Wednesday, October 29  

Everyone knows.................

I'm flying to Melbourne tomorrow (2,000 kms away) to see some clients . I organised everything at 2 pm today (5.05 am flight - that'll teach me for leaving it to the last minute!).

I booked my flight, 2 nights accommodation and a hire car all within a matter of minutes using that wonderful medium called the Internet.

When I was booking the accommodation, one of the team here asked how I found the place I was staying at. Simple, I said:

"Everyone knows about Wotif. I went there."

"Where?" she said.

It seems not everyone does know about Wotif!

Many companies make the assumption that people know about them and their services. That assumption is closely followed by a reduction in marketing. Inevitably followed by a reduction in business.

Make your marketing a consistent, regular thing. That helps to brand your business and before you know it, everybody will know about you!

BTW, Wotif is a user-friendly web site that provides reduced rates for stays in a huge number of hotels/motels. Many of our resort clients use Wotif to sell room nights that would otherwise be empty.

Using Wotif is, I believe, a major strategic error by hotels and motels. It will drive the prices down and condition the consumer to buy on price everytime. And give them an expectation of large discounts for booking at the last minute.

But it's a great site for anyone searching for accommodation at a big discount.

Hope that helps. I'm off to get 3 hours slee.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Regards

Brend.....zzzzzzzzzzzz

Tuesday, October 28  

Reassurance at it's best

We have 5 real estate agents within about 30 metres of the office. I was killing some time waiting for someone outside the office the other day when I happened to take a good look at their window displays.

They were all the same - except for one.

4 out of 5 agents had only photos and descriptions of their properties. The last agent had that.....but he had a whole lot more!

This last agent has about 10 different reports viewable from outside his office - and these reports included:

* number of sales per month for the past year
* median sale price per month for a year
* mortgage interest rates for the year
* areas of best growth
* trends within the local area
* and lots more

Reading the agents' windows made me very aware that I would almost certainly go further with the informative agent. Buying a house is a huge step for anyone. Having all this information that justifies the purchase price to a large extent provides the potential buyer, I'm sure, with a big sense of security.

It's no surprise that this agent is the most successful out of the 5 in the area.

Justify your price. Remove the perceived risk. Make more sales.

Regards

Brendon

Oh WOW! I cannot believe they did that!

Hello.

I seem to have a bit of a customer service theme going these days. In this blog I'm going to talk about creating the 'WOW' factor in the way you do business. Creating a positive experience for your customers can be hugely popular and hugely successful.

1. Give 2 movie tickets to the next 50 customers who buy - for no reason whatsoever!
2. Hire a Clown for the day and have him roam around your store playing pranks
3. Buy a Playstation for kids to play on so mum and dad can browse in peace
4. Send a box of chocolates to your customers on their birthday
5. The next child who comes in and uses great manners - give them their purchase for free and tell them why
6. Invite everyone of your customers to Christmas drinks (where you also give them 25% off whatever they buy)
7. Do all of the above and send out a Media Release talking about the great success these strategies have had.

Be different. Get noticed. Sell you stuff.

Regards

Brendon

Monday, October 27  

Why it's good to give

I met a woman today and the subject moved onto talking about her family. She mentioned that one of her children had been badly injured in an accident a while back.

The local RACQ CareFlight rescue helicopter flew in with a medical team and worked on her child, before rapidly getting him (and mum) to a major hospital. He made a full recovery.

I mentioned (proudly I might add!) that we are big supporters of RACQ CareFlight. We originally provided our services - we developed their web site, e-commerce function, newsletters, etc - as a way to promote our business and create some awareness.

And as fantastic as the RACQ CareFlight team have supported us (arranging media coverage for us, telling everyone about us, etc), that value has paled into insignificance when compared to the very wonderful feeling that we get from knowing we have helped support some decent people, a decent service and a really great cause.

Sometimes you contribute just a little and receive a lot.

Funny how that happens.

Have a good day.

Brendon

Focus on what you do well - and systemise everything

I'm writing this because I've just added a new article about this very subject and I've just been reminded of a good example.

Just two- (2) weeks ago a new client gave me the name and contact details of a local recording studio for our possible use in recording speeches, videos, on-hold messages, etc for our clients.

I rang the contact - a couple who had just started the business. The guy who answered the phone was very helpful and promised to send me somethiong out in the mail that same day or the next day at the latest.

Two- (2) weeks later and I'm still waiting.

This guy is probably a terrific sound engineer. And that's what he should focus on.

He should systemise everything else in the business so he can concentrate on just that one- (1) thing. Maybe having an Info Pack there, ready for mailing would be advantageous.

Now I'm not having a go at this guy. It's tough to get your business going and he probably has a million things on his mind. But finding and getting customers should be an important focus.

Cheers.

Brendon

Sunday, October 26  

Use topical events for greater impact

Hello. Hope your weekend has gone well.

I've always been a big fan of using topical events within marketing strategies - can provide great awareness and great impact. Being aligned with something topical can provide superb recognition because people relate to it.

We've just had a great storm hit our area today. It was a thunderstorm that brought with it huge lashings of hail. My car was parked outside at the time the storm hit - I quickly brought it in undercover and was lucky I did.

Driving around the neighbourhood later I saw probably 100 cars with smashed windscreens and back windows. Not to mention big dents.

The hailstones were the size of tennis balls!

There are numerous opportunities here for various businesses - maybe the local windscreen repairers could do a letterbox drop tomorrow in the affected suburbs. Take some radio ads. Put up signage within the suburbs (this is why having a signwritten vehicle can be so valuable).

There are plenty of ways we can take advantage of topical issues.

Align yourself with topical issues and you'll find that people will relate to you. And they'll align their thinking with yours. And you can leverage the 'newsworthiness' of the issue to your advantage.

Fad TV shows. Weather issues. Recent movies. Local scandals. Plenty of things to relate to.

Remember, marketing is about standing out. If you can get the notice of your target market you are half way there!

Cheers.

Brendon

Friday, October 24  

Use some imagination - don't just charge $45 for an Egg and Bacon McMuffin!

Marketing is about providing a quality experience for your customers. An experience that says to them "Yes, you are important and we're delighted to have you as a customer."

On the Gold Coast, Australia at the moment we have what's called Indy. Indy is a car race. It is a very social event and it all kicked off yesterday with the 'Indy Breakfast'.

350 people had breakfast at a local venue. 17 drivers attended. They all sat together at the front.

This is how it pretty much went.

1. Walk in and sit down.
2. Get served a Egg and Bacon McMuffin (they called it Eggs Benedict - I'm pretty sure it was McDonalds!)
3. The drivers got up on stage and answered 1 question each from the MC. The crowd then asked questions - 3 questions in all.
4. Leave.

What a boring, dull, uninspiring, badly run morning!

People don't want that. They want an experience.

Use some imagination in what your business does. Here are some ideas for the Indy people:

1. A driver and an Indy Girl (Indy traditionally has models that promote the race) on a table for 1/2 hour. When that half an hour is up, they move to the next table. That way every single person at that breakfast would have met and interacted with someone they wanted to meet.

2. The drivers couldn't eat breakfast. People continuosly came up for autographs. DON'T have the drivers sit there and sign autographs. Have the drivers wander around the tables asking "Okay then! Who wants an autograph?"

3. Set up some video racing games. Have a raffle where the winners take on an Indy driver on the game. If they beat him they win a decent prize.

4. Bag of goodies. Everyone loves free stuff. 350 motor sport enthusiasts were the captive audience. Most car companies would fall over themselves to get a sample of their product into a sample bag to these people.

Business breafasts or lunches or dinners are never about the food. They are always about the experience.

My experience of paying $45 for McDonalds (have I mentioned that already??!) was very poor. My assumption now is that the entire Indy experience is as equally as dull.

And that means the Indy brand is diluted. That's bad for business.

Use some imagination in your business. Do something different, something fun, something that your customer will remember........don't even get me started on what banks could do whilst you stand in line for 15 minutes!

Have a good weekend.

Brendon

Wednesday, October 22  

About time! Technology that is useful

I've just been shown a powerful new tool that has been developed by an Australian software company.

This new software enables the user to send SMS message via email - i.e. instead of typing in an email address you type in a mobile phone number, put your message in the message field and you're done!

What a great idea.

I find sending an SMSing a real pain - especially when I'm driving ;-). To be able to do it from an email client makes it simple, easy and likely to be used as an excellent marketing tool.

Regards

Brendon

Who's the worst person to give you marketing advice

In marketing, there are often many fingers trying to get into the pie. And this little bit of info won't tell you who the best person is to give you marketing advice.

I'm here to tell you who isn't!

Anyone who has a vested interest in what they are recommending to you is not to be trusted!

The radio guy will be telling you how effective radio is, the TV guy will be saying the same thing about his media, as will the newspaper guy, the PR specialist and the direct mail guru. I've actually never seen any stats shown to me by any of these people that show their 'product' in a bad light.

Boy, can those reps make their statistics sing!

Sure, it's a broad generalisation and I'm saying it tongue in cheek. But it has an element of truth.

Take what the advertising reps provide and apply your own (or an independent expert's) research and assessment to it. There's nothing worse than wasting money on marketing that doesn't work.

Cheers.

Brendon

Tuesday, October 21  

I don't know why I keep getting surprised by this......

....but I always am.

When we assess a client's business we take into account an enormous range of aspects. Primary research, secondary information, industry trends.....the list goes on.

This research is inevitably expensive for us to compile, time-consuming and exhaustive. And often useless.

The best information we always get is the information we get from sitting down and chatting with the client. Not "Okay, let's identify the issues" chat, but a general "Let's have a chat" chat.

We might talk about the weather, sport, their kids - anything really. Then we move towards the essentials - how the business is really going, what the owner's problems are, how he sees the company in the future.

Sure, it's not all neatly package like that. But the information we most need is almost inevitably provided by just sitting down and having a chat. Often over a meal or a beer.

This is simple stuff that works. Chat with your customers. Find out what they really want and need. They'll tell you after a while. And you build a relationship of trust and caring. Both essential elements for building a business.

Have a good night.

Regards

Brendon

Meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customers

I was reminded of this when I wrote the blog below. It is from a time when I was marketing a private hospital.

People pay private health insurance so they get the best of care and the best of service. And a private room when they want one.

But it doesn't always work like that.

At this hospital, 50% of our admissions who wanted a private room didn't receive a private room upon admission. These people were admitted to shared wards with a wait of between 12-36 hours before a private room became available.

We had many irate patients.

We implemenetd one simple thing with fantastic results

When a person was booked in for their hospital stay, they were sent a letter confirming the details. The Admissions Manager and I simply edited this letter. We added this to every letter:

"We regret being unable to meet your booking for a private room at this stage. We will of course move you into a private room as soon as possible. The average wait is 48 hours."

The effect this had was immediate.

Instead of 50% of our patients not having there expectations met, we had 50% having their expectations exceeded.

The other 50% had their expectations met immediately (we actually had an apology card made up which, along with a box of chocolates, was given to these patients. So these people actually had their expectations exceeded as well.).

Because we exaggerated the length of time it would take before a private room became available, the people waiting for the private room later had their expectations further exceeded as well!

Meeting expectations can be difficult. Exceeding expectations can be as simple as adding two- (2) lines to a letter!

What can you do to exceed the expectations of your customers?

Cheers.

Brendon

Monday, October 20  

What gets measured gets done - what that means for you

Just a quick note on reviewing the work practices of your staff with them being aware of it. Remember this:

What gets measured gets done.

It is far more accurate to measure aspects of your business - such as sales staff - without them being aware. Only then will you get a truly non-biased idea of what is really happening each and every day.

That's why the Mystery Shopper is much more effective at giving you a clear picture.

Have a good night.

Regards

Brendon

Some great reasons to wear shoes with a big, big heel

A new study out of the US confirms what short people have always feared - tall people are perceived as more successful and they get paid more! Each 2.5cm apparently adds $US783 ($1135) a year to a person's income!

"Height matters for career success," said Professor Timothy Judge, whose research found the taller the person the fatter their wallet.

Researchers found tall people tended to be more confident and that people viewed them as self-assured and more successful.

This is another great example that your presentation, image and style all matter in life. Your business's quality is perceived on a huge range of things that you mightn't even be aware of. Are you putting your best foot forward at all times?

And I said that for a reason!

For centuries, your shoes have been a very important indicator of your status and the way you are perceived - thus the terms "well-heeled" and 'down at the heel".

Sure, substance should beat style. But I'm here to tell you that very often it doesn't. (Why not have both substance AND style - an unbeatable combination!)

That's all from me.

Brendon "6 foot" Sinclair

Sunday, October 19  

Would you like sugar with that? How attention to detail impresses

Attention to detail and personalising your customers experience can be a very positive thing. I'll give you a little story of what happened in our office on Friday that impressed me and the client.

A client came in for a meeting. She had been in before.

Instead of offering her a "Coffee, tea or cold drink?", Bianka said "It's a coffee isn't it, with skim milk and 1 sugar?"

The client was amazed that Bianka had remembered her drink preferences from 3 months ago. She was mightly impressed. And so was I.

But it turns out that Bianka hasn't actually got such a good memory. Bianka's just smart. Every time a client comes in and has a drink, their preference is noted down in the database. And then referred to when that same client comes in next.

How can you personalise your customer's experience? Little things matter and they matter a lot. Because people want to feel special - and anything we can do as businesspeople helps our cause.

Cheers.

Brendon

Labels: Business Management

Friday, October 17  

On doing things differently - for a good reason

Howdy

I had someone email me and ask why I'm only keeping the Mystery Shopper document on the web for 3 days. "What possible reason could you have for that?"

There is a reason, and I think a fairly good reason.

I'm using it as an example of this point:

I'm trying to make this web site a daily dose for people interested in marketing and in business. I need to encourage people to return each and every day.

If I put up every document forever, the number of people visiting will reduce on a daily basis. There won't be a need to come back every day.

But.......if I put valuable documents, like the Mystery Shopper document, online for only a limited amount of time then the thinking will slowly change to "I'd better visit every day just in case Brendon sticks something up I really, really need."

And that strategy is as old as the hills. Every store sale does it.

"Sale ends Friday!"
That instills a fear of loss into buyers. They must buy now or they miss out!

I'm sure you're not exactly shaking in your boots, but it's the same philosphy. get a sense of urgency into your potential customers and the chances of making the sale go up.

Hope that all makes sense.

Have a good weekend.

Brendon

Thursday, October 16  

The Mystery Shopper

The blog below and associated article has attracted some comment from visitors to this site. Customer service is a topic that gets a lot of people's gander up.

How's your customer service?

If you're not too sure, try these out.

* Get someone to come into your business and buy something.
* Get someone to come into your business and complain about something.
* Get someone to come into your business and check it out from the same sort of perspective that I checked the camping store out.

The results could surprise you. And they could also enable you to make changes that could kick your business up a whole new level.

I never want this web site to be negative (and the post about the poor customer service is a little, even though I suggest solutions to the problems identified), so I've dug up a Mystery Shopper form that you can use yourself.

This is the same form we use when we assess retail businesses and their service.

Click here for the free Mystery Shopper questionnaire. It's a pdf file so you'll need Adobe Reader if you haven't already (you can get that bit of software here for free - 99% of computer have Adobe Reader though these days).

I'll just leave the questionnaire up for 3 days. Hope it helps.

If you are interested in us reviewing your business from a marketing perspective, please give us a call on 07 5598 4898 (we have clients all over Australia).

Have a good night.

Brendon

Make a new plan Stan

We do quite a deal of consulting on web sites. And more and more these days we consult on the integration of the web into someone's offline business.

It is a critical and potentially huge part of any business and it's good to see web strategy coming to the front of many poeople's business strategy.

So here's a tip for people who a looking to get a 'web site'.

Know what you want. Know what you want the site to do. Have an understanding of how the web can help your buisness (or if you don't, find a good web developer and place your trust in him/her). Know the basics.

We love dealing with people who aren't too computer savvy - it's great to see them go from novice to having a full appreciation on how the web can improve their business.

Don't get a web site because you think you should. Get a web site because it will help your business. Allocate some resources to it and watch it grow.

Cheers.

Brendon

Wednesday, October 15  

The worst customer service - Typical!

I have an 11-year-old son called Jack. Jack loves camping.

It was Jack's birthday last week. He received $150 cash from various friends and relatives and had his heart set on buying a 3-man tent.

So in we went to the camping store today.

Jack and I looked around and decided on 2 tents. One for $50 and one for $90. A salesperson came along and told us the pros and cons of each tent. After much analysis and thought by Jack (he takes these things very seriously) he selected the $90 one to buy.

Up we went to the counter to pay.

"Oooooooh look there Dad!", said Jack.

Swiss Army knives. Every 11-year-old camping boy's dream!

So we picked out one of those as well.

The attendant took a look at our purchases and pulled out a warranty form for the tent. She filled in the tent type, the cost and where we purchased it from.

She then took Jack's money, gave him his change and receipt. Off we trotted - one very happy little boy with a tent and a Swiss Army knife, and his Dad.

I dropped Jack off home and then came back into the office. Then I sat down to write this blog.

Click here to read the rest of this blog.

Thanks for reading this far!

Brendon

Labels: Business Management

Simple release - good result

I mention in a blog last week of a local newspaper who are doing a story on our web disivion. The article, including photo, is for a newspaper with a readership of 200,000.

That's great for us - good exposure, it's credible and could well generate us some business.

The way we got the article wasn't difficult. Not difficult at all.

We simply sent out this media release to a number of local media outlets. Just hours later the story was written and the photographs were taken.

Getting media coverage isn't difficult. Marketing isn't difficult. That media release example is a good one. Not because it's a great release, but because it's a pretty ordinary release.

Could you gain some media coverage for your business? Might be worth a try.

Cheers.

Brendon

Tuesday, October 14  

Australia has voted...........................

There is a TV show on at the moment called Australian Idol. It's the exact same format as American Idol.

Last night one of the contestants was booted off after voting had finished. And people aren't happy.

You see, there's a guy on the show called Rob Mills. Rob is a good looking young guy with a bit of charisma. And he knows how to work the camera and the crowd. But he doesn't have much of a voice.

Mills, after what was the worst performance out of 6 on Sunday night, was voted one of the top 3 performers.

One of the judges, Marcia Hines, commented during the show (after 2 of the better singers were nominated as being up for expulsion) that she was:

".....hoping Australia was voting for the voice."

No way!!!

These shows aren't about just the voice. Or even the music. They are about the whole package. Sure, the voice is included in that, but it's not the be all and end all.

Mills got through to the next round because of 1 very simple fact. The target market for this show is teenage girls. The people most likely to vote are teenage girls.

Teenage girls are voting for the hottie even if he sounds like a dog howling at the moon (Mills isn't that bad. But popular opinion says he's not the strongest singer of the remaining 5.).

Australian Idol is a marketing exercise. It very brutally shows that you don't neccessarily have to have the best product. Just the best product for the target market you are reaching.

Identify your target market and then give them what they want.

(BTW, I think my wife is in love with Mills as well. I'll be checking the phone records to see if she is voting for him!)

Cheers

Brendon

Monday, October 13  

The power of testimonials

Testimonials are a very positive aspect of any ongoing marketing action.

Testimonials are generally an independent third party endorsement of your product or service. Using testimonials can be a very powerful advertisment for you.

We identified an interesting twist to the power of endorsements when we were doing some work for a local telemarketing business. This business found a higher conversion rate (of calls to sales) if the caller said:

"I highly recommend you book this holiday."

Now that's not a third party endorsement. It's not independent and it's not really relevant.

But it worked and it worked really well.

I have no real idea why. Maybe a testimonial is a testimonial is a testimonial. Whatever - it is a very interesting twist.

This is the same reason that my book is promoted on this site with "I highly recommend the kit for any web developer looking to start or grow their own business."

Sounds a bit silly sure (!), but it's worth a go to test it and see if the clickthrough rate (the number of people who click through to the selling web site) rises. Testing time is never wasted time.

Test every aspects of your marketing campaigns. It's critical to know what works, what doesn't and what can give you an edge.

Regards

Brendon

Friday, October 10  

I think I made a mistake

I spent this morning judging TV commercials at a local High School. The school runs an innovative business studies course, of which developing TV commercials is one aspect.

The three- (3) judges all ranked the same ad (out of 16) as number 1.

But I think I've made a mistake! Out of all the ads, one sticks in my mind. An ad I ranked near the bottom. You see, this ad sticks in my mind for all the wrong reasons.

Let's see. It was:

* Offensive
* Inappropriate
* Sexist
* Awfully produced

But it's the only ad of 16 that I remember. I remember everything about that ad. The product, the characters, the story, the message. Everything.

And that's what your marketing should do.

Your marketing has to get noticed. It has to be outrageous. It has to have an impact.

Maybe we all need to get a bunch of High School kids to do our next TV ads???!

Have a good weekend. I'm sitting here at 5.22 p.m. having a wine in the office, my wife has just booked us in for dinner at a local restuarant and I have a game of golf tomorrow.

Things are looking good!

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday, October 7  

The sort of stats marketers love to see

Hello. Hope you are having a good day.

I've been reading a small business profile report on the Auto Accessories retail business (we have a client who sells accessories). The report, put together by a government department, details the income and expenses of the various operators (as an aggregate).

Those businesses with the highest income also spend more % wise on marketing. In fact almost double (2.48% to 1.48%) the average!

Spend more on marketing - specifically well targeted marketing - and you will make more sales.

Regards

Brendon

Monday, October 6  

Quality people = quality business

I took some time last week reviewing what's called a Content Management System (CMS) with a leading Australian web developer. A CMS means that a person can maintain and update (and edit) a web site even without web skills or the usual programming languages required.

There are hundreds of CMS' around, but I'd be very happy to use and recommend the one I was shown.

And the reason is simple. It's because the developer is a quality developer. What he does, he does well. Which means that it's a quality product and a quality business.

And when you deal with those you can't really go wrong.

If you want a fantastic web site that is incredibly simple to maintain (and can grow to be very, very large) give me a call. The price is about $10,000 Australian for what is a terrific CMS.

Cheers

Brendon

A wonderful marketing opportunity

I have a friend of mine staying with us at the moment. I'll call him Greg (because that's his name!).

When Greg arrived on the Coast we went off and hired him a car. We had a bit of a chat with the hire car business owner whilst we filled in the paperwork.

During that chat I told the owner:

1. I had hired from them before
2. Greg was hiring from them on my recommendation
3. My address (Greg had to put down a local address and I told the owner Greg was staying with me and gave my address)

As a marketer there are numerous opportunities in those 3 things to really help build the business.

Firstly, my contact details and previous history should be kept in a database (they're not).
I should be rewarded for referring Greg.
I should be offered an incentive to refer again.
I should be marketed to on a regular basis via direct mail, or email (even cheaper).

Then there are 2 very easy add on sales this guy could have made:

1. Decent map - $5
2. Upsell on the insurance

I'd be willing to bet that I'll never hear from this car hire business again.

Marketing is simple, simple stuff. Can you take anything away from the above example to use on your business?

Have a good day. It's rained for the 6 days Greg has been here so far!

Brendon

Wednesday, October 1  

The chicken or the egg?

As a marketing consultant I'm often asked what we need first to be able to get the job done.

Here are the top two- (2) things in order that make it really easy to market a business:

1. Objectives - we have to know what you want to achieve.
2. Resources available - not just the budget, but also an understanding of what other resources (such as exisiting databases, etc) the client might already have.

If you have those two- (2) things then you can make a very solid start with your marketing. It ain't rocket science.

Regards

Brendon

Don't just do 1 thing

Howdy. Hope you're having a good day.

Just wanted to write a note about doing just one- (1) marketing thing.

* Don't just advertise in magazines.
* Don't just do direct mail.
* Don't just set up a web site.

Do all three- (3)! A key component of any marketing strategy is the integration of the strategies together to create a powerful and consistent message. Messages that continually reinforce each other, and provides excellent synergy (hate that "synergy" word but it fits here).

Keep the message the same. Repeat it. Push it. Brand it.

Cheers.

Brendon