Industry Tech Outlook / Admired Leaders of 2024

 

Howard Larson
& Larson & Associates

has been nominated to receive the
Industry Tech Outlook
Admired Leaders of 2024

Working out of covid, the accomplishments gained in 2023 as an industry role model with innovations for both associates and clients have showed how Howard has continued to be a leader and focused business model. 2023 has again showed that the business model of Big Fish in a Little Pond that Howard Larson and Larson & Associates starting using back in in 1996 has not only worked but brought greater job satisfaction to employees and customers.

Remaining quick to shift resources to where they are needed has allowed us to give us a faster response to the needs of our clients and our people. It has not been easy especially over the last four years between covid and high inflation not to mention supply chain issues. We thank God that in our virtual business model we are as cost contained and adept to take advantages of circumstances.  Our philosophy of the Big Fish in a Little Pond and purposefully staying small, seeking out small to mid-sized companies, the majority of our clients continue to be small businesses with revenue of $500,000 to 50 Million with 3 to 15 sales people remains in tact.  2023 with inflation our year over year clients who are using the Larson & Associates 3 Legged Stool Method of Marketing have been seeing growth above 17.9% but more importantly grabbing increased market share with bold tactics and inflation beating market share expansion programs. Those in the trade show area have seen lead follow-up and connections three times the national average. We continue to push our clients deeper into this market area because quite frankly, trade shows are where the customers are. In seminars we have attended this winter with speakers from Freeman and McCormick Place we found untapped marketing areas where we can expand into and see even greater growth for our clients Thank you for your continued support of the Larson Philosophy of Marketing as in April we start our 50th year in business. It is because of you that we are still here and continue to be a success. It is your belief in us that makes us who we are. You give us the freedom to work quick, hard and fast. You are the people who let us out run, out produce and out perform the competition.

If you are not yet a
Larson & Associates client
you should be.

Year after year we out perform other marketing agencies. Why? We are street fighters. If we do not do what needs to be done, we know where to get the experience, the knowledge and the know-how. We have been around the block a few times. You can do what we are able, you can not get what we offer without working on the front lines, in the trenches. If your marketing or advertising company is sitting behind their desk they are doing you a disservice. Things change too fast to to not be involved in the day to day work of lead generation and marketing. If you are not ready to expand I understand, enjoy. But if you are one of the few that says now is the time we have room for 7 new clients in April. Not 8 only 7. When we get our 7 we are done expanding for a while. You will just have to wait in line until we have an opening for new clients.  We are here not only about the money but life. We are looking for not just companies to make a dollar off of. We are searching for companies that have the positive image through service to their customers and their community. These exceptional companies help make the world a great place to live, work and play. If that is you, we want to talk with you, today.

Larson & Associates

We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better
Larson & Associates

3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 www.larsonassociates.ws

Our Trademark Plan The 3 Legged Stool Plan

 

This Is What We Are Up Against! Our Trademark Plan The 3 Legged Stool Plan Nothing works every time but somethings work better than others. Our method, the Larson way is the 3 Legged Stool method of marketing. I have been using the Stool or in some form of the 3 Legged Stool for over 47 years. Why? Because it works. The tools have changed but the basic idea has not. Hit people in three different ways using 3 different touch points and you are going to find a way that they respond to. The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. People will respond to your message if you touch them in the way they want you to. When I started out back in the 70's and 80's I would fax out all night long. It worked. I got into companies like Ram Golf and Doumak Marshmallows. Now that has evolved into email marketing. Don't laugh, email works. The right subject line, the right message, with the right product or service, at the right time and without a lot of fancy arm twisting and you have a new customer. Yes you many get a low conversion rate but it is inexpensive, flexable and if you remember the rule of 27: people see only 1 out of every 3 touch points you make to them and it takes 9 views on average to close a sale. You get the idea don't you. We add in some telemarketing to the people who opened the email and we are calling a warm lead not an icy cold one. We know they have seen your name, read a little about you and you are that much closer to a new customer. Then with the help from the USPS we send out some direct mail postcards. The mail box is empty and people love to get mail. We usually go with postcards but lumpy mail or a monthly newsletter works as well. In the 3 legged stool plan we weave these three elements, email, telemarketing, direct mail, in and out of each other and get the result we want at a very high ROI (Return On Investment). Telemarketing   Telemarketing campaigns are a proven and cost-effective method for selling products and services to a large target audience. Using Larson & Associates in a targeted campaign to a list of qualified prospects, and yes a telemarketing campaigns can increase sales, profits and customer satisfaction without increasing your staffing and training costs. Larson provides reliable and customizable programs designed to increase your profitability through Lead Generation, Lead Qualification, Telemarketing Sales, Appointment Setting, Up‐selling/Cross‐selling, Seminar / Event Registration, Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Customer Retention Programs. Telemarketing is an art. 7 to 15 seconds (Rock Tranel should appreciate that) is all you get to make a connection. 15 seconds to get permission to talk a few seconds more or "click". Email Marketing It is really essential that you use Email when you can. Email marketing has the highest impact on conversions for pretty much every marketing team. It nearly always results in high profit and double digit growth. Yes you need an email list but Larson & Associates knows how to make a list and not buy it from a list company. Direct Mail Marketing   Direct mail, junk mail (by its recipients), mailshot or admail (North America) letterbox drop or letterboxing (Australia) is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. The delivery of advertising mail is growing larger and is a key component to Lead Generation Marketing. So go on and send out those Post Cards, Newsletters, Enveloped mail. Fill the mail box and make someone happy. The Rest Of The Program Blog Marketing Blog Marketing is a content marketing strategy. The marketing strategy uses blogs to address potential customers directly and individually, thus achieving customer loyalty for your brand. Blogging uses viral marketing methods in which an interest group is built based on a blog about you and your company.   Social Media Marketing Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. This involves publishing great content on your social media profiles, listening to and engaging your followers, analyzing your results, and running social media advertisements. There are quite a few social platforms and when you find one put your company name address website phone number etcetera on it but unless you are ready to work it at 100% that is all you should do. Don't dabble on a social site.    LinkedIn Marketing LinkedIn is more focused on individuals than it is on companies. As such, it’s a wonderful tool to help you build meaningful connections with others in your industry, as well as prospective customers or job candidates. Those LinkedIn members often have something to teach us, and we can learn about them in the process. By building these connections, you can identify who might be a good fit to join your company’s team or who might find great success using your product or service. This approach can help you identify specific targets and give your recruiting or sales team a head start. LinkedIn is one of the three sites we here at Larson & Associates work and work hard.   Web & SEO Marketing SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It’s the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand, through non-paid (also known as "organic") search engine results. Despite the acronym, SEO is as much about people as it is about search engines themselves. It’s about understanding what people are searching for online, the answers they are seeking, the words they’re using, and the type of content they wish to consume. Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to connect to the people who are searching online for the solutions you offer. If knowing your audience’s intent is one side of the SEO coin, delivering it in a way search engine crawlers can find and understand is the other. In this guide, expect to learn how to do both. If you are using Larson & Associates for your SEO (thank you) it is being done for you already but do not let your SEO company tell you meta tags don't count any more. They do as well as key words. I can not begin to tell you how many $10 dollar websites (and a few $20,000 web sites),  I have put on 1st page of a Google search because I know how to work "search".  SEO is a game. Some of us just play it better than others.  Trade Show Marketing Tradeshows remain an important and effective means of reaching your key customers and finding new ones. Presenting your company, product or service at industry events. But if you think tradeshows only deliver great returns for specific types of business, you might be wrong. Tradeshows are a fantastic marketing tactic for any business to improve sales and build relationships. From industrial trade shows, to  association trade shows to wedding shows, it is an activity that can make an impact on your bottom line instantly. It does have a cost of perhaps $1000 for a Chamber of Commerce to the shows at McCormick place where $4,000 gets you a 10'x10' with a table, 2 chairs and a rug. Figure on a minimum of $10,000 or more at a major industry show but if done right, you will propel your company at a pace you can only dream of.   AND FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE TRADE Outsourced Or White Label Marketing Services   We offer to the trade services are offered to the Print and Graphic community on a "To The Trade" basis for you to offer this service to your clients with out the learning curve, knowledge need and finding qualified experience staff.  Can We Help You? Sure you can do this yourself. I totally understand and for those of you with the time to write content, flow it into a program like this one and be consistent and still have time for the follow-up, wonderful. Go for it. Have fun and enjoy! But for those who can't there's . . .   Larson & Associates We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294

THE POWER OF CONSISTENCY

 

Why Business Consistency is So Important People are always preaching that when it comes to marketing: “consistency is key!” But why? What’s the big deal about marketing consistency?  First marketing consistency is about building trust In order for people to trust you, they have to feel like they know you In order for them to feel like they know you, they must be aware of you, recognize you, and remember you. In order for people to recognize and remember you, you must show up in a way that’s consistent Here you are, spending your time and effort on marketing, and nothing seems to be happening. Did you know as of Mar 21, 2022, there are currently over 1.93 billion websites online. That is a lot of online competition. If you want to become recognized and remembered in order to earn  trust, you must show up in a way that’s consistent so you can be consistently seen.  Consistency helps you avoid the “who is this again and why are they in my Facebook feed?” — and keeps the process of building company trust.

Why Consistency Matters A big mistake people make is thinking that marketing is a process of getting in front of as many people as possible where a percentage of them are sure to say, “yes, this is brilliant, where do I sign up?!“ well. . .  name recognition beats number of names every time. All businesses have days that are filled with putting out fires. Because of that, the problem of the urgent can often overshadow the importance of constant marketing. More than likely, you answered yes to both of those questions. If that’s truly how you feel, look for ways to keep the urgent tasks at bay and focus on what’s really important. While you want people to buy whatever you’re selling the instant they see it, you know it just doesn’t work like that. You know that’s not how buying decisions are made because that’s not how you make decisions is it. When people don’t know you, they’re not sure whether they can trust you — it doesn’t matter how brilliant your first impression is. They’re going to go out and consider a few more options, or maybe wait a little longer until the time is right…  for whatever reason, they’re just not ready. And it is their reasons so your needs don't matter

Awareness is a process. It might take them seeing you in their field of vision 15 times before they’re really super-awesomely aware and remember people only see 1 our of 3 marketing messages. so that is (ouch) 45 messages to the same person! So, you’re gonna need a way to get in front of those people a second, third or eighty times so you can prove to them you’re credible, trustworthy, and the best option available from all the others they might be considering. This is where a consistent message is needed to provide the glue of consistency in your message (both your words and visuals) and that has the power to speed this whole trust- and awareness-building process up.

So What Are You Waiting For? If you want to wait for the perfect time, that was yesterday. The second best time is now.  But if you have no time?  Call Larson & Associates 1. We Make Sure Your Message is Clear  2. Create A Marketing Plan  3 We Set A Realistic Schedule  4 We Create And Batch Your Content  5, We Will Break Your Plan Down To Smaller Workable Action Steps  6. We Set Up A Support System And Accountability  As always, I really hope you’ve found these thoughts and idea useful and that you’ll take them and apply them to your own business. But if you can't or need help you can call us. Larson & Associates 847-991-1294

Larson & Associates Making Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Copyright © 2022 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassociates www.larsonassociates.ws

GROWING EXISTING ACCOUNTS

 

EXISTING ACCOUNTS Existing accounts are the most valuable thing in your business! Well maybe tied with employees because I think after the last year or so our employees and associates are the absolute most important we have to work with and to grow or even sustain your business . . .  Yet, when asked that question in a general survey, business owners often look to the bottom line listing off expensive things like equipment, buildings, etc, equating value with costs. Not even thinking about the intangibles such as good will. But dare I say the most valuable thing to your business are your customers!  You can lose your equipment. You can lose your best employees and team members. You can loose your office or building. You can loose all your money. It might hurt but you can replace each and every one of those things. But there is one thing that a business absolutely cannot lose in order to remain viable: your customers.  So ask yourself: How can we better understand the needs of our customers? How can we stay top-of-mind when our customers are ready to order? How can we build and maintain trust and credibility with our audience? How can we leverage our existing customer relationships for more sales? How can we position our customers for a successful future for them with us? How can we exemplify our unique selling proposition (USP)? UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS Customers are the lifeblood of any business, my business, your business any businesses. Loose your focus on that and poof your gone faster then the speed of light. And and did you also know that 76% of those same customers expect a company to understand their needs? This means that to succeed in selling more of what you do, you need to ask yourself how your company can better help and understand your current customers needs.   That is one of the reasons Larson & Associates exists. If you don't have the time, the talent or the training to keep in consistent contact with your customers WE do. With a Larson & Associates 3-legged stool marketing method for customer retention you can keep what is yours. If you don't have a customer follow up system: We do! If you don't have a new customer follow up system: We do! If you don't have a customer survey system: We do!  We can help you keep what you already have! Call me at 847-991-1293 and let's have a conversation. It is what we do best! Larson & Associates We make good businesses great and great businesses even better.  Target Marketing, Teleprospecting & Sales Professionals for New Account Acquisition

EXISTING ACCOUNTS Existing accounts are the most valuable thing in your business! Well maybe tied with employees because I think after the last year or so our employees and associates are the absolute most important we have to work with and to grow or even sustain your business . . .  Yet, when asked that question in a general survey, business owners often look to the bottom line listing off expensive things like equipment, buildings, etc, equating value with costs. Not even thinking about the intangibles such as good will. But dare I say the most valuable thing to your business are your customers!  You can lose your equipment. You can lose your best employees and team members. You can loose your office or building. You can loose all your money. It might hurt but you can replace each and every one of those things. But there is one thing that a business absolutely cannot lose in order to remain viable: your customers.  So ask yourself: How can we better understand the needs of our customers? How can we stay top-of-mind when our customers are ready to order? How can we build and maintain trust and credibility with our audience? How can we leverage our existing customer relationships for more sales? How can we position our customers for a successful future for them with us? How can we exemplify our unique selling proposition (USP)? UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS Customers are the lifeblood of any business, my business, your business any businesses. Loose your focus on that and poof your gone faster then the speed of light. And and did you also know that 76% of those same customers expect a company to understand their needs? This means that to succeed in selling more of what you do, you need to ask yourself how your company can better help and understand your current customers needs.   That is one of the reasons Larson & Associates exists. If you don't have the time, the talent or the training to keep in consistent contact with your customers WE do. With a Larson & Associates 3-legged stool marketing method for customer retention you can keep what is yours. If you don't have a customer follow up system: We do! If you don't have a new customer follow up system: We do! If you don't have a customer survey system: We do!  We can help you keep what you already have! Call me at 847-991-1294 and let's have a conversation. It is what we do best! Larson & Associates We make good businesses great and great businesses even better.  Target Marketing, Teleprospecting & Sales Professionals for New Account Acquisition Copyright © 2022 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294

What Are Your Sales Numbers

 

No More Sales Slumps But You Need To Know Your Numbers! If you read though that last email I sent, No More Sales Slumps, you might have noticed the key was knowing your sales and marketing numbers. So what are your numbers.  Don't know? If you don’t know your numbers you will need a month to track them out, or at least week if you are in a rush to get started.   You need ___ Suspects (anyone in your lists that can or might buy from you) To get ___ Prospects  (anyone you have made some kind of contact with) To get ___ Leads (having direct interaction with) To get ___ Proposals (written proposal or estimate) To get ___ Sales (closed and paid for project) If this was me  I need 9501 to get 784 prospects Wit 784 prospects I get 42 leads With 42 leads I get 3 proposals With 3 proposals I get 1 sale Now I track everything from networking meetings to trade show walk-bys to social media views to phone calls and everything in between. If I can find a way to track it I do. I know I might have a lot of junk in my numbers but if they can fog a mirror they count. I learned a long time ago not to write anyone off. The key is to start tracking. If you reading this thank-you because you are 1 suspect or prospect or something to add to my numbers. I want you to advance to a proposal and a sale but win, loose or draw the numbers never lie. Now that you have YOUR numbers you can work the rest of this cost of sales analyst sheet.   The Sales Slump Planning Sheet will enable you to determine the average number of contacts per day you MUST make (or average) to achieve your goal for the next 12 months. Your name: _____________________________________________   Your average earnings per sale are? . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .             __________ How much money do you want to earn in the next 12 months?  __________ How many presentations do you make to gain a sale? . . . . .    __________ Divide your earnings per sale (1) by presentations per sale (3). This is your earnings per presentations . . . . . . . . . . . .             ___________ A) How many contacts do you make to gain a presentation?   ___________ B) Divide your earnings per presentation (4) by contacts per presentation (5A) This is your earnings per contact ___________   A) Divide your earnings goal for the next 12 months (2) by the number of      weeks you will work. This will give you your weekly earnings amount . ___________ B) Divide the result by 5 or 6 depending on te number of days you work.      This is your earnings goal per day.   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .     ___________ Divide earnings per day (6B) by earnings per contact (5B). This is your required contacts per day you need to achieve your earnings goal.   ____________ Now you have a good idea what you need to do to hit your goals, you know what a sale or lead costs you. Now maybe you can actually justify a service like mine. That is unless you like lead generation and cold calling, but what ever you do: Take Action Time is waiting so sit down and start tracking. One by one. If you have nothing to track get cooking. Go knock on some doors. Send out some e-mails. Work your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook social network and groups. Go to a trade show. Ask customers for referrals. Talk to any and everyone about what you do.   At Larson & Associates we are always ready to put forth that extra effort, to work hard and persevere in everything that we do for you. We can help you avoid the dreaded sales slumps, overcome marketing anxiety and map out new places to ‘dig’. When prospecting for gold or for sales, remember that your success is directly proportionate to your effort. If you do only the minimum, your payback will be minimal. The more you do, the more you get. It really is that simple.   And when you need help reaching out for sales, proposals, leads, prospects or suspects we will be here waiting for your call at 847-991-1294. Larson & Associates Making Good Business Great and Great Businesses Even Better

End Sales Slumps

 

End Sales Slumps Starting Now! We all have slumps: Those times when you just can’t quite find or maintain your rhythm.  No matter how good you are or how long you have been in sales, sooner or later you're going to hit a sales slump.     That time when you can’t seem to close the sale despite your best effort.  When each call or conversation that you do get seems that much harder than it ever was before.  The pressure is on, the volume is down and you just can’t get that deal to click. Understanding that we can influence this cycle, spot problems, change behaviors and avoid repeating mistakes that lead to slumps in sales is key. Wouldn’t it be nice to know when a slump was about to happen?  Larson & Associates we usually don’t like to brag, but we have a secret where we can successfully predict when a sales slump is going to happen, well, nearly 95% of the time that is. After all, no one is perfect, right? So do you want to know our secret to avoiding sales slumps? It really is quite simple, it all comes down to: Prospecting. Yes prospecting. Sales prospecting is one of the most important aspects of an organization, let alone a sales process. All companies (startups especially) have to fill their pipeline with good leads in order to acquire customers. Helping you understand prospecting and what it means for your sales is a big part of how our secret can work for you, the other thing you need to know is predicting when the slump will happen. The crystal ball to that answer is identifying the length of your sales cycle, is it 1 day, 1 week, 1 month 1 year?    Once you pinpoint that then you are in the driver’s seat. Knowing this will not only help you predict when you are heading for a slump but also how long you can expect it will take to get out of it. Sales slumps have a way of self-perpetuating, with the lack of sales eroding our confidence and expectations of positive results, which in turn makes it even more difficult to return to the good form we have lost along the way.  In sales the natural reaction is to fight off the pressure and panic with a quick fix, by ‘digging’ for more sales. Digging in places where you know the sales were, looking for that next pot of gold. This is what went wrong in the first place, stop ‘digging’ where the sales were, trying to work that same ‘claim’ endlessly and move on to new ground.  If there is a trick to prospecting it’s doing the work to make it ‘work’. The only real way is to get back out there and start making the calls,   working the leads. Initiating conversations with cold f2f sales calls and going to the events where your prospects will be, these are still the ‘nuts and bolts’ that hold the process together. Opportunity is out there, your job is to find it, through prospecting. At Larson & Associates we can fill in the potholes and help you be where you need to be, as your guide and as your partner in success. We can work with you to avoid mistakes and plan for the future.  So when you find yourself in a slump take a deep breath, a real, fill your lungs and hold it for a second, deep breath, acknowledge that you are in one and get rid of all that emotional baggage. Make the commitment and set aside a daily time for prospecting. Invest your time, energy and emotion into actions that you can control. Sales success is a process, do the basics and the rest will follow. Prospecting is less about luck and more about effort, hard work and perseverance, searching for that new ‘strike’ and being ready to move onto the next. So go on now. Sit down and pick up the phone. Go knock on some doors. Send out some e-mails. Work your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook social network and groups. Start asking for referrals. Talk to any and everyone about what you do.  At Larson & Associates we are always ready to put forth that extra effort, to work hard and persevere in everything that we do for you. We can help you avoid the dreaded sales slumps, overcome marketing anxiety and map out new places to ‘dig’. When prospecting for gold or for sales, remember that your success is directly proportionate to your effort. If you do only the minimum, your payback will be minimal. The more you do, the more you get. It really is that simple. Larson & Associates Making Good Business Great and Great Businesses Even Better