuable -- for it's clear current content that
leads to success on the web. If it's a winner for your guests, it will
be a winner for you.

Break Through Of The Sales Resistance

In order to be a successful salesperson, you must be confident of your product's value and able to break through the mental barriers that prospects build around them. By recognizing and accepting the natural tension and mistrust that potential customers possess, you can begin to build rapport and reduce the barriers.

Establishing Rapport

When meeting with prospects for the first time, it is crucial that you capture their attention. This can only happen if they are actively listening. Be sensitive to mood. If, for example, a prospect seems edgy or distracted, gently inquire as to the cause of their anxiety. Even if they don't want to discuss it, your awareness and concern will help establish rapport. Try to maintain eye contact so that the prospect sees you as a complex human being, not merely someone trying to sell them something. If the prospect seems uncomfortable in your presence, examine your body language. Are you leaning forward too eagerly? Fidgeting? Adjust your body language in order to place the prospect at ease.

Ask prospects about their business, education, hobbies, or interests. You may have to ask several questions before they warm up to you, but once you get them talking, they will become more involved with you. Listen carefully to their answers and ask follow up questions that show you are paying attention.

Reducing Tension

Sometimes Guerrillas are so excited about the product at hand that they forget a prospect may perceive a sales call as an intrusion. Unless a mutual friend refers you, the prospect may not know that you are honest and trustworthy. They may have had prior negative experiences with unethical salespersons and have their guard up.

Accept the fact that some amount of tension is natural and unavoidable. In the few minutes allotted to you, try to establish your credibility and demonstrate that you are confident and capable of providing products and services that will enhance their business. How do you do that? First of all, by believing it whole-heartedly.

If you have any doubts or concerns about your product or your ability to sell, you will undoubtedly convey that to the customer. This is where a positive attitude is critical. Ask yourself whether you believe in your product and your firm. Will your product deliver value to this customer? If the answer to these questions is yes, believe it and reflect it to your prospects and customers. As your self-confidence grows, so will your prospect's confidence in you.

Creating Trust

In order to win trust and respect, assure the prospect that you are a professional. Show up at the sales call on time, dressed appropriately. Try to use humor to break up any tension. If you can relate a brief anecdote that captures attention and casts you in an attractive light, do so. Be polite and keep personal stories to a minimum.

If you are able to create trust, reduce tension, and establish rapport, it will be much easier to get to the business of selling your produc

Wonderful Of The Advertising

Because more marketing funds are invested in advertising than in any other weapon of marketing, and because an embarrassingly huge amount of that investment is just plain wasted, marketing know home truths about copy, graphics, what makes commercials good or bad, and why so much advertising fails.

Marketing must know ten things that advertising copy should always be:

1. Readable
2. Informative
3. Clear
4. Honest
5. Simple

6. On strategy
7. Motivating
8. Competitive
9. Specific
10. Believable

They know ten things not to do with advertising graphics:

1. Don't let the art overpower the idea.
2. Don't let the art overpower the headline.
3. Don't let the art overpower the copy.
4. Don't let the art fail to advance the sale.
5. Don't let the art fail to grab casual readers or viewers.
6. Don't let the art fail to get the ad or spot noticed.
7. Don't let the art fail to be different.
8. Don't let the art be created in a hurry.
9. Don't let the art fight the product's identity.
10. Don't let the art dominate the ad.

Marketing Must know what makes a TV commercial a total loser.

1. It is more entertaining than motivating.
2. It is not clear with its promise.
3. It is not visual, but depends on words.
4. It is schlocky, lacking in credibility.
5. It is high-pressure or exaggerative.
6. It is a fabulous film but a terrible commercial.
7. It is so clever you forget who ran it.
8. It is so wrapped up in special effects, it's devoid of an idea.
9. It is too complex for an idea to come shining through.
10. It is boring, boring, boring.

Marketing also know what makes a TV commercial a winner.

1. It is clear about its competitive advantage.
3. It is intensely visual.
4. It is professional looking.
5. It is believable and credible.
6. It creates a powerful desire.
7. It is focused on advancing the sale, not being clever.
8. It is wrapped up with the product.
9. It demonstrates the benefit.
10. It is fascinating even the tenth time you see it,

Marketing are fascinated by the failures of advertising and know the main reasons why so much of it falls short:

1. Premature abandonment
2. Silly positioning
3. Failure to focus
4. Starting without a plan
5. Picking the wrong media for the right audience
6. Picking the right media for the wrong audience
7. Being unclear to prospects
8. Not understanding customers
9. No understanding self
10. Exaggeration that undermines truth
11. Not keeping up with change
12. Unrealistic expectations
13. Overspending or under-spending
14. Saving money in the wrong places
15. Inattention to tiny, but nuclear-powered details
16. Missing the point about profitability
17. Thinking it can be done without hard work
18. Unimpressive first impressions
19. Committees and layers of management
20. Not using media to their greatest advantage
21. Not supporting advertising with other marketing
22. Starting out in the wrong direction
23. Allowing success to beget lethargy
24. Judging the future by the past
25. Boring advertising

Have You Make Promotion Plan?

Promotion is the most frequently overlooked aspect of a marketing plan. A strong promotion plan outlines the promotional tools or tactics used to achieve your marketing goals. Your promotion plan should also include the projected costs for the year, and an explanation of how your promotion tactics will support your marketing objectives.

Before You Start

Before you can determine which promotional strategy will help you reach your target market, you need to do some competitive research and learn about your target customer. Your research should consist of studying your industry and discovering what other companies are up to. To learn how your competitors get marketing messages across, consult trade journals. Their advertising will show you which features they are focusing on. Learning about your target customer will help prevent wasting your money and time on unproductive promotional activities.

Primary Promotional Tactics

The key to your Promotion Plan is the description of your projected promotional tactics. The most common promotional mix comprises media relations, print and other advertising venues.

- Media relations. Design a comprehensive plan for contacting and maintaining relationships with select members of the media. You might want to develop a media relations campaign if it would benefit your company to be mentioned in newspaper, magazine or TV broadcasts viewed by your target audience. Begin by creating press releases, press kits and public service.

- Print Advertising. This ranges from classified and display ads in trade journals, magazines, and newspapers, to ads placed in programs for events.

- Other Advertising. This comprises outdoor advertising, such as billboards and bus boards broadcast advertising on radio, TV, and cable TV and last but not least, Internet sites.

Other Promotional Tactics

There are an unlimited number of additional promotional activities. You can include any of the following:

- Sponsorship of special events

- Participation in community projects like educational boards and city councils

- Exhibition at trade shows. You can set up a booth or kiosk to showcase your products or services.

- Fairs. Depending on your product, you might consider educational fairs, job fairs, or county fairs.

- Public speaking and conferences. Making speeches or participating on panels at professional association meetings, conferences, and other events positions you and your company as a leader in your field.

- Freebies. Everyone loves give-aways. If you can't afford to slap your logo on baseball caps and mouse pads, consider coupons and free samples.

- Marketing collateral. Materials such as newsletters, brochures, and fliers all get your message across to prospective customers.

It's crucial that you estimate your costs as accurately as possible. You should be able to obtain a rate schedule from any media outlet and the sales departments of fairs and trade shows.

Finally, in order to measure your success or failure in various promotional activities, you need a specific objective stating what you want to accomplish by what date and a way to measure your success. A poor example of measurable objective would be "send out brochures." A better example is "send out 1,000 brochures by May 1."

De-mystifying Your Marketing Plans

In their excitement to launch a new business, some entrepreneurs neglect to delineate a thorough marketing plan. Guerrillas know that a strong marketing plan helps you create, guide and coordinate your marketing efforts. Preparing the plan encourages you to examine and appraise the current state of your industry.

Think of a marketing plan as a road map to assist you in setting and realizing goals and keeping you on course. Your marketing plan is a crucial element of a business plan. It consists of information about your company and its products or services, marketing activities objectives and strategies, and your method for measuring success. Typically, it outlines the marketing activities you'll perform during a designated time period (generally six months or one year). In it you'll document the costs of your planned marketing activities as well as the measurements used to determine success.

Before you sit down to create your marketing plan, make sure you have a clear idea of the following:

- your products or services and their benefits and features
- your target market and its buying habits
- competing products or services
- the problem, need or desire your product or service solves

Guerrillas know that marketing objectives should lead to sales. They should be distinct, measurable, and have a time limit for accomplishment. If you have multiple objectives, ensure that they are consistent and don't conflict with each other. Also, be sure that all parts of your marketing plan --from strategy to budget -- support these objectives.

In your marketing plan you should provide a Promotional Plan. For example, if your marketing objective is to expand book sales among school age kids, you could:

- contribute books to school libraries
- provide book stores with discount coupons
- sponsor a literacy event for kids

Another essential section of your marketing plan is the Action Programs section. Here you detail the steps that need to be taken, when they should be accomplished, who will do them, etc.

In the Placement section, you describe how your products and customers fuse together through sales and distribution. Define your sales method. Are you more concerned with quick sales or slowly building up relationships with customers? Do you employ contract sales people or employees? When you illustrate your distribution system, explain where your product will be placed in order to attract customers. Your business plan probably already describes your production and inventory capacities. Another question to deal with is whether you sell to individuals or to re-sellers? Many businesses utilize both methods.

Although it is helpful to research other business plans, no two businesses are identical (variables include industry, company size, location, product, budget, competition, staff, and inventory). The process of creating the plan compels you to think about your business goals and how your marketing strategy will facilitate realizing those goals.

Remember to update your plan on a regular basis. The tactics that proved successful one year may fall flat if market conditions alter drastically. Plan to review and update your marketing plan frequently. Reviewing every quarter would be ideal, but if that's not feasible, do so at least once each year.

Tickets to Ride to The New Millennium

Heading into one millennium from another is a good time to reexamine the baggage you’ll be bringing along. In the area of marketing, you’ll certainly have to leave behind a lot of old ideas and myths, notions and traditions. But you surely want to take with you at least the five essential tickets to ride into that new millennium with confidence in your success.

Guerrillas will enter the year 2000 with momentum because they’ll have those tickets. They’ll know exactly where they’re heading and they’ll have the right tickets to their destinations. To generate and capitalize upon your own momentum, to travel first-class into the future, it makes sense for you to learn the five destinations of the guerrilla and their five tickets to ride. You can go to the same destinations; you can have the same tickets:

1. The first is your Identity Ticket. It’s the ticket that leads to close relationships. You get it with consistent and never-ending follow-up. You stay in touch with your customers and key prospects so regularly that you become part of their identity, someone they trust, someone they refer to their friends and associates. You convey your own identity in all of your marketing to them so they know clearly who you are and why you’re good.
Because you know that marketers either follow-up forever or fail, follow-up is your middle name. I can read it there on your Identity Ticket.

2. The second is your Humanity Ticket. Whatever new and brilliant technologies you select to energize your company in the marketing arena, you always remember that your customers and prospects are people first, every one of them unique and special. So your marketing messages to them are warm and human, attentive to details of their lives, caring of their progress, helpful and informative, personalized whenever possible. This ticket leads to bonding and loyalty, far in excess of that enjoyed by most small business owners. Customer research questionnaires provide the information guerrillas need to prove their humanity. It’s vital in an increasingly impersonal society.

3. The third is your History Ticket. Lots of new and start-up companies, especially those that will spring up after January 31st, l999, have no histories. You do and your ticket leads to credibility. The more you have, the easier it is to buy from you. Your history ticket is dated from the day you launched your business, includes your marketing strategy, your list of satisfied customers, your past success stories, your past publicity reprints, everything you’ve done to earn the confidence of your market. That History Ticket, probably presented on your web site, in your brochure, in your mailings, in your ads, will bypass the skepticism that faces new businesses and pave the way to future sales with trust.

4. The fourth is your Technology Ticket. Of course, you’ve conquered all traces of technophobia and now use technology to help you serve customers, scout for new prospects, link with fusion marketing partners, research the competition and create a plethora of marketing materials for yourself. This ticket leads to professionalism, but it has side tracks that lead to places you don’t really want to do. Many lead to an over-reliance on what technology can do rather than what it can do for you. Some side tracks lead you to glamour and hype instead of useful information, others to glitz and flash that your web site visitors don’t want to see, still others to fill your TV and print ads with special effects instead of reasons to want what you offer. Guerrillas stay on the right track with their technology, using it as a guide and not as a master.

5. The fifth ticket is your Action Ticket. It leads to accomplishment instead of conversation. That ticket is where you find your roadmap in the form of your marketing calendar. It’s where you can see the specific tasks you must perform so as to keep your marketing in constant action, to keep your name at the forefront of your market’s awareness. The other tickets are worthless unless your Action Ticket is put to full use. Marketing is something that many people discuss and analyze, but guerrillas view it as a time and opportunity to take action, to do something, to capitalize upon the momentum they’ve achieved to go soaring into the new millennium, not missing a beat.

These five tickets are yours if you have the awareness of their importance, the desire to reach their destinations, and the attitude to use them with enthusiasm. With that awareness, desire and attitude, you’re well equipped to enter a new century with exactly what you need for profits, control and certainty.

When To Halt Of Marketing Attack

The day you close the doors to your business is the only smart time to halt a marketing attack. No other day is a good day for quitting.

A concept for you to embrace is that marketing attack is never-ending. It has a beginning, a middle but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause in it. But you never stop it completely.

Of all the steps in succeeding with marketing attack, three of them take the most time. You spend a relatively brief time developing the attack and inaugurating it, but you spend the life of your business maintaining, monitoring and improving your attack. At no point should you ever take anything for granted. At no point should you fall into the pit of self-satisfaction because your attack is working. Never forget that others, very smart and motivated competitors, are studying you and doing their utmost to surpass you in the marketing arena.

Company thrive and prosper because they understand the deeper meanings of the phrases "customer base" and "long term commitment." They know that "relationship marketing" is more than a buzz phrase. This enables them to reinvent their marketing -- just as long as they are firm in their commitment to their existing customers and prospects. An attack without flexibility is in danger of failing. But that flexibility does not allow you to take your eyes off the needs of your customers.

Keep alert for new niches at which you can aim your attack. Large companies don’t have the luxury of profiting from a narrow niche. No matter how successful your attack, never lose contact with your customers. If you do, you lose your competitive advantage over huge companies that have too many layers of bureaucracy for personal contact. marketing is always authentic marketing and never acts or feels to be impersonal, by-the-number marketing. It never feels like selling.

"Marketing Management" author Philip Kotler, says "Authentic marketing
is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver satisfaction to the customers, profits to the producers and benefits for the stakeholders. Market innovation is gained by creating customer satisfaction through product innovation, product quality and customer service. It these are absent, no amount of advertising, sales promotion or salesmanship can compensate."

Your attack must be characterized by a very strong tie with your own target audience. You know them. You serve them. They know it. Marketing attacks do not suffer from your lack of resources, but instead prosper because lack of capital makes them more willing to try new and innovative ideas, concepts ripe for Marketing but not for huge companies.

Your marketing attack, and I use the word "attack" to plant the idea of aggressiveness into your brain, will succeed in direct relationship to how narrow-minded you can be. Marketer have the insight that precision strengthens an attack.

They know the enormous difference between their prospects and their prime prospects. They are aware of the gigantic chasm separating their customers from their best customers. This perspective enables them to narrow their aim only to the best prospects that marketing money can buy and the finest customers ever to grace their customer list. They treat all customers like royalty. They treat their best customers like family.

They are fully cognizant that it doesn’t take much more work to sell a subscription to a magazine than to sell a single issue. That’s why their marketing attack is devoted to motivating people to subscribe to their businesses mentally.

Once they have a customer, they do all they can to intensify the relationship, and they do not treat all customers and prospects equally. Consider the menswear chain with a database of 47,000 names. Mailings are never more than 3,000 at a time. Who receives the mail? Says the owner, "Only the people appropriate to mail to." When he received trousers of a specific style, he mailed only to those customers to whom he was certain they’d appeal -- and enjoyed a 30% response rate.

The cost of his mailing was a tiny fraction of the size of his profits. There’s not a chance of reveling in a healthy response like that unless you’re targeting your mailing with absolute precision. It’s something you’re going to have to do in a world where postal charges and paper prices are both slated to increase. Unless you’re hitting the bullseye, you’re wasting your marketing investment.

Your ongoing attack should be centered around helping. You’ve got to market ultra-selectively and comprehensively. Think not in terms of selling or befriending as much as helping. This means zeroing in on your best prospects and staying with them once they’ve been identified as prime. Will it take three approaches to win them over? Or will it take three years? Both answers will win out over those who think they can contact less-than-prime customers only one time, who think they can use scattershot, broad-based, imprecise marketing.

The benefit of precision is that it allows you to get personal. Recall the non-profit organization that increased its response rate 668% by treating its big donors special -- mailing to them with a handwritten envelope using a commemorative stamp and a handwritten 25-word note at the end of the letter. The cost to do this was low, indeed. But the payoff proved the value of precision and narrow-mindedness in a marketing attack. Precision and constancy. Those are your allies.