Monthly Marketing Message from Vince Toepfer...Comment or question? Click on my picture to contact me.
Coming in February: What is exceptional customer service?
What is your company’s “corporate” culture and do you control it? Your company’s corporate culture is the composite of its values, processes and encouraged behaviors; behaviors that have been learned within a group or transferred between individuals over time. In summary, “It is the way things are done around here". Written policies and procedures combined with regular training that management designs and defines will move your business to a much higher rung on the competitive advantage ladder.
What is your company’s culture? Do you know? The fact is you should be intimate with your company’s culture. It should be a product of your most focused attention and direction. If you think that this discussion about company culture does not apply to you because you have only a few employees, then I want to tell you that thinking like this could cost you your business and your employees their jobs. Please understand that this information also applies to the smallest of businesses.
Do you have a staff training program that is consistent, repetitive and at the same time contains cutting edge information? Is everyone on staff on the same page? Did management author and/or approve that page or has that page been written by others and/or by circumstances over time? Does your store reflect the feel and flavor of your marketing efforts? Does management lead by example? Is that example being followed by staff? Are your customers treated the same by every staff member every time they visit your business or use your services? Is this treatment consistent with your business plan and goals? If not, then your company’s culture has been corrupted and is disfunctional.
What do you like most about the businesses you patronize? You return to them because you liked the service, the quality and the fact that each time you do business with them it is consistent with your previous visits. If each visit is a new experience, odds are you will not be a regular customer. People want consistancy; they do not like surprises.
If you do not have written policies and procedures that you expect to be followed, and if you do not hold regular training sessions/staff meetings that support these policies and procedures, then I can say with a fair amount of confidence that your company culture is defined by your current and former staff’s reaction to circumstances over the years. If this is the case, you have to figure that your business lacks consistency. Does this define how your business’ image (a.k.a. your company’s culture) has evolved?
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September 2009 - Marketing is a Journey
Marketing is a journey and not a short stroll. Its success is measured by the many positive results of many thoughtful planned actions implemented in a consistent way over a long period of time. This concert of marketing efforts should only end with the sale or closing of your business.
It is very important, especially in the beginning of a business, that you dedicate adequate funds to marketing. Very few businesses are fortunate enough to have the patent on the world’s greatest mouse trap. Thus the world is not going to beat a path to your business’ door. You must light and pave its way.
Think of your marketing plan as being every bit as important as your staff. If your staff is not there, or is ineffective, your customers will not be served and they will choose not to return. If your marketing plan is not there, or is insufficient or ineffective, your customers will not come at all.
If you agree that your staff needs to be top notice then you must agree in this day of fierce competition, that you must also demand the same efficiencies and effectiveness from your marketing efforts as you do of your staff.
August 2009 - Take Control! Part 4
Determining your target market …
You probably think you know who your target market is –maybe you do; maybe you don’t. Do you want to take the chance of not maximizing the power of your advertising dollar? I urge you to sharpen your marketing spear by performing some low-cost marketing research.
Ask yourself if your target market is made up of other businesses or individuals. You will market differently to these two groups. As a rule, businesses are much more stable than individuals. Individuals will change at the emergence of a new fad, a change in age or a change in marital status. Each individual condition usually requires a different marketing strategy.
You can determine who your “real” target market is by using information from your competitors, the internet, personal knowledge and observation, and survey marketing to name just a few. Here are some low-cost ways to get a handle on your target market and their real needs:
Use the internet. Here you will find a treasure trove of valuable information. There is a great deal of free marketing statistics available online. Research your industry’s statistics online.
List your competitors from the smallest to the largest. Learn all you can about them. What products and services do they offer? Are there any services they are not offering that you could? If they have a web presence, learn all you can from it. Determine what target market they are appealing to. Don’t assume that their market is exactly the same as your target market unless your business model exactly matches that competitor’s business model. Trust me, this is not likely.
There are many online survey services available for very low costs. You can set up your surveys on your website and use simple techniques to drive potential customers to it.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/ http://freeonlinesurveys.com/ http://constantcontact.com
Your job is to first determine your target market and then determine their true needs. Your customers buy goods or services, not for the goods and services themselves, but to fill a desire or a need. An individual does not buy a drill to own a drill. He/she purchases a drill because their real need is to make holes! You don’t purchase a paint brush to own a paint brush. You really need an efficient way to apply paint. Maybe the better tool for this job is a paint sprayer. Does the customer really need a tool to apply paint or do they really need a tool to apply the paint quickly? You must discover the true need.
The actions described above do not require a lot of your business’ dollars but they do require you to invest your time. Investing your time in this endeavor will be well worth the effort. While doing your research, remember that you are not doing research for research sake. You are meeting your true need to increase the value and the power of your future marketing dollars and to increase your business’ bottom line.
July 2009 - Take Control! Part 3
You know how much you are going to spend. Now you must figure out how you will spend it.
Do you know who your customer base is? To get the most from your advertising dollars you must know who your target market is. What are their interests, where do they live, what is their mean income and family size? In what neighborhoods do they live? What do they read and listen to on the radio and watch on T.V.? With this information you can decide what advertising medium will best reach your targeted customer base. With this information, you will be able to tailor your marketing plan to target those most likely to be your customers. If you sell bowling balls and accessories, would you advertise in bowling alleys or would you place your ad in a program for the local opera? Would you advertise your bowling balls in or around local taverns or would you advertise in a hospice newsletter?
Knowledge truly is power. The key to marketing power is knowing as much as you can about your target market. How does a small business with a small marketing budget do this? I will be discussing this in August.
June 2009 - Take Control! Part 2
How Much Should You Spend On Marketing?
Without getting into all the details, I want to share with you how I go about creating a marketing budget. I will assume in this example that your business is not a start-up business. I will assume you have a year or more of sales under your belt. The following is a general rule of thumb. Keep in mind that a marketing budget can vary a great deal depending on your industry and product mix.
The first thing to do is average your monthly sales for each of the 12 months for the last three years. Total the 12 averaged months to arrive at an average annual total. Then calculate what 5% is of each month’s average and add all 12 results to arrive at an annual total. This may seem like a lot of work to arrive at 5% of the average total sales but we will be using all of the numbers a little later. Remember, I am using 5% of your average sales as a rule of thumb. Depending on your industry, this percentage could vary. Five percent of your average annual sales is the basis of your new marketing budget. If your annual sales have been trending up, you might consider adding to this number. If your sales are trending down or the economy is not looking too bright, you might want to take a closer look at the final number based on your “gut” and cash reserves. Note: A bad economy is NOT always a good time to cut advertising if you do not have to.
In your calculations above you will have your monthly sales averages broken out and you have what 5% is for each of those monthly averages. Here is my special twist. Take your February marketing dollars (5% of your February average sales) and budget this amount for the up coming January. Take your March 5% of your average sales and budget this for February expenditures. The idea is to be one month ahead of the expected sales with your marketing dollars. Make sense? By doing this you are putting yourself in control and not reacting to what is happening around you. You are anticipating sales and spending your scarce marketing dollars accordingly. Take control!
Take Control! Part 3 Coming in July You Know How Much You are Going to Spend. Now You Must Figure Out How You Will Spend It.
June 2009 - Take Control Part 1
The Small Business Owner and the Marketing Budget – How Often Do They Meet?
Honestly now; do you have a marketing budget? I mean one you created on paper before your fiscal year started. I would bet that the majority of businesses with fewer than 15 employees do not have a formal marketing budget.
You are an independent business owner; so I know you want to be in control. A well crafted marketing budget is control. If your advertising purchases are simply a reaction to an ad salesperson’s call or a looming ad deadline, you are definitely not in control! If you are solicited for unplanned donations, but you donate anyway, you are not in control! If you purchase yearbook ads from every school in a 15 mile radius, you are not in control! If you have nothing budgeted (on paper) for customer satisfaction issues, you are not in control!
A budget will help you make more effective ad purchases, give you the power to control your, “I don’t want to offend” run away donations, and give you the needed boost to your customer satisfaction efforts. Ask yourself, is it better to anticipate something or to react to something. Which term best describes being in control? Which term best describes how you market your products and services? Take Control!
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like help with your marketing efforts. You cannot move to the next level without a solid marketing plan.
May 2009 - Yes, you can compete with the "big guys"!
If you are a small retail business and your competition is a "big box" retailer, what are you doing to compete with them? What are you doing to competitively position yourself in the eyes of your target market? Do you have a plan? Now be honest, have you ever even thought about it?
The big box giants have selection, purchasing power and what seems like an unending amount of advertising dollars to name just a few of the strengths of these competitors. What do you have to offer that they cannot? You do have a list of strengths or at least potential strenghts that will translate into sales and profits if you take the time to think about it and think about it you must!
Before you can market your products and/or services you must do an inventory of your strengths and potential strengths to determine what message(s) you will communicate to your target market and your own staff. If you have never done this exercise it can be challenging. It can be difficult seeing the obvious when you are standing so close to the issue; it is, not seeing the forest for the trees. If you would like some help, PlanToPlanWithVince.com would be happy to help you create this list, at no cost to you, if you live in or near Jo Daviess County, Illinois. To contact me click here!
