Even if we did not have this little recessionary bump in the economy we would have had a boat load or heavy waves trying to capsize your (business) boat. The twin waves of globalization and technological advancement would have made you look at new ways of doing things. .
Globalization: Companies are being “encouraged” to buy anywhere in the world where they can get the best price. A few years ago the last US shirt manufacturer closed its doors (at least as far as I know) and moved its entire manufacturing out of the United States. That right one typhoon in the Pacific and you might go (literally) shirtless! Why, labor costs. Now of course all those out of work short makers can’t afford to buy the cheaper shirts, but if you have a job I guess you can.
Technology: As we march into information saturation we all know the advancement of what the internet is doing. We are seeing Google and Yahoo, Intel and Dell all pushing to be the newest and best. Opening up their corporate wallets to gobble up what they see as the next better mousetrap of communication. People, you and I can push into Social Media and talk to real people where ever they are about what is important to them in regard to our service or product. Bloggers are out there making comments about business issues. Then there are all the new LAWS that governments are putting in place to get what they think is their cut of the take. (Larson prediction: there will be a National Sales tax on internet transactions)
So how in this mad world do you keep up? You need to systemically, and I do mean get yourself in order, to be able to monitor the outside influences that can and will affect your business. This goes well beyond what in years past you did. You need to be able to look at the negatives to be reactionary and the positives to be proactive and make life difficult for your competition. You need to be moving away from the Harvard Business School of contingency planning and into the realm of Bootstrap picture planning. You need to be thinking, if this happens then I do? Then list out your options and take each option and go through the process of what happens if… You need to be flexible and fast on your feet. Most of you reading this are small business and don’t have layers of bureaucracy to work through. The important thing is to be able to work quickly and decisively to any opportunity or bump in your market.
So how is this craziness affection the customer or prospect? Go out and walk, no run though you’re nearest Mall. Aside from the fact they are empty. (I was out last night) the customers are moving to lower priced offerings. Less and less loyalty. National boarders are making less and less of a difference. Next there is less and less discretionary purchasing going on. It the old one works they are not buying a new one. So what do you do? You need to make your customers feel more comfortable and secure about buying from you.
If we pick on the car industry and you have a prospect looking at a car, you might say, ok, if prices go down in the next 6 months, we will refund the difference, or as some have done, if you lose your job, we will suspend the interest of your car payments or take the car back.
So what are your marketing options? The ones I am going with for 2011 are Telemarketing, Direct mail, classified ads, Web SEM and Social Media Marketing including blogs.
I have always liked the combination of telemarketing and direct mail. I guess that is why when I reinvented my company those to weapons of your marketing arsenal where the 2 areas I pushed into. Why? Because they work. Over the last couple of years I have seen the importance of a solid Web SEM and Social Media Marketing plan and attack which is why I have pushed hard into this area. This is and for the next year my 3 pronged attack for myself and my primary customers.
That leads us to predictive analysis. Yes I am telling you to do selective profiling. Filter out the non-buyers and go after the high probability prospects, harder. Ya go on and rate your prospects. It’s alright, really. No one is looking at your behind the scenes activity. Besides you only have so much time to devote to sales and marketing so be selective.
As now as we advance on to Christmas and the Georgian New Year what is the biggest challenge and mistake you face?
Your advertising budget. Shrink, stay the same, expand. Is what you’re doing working? Would we gain more by looking at other areas? Would we gain market share by lowering price or should we increase service? You should not be thinking short term but long term. This recession will not last forever so you need to plan for the life after recession.
To answer these and other burning questions you need to be looking deeper into your sales areas and sales and profit numbers. If you need to save money, figure out what products are not performing up to projections and/or even costing you money to provide. Are there geographical areas that are non-productive? Are there customers you should let go of?
Today is Friday so over the weekend take an hour or two or three and ponder over your and your company’s future.
Larson Notes & Satire: Where is my competition? India. Philippines. Anywhere cheep. What can they give what I do and can, each and every time? Telemarketing with what we call “ZERO” accent. Technology, like wow, I am running as fast as I can to keep up and try everything I can to keep myself and my handful of social media clients at the forefront of getting found on the web and in their respective Social Media outlets.
Business is not like running a marathon. Not anymore. It’s more like running a 5000 meter (5K) race. You need to go long but so some surges when the opportunity presents its self. Be it to fend off a competitor or to put some distance behind you and your competition when the timing it right.
Have you ever seen a 3 legged stool wobble? I haven’t. I don’t think it can. I am not saying be like me and do as I do. I am unique. Isn’t that a good thing that there is only one of me? What I do works for me as I sit up in my ivory tower looking down on the snow covered grassy yard of my business I see green. The green of spring and the green of money as I work my craft to make my customers money.
I am not cheap. Don’t want to be. You want cheap find an Indian or a Pilipino (and I am not knocking the work of Indian and Philippine companies here) but what I will tell you as much as they might try their people will not sound like an American, they can’t. As much as they might want to act in Social Media like an American, again, sorry but they don’t know the local terms.
You want to market to Chicago and the Midwest. I’ll give you Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Detroit. You want the south; I’ll give you Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis and Miami You want the North East? I’ll give you New York, Boston, Philly, even Buffalo. West, you got it with Phoenix, Denver, LA, San Francisco, and Seattle. Texas? I am there as well, Dallas and fixing problems in Houston.
Web Marketing, Social Media marketing come to us! Why because we are a player in that arena not a bystander company that is playing catch up to figure out what’s happening. We do everything wrong yet we get excellent results. Just ask the pro’s we are terrible at what we do, or are they just now as PRO as they want you to think they are.
We got some big ambitious plans for next year. We are thinking not just 3 months ahead but 3.5 years. Are you?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Your Image Counts
You’re out there on the web, in the mail, face to face, handing out business cards at networking events, doing whatever it takes to find that elusive customer.
Start by protecting your base. Ya, make sure what got already is secure. Keep your name, your company, your brand secure in the eyes of your current customers and prospects. This is your bread and butter. This is what is putting the bacon on the table. Don’t lose track of what you got. Love them, kiss their babies, take them out to breakfast and or lunch.
As you start on an expansion phase in your business you will need to put in extra time. Why extra, so you keep your base secure. You will need to need to keep a hard eye on social and twitter talk. If someone reaches out, you need to be there to answer. If you get a referral you need to be there to make the connection. If you get slammed you need to answer the attack.
A new blog, a new social media site to keep track of, going out and reading and posting onto other blogs, reading and then answering forum questions in some to the social media sites you are already in, starting a newsletter (online or print), putting the final touches to a new brochure or completing and sending out that mailer you have been talking about forever. All good ways to protect your image and your territory.
Expand your personal expertise. You can increase the total value of you and your companies brand by finding every and I mean every opportunity within your present area of skill and knowledge. You know things that other people don’t. You really do. Let people know you are willing to share your knowledge with then in return you might get some good exposure as an expert in your field. If you can dominate the area of knowledge in and on the different Social Media sites you’re involved in one and a time, you will own that area, you will be known as the resident expert. People will turn and come to you for your knowledge. Just make sure that you have customers or prospects and that your target market is in and on the site or you will be just wasting your time. Just spinning your wheels in a Chicago show drift.
Boost your visibility. As your reach out, touching people at their level you will be increasing your overall visibility. Work for a Big Dog company; ask the powers that be if you can produce your own personal product and services blog. If you are in a small company ask your boss, and more times than not they will jump for joy, heaping lavish praise on you for being so proactive and taking something off their plate. I know I would.
Larson Notes & Satire: Remember the higher up on the visibility ladder you go the more of your butt is exposed. If you’re ready to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, step out and make it happen. The world is filled with so many people who talk talk talk then do nothing. I’d rather see a person do do do and not toot their own horn about it. Nothing wrong with talking if you are a doer. Just don’t be an empty potato sack. You toot people will see, they will stand up and notice that you are a doer, a winner, a succeeded. If you can push your self to do one more thing a day your ahead of the competaion. Now just think, if you did one more thing before you started work in the morning, one more thing at lunch time, and one more thing before you sign off for the day, where would your business and career go?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Start by protecting your base. Ya, make sure what got already is secure. Keep your name, your company, your brand secure in the eyes of your current customers and prospects. This is your bread and butter. This is what is putting the bacon on the table. Don’t lose track of what you got. Love them, kiss their babies, take them out to breakfast and or lunch.
As you start on an expansion phase in your business you will need to put in extra time. Why extra, so you keep your base secure. You will need to need to keep a hard eye on social and twitter talk. If someone reaches out, you need to be there to answer. If you get a referral you need to be there to make the connection. If you get slammed you need to answer the attack.
A new blog, a new social media site to keep track of, going out and reading and posting onto other blogs, reading and then answering forum questions in some to the social media sites you are already in, starting a newsletter (online or print), putting the final touches to a new brochure or completing and sending out that mailer you have been talking about forever. All good ways to protect your image and your territory.
Expand your personal expertise. You can increase the total value of you and your companies brand by finding every and I mean every opportunity within your present area of skill and knowledge. You know things that other people don’t. You really do. Let people know you are willing to share your knowledge with then in return you might get some good exposure as an expert in your field. If you can dominate the area of knowledge in and on the different Social Media sites you’re involved in one and a time, you will own that area, you will be known as the resident expert. People will turn and come to you for your knowledge. Just make sure that you have customers or prospects and that your target market is in and on the site or you will be just wasting your time. Just spinning your wheels in a Chicago show drift.
Boost your visibility. As your reach out, touching people at their level you will be increasing your overall visibility. Work for a Big Dog company; ask the powers that be if you can produce your own personal product and services blog. If you are in a small company ask your boss, and more times than not they will jump for joy, heaping lavish praise on you for being so proactive and taking something off their plate. I know I would.
Larson Notes & Satire: Remember the higher up on the visibility ladder you go the more of your butt is exposed. If you’re ready to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, step out and make it happen. The world is filled with so many people who talk talk talk then do nothing. I’d rather see a person do do do and not toot their own horn about it. Nothing wrong with talking if you are a doer. Just don’t be an empty potato sack. You toot people will see, they will stand up and notice that you are a doer, a winner, a succeeded. If you can push your self to do one more thing a day your ahead of the competaion. Now just think, if you did one more thing before you started work in the morning, one more thing at lunch time, and one more thing before you sign off for the day, where would your business and career go?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Web Ranking: More Than a Good SEO Program
In the “Old Days” we would do a SES (Search Engine Submission) on a site once every 15 and/or 30 days and get a company listed higher up on the Search Engines. It worked, and it worked quite well.
But now it’s not your father’s SEO. New things such as Google’s caffeine are changing the way Search Engines do business. News, paid advertising, shopping coupons feeds, and of course Social Media all are playing a larger, bigger role in ranking.
There are Basic Search Starting Points to be aware of. A few things that have traditional giving consistent Search Engine Optimization Strong content, good keyword density, keywords in title and meta tags (Don’t believe people when they way meta tags don’t count anymore) link building (both inbound and outbound).
As it sits today from up in my ivory tower looking down on the snow filled landscape of my office window, there is nothing more important in today’s SEO that a good Social Media presence. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Merchant Circle, Nings, Yelp, can and do play a major part in what happens to your Web Sites rankings. But it is not just a matter of throwing up your shingle and twitting away. Social Media and SEO marketing can strengthen each other or destroy what you are trying to do. A solid Social Media campaign engages and interacts with your friends and fans that improves your over all organic listings and strengthens your inbound linking possibilities.
If you set your Social Media profiles up correctly, you need to pay attention to use your key words as well as making this a source of inbound links to your Web Site. Additionally if you do it right, your Social Media sites start to crowd out your competition in a key word search page Now there is a beautiful thing, less room for your competition, and let me tell you it is a major coup when you own 4.5 or 6 or the whole first page of a key word organic search.
As we push to get to the top so too are the Search Engines looking at even more changes. Your sites history, change activity, site hits. As scary as it is, no two searches from any given 2 or 3 computers will produce the same results.
Yet, if you keep using good basic SEO concepts you will have some success. If you go into hyper drive with your work in this area you can (and will) get top rankings. I can only use myself as an example. In fighting the Big Dog Telemarketing Companies my site with certain key word stings such as “Telesales for printers” gets top ranking in Yahoo, Google and Bing.
What is your target market, narrow nitch it and go out own it!
Larson Notes & Satire: Now that I said this let me tell you something else. Things are going to change. No I have no hot line into the board room of Google, Yahoo or Bing. They are not telling me what is coming down. I am reactionary like everyone else, just trying to keep on top of the wave. Yes get out those old Beach Boy albums and play a few surfer songs. Ride the waves baby!
Now if you think I am too nonchalant about this, don’t mistake my words. I take it very seriously but keep in mind to win I also treat it as a game, a game I am winning and intend to keep on winning.
I may knock on your door and ask if you want to play. If you want to play with me (and I will take your money) I will get you results if you do it my way or you can do it yourself. Either way Just Do It!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
But now it’s not your father’s SEO. New things such as Google’s caffeine are changing the way Search Engines do business. News, paid advertising, shopping coupons feeds, and of course Social Media all are playing a larger, bigger role in ranking.
There are Basic Search Starting Points to be aware of. A few things that have traditional giving consistent Search Engine Optimization Strong content, good keyword density, keywords in title and meta tags (Don’t believe people when they way meta tags don’t count anymore) link building (both inbound and outbound).
As it sits today from up in my ivory tower looking down on the snow filled landscape of my office window, there is nothing more important in today’s SEO that a good Social Media presence. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Merchant Circle, Nings, Yelp, can and do play a major part in what happens to your Web Sites rankings. But it is not just a matter of throwing up your shingle and twitting away. Social Media and SEO marketing can strengthen each other or destroy what you are trying to do. A solid Social Media campaign engages and interacts with your friends and fans that improves your over all organic listings and strengthens your inbound linking possibilities.
If you set your Social Media profiles up correctly, you need to pay attention to use your key words as well as making this a source of inbound links to your Web Site. Additionally if you do it right, your Social Media sites start to crowd out your competition in a key word search page Now there is a beautiful thing, less room for your competition, and let me tell you it is a major coup when you own 4.5 or 6 or the whole first page of a key word organic search.
As we push to get to the top so too are the Search Engines looking at even more changes. Your sites history, change activity, site hits. As scary as it is, no two searches from any given 2 or 3 computers will produce the same results.
Yet, if you keep using good basic SEO concepts you will have some success. If you go into hyper drive with your work in this area you can (and will) get top rankings. I can only use myself as an example. In fighting the Big Dog Telemarketing Companies my site with certain key word stings such as “Telesales for printers” gets top ranking in Yahoo, Google and Bing.
What is your target market, narrow nitch it and go out own it!
Larson Notes & Satire: Now that I said this let me tell you something else. Things are going to change. No I have no hot line into the board room of Google, Yahoo or Bing. They are not telling me what is coming down. I am reactionary like everyone else, just trying to keep on top of the wave. Yes get out those old Beach Boy albums and play a few surfer songs. Ride the waves baby!
Now if you think I am too nonchalant about this, don’t mistake my words. I take it very seriously but keep in mind to win I also treat it as a game, a game I am winning and intend to keep on winning.
I may knock on your door and ask if you want to play. If you want to play with me (and I will take your money) I will get you results if you do it my way or you can do it yourself. Either way Just Do It!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Monday, December 13, 2010
How Much Should You Expect?
If there is any danger in delving into the world of Social Media Marketing it is expecting too much. Once you have allocated the time and the effort necessary to get involved, how much and how fast of a payback do you anticipate getting?
Social Media Marketing (heavy on the social, light on the marketing please) is about trying to engage with the customer in conversations that are important to them in regards to your product or service. If there is any insight I can give you here, it is that you need to keep your other working channels of marketing going forward and use Social Media for the interaction tool it is. Use the tools that are made to hammer home your message hammering away. Be Lars the Carpenter and swing that hammer hard! Keep your direct mail, keep your email campaign, Keep that telemarketing program in place and support it, back it up with your high touch Social Media Marketing program.
Each touch makes a difference. Hard core marketing to find and grab their attention and High touch to sooth their pain. By mixing your tools up and using them in the way they are meant to be used you will find the real ROI of Social Media going up to become cost effective and cost justifiable.
Larson Notes & Satire: You can’t sit the in your ivory tower and beat on people all the time. As easy as hammering your message home is, and it is much easier than stepping down into the masses to actually interact and talk to your customers and would-be customers.
Interaction takes work, honesty, trustworthiness and integrity. If you are not true to your words when you get out of your tower and have to talk to people you might find yourself on the front line of criticism. I know I have. I know I have a way of working both in and out of Social Media. If you have followed me for any length of time you know I am hammering my message out there, at times inappropriately but then if you say something to me, via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Email or whatever, I stop and respond and we can have a good conversation.
Again if you know me, I am not politically correct, I speak my mind, I am highly opinionated, but will fight tooth and nail to preserve you and I, the right to our individual feelings and beliefs. If I annihilate you from becoming my customer, well it is probably just as well because you would not last long as a Larson customer. Either you would fire me or I would fire you, and yes I do fire customers! The point is when you hire Larson & Associates as your marketing company you are really hiring me and my ideas no matter who in the Larson team is working on your account, you are getting my way of thinking and my doing things.
I am a capitalist and business is business. Business with a heart? Well. . . . . see me on February 14th.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Social Media Marketing (heavy on the social, light on the marketing please) is about trying to engage with the customer in conversations that are important to them in regards to your product or service. If there is any insight I can give you here, it is that you need to keep your other working channels of marketing going forward and use Social Media for the interaction tool it is. Use the tools that are made to hammer home your message hammering away. Be Lars the Carpenter and swing that hammer hard! Keep your direct mail, keep your email campaign, Keep that telemarketing program in place and support it, back it up with your high touch Social Media Marketing program.
Each touch makes a difference. Hard core marketing to find and grab their attention and High touch to sooth their pain. By mixing your tools up and using them in the way they are meant to be used you will find the real ROI of Social Media going up to become cost effective and cost justifiable.
Larson Notes & Satire: You can’t sit the in your ivory tower and beat on people all the time. As easy as hammering your message home is, and it is much easier than stepping down into the masses to actually interact and talk to your customers and would-be customers.
Interaction takes work, honesty, trustworthiness and integrity. If you are not true to your words when you get out of your tower and have to talk to people you might find yourself on the front line of criticism. I know I have. I know I have a way of working both in and out of Social Media. If you have followed me for any length of time you know I am hammering my message out there, at times inappropriately but then if you say something to me, via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Email or whatever, I stop and respond and we can have a good conversation.
Again if you know me, I am not politically correct, I speak my mind, I am highly opinionated, but will fight tooth and nail to preserve you and I, the right to our individual feelings and beliefs. If I annihilate you from becoming my customer, well it is probably just as well because you would not last long as a Larson customer. Either you would fire me or I would fire you, and yes I do fire customers! The point is when you hire Larson & Associates as your marketing company you are really hiring me and my ideas no matter who in the Larson team is working on your account, you are getting my way of thinking and my doing things.
I am a capitalist and business is business. Business with a heart? Well. . . . . see me on February 14th.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Marketing to the Littles
The small and medium size business marketing place is huge. I mean large. I’m saying gigantic.
Just how big compared to their big business brother?
Micro / 1-4 employees / 13,231,562 businesses / 75% of total / 27,884,651 contact names / 43% or total
Small A / 5-9 employees / 1,943,132 businesses / 11% of total / 6,886,895 contact names / 10% of total
Small B / 10-19 employees / 1,247,580 businesses / 7% of total / 5,865,649 contact names / 9% of total
Medium / 20-99 employees / 1,089,625 businesses / 6% of total / 12,797,020 contact names / 20% of total
Large / 100+ employees / 207,493 businesses / 1% of total / 11,788,517 contact names / 18% of total
Point blank, if you go after the smaller market you are aiming at 62% or all businesses.
So what is a good plan of attack? In this blog I give you 4 areas to look at.
1) Know the Purchasing Dynamics. There are big differences in how you need to look at a small micro (1-4) vers a mid (20-99) sized company. The micro businesses are usually hand to mouth businesses living from invoice to invoice. There are lots of them, but cash flow can be a problem in the segment. Cash, COD or prepayment is a good thing. Their appetites for services and products is small and you need to test your offers with lots and lots of these small (schools) of fish. You need to keep a very narrow nitch to avoid confusing this market on what you are offering. The Midsized are a different animal, they have people specific titles such as purchasing manager, marketing manager, sales manager, office manager. This makes a totally different kind of attach and message you might have to be using. The ones in between? It’s a mixed bag of where and how they are growing and what the owners business since is.
2) Know your company and the best prospects for you. Know thy self. If you know yourself the hunting ground you pick will or should be filled with the kinds of prospects you want to be in front of. This is not as hard as you might think. Look at who is buying from you now and good find more of them. This analyses should show you types, sizes, what they buy and how much. If you track yourself you will also know transition level and marketing penetration. Turn to the SIC codes and employee size that have in the past given you the most return.
If you understand the makeup of the kind of customer you now have be it micro, small a, b or mid, you can target your limited resources. Success really comes down to:
40% - list
20% - consistency
20% - offer
20% - the rest
3) Know how to mix and match marketing channels. Not every product or service works in each and every marketing channel. Phone. Email. Mail, moble apts, SEM, pay for click, etc, etc, etc. want a list of marketing tools go to http://www.larsonassociates.ws/marketing_tools .
I have found that the 3 most potent marketing tools are:
Telemarketing
Direct Mail
E-Mail
The big guys will be telling you, you need a mix of 60% direct mail, 20% e-mail and 20% telemarketing. Well. . . they are not you and working in your budget. We at Larson sort of go 50% telemarketing, 5% E-mail, 5% direct mail, 30% Social Media Marketing, 5% Web site, 5% the rest. Heavy on the sweat equity and low on the cash outlay. You need to do what works for you, not me nor anyone else. It takes a little time and experminatioin to figure this out but it is well worth the effort.
When you get down to ROI, count your pennies carefully. Friend and followers are not hard cash and cash in king in business. Want to be the homecoming king or queen of your Social Media Site go find yourself a bucket full of friends. What to eat at the Ritz, go find yourself a pail of paying customers.
4) Analyze your results and make adjustments. Analyze, analyze, analyze, measure, measure, measure, adjust, adjust, adjust!
One of the most common traps is to fall in love with what you are doing. Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying change things because YOU are getting boarded with them. YOU DON’T COUNT (here). What matters is what your prospects and customers think and say. You might post your message 1234 times, you might make 8365 phone calls, you might send out 4532 post card mailings. You are so tired of hearing yourself saying the same thing time and time again, but guess what, your prospect, each one, has only heard it ONCE maybe twice. Yes that’s right, it is new to them. Brand spanking new!
Concentrate on sales, orders, and cross-selling. Look at that. If those numbers take a dive, then and only then make a change.
Larson Notes & Satire: I do the same thing day after day, week after week. Call, mailing, blogging. Why because it works. It works because I do in as completely as I can! 95-100% of 3 things is much better than 66% of 10 things.
Now if you can land a big company account beware. The money can be good. The rewards high, but beware, if any 1 account is more than 20% of your work load get out there and narrow the gap. You need to be in a position where no one company is holding you or could hold you hostage if they pull the account, at least get it down to only 45%. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. I have done a lot of sleepless nights worrying over that big account. No more. Spread them out and sleep at night. I’m not saying that I would turn down a big account. Well maybe I am. If a large company came to me and begged me to take on a telemarketing program needing say, 20 to 40 seats, I would either not do it or I would outsource it to a (trusted) friend in the business.
Ya you heard me, I don’t want to be that big! I like being small. I have no aspirations of a 100 person company. I did once and guess what I worked 60 hours a week and never got a vacation. I have no desire to have my face on Forbes or INC magazine. I like me and where my company is and what we do for small to midsized companies.
I guess I want some quality in my life and not the headaches.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Just how big compared to their big business brother?
Micro / 1-4 employees / 13,231,562 businesses / 75% of total / 27,884,651 contact names / 43% or total
Small A / 5-9 employees / 1,943,132 businesses / 11% of total / 6,886,895 contact names / 10% of total
Small B / 10-19 employees / 1,247,580 businesses / 7% of total / 5,865,649 contact names / 9% of total
Medium / 20-99 employees / 1,089,625 businesses / 6% of total / 12,797,020 contact names / 20% of total
Large / 100+ employees / 207,493 businesses / 1% of total / 11,788,517 contact names / 18% of total
Point blank, if you go after the smaller market you are aiming at 62% or all businesses.
So what is a good plan of attack? In this blog I give you 4 areas to look at.
1) Know the Purchasing Dynamics. There are big differences in how you need to look at a small micro (1-4) vers a mid (20-99) sized company. The micro businesses are usually hand to mouth businesses living from invoice to invoice. There are lots of them, but cash flow can be a problem in the segment. Cash, COD or prepayment is a good thing. Their appetites for services and products is small and you need to test your offers with lots and lots of these small (schools) of fish. You need to keep a very narrow nitch to avoid confusing this market on what you are offering. The Midsized are a different animal, they have people specific titles such as purchasing manager, marketing manager, sales manager, office manager. This makes a totally different kind of attach and message you might have to be using. The ones in between? It’s a mixed bag of where and how they are growing and what the owners business since is.
2) Know your company and the best prospects for you. Know thy self. If you know yourself the hunting ground you pick will or should be filled with the kinds of prospects you want to be in front of. This is not as hard as you might think. Look at who is buying from you now and good find more of them. This analyses should show you types, sizes, what they buy and how much. If you track yourself you will also know transition level and marketing penetration. Turn to the SIC codes and employee size that have in the past given you the most return.
If you understand the makeup of the kind of customer you now have be it micro, small a, b or mid, you can target your limited resources. Success really comes down to:
40% - list
20% - consistency
20% - offer
20% - the rest
3) Know how to mix and match marketing channels. Not every product or service works in each and every marketing channel. Phone. Email. Mail, moble apts, SEM, pay for click, etc, etc, etc. want a list of marketing tools go to http://www.larsonassociates.ws/marketing_tools .
I have found that the 3 most potent marketing tools are:
Telemarketing
Direct Mail
The big guys will be telling you, you need a mix of 60% direct mail, 20% e-mail and 20% telemarketing. Well. . . they are not you and working in your budget. We at Larson sort of go 50% telemarketing, 5% E-mail, 5% direct mail, 30% Social Media Marketing, 5% Web site, 5% the rest. Heavy on the sweat equity and low on the cash outlay. You need to do what works for you, not me nor anyone else. It takes a little time and experminatioin to figure this out but it is well worth the effort.
When you get down to ROI, count your pennies carefully. Friend and followers are not hard cash and cash in king in business. Want to be the homecoming king or queen of your Social Media Site go find yourself a bucket full of friends. What to eat at the Ritz, go find yourself a pail of paying customers.
4) Analyze your results and make adjustments. Analyze, analyze, analyze, measure, measure, measure, adjust, adjust, adjust!
One of the most common traps is to fall in love with what you are doing. Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying change things because YOU are getting boarded with them. YOU DON’T COUNT (here). What matters is what your prospects and customers think and say. You might post your message 1234 times, you might make 8365 phone calls, you might send out 4532 post card mailings. You are so tired of hearing yourself saying the same thing time and time again, but guess what, your prospect, each one, has only heard it ONCE maybe twice. Yes that’s right, it is new to them. Brand spanking new!
Concentrate on sales, orders, and cross-selling. Look at that. If those numbers take a dive, then and only then make a change.
Larson Notes & Satire: I do the same thing day after day, week after week. Call, mailing, blogging. Why because it works. It works because I do in as completely as I can! 95-100% of 3 things is much better than 66% of 10 things.
Now if you can land a big company account beware. The money can be good. The rewards high, but beware, if any 1 account is more than 20% of your work load get out there and narrow the gap. You need to be in a position where no one company is holding you or could hold you hostage if they pull the account, at least get it down to only 45%. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. I have done a lot of sleepless nights worrying over that big account. No more. Spread them out and sleep at night. I’m not saying that I would turn down a big account. Well maybe I am. If a large company came to me and begged me to take on a telemarketing program needing say, 20 to 40 seats, I would either not do it or I would outsource it to a (trusted) friend in the business.
Ya you heard me, I don’t want to be that big! I like being small. I have no aspirations of a 100 person company. I did once and guess what I worked 60 hours a week and never got a vacation. I have no desire to have my face on Forbes or INC magazine. I like me and where my company is and what we do for small to midsized companies.
I guess I want some quality in my life and not the headaches.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Being Small – Big Advantage
As a small business I, you have a distinct disadvantage with it comes to competing against the Big Dogs. For us, every single customer is crucial to our success. Every sale is paramount in the survival of our business. Our customers know this and for that very reason they often choose a small business over a larger counterpoint. They want the special kind of treatment a small business can give. The lack of layers makes it a fast paced world of opportunity.
In a Gallup poll 66% of responses in the US said that have “supreme” confidence in small business. Sit back and smile because the Big Dogs have only a 19% confidence rating.
Confidence. Yes they, the average buyer and customer on the street trusts small business. When there is a problem most likely in a small business you can go right to the “man” and not get headed off by a middle manager who can’t make decisions. As a small business I can afford to have any bad decisions on customer relations happening. The buck and the phone calls come to and stop at my desk. I am sure you do the same.
Now it is a fact that some customers can not be satisfied no matter what you do. Ok, accept it and fire them. Yes fire a customer that is hurting your business. Fire them and go out and find one that will love you and your business for what you can do for them. Bad customers will kill you. So just do it and get it over with. They are going to stop using your business anyway once they find out they can’t push you around.
Be that Big Fish in a Little Pond.
Larson Notes & Satire: Good customer service is what transcends businesses and industries. No products, no marketing efforts, No advertising campaign can take you past a bad customer service reputation. It’s your repudiation. It’s your valued word. It’s your trustworthiness. The Big Dogs are you handing this marketing position of the mind of the customer on a silver platter, all you have to do us be true to your word and follow though.
Be that Big Fish in the Little Pond. Fill it up so no one else fits.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
In a Gallup poll 66% of responses in the US said that have “supreme” confidence in small business. Sit back and smile because the Big Dogs have only a 19% confidence rating.
Confidence. Yes they, the average buyer and customer on the street trusts small business. When there is a problem most likely in a small business you can go right to the “man” and not get headed off by a middle manager who can’t make decisions. As a small business I can afford to have any bad decisions on customer relations happening. The buck and the phone calls come to and stop at my desk. I am sure you do the same.
Now it is a fact that some customers can not be satisfied no matter what you do. Ok, accept it and fire them. Yes fire a customer that is hurting your business. Fire them and go out and find one that will love you and your business for what you can do for them. Bad customers will kill you. So just do it and get it over with. They are going to stop using your business anyway once they find out they can’t push you around.
Be that Big Fish in a Little Pond.
Larson Notes & Satire: Good customer service is what transcends businesses and industries. No products, no marketing efforts, No advertising campaign can take you past a bad customer service reputation. It’s your repudiation. It’s your valued word. It’s your trustworthiness. The Big Dogs are you handing this marketing position of the mind of the customer on a silver platter, all you have to do us be true to your word and follow though.
Be that Big Fish in the Little Pond. Fill it up so no one else fits.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Getting In The Customer’s Mind
The idea of having a business is to sell stuff. Now who do you sell to? People. People buy things, and the way to a customer’s wallet or check book is through their mind.
You need to be targeting messages to your targeted market segment buy putting yourself in the customer’s shoes. (I’m a size 10.5).
Right or wrong in today’s world if a customer or prospect stops hearing from you their first thought is that you have gone out of business. So a key point here is to not disappear or ever stop marketing. I’m not saying this because I have a marketing company here and do this for people and companies but because it is a fact! So start standing OUT!
So what would I do?
1st start by empowering comparative shoppers. What? Ya, put the power in the hands of the comparative shopper. What are you afraid of? Remember yesterday’s blog? You can’t sit back being afraid of talking about what makes you and your product/service the best of the best! You are in control if you initiate the conversation. Talk about what makes your service/product the best choice while providing objective positive (never ever bash a competitor, only you look bad).
2nd Challenge your customers to buy smarter! Give the customer (your) reasons to open up their check book and buy from you. You need to know your market and your customer but don’t be shy. Ask them to not only buy, but if it is (really) in their best interest ask them to buy more.
3rd Show genuine gratitude. Don’t be bashful, that is only good if you are asking Snow White out for a date. Let the customer know in no uncertain terms that you appreciate their business. Tell them; write them thank you notes, phone calls. This small but personal action can make all the difference for the next sale.
4th Reward customer loyalty. There are many ways to do this. Give them a “secret sale”, preferred customer rewards, customer appreciation events, customer only coupons. Let them know just how important they are to you.
5th Show confidence in our company and its products and services. Reinforce credibility. Kill any rumors. Position you and your company as the lead in your service niche.
6th Share the (good) news. No matter if it is about your company, you, the people you have working with you, crow a little. Put a little Peter Pan magic out there and stand up and crow the news out. With all the negative news filling out heads hearing a little good from where ever it comes from is almost always welcome. Unless, of course you’re Captain Hook.
7th Ask how you can help. Engage the customer? What does that mean? Talk to them. Ask about their special needs. Ask what the most challenging issue in their business is and find out how you can ease their pain. Use surveys both mailed and online, call them up and ask, use your social media tools to get responses.
8th Knows how to say, UffDa (or do you say Opps?) Mistakes happen, yes even here at the invincible perfect Larson & Associates. When they do know how to say I’m sorry.
9th Find ways to give value added services that don’t cost you. Use those surveys and reviews you have been sending out and receiving. There are probably some golden nuggets in those forms. Read them and act on them. Become an innovator. Value added or ever a new product or service might be in line for you.
10th Comfort First time buyers. When someone buys for the first time from you give them a follow up call, send them a “good choice” thank you note. Don’t disappear just because you made the sale. If you lucky to be adding new customers in this economy don’t take them for granted. Reassure them and thank them.
11th Update and inform the customer. They are now part of your family of loyal (we hope) happy customers. Make them feel the part.
12th Segment your customers for relevance. Different customers buy form you for different reasons and or products. Cut them into product lists so you can send them information on what is important to them and not someone else. If Joe and Mary buy Red Doogers and Tom, Sally and Rodger like Orange, group them together so you can use the same marketing message for the right people and not be sending out information that has no meaning for them. That only shows how you DON’T know your customer now what you know.
Larson Notes & Satire: You need to get and own your market segment in only 1 place. The customers mind. No one really cares if you are on the 1st page of a Google or yahoo search, although it is fun to brag about (type in telesales for printers and see how high Larson & Associates is today). It is not about buying up all the key words to get up on top of a search. It is about the customer buying from you, and you alone. There is no second place. Once their money is spent it’s gone. The mind of the customer is where you want your company to be.
Now think about it, when you think of telemarketing, lead generation, target marketing, web marketing, who do you think I want you to think of when you have money to spend on these kind of services? That’s right Me! I want you to think of Larson & Associates. Not because I’m greedy but because I believe in my heart I can give you the most bang for your buck. I truly believe I can give you a bigger payback than my competition.
Do you believe that you can do the same for your customers and prospects? If you can say yes, go out and do it. It you can’t rethink, reengineer your company. You can be the best at whatever you want to be. Be the Big Fish in the Little Pond. Come on in, the waters fine.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
You need to be targeting messages to your targeted market segment buy putting yourself in the customer’s shoes. (I’m a size 10.5).
Right or wrong in today’s world if a customer or prospect stops hearing from you their first thought is that you have gone out of business. So a key point here is to not disappear or ever stop marketing. I’m not saying this because I have a marketing company here and do this for people and companies but because it is a fact! So start standing OUT!
So what would I do?
1st start by empowering comparative shoppers. What? Ya, put the power in the hands of the comparative shopper. What are you afraid of? Remember yesterday’s blog? You can’t sit back being afraid of talking about what makes you and your product/service the best of the best! You are in control if you initiate the conversation. Talk about what makes your service/product the best choice while providing objective positive (never ever bash a competitor, only you look bad).
2nd Challenge your customers to buy smarter! Give the customer (your) reasons to open up their check book and buy from you. You need to know your market and your customer but don’t be shy. Ask them to not only buy, but if it is (really) in their best interest ask them to buy more.
3rd Show genuine gratitude. Don’t be bashful, that is only good if you are asking Snow White out for a date. Let the customer know in no uncertain terms that you appreciate their business. Tell them; write them thank you notes, phone calls. This small but personal action can make all the difference for the next sale.
4th Reward customer loyalty. There are many ways to do this. Give them a “secret sale”, preferred customer rewards, customer appreciation events, customer only coupons. Let them know just how important they are to you.
5th Show confidence in our company and its products and services. Reinforce credibility. Kill any rumors. Position you and your company as the lead in your service niche.
6th Share the (good) news. No matter if it is about your company, you, the people you have working with you, crow a little. Put a little Peter Pan magic out there and stand up and crow the news out. With all the negative news filling out heads hearing a little good from where ever it comes from is almost always welcome. Unless, of course you’re Captain Hook.
7th Ask how you can help. Engage the customer? What does that mean? Talk to them. Ask about their special needs. Ask what the most challenging issue in their business is and find out how you can ease their pain. Use surveys both mailed and online, call them up and ask, use your social media tools to get responses.
8th Knows how to say, UffDa (or do you say Opps?) Mistakes happen, yes even here at the invincible perfect Larson & Associates. When they do know how to say I’m sorry.
9th Find ways to give value added services that don’t cost you. Use those surveys and reviews you have been sending out and receiving. There are probably some golden nuggets in those forms. Read them and act on them. Become an innovator. Value added or ever a new product or service might be in line for you.
10th Comfort First time buyers. When someone buys for the first time from you give them a follow up call, send them a “good choice” thank you note. Don’t disappear just because you made the sale. If you lucky to be adding new customers in this economy don’t take them for granted. Reassure them and thank them.
11th Update and inform the customer. They are now part of your family of loyal (we hope) happy customers. Make them feel the part.
12th Segment your customers for relevance. Different customers buy form you for different reasons and or products. Cut them into product lists so you can send them information on what is important to them and not someone else. If Joe and Mary buy Red Doogers and Tom, Sally and Rodger like Orange, group them together so you can use the same marketing message for the right people and not be sending out information that has no meaning for them. That only shows how you DON’T know your customer now what you know.
Larson Notes & Satire: You need to get and own your market segment in only 1 place. The customers mind. No one really cares if you are on the 1st page of a Google or yahoo search, although it is fun to brag about (type in telesales for printers and see how high Larson & Associates is today). It is not about buying up all the key words to get up on top of a search. It is about the customer buying from you, and you alone. There is no second place. Once their money is spent it’s gone. The mind of the customer is where you want your company to be.
Now think about it, when you think of telemarketing, lead generation, target marketing, web marketing, who do you think I want you to think of when you have money to spend on these kind of services? That’s right Me! I want you to think of Larson & Associates. Not because I’m greedy but because I believe in my heart I can give you the most bang for your buck. I truly believe I can give you a bigger payback than my competition.
Do you believe that you can do the same for your customers and prospects? If you can say yes, go out and do it. It you can’t rethink, reengineer your company. You can be the best at whatever you want to be. Be the Big Fish in the Little Pond. Come on in, the waters fine.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
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