Category Archives: Automated Marketing

Marketing In An Age Of Simultaneity

Posted on by

“It’s morphing again,” Bubba said as he lowered himself into a side chair.

Robot juggler“You are the branding Guru” said Rick,” but sometimes you are more than a little mysterious my friend. What the heck are you talking about?”

“Marketing and ‘bout everythin’ else,” Rob responded.

“So,” Kate said, “does that include sales?”

Rob drawled, “If you can’t run with the big dogs, these days y’all gonna have to stay on the porch.”

“Rob,” I said, “back up and tell us what got you all stirred up.”

“Look around the table,” he said. “Ain’t a one of you that does just one thing anymore.

Rick is a statistical whiz which is why he’s so good at direct marketing. And on top of that he can network his way to new business pitch standing in line at an airport check in counter!

Gail, writes, edits, teaches others to do it and has been an on-air personality and run a couple of ad agencies.

Kate can consult in a boardroom in the morning and go out and make cold calls with a newbie in the afternoon and then make a speech in the evening.

Chris writes code plus drives a digital marketing team that has built a business to twice what it used to be and he dabbles in real estate because he likes the investment opportunities and making houses better.

Fletch has a degree in design but managed ad agencies and PR firms. He’s an expert at positioning, CRM and automated marketing and speaks on three continents on networking. Somehow he explains what Rick does.

And we are not unusual. Like a lot of folks we do all that stuff simultaneously!”

Gail interjected, “So what is bothering you Rob?”

Rob replied, “Used to be y’all could be a writer or a coder or a single whatever. Today to be say a reporter you have to blog, tweet, video the event or the interview, photograph it, edit it and serve it up in multiple forms all of which require some expertise.”

Kate said, “I see what you mean. Most of us have been successful because we can do multiple things reasonably well rather than just a single thing.”

“But it’s more than that,” Chris noted. “That multiple expertise is what used to make us stand out but I think Bubba is saying that it is now the new marketing norm.”

“Y’all got it,” digital dude. “If you’re fixin’ to get into the business or you are ready to break out you’d best be adding some skills that match up with what you do or take it ‘round a corner folks haven’t connected yet.”

Gail said, “I’ll translate:

The Takeaway

Being good at one thing is not good enough anymore. You need to match your primary skill with a couple more that give you more insight and a greater spectrum of bankable capabilities.

 

This blog recaps the luncheon conversations of a group of business development professionals. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly plus creative thinking to find what works. Jerry Fletcher is the fictions ringleader and secretary.

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

What Is The Best Pick-up Line Online?

Posted on by

Rick said it again, “A pickle label is the best pick-up line.”

Pickup line on line

Gail, one of three ladies at the table responded, “I love you dearly lad but believe me you need a great deal more. How long have you been married this time?”

She was just the first. All the rest jumped on him with varying degrees of disgust based on their age and their sex.

It fell to me as the oldest guy at the table to ask “What are you really talking about my crazy Direct Marketing friend?”

“Finally,” he said, “A person who is not besotted with carnality. What I meant was that failing all else play to the problem your target has. Label it. Help them understand what you are talking about even if you can’t bring yourself to use socially unacceptable language. Get as close as you can.”

Rob, our branding Bhudda smiled and said, “Now I get it. How many of you know what this headline was for: Within the curve of a woman’s arm…

Gail, copywriter and editor answered, “I don’t remember the product but it was the first underarm deodorant for women.”

“Hold it, I said, “What has that got to do with a pickle label?”

Rick replied, “It is kind of a shorthand way of saying that people will pay more attention to you on line if you tell them what you’re selling or problem you’re solving in their terms.”

Chris, the digital marketing director chimed in, “So what you’re saying is that in Adwords for instance I’m better off to use a headline that Includes the Main Keyword.

“Exactly,” Rick responded, “When your main keyword is in the ad and it matches the search query, the keyword will show up in bold.

Test your way to success.

The Takeaway

Test what you’re doing on line. Start with the pickle label and use that as your base of comparison or control. For instance:

Snoring (the pickle label)

Stop snoring (the benefit pickle label)

Stop Snoring Guaranteed (The benefit pickle label with a guarantee)

There are lots of alternatives but does that make the concept understandable to one and all? Remember, include the pickle label, the keyword that appears in your targets search in order to get your ad clicked on. That is what makes it a great pick up line on line.”

 

The lunch bunch is a group of marketing and sales professionals that meet each Friday. They discuss what’s new, what’s old, what’s good, bad and ugly but mostly what works. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and the one that writes up their comments. Sign up to get them all at www.JerryFletcher.com/profit .

Jerry Fletcher has been researching and implementing marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for over 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Marketing Is The Pour Not The Funnel

Posted on by

Marketing is the Pour Not the Funnel“Big business or small business marketing is not a funnel,” I ranted as we took our seats.

Kate our sales doyen said, “The whole thing of getting people to buy has been called the sales funnel for years, why are you arguing with the obvious?”

I said, “Because it isn’t.”

Rob, the rotund branding Buddha, asked, “What isn’t?”

“Marketing is not the funnel. It is the pour, I said.

Five voices said in harmony, “The pour?”

“I think about Small Business Marketing all the time. One of the confusions that has occurred as we’ve seen the world move toward digital marketing is the integration of automated marketing and sales force contact management systems and what are now called contact relationship management systems. Marketing, Sales and Customer Relations are all being knotted up in a single system so the boundaries keep getting confused,” I said.

“I thought you liked integrated systems,” said Rick, our go to guy for direct marketing.

“I do,” I said, “but when sales expects marketing to hand them leads so qualified a rookie could close them something is wrong with the system and when sales pushes the maintenance of a relationship off to customer service…”

Kate pounced saying, “What is your problem? Sales is responsible for hitting higher quotas every year. We have to make sure we’re closing all the time. Now you have the tools to do the nurturing you need to do to get us good leads. What is your problem?”

“My problem,” I said, “is the same one that marketing departments and agencies and consultants all have. The expectations of corporate America have shifted to make us responsible for the funnel instead of the pour. Before, our job was to pour as many folks as possible into the sales funnel. We were always pushed to qualify them as potential customers. But sales had to close them”

“Thas right,” said Rob. All our ads built awareness of the brand, gave folks reasons to prefer the brand and even included offers for more information or free trials. Our job was to pour people into the funnel. Sales had to nurture them.”

“Bubba, I couldn’t agree more,” said Rick. My business is a combination of marketing and sales so we have to understand objections and stalls and all the stuff that a sales person goes through nose to nose with a prospect because we have to deal with it in print and video and you name it. Our job was to pour people into the funnel and move them as far down it as possible either getting the sale or handing off to a sales person.”

Gail said, “But things have changed. Marketing is expected to pour people into the funnel and then do all the information provision, all the nurturing, all the Q & A, all the funnel fact analysis, all the digital body language observation and in some cases even take the orders on line.”

Chris said, “But that is not all bad. My Marketing staff and the Sales staff sit side by side. There is great feedback both directions. We try to be professional about it. Marketing knows that our primary job is to pour as many people as possible into the funnel. And we know that we can help move people down the funnel but sales ultimately is responsible for changing contacts into contracts.

Thing is, we used to fight about the materials and presentations needed and sales would go zooming around completely off the Value Proposition.

Not anymore.

By working together we close faster, easier and more profitably.

Marketing’s job is the pour and to lubricate the customer’s journey down the funnel.”

“I guess I can buy into helping grease the funnel,” I said, as long as marketing is still the pour.”

 

Jerry Fletcher is focused on making the techniques of enterprise level marketing available to small businesses. His consulting website is www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry speaks professionally on networking, marketing and Contact Relationship Magic across the Americas. His speaking website is: www.NetworkingNinja.com

When Not To Apologize

Posted on by

Angry man“I was trying to make sure that all the folks that wanted to keep getting my blog and newsletter and other publications about small business marketing would keep on getting them” I said.

“Nothing wrong with that,” said Chris, the Digital Director.

“Yes and no according to one recipient.” I responded.

Chris asked, “What was the problem?”

I replied, “I wouldn’t have known there was one if I didn’t regularly read this fellow’s blog. For him, the personalization went awry. I inferred from his subject and description in a blog the following week plus a follow up comment that I had offended him by getting him to click through from an e-mail sent to hundreds of people that had been personalized with their first names.”

Rob, the smooth talkin’ Johnny Reb branding guru said, “Sounds to me like he took it kinda personal.”

“I’d go along with that, said Kate. In sales terms you got too friendly, too quick.”

Rob, nodded and said, “That can really put a hitch in your git-a-long.”

“All of us preach personalizing our e-mails whether it is sales or marketing or just person to person, I said. But the problem is we don’t know when we make a mistake in an e-mail. This particular e-mail was a test of a new automated marketing system. It went out to 453 people. I found out with the first mailing that people were not sure it was me. They e-mailed me about the concern. One old friend left a lengthy voice mail. Most of them suggested personalizing it if I could.

The second time I sent it to the 327 people who had not responded. The e-mail was longer and personalized and invited anyone that was not sure it was me to call or e-mail for assurance. A few did it. It was the ‘from’ address that bothered them.

So now I’m sending it out a third time to 271 folks. The message will be longer, personalized, explain what I’m doing at greater length, again urge them to contact me if concerned and be totally up front that they are going to a landing page.

I will not apologize for asking them to sign up.

Why? Asked Kate.

“His blog made it painfully clear that he felt he had been tricked because he was taken to a sign up page. But he never indicated how that sign up could be done without some sort of landing page to capture his sign up, add him to the lists involved and otherwise put him into an automated marketing system. He never contacted me about his concern.

Over the two e-mails, 26 people that wanted to sign up but wanted to be sure it was me, made contact. Of those, 24 signed up. The two that didn’t are just too busy for more e-mail but wanted to be sure that they would remain in my personal contact list.

I won’t apologize because he could have made no comment and assured the same action. He is off the list and won’t be invited back.”

Chris said, “Harsh.”

Kate looked over her glasses at him and said, “I know Fletch wants to keep every customer forever but I also know he is pragmatic. It wasn’t inappropriate personalization in this case. It worked. The guy clicked through and then was unhappy. And if he feels all that up close and personal why didn’t he get in touch? Situations like this, you cut your losses and move on.”

Jerry Fletcher has had his share of successes and surprises in Automated Marketing. That is the source of his expertise. Clients have been known to say that “he starts where the software stops.” Sign up on the landing page in question: jerryfletcher.com/profit.html

Jerry speaks professionally on three continents. His speaking web site is www.NetworkingNinja.com

How Do You Build An E-mail Marketing List?

Posted on by

“That’s the question for all of us that want to sell products on line,” I told my brain trust.

E-mail List buildingThe two most familiar with digital marketing spoke first. Rick, our direct marketing guru said, “Buy one.”

At the same time Chris the digital Marketing Director said, “Build one.”

Rob, our Georgia-born branding expert sighed and said, “Y’all want to dance?”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” I said. “Why don’t you two have at it. I’ll referee and if the rest start piling on, I’ll encourage them. Just remember we want solutions for the little guys that don’t have a ton of money or time.”

Rick said, one of the most successful ways I know to build a list is to buy an e-mail list of people that have bought something in the same arena you’re selling into. You just have to be sure that you get good recency and frequency information.”

Rob asked, “What does that mean?”

“Bubba,” Rick said, “list brokers, particularly those that work with retailers keep data on how long it has been since someone made a purchase and how frequently they buy. Those are selects, ways you can have them parse their lists for you so you get people with a track record for buying the kind of thing you want to sell them.”

Chris chimed in, “And you can do the same thing if you want to build a list. What I’ve done is buy regular mail lists because it is usually cheaper and there may not be an e-mail list of the customers I’m looking for. Then we send out post cards to them to get them to respond on line usually for some information they want or to sign up for an educational webinar. We’ve been running 5 to 7% sign up each time we mail.”

Kate’s bracelets were clanking as she gestured no at both of them. “Look guys, Fletch said limited time and money. As a sales consultant I run into this all the time. You gotta find a way to put people in the pipeline now, without spending a bundle. What have you got for folks like me?

“I can speak to part of that,” I said. Start with what you have:

  • Contact your current clients/customers and ask what they are looking for (and then sell it to them and put them in your customer list)
  • Contact your current prospects to determine where they are in the process (Sell ‘em if it makes sense, toss them or put them in your list for futures)
  • Pull that pile of business cards out of the drawer in your desk and go smilin’ and dialin’ as Bubba would say. (Same triage: Sell ‘em, List ‘em or Toss ‘em)
  • Or, if you have the right integrated CRM in place put out an Opt in message that is connected to a benefits landing page that automatically puts something of value in their hands via download, puts them in your list automatically and can even begin a drip campaign based on their stated interests or concerns.”

Kate said, “Instead of trying to sell a product sell them on the idea of staying in contact with you. I can tell you the process works. I’ve been doing it for years only not as regimented as I should.”

Gail, our copywriter said, “Don’t forget a call to action. Always give people a way to contact you regardless of whether it is an article or an interview, a video or an association meeting. It’s just like Fletch’s story about fishbowl marketing where the customers put their business cards in a fish bowl by the checkout.

“Don’t forget, Gail” I said, “that’s the client that found she had to put a sign in register by the fish bowl for all the women that were her best customers that didn’t have business cards.”

The real question is what will work for you? Do you have hard data on your attempts?

 

Jerry Fletcher meets around kitchen and boardroom tables to change the marketing of companies in the Americas. He prefers working with “Little Guys” with 1 to under 500 employees. Jerry’s consulting web site is www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry speaks professionally on three continents on how to craft Trust-based marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy…on and off line. His speaking site is www.NetworkingNinja.com

 

 

How To Do A Home Page Video That Builds Business

Posted on by

Chris, the digital marketing director said, “The websites you build videos into keep people on the site longer, get better click through and higher signups. I want to know why.”

Video can hook people on your website“Yeah,” Kate said, “Tell him the formula, Fletch.”

“It’s simple, I replied. “It’s a combination of selling like Kate coaches people to do and a marketing trick I’ve learned over the last 25 years. All you have to do is make a video of your 30 Second Marketing conversation.”

Gail asked, “Is that the thing you came up with to replace elevator pitches?”

“Yes,” I said.

She continued, “The one that is intended to answer the question what do you do?”

“Yup. The answer is what I call a hook. The four elements of the formula are:

  • Hook ‘em
  • Hold ‘em
  • Pitch ‘em
  • Close ‘em

Rick said, “I’ve heard you speak on this. As I recall the hook is hard to come up with but once you’ve got it you’re more memorable and people want to talk to you if only to find out more about you… but that’s in person. A video on a web site is more like direct marketing and that is my bailiwick. How does this work there?

“Hooks can be found or developed in a lot of ways, I said. Here are just a few that have worked for me with clients over the years:

  1. Review customer testimonials for simple descriptions
  2. Try to put what you do in terms a first grader could use to explain what you do to his or her classmates.
  3. Think about what you do from the customer’s viewpoint. What problem do you solve for them?
  4. Put it in words that will force them to want to know more.

“But y’all got to be careful of your brand,” said Rob, our branding big brother. “You can’t say something that is gonna hurt you long term even if it gets their attention today. I reckon tha’s wheah the rest of the formula fits in, right?”

“You’re right Bubba,” I said. “the hook is what everyone remembers but what makes 30 Second Marketing TM work is the rest of it. In order to hold ‘em, you have to find the words that come after You know how… That means you have to know the problem that brings your ideal customer to you. When I train people to do this I try to get them to know the top three problems that their ideal customers are trying to solve. The pitch always starts with the words What we do is… and then explains how you solve the problem for your ideal customers. The close is a specific Call to action.”

“And, Y’all don’t want to be flappin’ your gums too much either, said Rob. Make it quick. If you go much more than a minute and a half they’ll be gone faster than a fox when a beagle bays.

 

Jerry and the marketing lunch bunch will be back next week. Their discussions are always about small businesses marketing tips that are low or no cost.

www.JerryFletcher.com is Jerry’s consulting web site He meets around kitchen and boardroom tables to change the marketing of companies in the Americas. He prefers working with “Little Guys” with 1 to 500 employees.

www.NetworkingNinja.com is his speaking site. He speaks professionally on three continents on how to craft Trust-based marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy…on and off line.

 

Why Small Guys Should Think Twice About Social Media

Posted on by

I learned a few things when I spent a day last week at a conference of small business people.

Elephant in the room--social mediaKate asked, “Like what?”

“There’s an elephant in the room,” I said. “The noise about that big beast is the thing that gets in the way of most of those folks having a solid marketing and sales plan. The keep being told about the tremendous reach of the major social programs. The data is reasonably accurate but the fact that Facebook gets to sky zillion people doesn’t translate to people coming into your establishment in east Podunk Junction where the total population within 20 minutes of your store wouldn’t fill a football stadium. Part of the problem is that they believe the big numbers will be a magic charm.”

Chris chimed in, “Then there is the don’t know factor. They don’t know what they don’t know and I don’t know if they will ever find out!”

“Easy there, web master,” said Rob our branding guru, “you’ll get yourself all whupped up like the topping on one of grannie’s lemon cream pies only it ain’t quite so tasty. What I mean is that some folks didn’t grow up with all this stuff and so they just don’t get it. Give’ em a break. Shucks, they make great customers for you.”

“You have a point,” said Chris.

Kate asked “So why do you still have a long face?”

“Because they want all the bells and whistles but they aren’t willing to learn how the digital world works.”

“Boy is that the truth,” said Rick, our Direct Marketing expert. “I get requests that require the most sophisiticated approaches every day from people that don’t have a clue as to the tools we have to use to meet their expectations. They want to do automated digital marketing and are not willing to learn what is reqired and what it costs both in terms of time and money whether they do it themselves or hire a pro.

Gail interjected, “Look, I’m one of those people that just doesn’t quite get it. Not because I haven’t tried. I’ve taken classes and I try to stay up to date with webinars and online resources but they keep changing stuff and I don’t have time to keep up, I have a business to run. You and the other digital types need to remember that all these things are tools. I don’t have to relearn how to use hammer each time I need one and you know as well as I do that most manuals for this stuff are non-existent or written for the cognoscetti not for us non-techies!”

“That is what I heard all day long,” I said. “Over breakfast a former sales person for a Fortune 500 company that had opened her own business said she was much happier but just couldn’t figure out whether to go networking and making cold calls or figure out how to put Twitter and Facebook to work for her.”

“So you told her to get to Networking and Cold calling, I’m sure,” said Kate.

“Yes, I said, “but I suggested that she should start asking customers if they used social media and if so which and for what. Later in the day in my presentation I noted that a recent Gallup poll says that 62% of Americans do not use social media to make buying decisions.”

“However,” Rick said, if she asks the right questions, once she learns about her customers she  will have a better fix on an approach to all the digital marketing she might do.

“Right,” I said. “All day long it came back to the wrong questions. In my view, the right ones are:

  1. What media (traditional or digital) do your prospects or customers actually use? Why?
  2. How do they relate to it and the offers they find in it? Why?
  3. If they had to pick just one way of being contacted which would it be? Why?

What do you think?

 

Jerry and his merry band will be back next week

This blog is from the experience of Jerry Fletcher. Learn more at his consulting website: www.JerryFletcher.com

Need a speaker that this crowd deemed “Captivating and Practical” ? Learn more at: www.NetworkingNinja.com

How To Conquer Marketing Overwhelm

Posted on by

Rick said, “A new client told me he was hiring me because I helped him conquer his fear of being overwhelmed by the marketing possibilities.”

Happy Man“After you said thanks, what did you ask him?” asked Kate.

“He went on to say that it was a relief to know he didn’t have to learn it all and do it himself.”

Chris said, “Yeah, but what does that mean?”

“Let me guess,” I said. “The client is on every e-mail marketing list you can imagine. He or she watches a webinar a week which is always about the next sure thing in marketing on-line. But because each one of them says something different and the client hasn’t invested in any of them the level of overwhelm is like a tsunami.”

“Right,” said Rick. “I took a lesson from Kate. I asked him what I’d said or done that made him feel that way. Here’s what he said:

‘I’ve been trying to figure out how to take my business up a notch and I concluded that the marketing was the key. So I went on-line and searched marketing. I looked at the Business Journal list on-line and every company shown as a client was way bigger than me so I decided to look for on-line marketing help. Good luck with that! SEM, SEO and Certificate programs for pages. So I typed in how to market on line and I looked at some stuff. Before you know it I was getting e-mails from four or five folks about the same programs. So I’d watch a webinar and everything they told me was about how wonderful their new product was and they would be happy to take my credit card order for it…’

“But why did he hire you? I sincerely doubt it was because of your brand,” said Rob, our Branding Guru. What I’m seeing is that there is a glut of information out there. A simple search can make y’all believe you’re livin’ in an e-mail tornado alley. Everybody and his great aunt Hattie is tryin’ to get you to buy their shiny object and showing you checks with big numbers on ‘em.”

Gail said, “I know exactly what that feels like. Happened to me this summer. This group helped. All of you got me to stop buying into the silver bullet theory of internet marketing. You made me stop and look at the numbers and what was working for the various clients you serve. Here’s the way I wrote it down one Friday afternoon:

Information by the ton
Hundreds of products
No insight into what works and what doesn’t
———————————————————-
A single coach
An approach matched to my needs
Test, Measure, Analyze and Reset”

I said, “So the net result is that the client believed that the insights you offered would overcome the glut of information and that you would work to make the marketing plan a living thing based on results.”

Rick said, “That’s one way to put it, but I think it is bigger than that. The client trusts me. And I’m not going to breach that trust.”

 

The marketing lunch bunch will be back next week. If you’re finding yourself drinking from that information fire hose, stop it! Watch this space for advice on how to find that singular coach that can help you market your business.

www.JerryFletcher.com is Jerry’s consulting web site He is changing the marketing of companies that meet around kitchen and boardroom tables. He prefers working with “Little Guys” with 1 to 500 employees.

www.NetworkingNinja.com is his speaking site. He speaks professionally on three continents on how to craft Trust-based marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy.

How To Sell What They Want To Buy

Posted on by

“I heard you say that serendipity is not why sales close,” said Kate as she took her seat.

Expectations“That’s right, I replied. “Jim, one of my clients, was speaking at an event with a top mergers and acquisitions guy. Each made the same point. In their view the organizations and individuals buying companies were buying what they believed the purchased outfit could do in the future. Past achievements were just that…past. The M&A guy focused on the shifts in valuation away from basic accounting data to critical evaluations of people and processes. Jim pointed out that in privately held businesses, the founder/owner is so much a part of the business that purchasers are particularly interested in who is going to be running things when he or she leaves. Buyers are basing the purchase price on projected performance. ”

”That is exactly what some research on resumes uncovered,” Gail chimed in. “If you have two candidates that are equal in every other way the candidate perceived as the one that will deliver on higher expectations is the one that gets hired. Been there, done that and got the T-shirt is not enough. Getting the interview starts with the cover letter not the resume. If the letter is more than a transmittal and shows a little flair while voicing career expectations the candidate has a better chance of getting through the door.”

“Welcome to my world,” said Rob. “What you two are blithering about is Brand, plain and simple. One of the best definitions I’ve ever heard for it is that Brand is a promise. It is the sum of people’s expectations fulfilled. It is the mouthwatering first taste of the chocolate chip cookie you smelled baking in the mall. It is the relief you know those over the counter pills will give you for your arthritis. It’s what makes that two hour ride to Granny Elders for one of her Sunday dinners worth it…both directions.”

“Anticipation is what gets them,” said Chris, our digital specialist. “I keep going back to print to understand the direct marketing side of digital campaigns. The deeper I get into the swipe file the more I find that the successful campaigns get people to respond for reasons other than features and benefits. Sure, you have to have that information but the real hook is what the prospect thinks they will get for making the purchase. Sure you have to solve their problem but the solution needs to be as they see the solution, not as you do.”

Rick said, “Your mention of a swipe file reminded me of a letter I keep on the bulletin board by my desk. For years the Wall Street Journal used the same letter to generate subscriptions. It is on monarch sized paper which makes it look like it is from an executive on his personal stationery. It carries the Journal logo at the top and is about a four page letter. It begins with a paragraph that sets the scene on a beautiful spring day 25 years ago when two young men graduated from the same college. It fast forwards to today when the same two men are attending their college reunion. One is a manager in a company. The other is the company president. The rest of the letter deals with what made the difference.

The key thing however is that the recipient of the letter was constantly in front of the writer. He was focused on the desire of the reader to succeed. (If you’d like a copy ask in a comment.)

Kate nodded. “Now you know why I ask some of the questions I do,” she said. “A lot of sales people try to rush it. I find that the less I try to close the better off I am, particularly if the price is substantial. The questions I find most helpful are ones like:

What do you expect to happen if you go ahead with this?

What will happen next when we put this in place?

Afterwards, how do you think things will change?”

“If you’re going to sell what they want to buy you need to understand the emotional impact of the purchase on the prospect,” I said. “That is true whether you selling in print, on line, or face to face.”

 

Jerry and the crew will return next week.

Jerry Fletcher crafts Trust-based marketing guidance for the “Little Guy” adapting enterprise level approaches that work for little or no money and time. Learn more at: www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry speaks professionally on three continents. Learn more at: www.NetworkingNInja.com

How Little Guys Can Find Their Briar Patch And Win At Marketing.

Posted on by

Briar Pach Marketing“Every small business has to figure out how to market with limited funds and limited time,” said Rob. “The problem is they get all wound around an axle trying to do branding and pushin’ to beat the odds on social media and they wind up just getting tired and feelin’ like Enterprise level operations are gwan to whup on ‘em.”

“Hold it’” I said. I’ll bet not everyone here knows the Brer Rabbit stories, Bubba. That is what you’re talking about, not the Nebula in the Star Trek show, right?”

Rob replied, “I’m talkin’ rabbits not rockets. You see, Brer Rabbit was a ‘Little Guy.’ He used his wits to beat Brer Fox time after time. That is the secret no matter what kind of business you have. Sure there are times when massive amounts of money poured on an opportunity are going to get the Foxes share but a little ingenuity can go a long way to making your business successful.”

Kathy said, “I see where you’re going with this. You want folks to look at the Briar patch as their happy hunting grounds. It’s like telling a cold caller not to go into that high rise looking for business.”

“I’m not familiar with the stories,” Chris said.

“The stories are about a very clever rabbit. I responded. He continuously turned the tables on just about all the other critters in the woods. Even though he was little, his ingenuity kept him alive and well-fed through adventure after adventure. Once when captured by Brer Fox he pleaded not to be eaten saying, ‘Please don’t fling me in that briar patch’ each time the Fox suggested how he might be cooked. The fox flung him. Brer Rabbit laughed and scampered to safety through the home of his youth.”

“Nice summary for a Yankee,” said Rob. “The key thing here is that there are differences between Little Guys and Enterprises. In my view here’s what you can take advantage of:

  1. You don’t make committee decisions. You don’t have to check a bunch of schedules and wait until everyone is available. You can have a meeting in a heartbeat and make a decision before the Foxes, Bears and other big critters can find the conference room.
  2. On the other hand you can use the same sort of scheduling and contact management software to keep track of your team as well as your customers, prospects and suspects. And because you’re operatin’ in your briar patch you know those folks a lot better than someone who is not used to thorny interactions.
  3. You can easily monitor your marketing campaigns in real time and adapt the analytics developed for internet usage by your out-of-the-briar-patch competitors. In simple terms, use your ingenuity and your ability to move quickly to win on your terms. Remember, you need far fewer sales than the enterprises to have a successful business.”

Gail took a sip of iced tea, stirred it and said, “So what you’re saying is that the Little Guys really have an advantage. The combination of ingenuity, decision speed and desire, no, essential need, to know how things are going moment to moment provides an edge, an edge that is the key to winning.”

“Couldn’ta said it better myself,” said Rob.

Do you agree? What other Brer Rabbit differences would you add? Let us know with your comments.

 

Jerry and the whole menagerie will be back next week. See you in the Briar Patch.

Jerry Fletcher builds trust-based marketing strategies for Little Guys. Small businesses introducing themselves, new products or new services that are taking their business up a notch. Learn more at: www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry is an international professional speaker and consultant. Learn more at www.NetworkingNinja.com