So what happened? Were they not an ideal client or part of your target audience? Was there secretly a competitor with an inside track or existing relationship (hint: there usually is, but that’s a different ezine topic)? Were they simply shopping to see what’s available in the marketplace?

It could’ve been any of those, and more, so today I want to introduce a framework to help you evaluate each opportunity - before you commit to chasing it. I can’t claim this model as my own, though I’ve adopted it in my daily client interactions.

When I got serious about understanding consultative sales, multiple colleagues recommended I pick up Mahan Khalsa’s book, “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play.” And I recommend you read it as well. The short version of the story is that Mahan is responsible for sales performance at FranklinCovey, the Seven Habits folks, and this book shed more light on how modern sales work than anything I’ve read. When I read a recent ezine from Mahan, I knew I needed to share some of his wisdom with a little bit of “Nick Rice practicality” thrown in for good measure.

When you are presented with an opportunity for a new project or new business, you need to uncover as much as possible to gauge how successful you will be with this project. If you try to fix every problem that presents itself, you will never be seen as a specialist, and as such, you will never command high fees. Generalists stay busy with small projects, but when the client wakes up and decides to fix the big problem, who are they going to call?

So, how do you uncover such details? At a high level, you have to ensure that three things are present before you can properly evaluate an opportunity. Here is the Opportunity Framework:

Opportunity Framework

First off, you have to know that there truly is a problem to solve or a result to achieve. You cannot help someone that doesn’t admit or realize that something needs to change. It doesn’t matter if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there’s an issue; if you cannot get your prospect to see it and admit it, you’re wasting your time. On the flip side of this, it has to be a problem worth fixing or a result worth achieving. Organizations live in a constant state of brokenness - and that’s okay as long as they are still profitably functional. Some problems are worth fixing, some are not. Realize that as soon as possible and move on.

The second item to uncover is the prospect’s ability to make and act upon a decision. There’s nothing worse than someone who cannot make a decision and move on it. If you’re running into this, chances are you’re not talking to the real decision maker or you’re not helping them paint a picture of what life could be like after fixing the situation. If you work with large organizations, know that junior level managers and staff love to keep consultants and sales people busy. They like the power trip. And it makes them look productive to their bosses. You need assurance that the person you’re working with can say yes to your proposed solution before you invest a lot of time and energy.

The third leg of this stool is ensuring that appropriate resources are available to address the issue. Resources can take the shape of budget dollars, staff availability, executive oversight, equipment - anything required to make the solution a reality. If there’s not enough budget or internal staff resources, the project will never get off the ground. If you cannot get commitment from a certain executive for support, you’re on thin ice. How can you be successful without appropriate resources?

If any one of these three items is left unknown, you put the project and your success at risk. Chances are you’re going to waste a lot of time when this initiative stalls at some point in the future.

We’ve all seen good opportunities with no budget. We’ve all seen executives than cannot make a decision. We’ve all walked into a client’s office and almost tripped over the problems in the organization. If you are someone that wants to be recognized as an expert in their field; someone that wants to truly provide the best solution to the client’s problem; you owe it to yourself to slow down enough to uncover all three parts of an opportunity. And don’t be afraid to walk away if the opportunity isn’t ideal. You should only work in an environment where you are set up to succeed. If the project isn’t right, it isn’t right and now it’s time to move on.

You cannot expect the client to simply lay all of this out on the table for you. You have to dig. You have to ask the right questions to bring these issues to the forefront - and in doing so you will separate yourself from 98% of the other sales people out there. Too many people simply jump at what’s presented in an RFP or what’s said a meetings as gospel without digging any deeper. Clients want and expect you to ask tough questions. They want to know that you fully understand their issue inside and out before presenting a solution.

When you approach each opportunity as a chance to find the perfect solution for your client - whether it involves you or not - you’re doing the right thing. And Karma has a way of rewarding those that do the right thing. In order to understand the problem and propose the perfect solution, you need to know all three parts of an opportunity.

Any time you check into a hospital they run a barrage of tests, they put in an IV (which let me tell you, it is a nightmare holding your infant son down so a nurse can stick him in both arms, both hands and finally a foot to get a vein), and in general people are just running around doing a lot of stuff.

My wife hates it when I do this, but I always ask, “So, what’s the game plan for our kid? What are you looking for and what does he need to do in order to go home.” I just want to know what’s going on. Unfortunately, it’s frightening how many times I was told, “The doctor knows what to do.” That’s great; I fully expect that he/she does, but can someone kindly tell me?!?!

Then for whatever reason I connected the dots between a few unrelated client and prospective clients’ conversations. For most small businesses, marketing is no different than dealing with these medical professionals. Most of the time there is no marketing game plan in a small business. If you have a written marketing plan, chances are it’s collecting dust on the shelf. Not to mention that if there is a plan, most of the time the people responsible for executing and tracking the activities don’t understand how to build individual campaigns or programs that support the grand plan or strategy. But the reality is that most small to medium sized businesses do not even have a marketing plan.

When a business owner begins to feel the pain of an economy slowing down or the referral stream starting to trickle, they always try something. They may send out a direct mail postcard to a group of clients or to a particular zip code. They may pick up the phone and start dialing for projects. They may attend a networking event and try to close everyone for an appointment. They always try something.

But guess what; that’s not a plan. That’s a one-off activity - done in desperation - that results in nothing most of the time. And then a funny thing happens, the owner will look up and say, “Well, it’s obvious that marketing doesn’t work! I tried a postcard and I went to two Chamber networking events and didn’t get a single phone call. I just wasted a few hundred bucks and a couple of evenings with my family that I can never get back.”

It didn’t work because it wasn’t done strategically. It wasn’t done as part of a greater plan to purposefully grow business. And 95% of the time, it doesn’t work because it was half-arsed. There’s no follow up; there’s no call to action; there’s nothing that tells the prospective client how you will solve their problems. It doesn’t work because it’s all about you and the desperation you feel.

Until you totally understand and internalize the principles of marketing, stop wasting your time, energy and money with tactics. There is an entire industry of promotional shops, mailing houses, and ad agencies that love to “get your name in front of your audience.” You might as well throw your money out of the window. I’m not saying that promotional items, direct mail and marketing communications won’t work. They work great when used strategically as part of your overall marketing game plan. But YOU have to own that. You cannot expect an outside agency to give you a plan for your business.

You have to understand who you are, what your strengths are, where you’re going, what your client’s struggle with, what it would be like for them to solve their issues, and how you’re best equipped to do so.

There are thousands, if not millions, of marketing tactics that you can employee to grow your business. But if those tactics are not founded in Seven Marketing Principles AND if they are not aligned with your marketing game plan, you’re putting success at risk.

Stop blaming one-off tactics for your lack of growth. Take a little time before year’s end to write out a game plan for your business.

Reaching some goals is pretty easy so I’m not going to talk about low hanging fruit here. I’m going to talk about a goal that either scares you to death or exhilarates you. Take a moment to think about that big goal and answer these questions:

• What would it mean to you if you actually achieved it?
• How would you act differently after achieving it?
• What would you take on that you’re not currently?
• What would you leave behind?
• Why is the goal truly important to you?
• What’s standing in your way of achieving it?

I know those questions aren’t always easy to answer. But think about how empowering it is to know the answers to those questions. Think about how good it would feel to be on the other side of achieving your goals and being the answers to those questions.

Now, let’s focus on what’s standing in your way.

Do you have the skills necessary to reach your goal? Do you have the time? Do you have the energy? Think about what’s holding you back. If nothing is standing in your way, I’d contend that your goal isn’t big enough. Think bigger – dream a little. If you have an income goal that seems well within reach, think bigger. You want your big goal to be attainable, but just out of reach. You want it to scare you a little bit.

More often than not, we have a mental block around what we can achieve. For some people, there’s never enough time. For others, they’ll never be educated enough or experienced enough. The psychological barrier stops them from moving forward. The attainable goal becomes unreachable and they decide to focus on something else like cleaning their office or tweaking their website. Unfortunately these delay tactics sabotage our future and they stifle our ability to reach our true potential.

We’ve all heard the stories of the uneducated kid that went on to be the top salesman. Or the working mother raising four children while making a six figure income from two jobs. Or the serial entrepreneur that seems to have the magic touch and every project turns to gold. For these people, failure is not an option. It’s not in their vocabulary. They do not let limiting thoughts enter their mind. They have a big and very clear vision for their future and nothing is going to hold them back.

As a business owner, you may have a goal in mind, but you may not be sure how to get here. One thing is for sure, what got you where you are today probably won’t get you here you need to be. If business growth is your goal, you have to become a better marketer. You know that you should promote your services, but there’s always seems to be something that pops up. There’s always billable work that needs to be worked on; and of course, the office could always use a little cleaning. A lot of business owners are mentally blocked then it comes to marketing their own services. And it seems easy to justify. After all, a steady stream of referrals isn’t a bad thing. No, it’s not a bad thing; but let’s go back to your goals - your vision for your business. Is your referral flood generating enough business to get you where you want to be? To quote Michael Gerber, “are you working on your business or in your business?”

The good thing about mental barriers is that they can be broken down. I spend a lot of time with clients determining their barriers to marketing and helping them turn it around. The process isn’t difficult, but it does require you be honest with yourself.

Your goals mean something. They’re the future of your business - and life. They are your hopes and dreams for your firm. And there are consequences for not achieving them - mainly in the form of lost opportunity. It may seem difficult to quantify lost opportunity. Yet in my experience, you can quantify almost every aspect of your goals; you just have to keep digging. When you start looking at the lost opportunities that result from burying your head in the sand when it’s time to market, you realize that your business could be completely different. You begin to realize that you’re leaving a lot of money on the table by staying in your comfort zone. If you could no longer think those negative thoughts about marketing, you’d generate more opportunities for growth and profit.

Think about who you would be if you couldn’t think limiting thoughts around marketing your business.

If your biggest obstacle is mental, don’t let that slow you down. Whether it’s getting more training to develop the skills you need or simply changing the way you think about marketing, you control your own destiny. The key is to take action now. Stretch a little outside of your comfort zone. When you dream big about your business and imagine living the life you’ve always wanted, you’re not going to let a little thing like a limiting mindset hold you back.

And if you’re still stuck yearning to take your business to the next level, just email me. I specialize in working with success professional service firms that struggle to attract more clients.

As the client, you’re struggling between “good enough” which has an element of speed; and “best available” which is all about being seen as #1. Don’t forget your finance guy that’s happy with “the cheapest”.

You get this feeling deep in the pit of your stomach as you’re watching the agency go through their pitch. You know that they would work hard for you. You know they would bring all of their world-class expertise to bear on your project. You’re thinking, “they know the industry, they know my business, we get along and their work is top notch”. It’s exactly what you’re looking for. But you have a feeling they’re going to be outside of your budget or at least outside of your idea of what their services should cost. You hate to bring it up because you know that budget shouldn’t be the ultimate deciding factor on what solves your problem or need. Sure there are cheaper firms out there, but these guys have it all and they’re right here in front of you.

From the agency side, when you are pitching, you can see it in their eyes. During the discussion and demo, the client’s eyes light up. They ask the right questions. They understand what you’re about. But there’s a hesitation, a slight glint of uncertainty. You know that sooner or later you’re going to get the price question. Charging by the hour isn’t really an option because clients demand to know at least a range of prices to consider before signing the dotted line. Charging by the project, or value pricing, is a strange magical mix of time, hourly rate to cover overhead, and some profit padding based on you think the market will bear. Either way you sense there is going to be sticker shock.

In my experience, this scenario happens most often when agencies are presenting to “budget spenders” not “budget deciders”. Budget spenders are only worried about their bucket of money being spent efficiently. They are more concerned with waste than return. Solving greater business concerns are typically second or third on the list. If you’re on the client side and this firm provides the solution you need, then move them up the chain if you cannot make or justify the decision yourself. Become their biggest proponent. Get them in front of the true budget decider. She/he can find the money required to solve problems. Your foresight and problem-solving abilities will be recognized and rewarded. Unless you truly do not have the money available, price is rarely a reason not to buy.

Back to the agencies; if you cannot get past the price question, one of two things is happening. You’re either not working with the right people (”budget decider” versus “spender”) or you’re not providing enough value to the clients and the price objection is an easy way to say no and move on to another agency with better relationships and/or better offerings and value.

Price is rarely a true deciding factor - unless they really do not have the money available. People buy what they want before they buy what they need. They buy emotionally first, then support their decision with logic and facts.

Nick Rice
Cre8tive Group
Strategic Design

1. The design of your logo really doesn’t matter. Would you choose MSN as your search engine over Google because of their logo? No, having a nice professional logo is great, but it very rarely increases sales. I’m all for a professional logo, but don’t think you need to spend a fortune on it. It’s more important to include your logo on every piece of communication. Put it on business cards, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, yellow page ads, building signage, newsletters, etc…




2. Have a professional website. It’s not just good enough to just have a website, you must reflect your brand image. If your known as a top notch photographer, the last thing you want is a website designed 10 years ago. It doesn’t reflect well on you. Everyone, yes everyone, uses the web today to check references. If someone recommends your service, you can almost guarantee that they will go online to look for you. Your website design should be updated at least every two years to stay current.




3. Blogs are good. Blogs help your business on multiple levels. First off, valuable content on a consistent basis will make you look like an expert. People are looking for experts, not apprentices. The software that powers blogs has multiple advantages. It’s very easy to publish. It’s a database driven environment where style is separate from content so you will not need to go back to your web design agency for every little change. And use of tags and sitemaps make basic search engine optimization easy. But the real reason blogs are great is that they enable conversation. Two-way dialog is much more valuable than a company that just dumps messaging and collateral on their customers.




4. Blogs are good, but they’re just one tool. A blog should not be your sole marketing strategy. You should have a comprehensive multi-touch marketing plan to get your value proposition in front of your target audience. This can take many forms. You can launch a direct mail campaign, email campaign, host a webinar, sponsor a local event, attend a trade show, attend networking events, cold call prospects, win awards, etc… There are a thousand different ways for you to be noticed. You have to find the best combination of methods for your strategic goals. Data shows that people need to be exposed to a brand at least seven times before they buy. If you simply do one touch and stop, you’re wasting valuable budget dollars and probably wondering why your efforts are not successful.




5. Prepare a one page corporate overview. This one pager will be vital as a leave behind when you meet a prospect. Use short sentences in short paragraphs - people like to read quickly. Also make it very conversational; it’s not a white paper. Your one page overview should include your value proposition, target audience benefits, previous audience experience and a mini-case study - and don’t forget your contact information.




6. Participate in local business events. And by participate, I mean be on a committee. Just showing up at events is great, but you’re just a face in the crowd. Ask to be on one of the committees. Believe it or not, it’s as simple as just asking most of time. Groups are looking for volunteer help and it’s a great way to elevate your status and visibility among the entire organization.




7. Do what you say you’re going to do. I know it may sound like common sense, but one of the primary drivers of brand loyalty is a consistent experience. If you say you’re going to have the photographs ready on a set day, be sure they are ready. Nothing leaves a bad taste in someone’s mouth like missed expectations. Positive experiences lead to good feelings which lead to telling their friends. But don’t forget that bad experiences spread much faster and are harder to overcome - if you get a chance at all.




8. Stand for something. People latch on to something they can understand and appreciate. If you’re trying to be everything to everybody, chances are you’ll attract no one. If you think it’s too controversial to choose a niche, remember the power of being seen as an expert. Experts are not good at everything, they’re awesome at one thing. This allows you to better position yourself and charge more for your services. People seek out experts, not generalists.




9. Realize that you’re not in control of your brand. That’s right, you only set the direction for your brand. Your actual brand image is determined by your audience. You can use these tips to ensure alignment between your desired brand image and your actual brand image in the minds of your customers. Branding isn’t a one shot deal, it’s an on-going juggling act of marketing, research and conversation. If you’re not tapping into those conversations with your audience, how do you know what their real impression of you is? How will you know how to address it? Brand growth comes from alignment. You have to ensure that your actions, stationary, website and marketing efforts put out the right image. But you cannot stop there; Those are pre-sales activities that get you noticed and hopefully bought. You also have to ensure that all actions and engagements during the sale and post-sale are positive and in line with your desired brand image. If your audience has a different view of you than you’d like, then you need help. And it’s probably best to bring in an outside perspective.
10. BONUS TIP #10: Branding is as much about your people as anything else. Never forget that the best interactions come from one-on-one conversations between executives, employees, suppliers, and customers. Employees that want to help and do the best job possible go a long way.

Proper branding is critical to your long term success. A lot of people think of branding as logo development. But in reality, branding is managing the thoughts and feelings of your customers to ensure that you are what they desire. If your desired brand image isn’t what’s in the minds of your target audience, you’ve got to figure out where the gaps are and how to address them. And fixing those issues is hard work because the old adage still rings true - the customer is always right.

There is a growing trend in business to give back to society in a more measurable way than mentioned above. Businesses are no longer just in the business of business. There is more to success than shareholder value. They can leverage their knowledge of supply chain, communication, productivity gains to leave the world a better place. They can affiliate with causes that are complimentary to their mission that enable profitable growth and societal influence. And guess what, consumers love it.

Today’s consumers are savvy. They are looking for more than just the next widget. They understand that we live in an increasingly smaller world, and want to do their part to make it better. Companies and organization that take advantage of that desire will grow. Product (Red) has taken this approach to new level. Spearheaded by Bono, Product (Red) isn’t asking anyone to change their buying behavior by purchasing conflict-free diamonds or fair-trade coffee. They make a fair assumption that given a choice of the same pricing and availability, consumers will buy “Red” products over non-Red products. For instance, if you’re in the market for a new iPod, chances are that you’ll buy a “Red” iPod over a regular iPod once you understand the value proposition. And a percentage of each product goes to anti-viral AIDS medicine in Africa. Even though the campaign is new, Red products seem to be selling well.

The University of Oxford, Harvard Business School, and Columbia Business School now have programs for entrepreneurs that want to be profitable and make a difference. The latest report from McKinsey says that 87% of global executives surveyed “agreed that their companies should pursue not only shareholder value but also broader contributions to the public good”. Conversely, according to PRWeek, 87% of surveyed consumers believe that it’s important for companies to support causes and charites. Fast Company magazine give away Social Capitalist awards.

My question to you is what are you doing to make the world a better place? It’s easy to come in and slave away at strategy or the latest marketing campaign. But are you really making a difference? Are you really standing out from your competition? Do you stand for something more in the eyes of your customers?

There’s more to business than business. It’s all about finding a way to the hearts of your audience. It’s about elevating your brand above your own widgets. It’s about standing up for the people that cannot. And I believe your customers will stand with you.

Nick Rice
Cre8tive Group

I recently decided to stop leasing cars. I’ve leased new vehicles for the last ten years and finally came to my financial senses. So I bought a nice used car - a Nissan that’s about 5.5 years old. It’s in great shape and should easily last another five or six years. One of the benefits of leasing was that I never thought about taking care of the car. I didn’t have to, they were always new and worked great. The lease was always up before things started to happen. Never mind that I was throwing away the little equity I could have established with ownership.

So when the Check Engine light went off on the Nissan after about four months of ownership I started cussing. I knew enough to take the car to AutoZone (a local parts store that is part of a national franchise) that still reads the engine error codes for free. Once I knew the code, I simply typed that into the search engine for the Nissan web forums and within minutes I knew everything I needed to about the error. I knew what was wrong, which parts were needed to fix it, and whether or not I could do it myself. This error in particular is pretty easy to fix on your own, but I couldn’t find time during the weekend to dedicate to troubleshooting the issue. So I asked my coworkers about local garages.

Auto Alternative came highly recommended. I was told they specialize in import cars. Well that’s the first check box in my mind. I may be naive, but I still think it takes more knowledge and expertise to work on Japanese or German cars than it does American cars. So I show up, unannounced, at the garage and tell Katie, the receptionist, about my problem. She realized I’m a new customer - without having to look my name up in the computer - and points me to their monthly newsletter sitting on the shelf saying “there’s a coupon for new customers and one for a free diagnostic test. They’ll save you at least 20%.” I’m thinking WOW; she didn’t have to do that. She’s really trying to help me out. This is more than I can say for any of the three Nissan dealerships I called first. They treated me like crap, but not Katie. Then I put two and two together. They also put out a monthly newsletter. I’ve never seen a mechanic or garage do that before. Every issue has maintenance advice, coupons, customer references, and humorous stories to break it up. So I’m getting a really good vibe from this place. So I go ahead and try to schedule the repair. But first, Katie asks how I heard of Auto Alternatives since they don’t advertise. I tell the name of my coworker that recommended them and she goes into the computer and automatically credits their next service with a 20% discount.

But it gets better. As you may have read, my wife was due with our second child at any time, so I was hesitant to pick a date for the repairs. Not to worry says Katie, “take one of our loaner cars until yours is finished.” This was something that only Acura provided during my leasing years and I loved it because I wasn’t stuck at the dealership while the repairs happened and I didn’t have to inconvenience my wife or friends to provide a ride to work. So I pull off in a loaner car free to go anywhere I needed to while they worked on my car. I’m loving this place.

While the repairs are taking place, we have our baby and he is born with a heart defect. I call the garage and tell them the situation. Katie makes some phone calls and pulls some strings to get my part in the mechanics hand within the hour so that we can take our vehicle to the new hospital for surgery. I could’ve kept the loaner, but she wanted to make sure that we had our car. They also sent a “get well” card to our son that arrived a couple of days later. And they’ve called to gauge my satisfaction on their service - but they waited a couple of weeks after we got home from the hospital so as not to disturb us.

I was just looking to get my car fixed and stumbled upon one of the best customer service experiences in my life - at a garage. It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, if you build a culture of taking care of customers, you will build a strong business. Today’s customers want help; they don’t want to be taken advantage of. And if any industry has a bad rep for taking advantage of customers it’s auto mechanics. Auto Alternative, in little Nicholasville, KY, respects their customers and goes above and beyond to ensure that they are doing everything they can to make a great experience. They proactively keep in touch by adding value (newsletter with do-it-yourself articles and coupons). They provide a level of service that exceeds expectations (loaner cars and flexible schedules). They reward good customers (referral discounts). And they really went above and beyond by getting my car done in a timeframe that fit within our family emergency.

These guys have a recipe for generating happy customers. And happy customers build the foundation of a successful business. I know they will be the first place that I think of for repairs and the first place I recommend.

Do you have a similar story? Please share it in the comments.

Nick Rice
Cre8tive Group

A few months back that I wrote that I believed the lack of creativity is slowing killing business today. In reading a wonderful book, Mavericks at Work, I not only learned I was correct, but I have data to back it up.

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) most industries have a lower customer satisfaction score today than they did ten years ago. The ACSI measures how buyers feel about what a business is selling them. So despite all of the technology innovations, advertising catch phrases, and low costs, people are less satisfied with corporations than they were a decade ago - and even less satisfied than they were two and three decades ago. If you’re responsible for branding and/or PR, this should scare the hell out of you.

Regardless of how much we hear about customers being #1, most organizations do not focus on their needs or listen to their wants. They focus on short term Wall Street driven improvements. They focus on cost cutting, mergers, and outsourcing to increase EPS by a penny. In other words, the company that can make its widget the cheapest wins. Customer satisfaction plummeting is the natural side effect.

What most companies tend to forget is that we live in a time of surplus. There are too many choices. If a company would develop a break-through product, they would win - and win profitably. And I’m not talking about simply raising quality. I’m talking about a break-through, something new, something out of the blue, something creative. Starbucks did it. Apple did it. Southwest Airlines did it. Commerce Bank did it. P&G did it.

We talk about it on this site all the time. Make a product that your audience will LOVE, not like, but LOVE. Brad does it very well. You have to think of yourselves differently than the competition. You almost have to hate what your competition stands for - and maybe even your industry. You have to want to improve it so badly that you develop something new. Sometimes it’s the opposite of an industry norm; sometimes innovations come from modeling a completely different industry. Sometimes, it comes from left field. But either way, success today comes when you are different. Commerce Bank benchmarks itself against retail shops like Home Depot more than against other banks. Apple focuses on delivering a total solution (music player with integration music store), not just another MP3 player. Procter and Gamble didn’t develop the Swiffer in-house, they took a solid idea and put a lot of marketing behind it to make it successful - which is an enormous change of culture for the 120 year old R&D firm.

And to be different, you have to be creative. If you model your competition or your industry, you’ll die slowly in the minds of your customers. We’re all consumers. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. If you make cereal, how do you feel when you are standing in front of the cereal aisle at the local grocery store or market? I feel overwhelmed. The cereal aisle goes on forever. They all start to look the same. All of the cartoon characters and movie sponsorships blend together. How are you going to stand out?

I ask you to be creative. I ask you think differently.

I challenge you to find a new way to out-think, out-innovate, out-sell and out-work your competitors.

If your company freaks out when someone wants to try something new, I’d bet that you’re losing customer satisfaction points too. And we all know that loyalty is the true key to long term profitability, right? Loyal customers make business life a lot easier.

What are you going to do to reverse the trend?

Nick Rice
Cre8tive Group

For those of you that are medically-inclined, he has Transposition of the Great Arteries - not a walk in the park but a common heart condition. We are at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and are very impressed with the staff here. They are wonderful and are some of the best in this business.

We have had SOOOO much wonderful support from both of our offices, past colleagues, friends and family. It really put a lot of faith back into humanity when something like this happens and everyone reaches out to help. Normally I’m not one to ask for help. I’ve always made my own way; but this experience has proved beyond any doubt that there are countless wonderful people out there. The normal cut-throat pace of business stops for a few seconds when a personal crisis hits.

At the end of the day, small business executives really care about their staff AND their families. And we all rally behind someone in times of need. And for that, I thank you!

Please keep him (and us) in your thoughts and prayers for the next few weeks.

• Cold Calling
• Direct Mail / Sales Letters
• White Papers
• Tradeshows
• Executive Seminars
• Speaking Engagements

Contrary to what a lot of people believe, cold calls can be effective. You just have to be seen as a business peer (not a vendor), provide value, and do not waste their time. The bad part of cold calling is that business people today are busy and rarely enjoy an unsolicited call. This negative attitude has been amplified by thousands of telemarketers irritating people during dinner time with phone calls. But it can still be effective when done properly.

Sales letters and direct mail are a great cost-effective way to generate leads. I personally like sales letters better (see here), but direct mail can be effective as well. The beauty of letters is that there is no restriction on length. Data from the DMI shows that longer letters perform better than “one pagers”. As long as you are telling a compelling story and providing value to your prospects, I do believe they will read three to five page letters. Direct mail postcards are different. Here you have to convince someone to take the next sales action step with just a few words. In either case, an appropriate offer is critical to your success. It could be as simple as providing free access to industry research or a white paper.

White papers are great because they position you as a specialist in your field. Since they are typically four to five pages, you can provide a good level of detail without giving away all of your valuable insight. I’m torn between making web users register for white papers. The usability side of me says that people hate to register for information and that they provide fake data or leave the site before registering. But the marketer in me wants their basic contact info so that I can continue the conversation. Typically I default to the user. I often recommend my clients give away their research and writing and if their value is strong enough the user will come back to them for more information.

Tradeshows are marketing staple in a lot of industries. They are a great way to reach multiple users under the same roof. The hard part with tradeshows is standing out. There is A LOT of competition for your audience’s attention. 99% of all booths look the same and 99% of all booth workers give the same lame pitch. But if you can catch their attention, there’s no better way to meet more customers in a short period of time. I’ve seen the best ROI come when you combine tradeshows with Executive Seminars.

Executive Seminars are different than having a booth on the tradeshow floor. In fact, the seminar does not have to be associated with a tradeshow at all. You can do them anytime. The main difference is that seminars are invitation only and typically provide a high level of interaction with a senior audience. I’ve seen companies have great success by doing a series of seminars in a city. They will have one meeting a week for a month. Each meeting will have a different area of focus that the audience cares about. This allows the invitee to attend one or all of the meetings - all the while they are seeing you as the expert and hopefully networking with other peer executives in the area. The key is to have a small audience of high level executives (50 or less) and provide GREAT food while discussing industry trends, problem solving techniques, and business growth strategies - DO NOT TALK about your products or services. If it smells like a sales pitch, you will lose interest and attendance.

This leads me to the best form of lead generation, Speaking Engagements. Any time you are in front of a crowd, you’re the perceived expert. If you provide knowledge and value, you will have a long line of people waiting to talk to you at the end of your session. This technique, used at tradeshows, is especially effective. You get a lot of decision makers and influencers in your industry looking to you for expertise. Any time you can create a buying environment instead of a selling environment is powerful. It takes a lot of writing and being published to be sought after as a speaker, but if you can put in the hard work and provide insight; you’ll have much more opportunity than capacity.

And that’s the best situation to be as a small business. I’ll dig into more detail on some of these techniques in future posts.

So now the real fun begins. What do we do first? My wife grabbed the phone book and began flipping through the Yellow Pages to find a plumber. After about three calls ending in voicemail, she finally was able to talk to a live person. After telling him about our problem as quickly as she could, he said “it’s an appliance issue, I can’t help you.” Lovely. Now here’s the real issue. Even though he was right, it was obvious that we were in emergency mode. Instead of telling us to call a water extraction company (which I didn’t even know existed until about 4:00pm on Saturday), he just left us hanging in the wind.

Our insurance agency wasn’t much better. Usually they are right on the ball but this time we talked to a bad phone rep. He was very laissez-faire about the entire situation - and he was speaking so softly I could barely make out what he was saying. I finally had to stop his phone-based paper work routine and ask if we were covered so that I could get the right people on site as quickly as possible. He said yes. I hung up.

Back to the Yellow Pages. Now I’m in the “water” section. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. I’m going to pick a water extraction company to come in and save what they can of our valuables based on their ad!! I know nothing about these companies at all. Some ads are very flashy, some use cheap clipart, some are very well designed but nondescript, and most have no ad at all - they just have a listing and a phone number. So I do what probably 90% of people do in an emergency - call the company with the biggest ad on the page. Luckily they were very helpful. And even though they didn’t have a crew available until Monday morning, he gave me some advice on what to look for.

My next criteria was a company that advertised 24 hour availability (significantly less than 10% of the listings by the way). This is when I started to get angry. I called four different 24 hour companies before I was able to talk to a live human. The first firm to pick up the phone started asking me marketing questions (how did you hear about us, have you used us before, etc…). Wrong part of the sales process my friend. The next rep was terrible on the phone, but he said he had a crew available. So I said come on out. Fifteen minutes later he called back to tell me that no one was available until Sunday morning. I was shocked. When I questioned him on our earlier conversation, he simply said “I thought I could get someone”. Wow, talk about a promise to a customer. When you have a quarter inch of standing water in your basement, you do not have time for broken promises.

Oddly enough, as soon as I hung up the phone with him one of the other companies in which I left a message called back. I never expected that. But it turns out that the rep was simply away from his cell phone when I called. He was already in his truck back to their offices to pick up the necessary equipment and would be at my house within an hour. This company had the second largest ad in the section and is a national provider of cleaning services.

In the meantime, I was hunched over a wet/dry vac sucking up all of the standing water that I could. By the time they arrived, I had removed almost all of the water from the basement and our first floor was pretty much dry - except for a small section of carpet. Two guys show up, one introduces himself and mentions that he is a certified water removal expert. I’m feeling better already. They inspect the house for moisture, set up dryers and dehumidifiers and let me know that they will be back on Monday to check on the progress.

So enough of my weekend; time to wrap this up. If you provide emergency services you need to realize what your customers are going through when they call you. Even though you may deal with these situations all of the time, we do not. It is your responsibility to ensure that I understand what’s going on, how you can help, and how quickly you can help. And if you cannot provide the service I need, point me in the right direction. This is not the same as buying clothes at your favorite retailer. They have their own customer service challenges, but you need to be on an entirely different level. You need to understand our though process when we pick up the phone book. And typically I think advertising in the Yellow Pages is a waste of time. But it’s the first place I went to and I had nothing to evaluate your business on beside your ad. Your advertising needs to be professional, clean, and project an image that says “we’ll take care of you”. Color is better than black and white. It needs to be at least a quarter page to get my attention. If you can provide a few customer testimonials, even better. If you have an emergency off-hours phone number, please list it in your advertising. I don’t know how many companies made me write down another number to call because my washer broke on a Saturday instead of a weekday. It’s really frustrating to know that I could talk to a human immediately if this was during “normal business hours”. Unfortunately emergencies and accidents can’t be scheduled Monday through Friday.

There are only two companies I’ll ever call back after this incident. The first company because they offered sound advice even though they couldn’t be onsite - and they didn’t make me feel bad for wanting to call someone else who could be there quicker. And the company that called me back. Both of these companies understood what I was going through. They had big color ads with prominent phone numbers. Their phone representatives were the actual workers, not some answering service. They could help me immediately when we spoke; not just pass my information along.

Customer service is paramount - especially in an emergency. If you’re not easily recognized as competent, available, and dependable; I’m not sure how you’ve stayed in business this long. Enough of my ranting, I have boxes of stuff to salvage.

PS. I know that the web has the potential to take care of a lot of these problems. Ideally something like Craig’s List would be available to show providers with customer ratings, five stars for instance. It’s not unreasonable to think the web could even display crew availability in the future. I just don’t trust that the internet has all of the local information yet to make it a viable solution - not that the Yellow Pages are much better. They are outdated as soon as they’re published. But old habits are hard to break. I did get online to find a replacement part of our washing machine.

Nick Rice

It seems like most marketing teams thrive on fire drills instead of planned activities. A lot of teams rarely see a planned activity; it’s always the task-du-jour or the whim of some executive. If I’m the marketing VP, that would scare the heck out of me. There is no good plan to grow your business or improve your skills if you simply putting out one fire after the next.

Even though I’ve been in the marketing and creative space for almost 15 years, I’m also wired to think logically or in order. A few years back I became a Certified Project Manager. It was one of the best professional development choices I’ve made. It gave me a system to use with my clients (both as an internal marketing manager and as an outside consultant). Project management is simply a thought process that is backed up by documentation and assignments. And obviously it takes different techniques to manage marketing projects than it does for software development; but you may be surprised at how similar they are.

The foundation of my system is a project brief that goes into details about who the target audience is, what they need, why this project is needed, what the goals are, offers, budget and timeline. These questions need to be answered for before any work is done. They will influence the research, the creative, the strategy, everything. It’s critical to have solid answers before you put resources on the project. And by the way, don’t try to cop out with crappy answers like audience = customers. That doesn’t fly. You need to give details that describe the audience from a demographic, psychographic, and needs point of view. Without detailed specifics, the campaign or project will be too broad, too vague and appeal to no one. Once you truly know your audience, you’ll be able to craft a message and offer that speak to their needs (not your features).

Once the project brief is written, and agreed upon by all parties involved (including stakeholders), then you can begin assigning tasks and due dates. There are tools that help you manage the process. Microsoft Project is probably the best recognized. I’ve personally used AceProject for over four years with three separate vendors with much success. BaseCamp is getting a lot of good press but it’s not as fully featured as I’d like at this point, but I’m keeping my eye on it. AceProject is nice because it has about 90% of the feature of Microsoft - the features you’ll use most of the time like Gantt charts, user workload, built-in discussion threads, templates, and a ton of reporting options. Its web based, updated regularly, and priced right.

But just like installing Salesforce.com for CRM or JD Edwards for accounting, simply having a project management system and tool in place will do nothing but cause headaches if you do not change the culture to take advantage and value what good project management brings to the table. And that’s accountability, measurement, and collaboration.

Nick Rice

If you are the only employee, that might be okay because you control everything. But if you have a staff, your brand is bigger than just you and the value you bring to the table. Because you cannot control every interaction between employees, suppliers, and customers; you cannot totally control your brand.

Gut Feelings

I define brand as the gut feeling of those people that has been exposed to your company and/or products and services. Since you cannot control individual gut feelings, you cannot control your brand. You can, however, influence it. You have a vision for the type of company/products that you want to known for. If your desired brand image is out of alignment with your customers, employees, suppliers, and any one else that is aware of you, you have a problem. Good branding is alignment between your promises and their experiences. If you can reliably delight those people, you’re brand will grow.

The discipline of branding is simply taking proactive steps to ensure that alignment with your vision. These steps can take many forms, here are a few:

• improved company image (logo, letterhead, advertising, marketing communications, packaging, etc…)
• improved products
• better customer service
• improved accounting processes

Obviously, some of these things are easier to implement than others. It’s easy to get a fresh look and feel for your marketing and advertising materials - though it may not be cheap. Others will take intense cultural changes throughout the entire company to see the benefits. The better you understand your unique value, your vision, and the desires of your customers, the better you can build your brand.

Branding Is Not Optional

Branding is happening whether you are driving it or not. Every interaction with your company creates an impression in that person. And it doesn’t even have to be directly with you. How many times have you steered clear of a product or service based on the advice of a friend? In that case, you never get the chance to make a positive impression. It doesn’t matter how good your product or service is because they’ll never get that far. That’s why the old adage of “one satisfied customer is worth ten” still rings true.

Entrepreneurs like to steer clear of branding because it forces them to put a stake in the ground. That’s scary because they’re comfortable pursuing every opportunity that looks beneficial - regardless of how it affects the current setup. It’s a fine line to walk. You need to be known as the best in some space. Customers aren’t looking for the next tool that slices, dices, and juliennes. They want the best slicer on the market. It’s very much the Long Tail theory.

To really be a powerful brand, you must have alignment between your vision and those gut feelings. In a commodity market, brand is the primary driver of purchase. People are loyal to brands - though that’s waning with increasing selection and standardization. A strong brand today has to be unique. It has to stand heads and shoulders above the competition. A strong brand doesn’t compete in markets, it defines markets.

The tip of the iceberg is focusing on brand alignment. The harder part is creating alignment. It’s making the changes in your organization that affect employee/supplier/customer experiences. A lower price is just one option - and usually not the best one.

If you view branding as an expense or a necessary evil, you’re already behind the curve.

Nick Rice

I’ve had the best luck (read highest response rate) with a plain white envelope. No logo, nothing. If you can handwrite the mailing AND return address, even better. A lot of companies will try to use a handwriting font, and for me, it doesn’t pass the muster test. Too obvious. No one writes that consistently.

The envelope is arguably more important than the letter. I say that only because the best letter, laden with user benefits and a measurable call to action, is useless if it’s never read. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. They get a ton of mail every day. They probably have a gatekeeper to screen out all of the obvious unsolicited marketing touches. The gatekeeper is usually afraid to automatically throw away a plain handwritten envelope. They don’t know who it’s from or what’s inside; not to mention that no one hand writes anything anymore. So you’ve passed the first test - do not get thrown away.

Even for your target audience, they cannot help but open a plain white envelope. It’s too intriguing. According to the DMA, direct mail has an average response rate of 2.77. I’ve seen response rates of at least 5% with the plain white envelope. And the best part is that it’s cheap and authentic.

So target well first. It doesn’t make sense to blast everyone you know with your solution. More than likely, if your offering appeals to everyone, you can find a better way to reach them than direct marketing. If you have a large list, segment them into manageable groups so that you can test different call to actions or letter copy.

Next, write a letter that speaks to your audience’s pain points first and then offer a solution. But only in bite size chunks. Don’t give away the all of your information with the letter. Create a desire to learn more and make it easy for them to find out more. Use every response technique you can - email, toll free telephone, fax, business reply card. You’ll be surprised at how different people take advantage of the different response mechanisms.

Lastly, use a plain white envelope with handwriting if possible. You may be tempted to use your corporate letterhead envelope, but don’t. I know that your marketing manager or corporate communications/PR team may freak out. But who cares, if you’re driving business you win. Branding comes from good experiences with you and your products more than it comes from repetition.

Nick Rice

Then a few recent articles got me thinking more clearly. Namely Sir Ken Robinson’s speech at TED and Mike Wagner’s post on drawing a picture. These guys really cemented something that my 2 year old daughter teaches me every time I watch her play. We’re all creative. We all have boundless imaginations. We always have. Unfortunately our educational system has progressively worked that aspect our being out of us since about the third grade. No educational system on the planet puts as much emphasis on creativity as they do logic. Think about the number of math and science classes you took versus the arts and humanities. Not that logic is bad. In fact, it’s a critical element of who we are. It’s just over balanced compared to creativity.

I believe the lack of creativity is slowly killing business. It’s what’s driving everything to a commodity price-driven market. Without creative thinking how will the engineering team discover the next breakthrough product? How will the marketing team break out and stand above a crowded market place. Creativity isn’t solely the realm of designers and ad agencies. That’s what I love about Mike Wagner’s post. He asks the people in his seminar to draw a picture. Doesn’t matter what - just draw what comes to mind. Initially most people struggle with it. Imagine your finance person on this task - they’ll hate it. And why not, we’ve had decades of structured learning that tells us to ignore our creative side and to only focus on the logical. Mike tells a great story of a woman beginning to weep when she discovered she was just as creative now as when she was a little girl.

Creativity isn’t just associated with art. It does not equal wild and crazy. It doesn’t equal foolishness. When you hear “out of the box thinking”; that’s the call to creativity. It’s coming up with a new approach. It’s daring to think differently. After all, isn’t that what we’re paid to do? If everyone has the same view, the same ideas, the same approach, the same results then why are all of us still here?

To succeed in business is to be creative in your role (obviously Sarbanes-Oxley looks down at creative financial reporting - and for good reason). Growth in business demands creativity. It is what will separate you from the competition. As humans we’re trained to only notice what’s different in our environment, in other words, being different is the best way to raise awareness.

The lack of creativity across the board is hurting your brand. It’s hurting your profitability. It’s hurting your employees. Creativity isn’t a special gift - we’re all born with it. It never leaves, it’s just hiding. Look for ways you can let the two year old inside come out and play.

Nick Rice

To succeed in direct marketing efforts, simply answer three questions.

1. Why do anything?
   Your materials have to paint a pain point that the audience will identify with immediately. No one takes action because they simply want to; they take action when they need to. This is where you prove that you understand their industry or needs or desires. The use of audience specific jargon or terms and relevant photos is very appropriate. This is the first part of the hurt & rescue operation. Show them the pain first, only then should you move on to how your offering can rescue them.
2. Why (insert company/product/service name here)?
   Once you illustrated a pain point that needs solving, you now have to convince the audience why your solution is the right one to choose. This is where most companies fail by listing product features: the biggest hard drive, a faster processor, more horsepower, higher gas mileage, etc… Features are great, but people identify with benefits more so than features. The iPod is a great example of this. Apple could have said “Huge 30GB hard drive - 15% bigger than Creative Labs Zen player”, instead they promoted “1000 songs in your pocket”. This particular benefit statement is great because it not only addresses memory size but form factor.
3. Why now?
   Lastly, you have show the audience why it’s beneficial to them to act now. The concept of now is as powerful as the pain point. Typically direct mail pieces focus on a short term lower price, free upgrade, additional pieces (by one get one free), and free downloads. These are great but I challenge you to find way to add additional value and immediacy without adding cost. The primary reason behind this challenge is commoditization. As products move into a commoditized market, a lot of companies are relegated to fighting on price. The more you can elevate your brand by offering value instead of price cuts, the better you will fare in a commodity market.

So there you have it. Three seemingly simple questions that will get your marketing material noticed and responded to. My firm continues to use this equation with our clients. It really makes you focus on what separates you from the competition. And in the direct marketing space your competition is more than your head on competitor firms. The typical consumer is flooded with over 3000 marketing messages every day. Your material is fighting with billboards, radio ads, newspapers, email, voicemail, TV, and every other marketing medium - not to mention the rest of the junk mail in your mailbox. If you don’t elevate you’re wasting budget dollars. And no one in small business - or any size business for that matter - tolerates waste for very long.

Nick Rice

Today, getting new leads isn’t always easy. Consumers are inundated with marketing messages and generally tune out anything that smells like a sales ploy. So the easy answer to get more leads is to develop the most loved products in your category. This is the purple cow theory. And it’s correct; but it’s not always easy to turn the R&D aircraft carrier. Another easy answer is to spend more on marketing/branding/advertising. Again, not a bad component, as long as its part of a greater strategy. If you can afford it. Unfortunately only the top brands in the world can truly spend enough money on mass marketing to sway the general public.

If you’re responsible for sales today, the best way to generate leads is to become known as an expert in your industry. This doesn’t mean that you know more about your products and services than anyone else. I want you to become the person that is sought out when a customer has a problem to fix in your specialty. Lead generation, and sales, is not about who you know. It’s about who knows you.

So how do you become known as an expert you ask? The foundation of becoming an expert starts in elementary school. Start writing. Honing your ability to write so that you can solve business pain points, without overtly recommending your solution, will position you as an industry specialist. Get in front of your audience and present. Whether its industry tradeshows or local business groups, if you’re in front of the audience, you’re the expert - as long as your content is valued.

It will take time, but the long term benefits are too enormous to ignore. Cold calling may get you in the door once in one hundred calls. But you’ve also just irritated ninety nine other prospects. Not a good ROI (return on investment). Your time is much better spent writing and speaking. No one likes to be sold. But all of us like to buy. You have to create a buying environment. In retail, you don’t have Banana Republic or Adidas calling you to try on their merchandise unless your a Hollywood celebrity. Sure they entice you to come in, but you already know what stores you’re going to shop at regardless of what flyers are in the Sunday paper. A B2B sale isn’t much different. When you’re recognized as a problem solving industry expert, people want to buy from you. And when people want to buy, price is not an issue. You’ve elevated above the competition and that’s a profitable position.

Nick Rice

Are going to go out and hire Crispin Porter + Bogusky for a $25M 30 second commercial straightaway? Probably not, but don’t skimp where it counts. I learned a long time ago that two things make you successful in business; innovation and communication. You can succeed for a while on either; but when innovation and communication are both firing on all cylinders you will experience powerful growth. So without further ado:

5 Steps To Getting The Biggest Bang For Your Buck

1. Work with professionals that you can trust.
   You need specialists in marketing and communication that have your best interest in mind. They need to understand your business and your goals. They should also be able to generate and track a measurable ROI (Return On Investment) to show you that your money was well spent. Don’t put your image at risk because the kid in his basement can build a cheaper website than the established agency. The old rule rings true more often than not, you get what you pay for.

2. Talk to your audience.
   Don’t just take a wag at your next marketing effort. Ask your best customers where they think it makes sense for you to advertise. Ask them what they think of your message; what turned them on about you. Talk to them about becoming references.

3. Leverage Web 2.0 trends.
   Currently the marketing space is turning inside out. Customers are demanding more control over their buying experience. Use social networks and blogs to learn more about your audience. If you make a product that make them happy, give them an outlet to talk about it. In fact, they’re already talking about your brand - good and bad. You just have to tap into it. It’s cheap, easy and very effective. You need to be thankful for the praise. And if you’re getting something less than praise, you need to work on the innovation side of the equation. Take advantage of new technologies to tap into and start a conversation with your audience.

4. Trackable expenditures are key.
   If you cannot measure the effectiveness of the radio ad or the billboard, don’t do it. And reach and frequency stats aren’t enough for me to spend my money. You should expect a 4:1 return on your marketing dollars, find another way to reach your customers. I would test different mediums, but when they’re not working for you find another way to get your unique value prop out.

5. Buy for your business like you buy for yourself.
   Where do you buy your business suits? Wal*Mart or somewhere with a tailor? What about your shoes? Your watch? Your purse? All of these things say something about the type of image you want to portray. Your marketing and communication efforts are the same. You don’t have to spend a fortune; you just have to spend wisely. Even a young professional knows to build his/her wardrobe slowly over time with high quality purchases.

Nick Rice

I come from a big business background. I held various marketing management roles with a Fortune 350 office equipment and professional services firm. For over twelve years I worked in and around marketing communications including web, print, interactive, and video production. I strongly believe that a company that innovates and communicates better than the competition will grow.

Late last year my entrepreneurial instincts kicked in and I jumped ship for small business. I currently work for the Cre8tive Group, a marketing and design firm that specializes in developing “it quality” marcomm programs. We work with large corporations, but most of our clients are small businesses or non-profits. I want to use this blog to bring best practices, industry news, and fresh ideas to you. I will focus on the communication side of the innovation & communication equation to help you grow your business.

Feel free to contact me anytime with questions, comments, or suggestions.

Nick Rice