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

Telemarketing: It Still Works

 

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Telemarketing? Really? In consumer calling, robo calling, AI calling has decimated the industry but for businesses to get in the market fast picking up the phone and calling a targeted list is the best and quickest way to get it done. That is why we are here! Picking up the phone lets us generate leads, make sales and marketing activities to directly connect and interact with customers  and prospects in real time. For us if we can't follow up with a phone call it is not worth doing! Has Telemarketing Been Replaced? Don't count on it! With the invasion of digital marketing, traditional marketing tactics like telemarketing have been replaced by social media and content marketing. Really? Not where I am sitting. People are no longer interested in receiving these calls and they also have the means to ignore and block them altogether. Additionally, they can shop online, which makes the whole premise of telemarketing redundant. Let me ask you can digital marketing ad ask for the order or appointment? No. So even with all that criticism, cold calling still has its advantages. It can prove useful as a tool for nurturing leads and prospects and building high-quality databases. While it can be very annoying to receive calls from strangers compelling you to buy things, modern B2B is telemarketing has become a much more exact science. So no wonder that over HALF, yes half, of the B2B marketers still use telemarketing for effective lead generation and use it as one of the most productive tactics to generate sales. So Exactly What Is Telemarketing? The very word telemarketing brings to mind all those infuriating and inconvenient calls requesting us to buy things we don’t need. AI calling. Voice over calling. Rude and obnoxious.  However, it has been shown time and time again to be a handy tool for businesses that have limited budgets for promoting their products and services. When incorporated with other marketing tactics, (like the Larson 3 legged stool method) telemarketing can prove to be very effective at making your entire program work for your marketing campaign. Inbound telemarketing consists of taking queries or order calls generated through advertising, direct mail or any other marketing channel. On the other hand, outbound telemarketing directly targets the customer to sell products or services – cold calling. And yes your targeted list makes all the difference to your success. Why Use Telemarketing When People Hate It? Because It Works! Telemarketing can be used either as an independent tactic or in combination with other marketing strategies to help achieve their sales target. Here are some uses of telemarketing: Selling 60% of marketing managers of Fortune top 500 companies testify to the effectiveness of telemarketing when it comes to reaching out to customers and closing sales. Telemarketing is used by companies to sell their products or services, tap into new markets and customer bases. Giving satisfaction to existing customers is just as crucial to a business as the reach out to prospects – telemarketers ensure that both get the attention they require and address their wants and needs. Generating Leads Telemarketing can play a huge role in creating leads and finding new customers. Through this tactic, you can reach out to potential customers and compile the lists of new prospects. The telemarketer then passes these updated lists to the highly trained sales people who can reach these customers to generate sales. They also identify the nature and requirements of the prospective customer and relay this information to the sales force but honestly most of the time a prospect does not have enough time for the telemarketer to drill in for qualifying questions. Following up after closing a sale is also a critical aspect for a telemarketer’s because a follow up with the generated leads can increase sales opportunities by 20%. Compiling Information Telemarketing can be a very efficient tool in analyzing the success of any marketing or sales campaign. Telemarketers can call and get in contact with customers to gather reviews and gauge levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and relay it to the marketing team for analysis. Studies show that 17% of the average day for a salesman is spent in entering customer’s data. Compiling this information can then be used to target the prospective clients for the next marketing campaign or help in reconnecting with inactive clients and winning them back. NOTE: Do not use surveys as a ploy to get information for a future sales and marketing attack. Be open and honest if that is your intent. Enhancing Customer Experience Connecting with inactive clients can prove to be more cost-effective than acquiring new clients. Studies have shown that it costs five times more to gain a new client than to retain the past one. Telemarketing can really help ensure a satisfactory customer experience.  Telemarketing In A Digital Age If you want to increase your business’s sales and increase revenues while keeping costs low, telemarketing is the solution to your problem. It is a marketing tool that enables you to strike get personal with your consumers so that you can better understand their needs and requirements.  Some advantages of a good telemarketing strategy are: Deploy Marketing Automation Telemarketing gives you the ability to track behavior trends and engagement levels of the prospects, getting an in-depth understanding of how to better cater to their needs. Let market automation do what it does best, nurturing prospects with repeated messages about their interests – this lets follow-up calls from being cold but in fact, warm, timely and more appropriate. When powered by marketing automation technology, a telemarketing campaign can bring in more inquiries and qualified leads than ever before. Strengthen Quality Leads The most significant advantage of telemarketing is its ability to generate leads which is the primary objective of businesses and companies. It has proven to be the fastest way of finding new customers by allowing the companies to communicate with potential customers who cannot be reached by the company. Lead generation is all about searching for the right customers whom many companies are unable to find and fail at having a good telemarketing strategy. Saves Money Choosing to do telemarketing over other marketing strategies is a great way to promote your business cost-effectively. It saves you from the hassle of allocating a budget for larger outside sales teams. You can also outsource the marketing process to other telemarketing companies who can do the legwork for you and give you an advantage over your competitors. This further allows you to control your budget  while leveraging its marketing activities to the max.   Friendly And Accessible Telemarketers are required to engage customers, and to do this they must be cordial yet professional towards them. Try doing that when we get told no again and again, hung up on, sometimes calling interesting things. Even in a business to business call we get "slammed". If you can handle the massive amount of rejection do it yourself but for the rest of you there is Larson. Though all this you need to keep friendly and approachable, not loosing your cool it actually compels the customer or prospect to listen to you. This is the true art of telemarketing. Warm Calling Cold calling can be very aggressive and might elicit negative reactions from your customers. The art of telemarketing is to be quick, direct and show respect. This will compel your customer and prospects to listen and might even lead to a sale, which is why we are making phone calls, right? Work Smarter Businesses networking sites like LinkedIn let telemarketers become the authority on lead generation. They can use professional networking resources to ensure the quality of all their leads so that they know who they are talking to and whether they are the right contact. This makes telemarketing more efficient and effective, giving marketers all the information they need to find and nurture strong leads. But online sites can not and do not replace a person reach out.  So There You Are Telemarketing continues to thrive in a digital age, despite the bad press that surrounds it. It has found its use in generating leads, while also selling and driving revenue for a business. The effectiveness of telemarketing in this digital world lies in the level of personalization and exclusivity that it offers to the customers. 1 on 1 calling. Telemarketing not only generates leads and sales for the company, but it is also an efficient way of keeping in touch with customers who can provide feedback for the company’s products and services. This allows the business to take constructive criticism and improve their services. Apart from this, it can also prove to be very cost-effective for businesses that have limited marketing budgets but want to generate maximum results from their campaigns. This only testifies to the fact that telemarketing is a benefit for businesses and companies even in the age of digital marketing. Nothing, nothing can replace the power of one-on-one conversations with a real live person, NOTHING! 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

Copyright © 2023 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassociates www.larsonassociates.ws

2023 Best Of Grayslake Awards Marketing Agency

 

Howard Larson & Larson & Associates have been nominated to receive the 2023 Best of Grayslake Award Marketing Agency Working in the recession years of 2022-23 has shown the business model of a virtual office that Howard Larson and Larson & Associates starting using back in in 2006, not just to lower our carbon footprint but to give the Larson & Associates staff greater job satisfaction and control has allowed us to give us a quicker response to the needs of our clients. Not that it has been easy the last few years. We we thank God that we have not lost 1 day or even 1 hour of work during this time. 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 10 Million with 3 to 12 sales people remains in tact. Or those companies exhibiting at major trade shows needing a marketing plan that has been shown to work. In 2022-23 despite the recession, our year over year clients who are using the Larson & Associates 3 Legged Stool Method of Marketing have been seeing growth above 21.8% as well as grabbing increased market share with bold market share expansion programs.  Thank you for your continued support of the Larson Philosophy of Marketing. Now in our 48th year it is because of you that we are still here and continue to be successful. 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. 2023 Best of Grayslake Awards in the category of Marketing Agency The Grayslake Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Grayslake area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value. Each year, the Grayslake Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Grayslake area a great place to live, work and play. The Grayslake Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy. Larson & Associates    We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Copyright ©2023 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way     Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassocaites.ws 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