Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 09:37:09 05/23/01 Wed
This was previously posted in another blog.
Trust usually isn't established instantly. Trust is a compatibility issue that builds in stages. Faith comes first. Faith may come about because of credentials or a display of knowledge.
Here's an example- After reading my posts to this forum, you may have faith in my knowledge. But letting me handle your marketing program for you is a matter of trust.
It's best to build trust before a consumer needs you. Cultivate realistic sounding testimonials. Induce referrals. Write articles. Submit posts to discussion forums.
If you're the only product/service provider in a consumer's time of need. You may get a sale based on that even if you haven't established firm trust.
How can you set this up? It depends on your business. But I'll give some samples.
An appliance dealer can give/send magnetic advertising specialties for people to put on their appliances.
To supplement this, the dealer can establish a program of getting information about the specifications people will want/need in a replacement appliance. Some specifications are: Measurements, capacity, gas/electric, color, etc.
When an appliance breaks down, the customer can call for a price quote without having to supply the necessary information. (During a stressful time, people aren't apt to want to hassle with this information; they just want a solution NOW!)
I still have a business card for a lock-out service in my wallet. I got it at a gas station. I never met the owner of the service but if my keys are locked in my car on a cold winter day, it doesn't matter that I haven't met him, I'll call him.
We know people tend to hate advertising.
The whole truth is- People hate advertising that intrudes on them without giving them a benefit.
Entertainment is a benefit but it might not induce anybody to buy the advertised product though it may get them to pay attention to the ad.
Since people are more cure oriented than prevention oriented, it's necessary to fully describe undesirable effects.
This is something an appliance dealer can use but can be adapted for other businesses. "Did this ever happen to you or to somebody you know? The freezer breaks down & all of the food in it (possibly $200 worth) is going to spoil if it isn't put into a new freezer SOON! Now besides all of the other things you have to do, you have to buy a freezer NOW! Pre-shopping for a freezer will limit the hassle you go through at a stressful time like this. We can deliver the new freezer right away & take away the old one"
Then it's just a matter of introducing what I wrote above.
Just think, "Why or when would a consumer want my marketing message?" then base the message on the answer.
Dennis S. Vogel
thrivingbusiness@email.com
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies and tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
This was previously posted in another blog.
Subject: Re: Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising Author: SidK Date Posted: 09:40:03 05/23/01 Wed
In reply to: Dennis S. Vogel's message, "Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising" on 09:37:09 05/23/01 Wed
I know you didn't come right out with it. But it seems that you're implying that if customers don't want to receive personal messages from me, that they don't trust me.
They buy from me, so they must trust me.
This was previously posted in another blog.
Subject: Re: Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising Author:
Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 09:43:08 05/23/01 Wed
In reply to: SidK 's message, "Re: Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising" on 09:40:03 05/23/01 Wed
Sid:
You're right; you have earned their trust, so they buy from you.
There are a lot of variables in this issue. I'll cut through most of it by writing that what you offer & your messages have to be relevant to your customers' lives.
If you sell chewing gum, they probably won't be thrilled by getting repeated messages about it. This may be true about any commodity.
To prevent something from becoming a commodity it's important to use the information I wrote in the other post I wrote for you in response to USP,PA,CA,USA, It's too much to keep up with!
Relevance is a deep subject, but as you pointed out, I should have covered it briefly in the original post. Thank you for pointing that out.
Dennis S. Vogel
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Help People Receive Your Advertising
Being receptive to an ad doesn't mean people will buy what's offered.
Though people trust you, they might not be ready to buy for many reasons. Many internal & external things can block their receptivity to your offers.
When you understand some of these, you can try to work around them.
Receptivity Reality Check
When you advertise, you should consider what's painful & obvious.
People already have too many external distractions. Your ads are more distractions.
People already have many thoughts. You're asking people to think even more.
People have many decisions to make. You're asking them to make another decision.
People have problems to solve & avoid.
To advertise successfully, you need your offer to match those problems & thoughts after getting past other distractions.
You should quickly show you understand how to solve or mitigate people's problems.
You should use the insights below & your knowledge about niche members to improve their lives.
In marketing, receptivity is a willingness & readiness to receive a message or a product/service.
Frequency can be important beyond getting people to notice & remember a message. A benefit of frequency is possibly reaching consumers when they're receptive.
Since people can't always pay attention to your messages, you need to test frequency levels.
Frequency can also increase people's comfort with your business, so they'll consider your offers.
Here Are Some Baseline Basics
When people are aware of a problem, they're apt to pay attention to a relevant message. Use words, sounds & images people recognize as relevant to a problem & solution.
You should learn what your niche members listen to & watch. You can find broadcasts, web & editorial content to match your messages.
Marketing messages convey ideas.
People aren't always open to ideas because they have too many things to think about already.
People aren't always able to think about a problem at a particular time. They have condition-specific priorities. Your offer might have a low priority if it isn't relevant in their current condition.
If your message reaches them when they're focused on a task, they might need to disregard your message.
You can learn when their leisure times are & what they do.
Do your best to have your messages reach niche members when they're ready to pay attention. Those are times they aren't distracted by issues that aren't related your offers.
They're more apt to be interested in your offers when they're actively involved in related issues & options.
Their desires will be high when problems & opportunities are acute.
They're more apt to buy if they can quickly go to a store or use a web site.
People are complex, so there are exceptions.
Though they have to put some priorities on a back burner, they feel 'heat' because that 'burner' is hot.
While people focus on primary tasks, they may be distracted by those other concerns or preferences.
Example - It's Friday afternoon. People are at work & listening to a radio. They hear commercials for a water park. In a few hours, they can leave monotonous conditions & have some fun.
In these commercials, sounds of splashing & laughing can attract attention so people might listen to the spoken message.
Too Many Messages For One Mind
People are often exposed to many messages each day. It's hard to pay attention to ads because most don't pertain to their situations.
Even if they have few external distractions, people have personal distractions.
Advertisers need to quickly express problems & solutions in ways that match consumers' experiences. Which images, sounds or words will fit consumers' beliefs about their situations?
It's hard to prioritize anything that doesn't seem immediately urgent or important.
High priority matters are processed subconsciously, a few of those evoke conscious attention. Subconscious minds block low priority messages & distractions.
Even when people want to pay attention, they might be too overwhelmed & tired to think about & remember messages.
Traction Distraction Subtraction
This is an imperfect analogy. Please don't judge it for technical correctness.
People can only think of a few things simultaneously. It's hard to add another issue when people are already distracted by problems.
Connections can happen when you express your offer with analogies, images, words & sounds people use to express thoughts & feelings.
To get traction in people's minds, you can connect with their current thoughts or distractions (other concerns or preferences).
In effect, traction is gripping something. When vehicles move, tires 'grip' a road & a road 'grips' tires.
Even when tires are in good condition, road conditions can interfere with traction.
Like planning a trip based on driving conditions, it's best to plan advertising according consumers' conditions.
You can use optimal images, words & sounds & still get suboptimal results because of conditions beyond your control.
If you want people to think of a problem (not related to current tasks), you need to get them to subtract an issue.
If you present problems & solutions that are more urgent &/or important than people's current thoughts, you might get their attention & interest.
If you present the most pleasant solution, you can inspire desire & get people into buying action.
People might be attracted & persuaded by familiar images, sounds &; words.
You can learn about appealing images, words & sounds by listening to niche members, noticing what they respond to & reading what they write in reviews.
You can observe how competitors communicate, but you shouldn't copy them. Like many things, best practices are good until they're used too much.
If your message is too familiar, people might not notice it. It could be like background noise. You need to consider what's common & test messages.
Unfamiliar things can be like friction.
Traction requires some friction (unfamiliarity). Overused messages could be like bald tires on ice.
If people think they've heard or seen something before, why should they listen or look again?
You can make your advertising recognizable with consistent images or sounds. Your new ads should be different enough so people know you've made a new offer.
Disappointing Results Interfere With Receptivity
Receptive can also mean being ready to consider a possibility. After a disappointment, people might be skeptical & think there's no solution.
People might've expected a full solution but only experienced mitigation.
Despite disappointments, if a full solution exists, people can be convinced to try it. Do your best to explain how your offer fits their conditions & what you do to make a solution complete.
They're willing to pay for full satisfaction. They don't want to pay just to decrease their dissatisfaction.
Will a product/service only mitigate a problem? Can you make it the best mitigation people can afford?
Receptivity & Affordability
Receptivity may depend on a person's budget & available credit.
A product is more relevant when people can afford it. It's vital to develop versions of offers niche members can afford.
Some people will do some or all of the work to save money. Others expect & can afford a full service solution.
Some will buy incremental solutions. They'll buy what they can afford. They'll invest more money when they can afford it.
What's the minimum, but significant increment you can offer?
Attractive Names
Since people are receptive to solutions, it's good to package products & services together to create total solutions.
Manufacturers name products. Retailers can set package names based on benefits niche members will buy.
The package names can be part of your sales copy.
Example - Gardeners buy seeds, fertilizers, hoes & rakes. Retailers can group products people need to produce benefits. Retailers could test package names like "Quick Plump Vegetables" & "Easy Weed Free".
Retail packages can include free or low-priced services to help customers make products fit their situations better. Customer service can include lessons to help people reduce frustrations & increase benefits.
Ask about their conditions.
As customers to describe conditions, you'll learn more about customizing offers for them. You'll learn how to add superior value to what they buy.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please use my blog for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
You Can Help People Decide To Buy From You
The ideas below can help you develop advertising, point-of-purchase signs & sales presentations.
These aren't templates, these are insights you could use with templates.
What's In It For Them?
There are general & specific reasons to buy things.
You can start with general reasons, then focus on what applies in particular situations.
You can list the insights by subject & use the most urgent & important answers as your opening statement or headline.
Here are important questions in general -
When people determine if they need your product/service, what do they need to know?
What should people know about you to assure them you're the best provider for their situations?
Here are more specific considerations -
What's happening now in your area?
How does your product/service help people cope with what's happening?
What kind of value can you add to make that product/service better for people in those conditions?
How can you help people get maximum benefits from the value you add?
How can you help people maintain those benefits?
Do you have another product/service to increase those benefits?
Do you have more knowledge than competitors? How can you apply your knowledge to people's conditions?
When people solve problems, those solutions might cause other problems. How can you help people decrease problems?
Example - I mow my lawn to fulfill a legal requirement. Now I have grass clippings. What can I do with the clippings?
Some lawn mowers cut grass into mulch (small bits). That mulch becomes fertilizer.
Products & services aren't perfect solutions. What can you do to decrease inconveniences, imperfections & side effects?
Example - Before I use my lawn mower, I need to put fuel in the tank. If I spill any gas, it's a hazardous mess.
Some gas cans are more convenient to use because they're made for pouring into small engines.
Overworked Minds Resist More Decisions
Let's start this next topic with an obvious point as a baseline.
People have "decision loads". You can help people manage decision loads.
Though some enjoy shopping, people are unlikely to enjoy making more decisions.
People want to decrease the numbers of decisions. They want to decrease the time they spend in making decisions.
You should use your knowledge about your niche & products to help people make good decisions quickly.
When you establish a reputation for helping people make good, quick decisions, people will be more receptive to your offers.
If you offer "turn key" solutions, people can get problems solved by letting you make some decisions.
Example - I have old lawn & bushes that are dying. A landscaper agreed to remove the bushes & lawn.
He'll also plant grass seed & set up sprinklers with a timer.
He'll check the grass & remove the automatic sprinklers at the right time.
I won't need to deal with any of it until it's time to mow my new lawn.
Often people don't know where to start when they think about decisions.
Ask about their conditions. Ask what they've done so far. Ask what they want to achieve.
They might not have an answer for each question. You can help find answers by showing different options.
Make it as easy as possible for consumers to fill gaps.
Determine the gap between current conditions & customers' desires. Show how your product will fill gaps.
Decisions & Thought Patterns
If people often make decisions about offers like yours, they might decide quickly.
Their thought patterns & receptivity to offers will change as conditions change.
When product categories & people's experiences change, they might deliberate longer because previous thought patterns were set for other conditions.
It depends which benefits people want at a particular time. What's more important now? Do they value convenience, functionality, reliability, durability, price or another feature & benefit?
The importance of a benefit varies depending on competitive offers & people's experiences.
Example - If people keep upgrading, they won't keep a product for long. Durability would be less important.
Functionality might be the most important general benefit. A specific function might the reason for an upgrade.
Your supply chain & trade journals might have helpful information.
You should offer more than product benefits. You should offer a strong benefit of buying specifically from you instead of competitors.
Decisions Are Big & Small
You should develop advertising based on people's decisions. I've included a few factors below.
What will they buy? When will they buy it? Can they rent it? Will they use it enough to justify buying it?
When do they have time to shop? How much can they afford? Which model & brand should they buy for their conditions?
How many offers/stores do they check?
How will they learn to use it? Do you offer lessons? Are there instruction books or videos?
Do instruction books or videos have general tips or detailed steps?
Do you have suggestions about storing the product?
Do you offer delivery & set up?
Detailed testimonials could help people choose options.
They might be guided by testimonials (including case studies) from people in similar conditions.
Why did customers buy certain products? How do those products help them?
What advice do they have about getting maximum benefits & avoiding mistakes?
Help People Decide Based On Their Problems
Are people apt to buy now or ask for information? How much information will they listen to or read at a time?
If you advertise in mass media, can you afford a full sales message or urge people to ask for information?
If it's a multiple step sales process, you should guide people through a decision process.
In each increment, you should provide information for their next step.
There are various logical scenarios.
1. You could start by describing a problem, so people can determine if they have it.
2. If they have that problem, they can get information about solutions.
3. With that information, they can determine which solution they can afford.
4. They can decide when to buy a solution based on their priorities.
5. They can choose a payment option.
Issues Are Confusing Or Simple
Some people know how to simplify decisions. When they have key information, they can process big & small issues.
Others will endure problems because they delay purchases until they're comfortable with a decision.
You can ask people which issues are confusing or simple. You can offer information to help clarify issues.
Sometimes many simple issues combine into a confusing mess. You can ask people how many decisions might be too many.
Multiple step selling lets people gather incremental information & make incremental decisions.
Information can overwhelm people. You should help people put information together easily so they can make simple decisions.
Example - If multiple sizes or styles are available, how will you help people choose a size or style?
If you offer payment options, how will you help people choose an option?
Thinking & making decisions requires effort & people often have low energy. When they feel pressure to decide, they use more energy. As they use energy, deciding gets harder.
A wide selection of models & brands can be a benefit because people might find what matches their situations. A wide selection also increases the decisions to make.
You might help people determine which models to consider by eliminating whatever doesn't match their situations.
Ask prospects if they feel comfortable with standard combinations or if they want to decide each option separately.
How much information do people need to make the best decisions? If you guide them about facts to consider, you can make decision processes easier & faster. You can put questions & factors in diagnostic charts to guide people's thoughts. (You can use a search engine to find sample diagnostic charts.)
You could help by giving information or advising them which information sources to check.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
You can use these URLs for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Friday, May 26, 2017
USP,PA,CA,USA, It's too much to keep up with!
Subject: USP,PA,CA,USA, It's too much to keep up with! Author: SidK Date Originally Posted: 10:15:27 05/23/01 Wed (in a previous blog)
I've heard an read about unique selling propositions, pre-emptive advantages, competitive advantages, unique selling advantages, positioning and others. Are they the same or different?
NOTE: As I reviewed my message recently, I noticed some mistakes. I also added an update below.
Corrected Post:
Hi Sid:
Some people treat them as the same. They're similar. The biggest word for each of them is UNIQUE! If your business is like any others, there's no real reason for customers to buy from you (unless they can get to your business more easily).
If you offer exactly the same products & services as competitors, people could choose you at random & get the same benefits. If that's the case, you're relying on the chance of being chosen. I'd prefer to sell by design, not by chance.
There's definite overlap among these terms.
Here's how I define them -
Unique selling proposition: What are you offering that your competitors aren't offering? Maybe they're able to, but so far they haven't. For example - Bayer aspirin focuses on relieving pain but even more, taking aspirin can help to prevent heart-attacks. Any aspirin product can do these.
Preventing heart-attacks is something Tylenol (non-aspirin pain reliever) can't do, so compared to acetaminophen, aspirin has a unique selling proposition.
Unique buying advantage: What advantage do customers think they get by buying from you instead of from your competitors. (This can be used as a basis of referral marketing.) It's something customers already believe about your business, product/service without much if any prompting from you. For example - Tums has calcium, but Rolaids doesn't. (Doctors helped this a lot.)
Unique selling advantage: What do you want prospects to accept as a clear advantage. For example - "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. Fed Ex." It was unique until the US Postal Service and UPS matched it.
Pre-emptive advantage: In a highly competitive/commodity environment, one competitor finds something about itself the others haven't figured out yet. The others could also claim it if they realized it. Avis car rental used to boast its service lines were shorter than Hertz's. National and Budget car rentals could have claimed the same thing and still could if they wanted to seem like copy-cats.
Competitive advantage: Wal-Mart stores are typically set up near the edges of cities so they'll be close to major highways, so the trucks can get to the stores easily. In some cities, this is a low population area. Since Wal-Mart put a lot of money into its locations, it probably won't move a store (it has in some cases). So, W-M can't do much about its stores' distances from customers' homes.
Positioning: This is the picking order in a business category. Somebody wants to deal with the top company in a category, s/he will probably pick the number two company if the number one company is unavailable.
"Avis is number two, why pick us? We try harder." If people didn't want to wait in a long line for a Hertz car, they may just go for the number two company. The "We try harder" part is just a nice little touch, but it's the number two positioning that made it successful for Avis until it changed its focus and lost momentum.
Trying harder isn't enough to win a marketing battle. The road to hell is being paved with good intentions & the people who try harder are doing the paving. Trying harder is OK if the effort creates enough of the value people will pay for.
Branding: The biggest effort in marketing is to get people to think of brand name when a business, product or service category comes to mind. Which brand comes to mind when you think about computers? That's branding.
Inherent Drama: This is another element we could add, which I reduce down to ID, because if you have an inherent drama in your business, product/service it should be used as a form of identity.
This conversation was used in a commercial decades ago:
Girl 1: "Here he comes. Give me another Certs, mine is gone."
Girl 2: "Do this. (slurping/sucking sound) Do you feel that cool, fresh feeling?"
Girl 1: "Yeah."
Girl 2: "That means Certs is still working."
Then Girl 1 is confident the boy of her dreams won't be offended by bad breath. Certs had, maybe still has, the inherent drama (ID) of lasting breath freshness.
I like to include ways to apply information I provide, but these subjects have so many variables, it would take a lot of space to provide practical applications of these other than the examples I gave.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please click here for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Your Central Marketing Theme Should Be Like A Lens
Unique Selling Propositions, Pre-emptive Advantages, Competitive Advantages, Unique Selling Advantages, Unique Buying Advantages & positioning statements should be simple messages to lead people to recognize a value they want/need. These are examples of a marketer's central marketing theme.
It's hard even for experienced marketers to remember marketing details like these. It's like that for consumers who try to remember product features & benefits. It's hard for them to compare options. They need you to help them focus on benefits they should prioritize.
They need a framework. I've written some ideas below to help you frame your messages.
Your central marketing theme should be like a lens to focus your business on consumers' needs & desires.
Your central marketing theme should be like a lens to focus consumers on their conditions compared to what you offer.
Example: "When you need (a specific benefit), choose a better option at (business name)."
If that's your basic theme, you'd evaluate potential inventory orders & future offers based on helping customers get that benefit. How could you put products & services together to help customers produce that benefit?
Your full message should help customers recognize it as a benefit they want/need.
Your theme & messages should specifically link your business with a benefit in people's minds. As much as practical, your business should be an exclusive source of that benefit or a combination of benefits.
Though people may seem to have the same problem, they experience a problem differently.
Since people's experiences can be vastly different, you can help them diagnose problems & find their best options.
You should help niche members focus on what's most important for their situations. Some benefits may be important for a minority of members. They need you to help them find the best benefits for their lives.
When there are multiple options to solve or mitigate a problem, marketing messages can help people set priorities. People need to know which factors are more important so they can choose the best options for their situations.
Those options can include which retailers offer the best values. Your methods can make your business a better option than a competitor.
How much do you depend on manufacturer advertising? To attract a majority of consumers, manufacturers might emphasize the most popular benefits. In your area, some consumers might want less popular benefits.
Small stores can be profitable by selling to niche members who don't need all of the popular benefits.
Profitability can be maintained by testing methods & tracking niches as they change.
Find a Balance Between Specificity & Flexibility
You should carefully adjust your central marketing theme. You need to make it as specific as you can to make it meaningful to your niche. You need it to be flexible because your niche & available products will change.
As you get information, you can adjust your marketing methods. As you get responses to your advertising, you can adjust your offers.
Even if competitors sell the same products, they might focus on a narrow range of benefits. You should help niche members get specific benefits that may be less popular. Your niche members might not know about less promoted benefits until they get information from you.
Example - People often get unwanted phone calls. Some phones can be set to block some calls. People can also assign special ring tones for specific callers. You should know which products offer those benefits & show consumers how to set them up.
Some manufacturers cram many potential benefits into products. It's especially true in high technology.
People get a complex product but they use a narrow range of features. Example - They want to make phone calls, but the same product is also a small computer & camera. Will they make calls & rarely use other features?
Do people want/need a device for high quality pictures or videos? Some cameras can be used to magnify small print. So people might want a built-in camera, even if they don't take pictures.
Are features cheap or high quality? Example - Many phones have built in cameras. Are those high quality cameras? Are they high quality phones with low quality cameras?
When products have multiple features, the overall quality can be hard to rate. Consumers might rate a cell phone at a 10 for phone calls, they might rate it at a 4 for texting. The built-in camera might rate at a 2. How would they rate its overall quality?
They probably buy a phone to communicate, but do they prefer calls or texting? That preference would determine their quality ratings.
If you base your business on offering only high quality products, how would low quality features fit your marketing theme?
If you have a good product selection & product knowledge, you can help people prioritize feature & benefit qualities.
How well can you help people avoid wasting money on features they won't use? You could offer an advantage of selling what people will use (possibly a simpler, less expensive product).
You should do your best to offer benefits people will use.
You might offer specific product brands but you'll sell the benefit of solving & avoiding problems. People pay for products/services so they get benefits.
People pay for phones & tablets so they can talk or text? Which is more important to them - sound quality or keypad size?
People may want the most modern products for social reasons (snob appeal). To impress anybody, people should know how to use those products.
Even if people want complex products, you could show them how to get maximum value from the features they use.
If it's a profitable proposition, it could be a Preemptive Advantage since competitors can do it, too.
Warning: If It Isn't Profitable, It Isn't An Advantage.
I encourage business owners to do what's unique. I should also warn you there are reasons some potential propositions aren't made.
It can be easy to offer what competitors don't or can't offer but it can be challenging to make profitable offers. If competitors don't offer something, it might be unprofitable. It depends a lot on a business's cost structure.
Setting up a cost structure is beyond the scope of this post.
Simple Meaningful Messages
Your central marketing theme should be short, simple & easy to remember.
Simplicity is important especially in short messages. People are distracted. When they hear or see messages, there are other things happening. There are environmental noises plus internal thoughts & feelings.
If they misunderstand a message, they may think they perceived it accurately, so they won't seek clarification.
It's vital to express a simple reason to buy, even if a product/service is complex.
When many details are crammed into a short message, people might be overwhelmed & miss details. As they try to understand a detail, they might misunderstand other details.
Multiple Step Sales Processes
If you have complex products/services, you'll probably need multiple step messages.
It's hard to explain many benefits in a minute or a small ad. What's necessary is to convince people to check a web site or call for more information.
A short message can be a summary of what matters most to a niche.
When consumers ask for information, you can guide them to select their best options.
Security systems use complex technology, so marketers ask consumers to request more information. In a minute, a company can express the importance of getting information instead of trying to get people to buy.
Simple Messages Should Lead To Deeper Messages
Your store's success depends on reasons people buy & use products & services. When you know these reasons, you can adjust your marketing & your in-store sales efforts.
Though your central marketing theme should be simple, it should focus on a combination of factors.
Let's use this example again: "When you need (a specific benefit), choose a better option at (business name)."
Who needs the benefit? Which option is better for this person? Why is it better?
These factors pertain to products/services & involve questions about who, what, where, when, why, how (often, much, long).
Some questions are: Who will buy a product/service? What will they buy? Why will they buy it? Why will they choose a specific version? Who will receive it? Who will use it? Why will they use it? How long will they use it?
Why is a specific version better in their specific situations? How is that specific version better for them? Can you quantify how much better? What makes their situations different than experiences of the general population?
What makes your store a better outlet for this product version?
These details will be too much to fit into a short statement, but they'll be your framework for your central marketing theme. Choose the most compelling details. Use the other details in your sales copy.
Buyers & Users Are Different
You might need to sell through alternative methods. An alternative method might require deep messages to different buyers. Deeper messages might require multiple step methods.
It's important to test messages so you can know how many details & steps you'll need to use.
Example: A medical alert company focuses on people who have disabled relatives. Elderly or disabled people might resist offers of an alert system. They don't want to believe they need to be monitored. They might consider it to be an expensive intrusion.
Somebody might buy a system & urge an elderly or disabled loved one to accept it.
The ads are focused on how buyers want to be sure their loved ones get necessary help. The buyers can feel better about their loved ones being helped & can assure their loved ones it's the right thing to do.
The simple message is a person needs the service. The simple message integrates with a deeper explanation. The deeper explanation is why a family needs the service. The deeper explanation supports the simple message. The family feels better because one member is safer.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please click here for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
I've heard an read about unique selling propositions, pre-emptive advantages, competitive advantages, unique selling advantages, positioning and others. Are they the same or different?
NOTE: As I reviewed my message recently, I noticed some mistakes. I also added an update below.
Corrected Post:
Hi Sid:
Some people treat them as the same. They're similar. The biggest word for each of them is UNIQUE! If your business is like any others, there's no real reason for customers to buy from you (unless they can get to your business more easily).
If you offer exactly the same products & services as competitors, people could choose you at random & get the same benefits. If that's the case, you're relying on the chance of being chosen. I'd prefer to sell by design, not by chance.
There's definite overlap among these terms.
Here's how I define them -
Unique selling proposition: What are you offering that your competitors aren't offering? Maybe they're able to, but so far they haven't. For example - Bayer aspirin focuses on relieving pain but even more, taking aspirin can help to prevent heart-attacks. Any aspirin product can do these.
Preventing heart-attacks is something Tylenol (non-aspirin pain reliever) can't do, so compared to acetaminophen, aspirin has a unique selling proposition.
Unique buying advantage: What advantage do customers think they get by buying from you instead of from your competitors. (This can be used as a basis of referral marketing.) It's something customers already believe about your business, product/service without much if any prompting from you. For example - Tums has calcium, but Rolaids doesn't. (Doctors helped this a lot.)
Unique selling advantage: What do you want prospects to accept as a clear advantage. For example - "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. Fed Ex." It was unique until the US Postal Service and UPS matched it.
Pre-emptive advantage: In a highly competitive/commodity environment, one competitor finds something about itself the others haven't figured out yet. The others could also claim it if they realized it. Avis car rental used to boast its service lines were shorter than Hertz's. National and Budget car rentals could have claimed the same thing and still could if they wanted to seem like copy-cats.
Competitive advantage: Wal-Mart stores are typically set up near the edges of cities so they'll be close to major highways, so the trucks can get to the stores easily. In some cities, this is a low population area. Since Wal-Mart put a lot of money into its locations, it probably won't move a store (it has in some cases). So, W-M can't do much about its stores' distances from customers' homes.
Positioning: This is the picking order in a business category. Somebody wants to deal with the top company in a category, s/he will probably pick the number two company if the number one company is unavailable.
"Avis is number two, why pick us? We try harder." If people didn't want to wait in a long line for a Hertz car, they may just go for the number two company. The "We try harder" part is just a nice little touch, but it's the number two positioning that made it successful for Avis until it changed its focus and lost momentum.
Trying harder isn't enough to win a marketing battle. The road to hell is being paved with good intentions & the people who try harder are doing the paving. Trying harder is OK if the effort creates enough of the value people will pay for.
Branding: The biggest effort in marketing is to get people to think of brand name when a business, product or service category comes to mind. Which brand comes to mind when you think about computers? That's branding.
Inherent Drama: This is another element we could add, which I reduce down to ID, because if you have an inherent drama in your business, product/service it should be used as a form of identity.
This conversation was used in a commercial decades ago:
Girl 1: "Here he comes. Give me another Certs, mine is gone."
Girl 2: "Do this. (slurping/sucking sound) Do you feel that cool, fresh feeling?"
Girl 1: "Yeah."
Girl 2: "That means Certs is still working."
Then Girl 1 is confident the boy of her dreams won't be offended by bad breath. Certs had, maybe still has, the inherent drama (ID) of lasting breath freshness.
I like to include ways to apply information I provide, but these subjects have so many variables, it would take a lot of space to provide practical applications of these other than the examples I gave.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please click here for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Your Central Marketing Theme Should Be Like A Lens
Unique Selling Propositions, Pre-emptive Advantages, Competitive Advantages, Unique Selling Advantages, Unique Buying Advantages & positioning statements should be simple messages to lead people to recognize a value they want/need. These are examples of a marketer's central marketing theme.
It's hard even for experienced marketers to remember marketing details like these. It's like that for consumers who try to remember product features & benefits. It's hard for them to compare options. They need you to help them focus on benefits they should prioritize.
They need a framework. I've written some ideas below to help you frame your messages.
Your central marketing theme should be like a lens to focus your business on consumers' needs & desires.
Your central marketing theme should be like a lens to focus consumers on their conditions compared to what you offer.
Example: "When you need (a specific benefit), choose a better option at (business name)."
If that's your basic theme, you'd evaluate potential inventory orders & future offers based on helping customers get that benefit. How could you put products & services together to help customers produce that benefit?
Your full message should help customers recognize it as a benefit they want/need.
Your theme & messages should specifically link your business with a benefit in people's minds. As much as practical, your business should be an exclusive source of that benefit or a combination of benefits.
Though people may seem to have the same problem, they experience a problem differently.
Since people's experiences can be vastly different, you can help them diagnose problems & find their best options.
You should help niche members focus on what's most important for their situations. Some benefits may be important for a minority of members. They need you to help them find the best benefits for their lives.
When there are multiple options to solve or mitigate a problem, marketing messages can help people set priorities. People need to know which factors are more important so they can choose the best options for their situations.
Those options can include which retailers offer the best values. Your methods can make your business a better option than a competitor.
How much do you depend on manufacturer advertising? To attract a majority of consumers, manufacturers might emphasize the most popular benefits. In your area, some consumers might want less popular benefits.
Small stores can be profitable by selling to niche members who don't need all of the popular benefits.
Profitability can be maintained by testing methods & tracking niches as they change.
Find a Balance Between Specificity & Flexibility
You should carefully adjust your central marketing theme. You need to make it as specific as you can to make it meaningful to your niche. You need it to be flexible because your niche & available products will change.
As you get information, you can adjust your marketing methods. As you get responses to your advertising, you can adjust your offers.
Even if competitors sell the same products, they might focus on a narrow range of benefits. You should help niche members get specific benefits that may be less popular. Your niche members might not know about less promoted benefits until they get information from you.
Example - People often get unwanted phone calls. Some phones can be set to block some calls. People can also assign special ring tones for specific callers. You should know which products offer those benefits & show consumers how to set them up.
Some manufacturers cram many potential benefits into products. It's especially true in high technology.
People get a complex product but they use a narrow range of features. Example - They want to make phone calls, but the same product is also a small computer & camera. Will they make calls & rarely use other features?
Do people want/need a device for high quality pictures or videos? Some cameras can be used to magnify small print. So people might want a built-in camera, even if they don't take pictures.
Are features cheap or high quality? Example - Many phones have built in cameras. Are those high quality cameras? Are they high quality phones with low quality cameras?
When products have multiple features, the overall quality can be hard to rate. Consumers might rate a cell phone at a 10 for phone calls, they might rate it at a 4 for texting. The built-in camera might rate at a 2. How would they rate its overall quality?
They probably buy a phone to communicate, but do they prefer calls or texting? That preference would determine their quality ratings.
If you base your business on offering only high quality products, how would low quality features fit your marketing theme?
If you have a good product selection & product knowledge, you can help people prioritize feature & benefit qualities.
How well can you help people avoid wasting money on features they won't use? You could offer an advantage of selling what people will use (possibly a simpler, less expensive product).
You should do your best to offer benefits people will use.
You might offer specific product brands but you'll sell the benefit of solving & avoiding problems. People pay for products/services so they get benefits.
People pay for phones & tablets so they can talk or text? Which is more important to them - sound quality or keypad size?
People may want the most modern products for social reasons (snob appeal). To impress anybody, people should know how to use those products.
Even if people want complex products, you could show them how to get maximum value from the features they use.
If it's a profitable proposition, it could be a Preemptive Advantage since competitors can do it, too.
Warning: If It Isn't Profitable, It Isn't An Advantage.
I encourage business owners to do what's unique. I should also warn you there are reasons some potential propositions aren't made.
It can be easy to offer what competitors don't or can't offer but it can be challenging to make profitable offers. If competitors don't offer something, it might be unprofitable. It depends a lot on a business's cost structure.
Setting up a cost structure is beyond the scope of this post.
Simple Meaningful Messages
Your central marketing theme should be short, simple & easy to remember.
Simplicity is important especially in short messages. People are distracted. When they hear or see messages, there are other things happening. There are environmental noises plus internal thoughts & feelings.
If they misunderstand a message, they may think they perceived it accurately, so they won't seek clarification.
It's vital to express a simple reason to buy, even if a product/service is complex.
When many details are crammed into a short message, people might be overwhelmed & miss details. As they try to understand a detail, they might misunderstand other details.
Multiple Step Sales Processes
If you have complex products/services, you'll probably need multiple step messages.
It's hard to explain many benefits in a minute or a small ad. What's necessary is to convince people to check a web site or call for more information.
A short message can be a summary of what matters most to a niche.
When consumers ask for information, you can guide them to select their best options.
Security systems use complex technology, so marketers ask consumers to request more information. In a minute, a company can express the importance of getting information instead of trying to get people to buy.
Simple Messages Should Lead To Deeper Messages
Your store's success depends on reasons people buy & use products & services. When you know these reasons, you can adjust your marketing & your in-store sales efforts.
Though your central marketing theme should be simple, it should focus on a combination of factors.
Let's use this example again: "When you need (a specific benefit), choose a better option at (business name)."
Who needs the benefit? Which option is better for this person? Why is it better?
These factors pertain to products/services & involve questions about who, what, where, when, why, how (often, much, long).
Some questions are: Who will buy a product/service? What will they buy? Why will they buy it? Why will they choose a specific version? Who will receive it? Who will use it? Why will they use it? How long will they use it?
Why is a specific version better in their specific situations? How is that specific version better for them? Can you quantify how much better? What makes their situations different than experiences of the general population?
What makes your store a better outlet for this product version?
These details will be too much to fit into a short statement, but they'll be your framework for your central marketing theme. Choose the most compelling details. Use the other details in your sales copy.
Buyers & Users Are Different
You might need to sell through alternative methods. An alternative method might require deep messages to different buyers. Deeper messages might require multiple step methods.
It's important to test messages so you can know how many details & steps you'll need to use.
Example: A medical alert company focuses on people who have disabled relatives. Elderly or disabled people might resist offers of an alert system. They don't want to believe they need to be monitored. They might consider it to be an expensive intrusion.
Somebody might buy a system & urge an elderly or disabled loved one to accept it.
The ads are focused on how buyers want to be sure their loved ones get necessary help. The buyers can feel better about their loved ones being helped & can assure their loved ones it's the right thing to do.
The simple message is a person needs the service. The simple message integrates with a deeper explanation. The deeper explanation is why a family needs the service. The deeper explanation supports the simple message. The family feels better because one member is safer.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please click here for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Wal-Mart is catching my customers
Subject: Wal-Mart is catching my customers Author: fishstory Date Originally Posted: 09:51:16 05/23/01 Wed (in a previous blog)
I've read some of the latest marketing books. The authors mostly advocate specializing as a way of limiting competition, plus to draw in more prospects.
I specialize in fishing equipment. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart sells products for prices that are about what it costs from my supplier. I know I shouldn't try to compete on price because it's a weak foundation and Wal-Mart will be able to beat everytime.
But how can I compete when people are more apt to go for the lowest prices?
In reply to: fishstory 's message, "Wal-Mart is catching my customers" Date Originally Posted: 05/23/01 Wed (in a previous blog)
Hi:
Here are some ideas for you.
You can do joint ventures with boat dealers in which your products would be a purchase bonus or maybe they would recommend you as their official fishing equipment supplier.
You can have a contest for best fish story in two categories, true and false. This could attract attention.
This may work with fishing jokes too.
------------------
One year when the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears weren't in the play-offs, the coaches decided to have an ice fishing contest.
Each of the 3 days, the teams were fishing the Packers caught fish, but the Bears didn't catch any.
At the press conference afterward, the Bears accused the Packers of cheating. They took reporters to the Packers' fishing shack and pointed to the hole the Packers cut in the ice.
--------------------
Post pictures of people with their fish.
Invite people to come and discuss fishing in a group setting.
Have somebody you know and trust, who won't be recognized as being connected with you go to Wal-Mart to find out how much/little W-M employees know about fishing. S/he may need to do this a few times to meet the various people who cover that department.
Sometimes, that's all the employees do, they're assigned to cover a few departments at a time, so they probably don't know much about any of them.
Be sure you have a strong Unique Selling Proposition.
It can be similar to -
"Do you know how when you go to the sporting goods department in a big discount store the employees grab a flyswatter when you talk about flies? At Fishstory LLC, we know the local fishing conditions and can recommend the right equipment so you can catch what you want."
Get a free web site if you don't already have a site and a message board like this one for your customers and prospects.
Establish yourself as the local authority with fisher-people and the press. If an issue about fishing comes up, submit your opinion by phone or by sending a good, crisp press release. There are plenty of books and articles about publicity and press releases. Ask at a library or book store.
Ask about having a fishing column in the local newspaper or a feature spot on a radio/TV station.
If you have more questions, please post them.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please click here for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Update For Most Retailers:
You need to be more flexible than competitors. Big retailers will change whatever is necessary to increase profits.
You'll need to keep testing more methods to sustain your success.
You shouldn't think you'll always offer better products & services. Big retailers will always experiment with prices & product/service quality. You need to keep experimenting also.
I wrote many insights for increasing your store's value. As you use these insights, you'll need to add your trade skill & input from customers.
The 1st post in this thread was written for fishing equipment dealer. You should mentally substitute 'fishing' for your customers' activities & desires.
As you read my suggestions & questions, please ask yourself, "How could I apply or adjust these in my store?"
Be A Personal Resource
Base your offers on the experiences customers want. Fishing is a solitary experience for some people. Others use fishing as a social event. How might these differences affect what people buy?
If most potential customers want solitary fishing experiences, you should stock what they want & offer it in meaningful ways.
If fishing is a way for them to have peaceful time alone, your advertising should focus on offering what's necessary.
You should do your best to focus on consumers who want & need your current inventory. How can you help customers get optimal benefits from your inventory?
As you maximize opportunities from what you currently offer & sell your inventory, you can adjust according to customer base changes.
To help customers, you should ask about what they want to do. Do they want challenges of catching big fish? Do they want a lot of fish? What have they been doing? What should they do differently to improve their results?
How does your store fit into people's desired experiences? How can you better help people catch fish for food? For those who use fishing as a social activity, how can you make it better?
People buy through web sites if they only want to buy through basic transactions without extra customer service. A web site won't have a deeper role in their lives. A web site won't have personal connections to a community unless it includes social media.
When people want more than products & basic transactions, what can you do for them?
What are their personal identities? Are they fishermen (fisher people)? Are they sportsmen (sports people)?
How do their personal identities affect their desires & experiences?
How important is fishing to them? Do they do it each week? If they miss a week, do they feel bad? Is fishing their only hobby?
If they have many recreational opportunities, is fishing a minor option?
What could make fishing more important to them?
Do sportsmen switch to hunting when seasons change? Do fishermen keep fishing when seasons change? How do they change their fishing methods when seasons change?
Help them gain & maintain their desires.
Be A Community Resource
How can you & your business fit into your local fishing community? How can your store be relevant for more than products?
A business relationship is important. You can focus on how your store can add to relationships people have with each other.
Would individuals benefit if they joined a group? Would a group function better as a club?
How could you help to introduce individuals? Could you have a sign up sheet for a club? Do you have a mailing list?
How could you help people form a club?
A club could be like a focus group for market research.
Do you have space for people to meet in your store? Customers could have discussions or club meetings. (Note: You might have disclaimers like "Opinions expressed aren't necessarily those of the store owner or its staff.")
Check insurance & liability issues. In some places, a fire marshal will determine how many people can safely occupy a building.
You should determine how to choose a club to support. Your criteria could include a club's goals & how you can help to achieve those goals. How well can a club help you achieve your goals?
Have you found groups that support environmental causes? Some related causes are wet lands, rivers, lakes, wild life & invasive species.
If you support them, they'll probably support you. You could get referrals, endorsements & testimonials. When they buy from you, you'll get social proof for the value you provide.
You can experiment with your levels of support. What do club members ask for? Determine what you can afford. Ask group leaders how you can help them.
It's common to think about adding value to people's lives. How can you help people add value to their lives? How can you help people add value to other people's lives? How can you help people add value to their communities?
Be An Information Resource
Is there a local broadcast journalist, newspaper columnist or blogger who writes about fishing & outdoor sports?
You can contribute information. You can get information about activities & groups.
You should ask questions & provide answers.
You should know about some sources you can advise customers to check for in-depth information.
You should know what's important to customers.
Here are some possible issues for you to know:
Do people always use the same kinds of equipment each time they fish?
Do they go out in boats & use different equipment compared to what they use on piers?
Would they fish from boats more often if they had heavy duty equipment?
Would they fish more often if they had other equipment?
Would they rent equipment?
Are there contests for catching certain kinds of fish?
Are there contests for people using boats or fishing from docks?
Do people want more contests? What kind of contest would be a good addition?
What would make contests better?
How can you contribute to contests?
Which activities are compatible & incompatible with fishing?
It might be best to promote activities together & though some activities should be separate in time & location. It's good to identify & avoid potential conflicts.
Example: Where I live in Wisconsin, there are shipwrecks. People, who enjoy fishing, might enjoy viewing wrecked ships. Scuba divers get close views of ships but they could get tangled in fishing lines. Divers might scare fish away.
Be A Business Resource
If you work with other business owners, your combined contributions could be substantial & affordable. Other business owners might help you form & support clubs.
Which other businesses could make fishing more fulfilling?
Here are ideas about people & businesses you can work with:
retailers, photographers, picture printing & developing,
charter boats, camp grounds, motels, caterers for gatherings, restaurants,
tour guides, tour buses, travel agents, newspapers, broadcasters & game wardens
Which products & services would make fishing more comfortable & beneficial?
Be A Resource For Fund Raisers (Charities)
There are probably a lot of activities & fund raising events.
You should have criteria for choosing which of those to participate in.
Do you have enough total resources (including money, time & energy) to participate in them?
What can you do well without causing yourself excessive stress? Which events match your talents & resources?
Which activities fit your policies, plans & procedures?
You should consider the timing. Which activities & events happen in the same time period? How well do they fit your schedule?
Which groups seem to need you most?
To which groups & activities can you make unique contributions?
Which activities or events would bring you a high return on your investment (ROI)?
For charities, it might seem bad to consider ROI, but your future contributions might depend on how much you benefit.
As long as you gain something, you might be able to justify continuing.
Be A Product/Service Resource
You should have a checklist for determining what to offer & how to promote offers.
There are factors people use to determine if they'll do things. If your offers reach them at the right times in the right places, you can get more sales.
Here are a few examples:
If your offer reaches people as they start planning, you can affect the activities they pick.
Your offer could provide what they need to choose a preferred activity instead of their second choice.
What do people use as criteria to determine what to do in their leisure time?
What do people want when they consider going fishing?
After they decide to go fishing, what do they want as they prepare?
What do they need while they fish? What do they want after they've been fishing?
How do they evaluate product & service quality?
What can you do to improve customers' in-store experiences?
How can you help people have better experiences when they use products?
You can provide information about how to use products for full functionality plus maximum durability & reliability.
Example: Do people have the right equipment for the fish they want to catch? Catch & release is different than hooking a fish & losing it.
Do competitors sell products strong enough to land fish?
Do customers know about smart phone apps? Do they know how to use new technology to add to their enjoyment?
Do you offer products to help people protect their equipment? They might keep a fish but lose a phone.
Do they know how to hold a fish & a selfie stick at the same time?
Can you help them get more enjoyment in less time &/or with less effort?
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please click here for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
I've read some of the latest marketing books. The authors mostly advocate specializing as a way of limiting competition, plus to draw in more prospects.
I specialize in fishing equipment. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart sells products for prices that are about what it costs from my supplier. I know I shouldn't try to compete on price because it's a weak foundation and Wal-Mart will be able to beat everytime.
But how can I compete when people are more apt to go for the lowest prices?
In reply to: fishstory 's message, "Wal-Mart is catching my customers" Date Originally Posted: 05/23/01 Wed (in a previous blog)
Hi:
Here are some ideas for you.
You can do joint ventures with boat dealers in which your products would be a purchase bonus or maybe they would recommend you as their official fishing equipment supplier.
You can have a contest for best fish story in two categories, true and false. This could attract attention.
This may work with fishing jokes too.
------------------
One year when the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears weren't in the play-offs, the coaches decided to have an ice fishing contest.
Each of the 3 days, the teams were fishing the Packers caught fish, but the Bears didn't catch any.
At the press conference afterward, the Bears accused the Packers of cheating. They took reporters to the Packers' fishing shack and pointed to the hole the Packers cut in the ice.
--------------------
Post pictures of people with their fish.
Invite people to come and discuss fishing in a group setting.
Have somebody you know and trust, who won't be recognized as being connected with you go to Wal-Mart to find out how much/little W-M employees know about fishing. S/he may need to do this a few times to meet the various people who cover that department.
Sometimes, that's all the employees do, they're assigned to cover a few departments at a time, so they probably don't know much about any of them.
Be sure you have a strong Unique Selling Proposition.
It can be similar to -
"Do you know how when you go to the sporting goods department in a big discount store the employees grab a flyswatter when you talk about flies? At Fishstory LLC, we know the local fishing conditions and can recommend the right equipment so you can catch what you want."
Get a free web site if you don't already have a site and a message board like this one for your customers and prospects.
Establish yourself as the local authority with fisher-people and the press. If an issue about fishing comes up, submit your opinion by phone or by sending a good, crisp press release. There are plenty of books and articles about publicity and press releases. Ask at a library or book store.
Ask about having a fishing column in the local newspaper or a feature spot on a radio/TV station.
If you have more questions, please post them.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please click here for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Update For Most Retailers:
You need to be more flexible than competitors. Big retailers will change whatever is necessary to increase profits.
You'll need to keep testing more methods to sustain your success.
You shouldn't think you'll always offer better products & services. Big retailers will always experiment with prices & product/service quality. You need to keep experimenting also.
I wrote many insights for increasing your store's value. As you use these insights, you'll need to add your trade skill & input from customers.
The 1st post in this thread was written for fishing equipment dealer. You should mentally substitute 'fishing' for your customers' activities & desires.
As you read my suggestions & questions, please ask yourself, "How could I apply or adjust these in my store?"
Be A Personal Resource
Base your offers on the experiences customers want. Fishing is a solitary experience for some people. Others use fishing as a social event. How might these differences affect what people buy?
If most potential customers want solitary fishing experiences, you should stock what they want & offer it in meaningful ways.
If fishing is a way for them to have peaceful time alone, your advertising should focus on offering what's necessary.
You should do your best to focus on consumers who want & need your current inventory. How can you help customers get optimal benefits from your inventory?
As you maximize opportunities from what you currently offer & sell your inventory, you can adjust according to customer base changes.
To help customers, you should ask about what they want to do. Do they want challenges of catching big fish? Do they want a lot of fish? What have they been doing? What should they do differently to improve their results?
How does your store fit into people's desired experiences? How can you better help people catch fish for food? For those who use fishing as a social activity, how can you make it better?
People buy through web sites if they only want to buy through basic transactions without extra customer service. A web site won't have a deeper role in their lives. A web site won't have personal connections to a community unless it includes social media.
When people want more than products & basic transactions, what can you do for them?
What are their personal identities? Are they fishermen (fisher people)? Are they sportsmen (sports people)?
How do their personal identities affect their desires & experiences?
How important is fishing to them? Do they do it each week? If they miss a week, do they feel bad? Is fishing their only hobby?
If they have many recreational opportunities, is fishing a minor option?
What could make fishing more important to them?
Do sportsmen switch to hunting when seasons change? Do fishermen keep fishing when seasons change? How do they change their fishing methods when seasons change?
Help them gain & maintain their desires.
Be A Community Resource
How can you & your business fit into your local fishing community? How can your store be relevant for more than products?
A business relationship is important. You can focus on how your store can add to relationships people have with each other.
Would individuals benefit if they joined a group? Would a group function better as a club?
How could you help to introduce individuals? Could you have a sign up sheet for a club? Do you have a mailing list?
How could you help people form a club?
A club could be like a focus group for market research.
Do you have space for people to meet in your store? Customers could have discussions or club meetings. (Note: You might have disclaimers like "Opinions expressed aren't necessarily those of the store owner or its staff.")
Check insurance & liability issues. In some places, a fire marshal will determine how many people can safely occupy a building.
You should determine how to choose a club to support. Your criteria could include a club's goals & how you can help to achieve those goals. How well can a club help you achieve your goals?
Have you found groups that support environmental causes? Some related causes are wet lands, rivers, lakes, wild life & invasive species.
If you support them, they'll probably support you. You could get referrals, endorsements & testimonials. When they buy from you, you'll get social proof for the value you provide.
You can experiment with your levels of support. What do club members ask for? Determine what you can afford. Ask group leaders how you can help them.
It's common to think about adding value to people's lives. How can you help people add value to their lives? How can you help people add value to other people's lives? How can you help people add value to their communities?
Be An Information Resource
Is there a local broadcast journalist, newspaper columnist or blogger who writes about fishing & outdoor sports?
You can contribute information. You can get information about activities & groups.
You should ask questions & provide answers.
You should know about some sources you can advise customers to check for in-depth information.
You should know what's important to customers.
Here are some possible issues for you to know:
Do people always use the same kinds of equipment each time they fish?
Do they go out in boats & use different equipment compared to what they use on piers?
Would they fish from boats more often if they had heavy duty equipment?
Would they fish more often if they had other equipment?
Would they rent equipment?
Are there contests for catching certain kinds of fish?
Are there contests for people using boats or fishing from docks?
Do people want more contests? What kind of contest would be a good addition?
What would make contests better?
How can you contribute to contests?
Which activities are compatible & incompatible with fishing?
It might be best to promote activities together & though some activities should be separate in time & location. It's good to identify & avoid potential conflicts.
Example: Where I live in Wisconsin, there are shipwrecks. People, who enjoy fishing, might enjoy viewing wrecked ships. Scuba divers get close views of ships but they could get tangled in fishing lines. Divers might scare fish away.
Be A Business Resource
If you work with other business owners, your combined contributions could be substantial & affordable. Other business owners might help you form & support clubs.
Which other businesses could make fishing more fulfilling?
Here are ideas about people & businesses you can work with:
retailers, photographers, picture printing & developing,
charter boats, camp grounds, motels, caterers for gatherings, restaurants,
tour guides, tour buses, travel agents, newspapers, broadcasters & game wardens
Which products & services would make fishing more comfortable & beneficial?
Be A Resource For Fund Raisers (Charities)
There are probably a lot of activities & fund raising events.
You should have criteria for choosing which of those to participate in.
Do you have enough total resources (including money, time & energy) to participate in them?
What can you do well without causing yourself excessive stress? Which events match your talents & resources?
Which activities fit your policies, plans & procedures?
You should consider the timing. Which activities & events happen in the same time period? How well do they fit your schedule?
Which groups seem to need you most?
To which groups & activities can you make unique contributions?
Which activities or events would bring you a high return on your investment (ROI)?
For charities, it might seem bad to consider ROI, but your future contributions might depend on how much you benefit.
As long as you gain something, you might be able to justify continuing.
Be A Product/Service Resource
You should have a checklist for determining what to offer & how to promote offers.
There are factors people use to determine if they'll do things. If your offers reach them at the right times in the right places, you can get more sales.
Here are a few examples:
If your offer reaches people as they start planning, you can affect the activities they pick.
Your offer could provide what they need to choose a preferred activity instead of their second choice.
What do people use as criteria to determine what to do in their leisure time?
What do people want when they consider going fishing?
After they decide to go fishing, what do they want as they prepare?
What do they need while they fish? What do they want after they've been fishing?
How do they evaluate product & service quality?
What can you do to improve customers' in-store experiences?
How can you help people have better experiences when they use products?
You can provide information about how to use products for full functionality plus maximum durability & reliability.
Example: Do people have the right equipment for the fish they want to catch? Catch & release is different than hooking a fish & losing it.
Do competitors sell products strong enough to land fish?
Do customers know about smart phone apps? Do they know how to use new technology to add to their enjoyment?
Do you offer products to help people protect their equipment? They might keep a fish but lose a phone.
Do they know how to hold a fish & a selfie stick at the same time?
Can you help them get more enjoyment in less time &/or with less effort?
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
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a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
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https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
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Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Keeping High-Profit Customers
Subject: Keeping High-Profit Customers Author: Dennis S. Vogel
I originally wrote this based on bricks-and-mortar businesses & direct sales. It can be adapted for other sales methods.
There are limits to the profitability of any transactions. Even for mail order & web sites, processing & fulfilling orders can be costly despite automation.
Some people figure businesses should welcome any transaction.
Big Box Stores Are Different
Since big discount stores give very little service, their fulfillment costs are low. They can afford to get small amounts of money per customer, as long as each store gets a certain dollar amount everyday.
Retailers offer varying levels of service to help customers choose & use products. Ancillary services increase costs of selling products. Some stores would have a hard time competing against discount chains without ancillary services.
Because of ancillary services & other cost structure factors, some retailers can't afford to have a lot of small transactions. Higher product prices can cover service costs only if people buy enough products.
Small transactions may take up as much time & energy as big transactions.
Thrive, Don't Just Survive
For start-ups, it may be necessary to serve whomever is able to buy. After the business is established, your marketing should focus on customers who can pay for the best quality you can offer.
Low-profit customers might prefer low quality products. Since stores can't stock every possible product, you might choose to stock only high quality products.
People might haggle over prices if they don't want or need high quality.
It may be best to refer them to a business (possibly a competitor) that has a different cost structure, inventory & skill set. People could be profitable for another store, though they might be low-profit customers for you.
Retailers, who stock low quality products, might serve them better & profitability.
Since there's a maximum number of customers you can serve, it's best to attract those you can serve optimally. Businesses shouldn't be set up to serve anybody in general. Businesses should be set up to serve specific niches.
You'll have make a judgment call because some low-profit customers may become high-profit customers.
It can be financially risky to serve low-profit customers. They may demand the same amount of service or more from the staff than high-profit customers.
High-profit customers may buy often & buy a lot per transaction without tying up the sales staff up for long periods of time.
Profitability & keeping profitable customers depend on effective & efficient service.
Here are some considerations for effectively & efficiently serving customers:
How much time do people spend shopping? While they shop, how much attention do they expect from the staff?
How many questions do they tend to ask? Do staff members know the answers or do they search for information?
Is most of the inventory available on the sales floor or is it in stock rooms?
Do people expect some products to be specially ordered?
Do people tend to browse without help?
Do most customers know what they'll buy when they walk in?
Do most customers leave with purchases or without purchasing?
If shoplifting is a big risk, how much do staff members pay attention to each person?
These factors matter because -
1a) Some potentially profitable customers may go to competitors because they're not satisfied by distracted employees.
1b) Customers might not wait in line & leave without buying.
2a) It's bad for staff morale if they're pulled in too many directions at once.
2b) If they serve high-profit customers, they may serve fewer customers & still bring in enough money to cover overhead & generate profits.
3a) Is your payroll used efficiently? If you keep a full staff on duty to handle small transactions, you might pay out more money than you take in.
3b) You should have your staff ready when customers respond to your promotions.
A Higher Profit Solution
You can get more high-profit customers with referrals. They're more apt to know people, like themselves, who may become high-profit customers.
Your main market niche members might shop at specific times. It depends on their social & work schedules. It depends if they buy on their paydays or soon after. They might buy products & services when they need results instead of in advance.
Based on these factors, you should focus on sending offers when customers are ready to buy.
By using database marketing (customer information records), you can call or send letters (e-mail or postal) to high-profit customers.
You should send attractive offers to specific customers instead of sending all offers to the general public or all customers.
Set Up High Quality Customer Services
You'll have a better chance to keep high profit customers when you serve them SPECIFICALLY BETTER than other retailers.
"Specifically better" service means your service efforts fit specifications which customers value.
Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Gerald Berstell & Denise Nitterhouse wrote "Finding the Right Job for Your Product" in MIT Sloan Management Review Spring 2007 issue. They wrote about how purpose brands help people with their Jobs-To-Be-Done.
Your customer service should be focused on helping people with their Jobs-To-Be-Done. You should focus on helping people find products & services to implement tasks. You should do your best to help people find & use information they need to finish tasks.
Your intentions (to serve customers better than other retailers) aren't enough. You need policies, plans & procedures. Policies specify what you intend to do & why. Plans specify how & when you'll fulfill your policies. Procedures specify actions to implement your plans.
You might have a policy to provide information people need to improve their situations. You can plan how to determine what kind of information people need. You can plan procedures about how to get that information & distribute it.
As you learn more about a specific niche, you can make valuable recommendations for members' situations. As you gain general & specific information about customers' situations, you can make recommendations charts (like diagnostic charts).
You can use a search engine to find sample diagnostic charts.
Problems can be diagnosed based on symptoms & criteria.
Example - A person can look at a display & start using recommendations charts. If s/he doesn't notice a chart, you can point to it & demonstrate how to use it.
Here are sample statements & questions you can have on a chart - "The main reasons for using this product are ___."
"How often does (problem) happen?" "If it happens 3 times or more per week, check symptom list #1." "If it happens 1-2 times per week, check symptom list #2."
"Do you have this problem or these symptoms?" "Do you have (product)?"
If a customer has the product, you can show how to use product for specific results. If a customer doesn't have the product, you can recommend an optimal version of it.
Customer Contact
People might want you to send frequent offers if they appreciate your services. It can depend on the quality of your customer service & what kind of offers would entice them to visit a store.
Since some people move &/or change e-mail addresses often, it's vital to give them ample incentives to keep their information in your database up-to-date. What constitutes ample incentives is up to them to decide.
Ask them or make suggestions like these examples - "We get special offers from suppliers for specific products. What kinds of products would you like to get notices about?"
Since high-profit customers value products/services, it shouldn't be hard to get their input.
Here's a sample script-
"You seem to enjoy what we offer as much as we enjoy serving you. It may be important to you to get notices of offers & new products/services. We can send more details via email than mass media. If we can send you notices by e-mail, we could offer you lower prices because we save money by e-mailing notices. What is your e-mail address?"
"Please be sure to keep us updated on changes of your e-mail address so we can keep you updated?"
-OR-
"Would you like to receive our notices via phone, mail, or through the mass media?"
"Which radio station do you listen to most? When do you listen to it most?"
"Which newspaper do you read most often?"
"Thank you for the information, to show our appreciation, here's __." You can fill in that blank with a brochure or an article of information they can implement.
Practice what you say, so you say it smoothly & confidently. If you're shy about asking, customers may be shy about answering. Ask easily as if it's a regular part of business. It should be a regular business practice.
When they give you information, you can give them an advertising specialty (imprinted with your contact information) &/or valuable information they can implement (with your business information included).
Value includes how & when products/services are delivered & performed. Here are some things to consider about adding value:
When do customers need a result? How do they define just-in-time delivery for a specific result? How can you fulfill it?
Should you work with another business to deliver & install all or part of a result?
How much of a result can you provide? How can you make a result easier to obtain?
How can you make a result more satisfying?
What does satisfaction mean in a specific situation? Does it mean durability? Does it mean more convenience, reliability or functionality?
You can ask customers for more specifics.
Regarding their situations, how do they define convenience, reliability, functionality & durability?
Would reliability depend on customers knowing more about using & maintaining a product?
Do they know how to use product functions in their situations?
Do they know how to avoid more problems?
Combine Concepts For More Benefits
The concepts in this post can be combined with insights about Searchers, Delegators, Collaborators & Streamliners in "The New Market Leaders Who’s Winning & How in the Battle for Customers" By Fred Wiersema.
You can refine your efforts with "The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market." By Michael Treacey & Fred Wiersema. Those disciplines are Customer Intimacy; Operational Excellence & Product Innovation Leadership.
You can set up customer service with guidance in "Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge" by Janelle Barlow & Paul Stewart.
Thank you for using my blog. If you have comments or questions, please post them.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
Your business will thrive, no matter who your competitors are, if you market it powerfully & do everything else correctly.
I originally wrote this based on bricks-and-mortar businesses & direct sales. It can be adapted for other sales methods.
There are limits to the profitability of any transactions. Even for mail order & web sites, processing & fulfilling orders can be costly despite automation.
Some people figure businesses should welcome any transaction.
Big Box Stores Are Different
Since big discount stores give very little service, their fulfillment costs are low. They can afford to get small amounts of money per customer, as long as each store gets a certain dollar amount everyday.
Retailers offer varying levels of service to help customers choose & use products. Ancillary services increase costs of selling products. Some stores would have a hard time competing against discount chains without ancillary services.
Because of ancillary services & other cost structure factors, some retailers can't afford to have a lot of small transactions. Higher product prices can cover service costs only if people buy enough products.
Small transactions may take up as much time & energy as big transactions.
Thrive, Don't Just Survive
For start-ups, it may be necessary to serve whomever is able to buy. After the business is established, your marketing should focus on customers who can pay for the best quality you can offer.
Low-profit customers might prefer low quality products. Since stores can't stock every possible product, you might choose to stock only high quality products.
People might haggle over prices if they don't want or need high quality.
It may be best to refer them to a business (possibly a competitor) that has a different cost structure, inventory & skill set. People could be profitable for another store, though they might be low-profit customers for you.
Retailers, who stock low quality products, might serve them better & profitability.
Since there's a maximum number of customers you can serve, it's best to attract those you can serve optimally. Businesses shouldn't be set up to serve anybody in general. Businesses should be set up to serve specific niches.
You'll have make a judgment call because some low-profit customers may become high-profit customers.
It can be financially risky to serve low-profit customers. They may demand the same amount of service or more from the staff than high-profit customers.
High-profit customers may buy often & buy a lot per transaction without tying up the sales staff up for long periods of time.
Profitability & keeping profitable customers depend on effective & efficient service.
Here are some considerations for effectively & efficiently serving customers:
How much time do people spend shopping? While they shop, how much attention do they expect from the staff?
How many questions do they tend to ask? Do staff members know the answers or do they search for information?
Is most of the inventory available on the sales floor or is it in stock rooms?
Do people expect some products to be specially ordered?
Do people tend to browse without help?
Do most customers know what they'll buy when they walk in?
Do most customers leave with purchases or without purchasing?
If shoplifting is a big risk, how much do staff members pay attention to each person?
These factors matter because -
1a) Some potentially profitable customers may go to competitors because they're not satisfied by distracted employees.
1b) Customers might not wait in line & leave without buying.
2a) It's bad for staff morale if they're pulled in too many directions at once.
2b) If they serve high-profit customers, they may serve fewer customers & still bring in enough money to cover overhead & generate profits.
3a) Is your payroll used efficiently? If you keep a full staff on duty to handle small transactions, you might pay out more money than you take in.
3b) You should have your staff ready when customers respond to your promotions.
A Higher Profit Solution
You can get more high-profit customers with referrals. They're more apt to know people, like themselves, who may become high-profit customers.
Your main market niche members might shop at specific times. It depends on their social & work schedules. It depends if they buy on their paydays or soon after. They might buy products & services when they need results instead of in advance.
Based on these factors, you should focus on sending offers when customers are ready to buy.
By using database marketing (customer information records), you can call or send letters (e-mail or postal) to high-profit customers.
You should send attractive offers to specific customers instead of sending all offers to the general public or all customers.
Set Up High Quality Customer Services
You'll have a better chance to keep high profit customers when you serve them SPECIFICALLY BETTER than other retailers.
"Specifically better" service means your service efforts fit specifications which customers value.
Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Gerald Berstell & Denise Nitterhouse wrote "Finding the Right Job for Your Product" in MIT Sloan Management Review Spring 2007 issue. They wrote about how purpose brands help people with their Jobs-To-Be-Done.
Your customer service should be focused on helping people with their Jobs-To-Be-Done. You should focus on helping people find products & services to implement tasks. You should do your best to help people find & use information they need to finish tasks.
Your intentions (to serve customers better than other retailers) aren't enough. You need policies, plans & procedures. Policies specify what you intend to do & why. Plans specify how & when you'll fulfill your policies. Procedures specify actions to implement your plans.
You might have a policy to provide information people need to improve their situations. You can plan how to determine what kind of information people need. You can plan procedures about how to get that information & distribute it.
As you learn more about a specific niche, you can make valuable recommendations for members' situations. As you gain general & specific information about customers' situations, you can make recommendations charts (like diagnostic charts).
You can use a search engine to find sample diagnostic charts.
Problems can be diagnosed based on symptoms & criteria.
Example - A person can look at a display & start using recommendations charts. If s/he doesn't notice a chart, you can point to it & demonstrate how to use it.
Here are sample statements & questions you can have on a chart - "The main reasons for using this product are ___."
"How often does (problem) happen?" "If it happens 3 times or more per week, check symptom list #1." "If it happens 1-2 times per week, check symptom list #2."
"Do you have this problem or these symptoms?" "Do you have (product)?"
If a customer has the product, you can show how to use product for specific results. If a customer doesn't have the product, you can recommend an optimal version of it.
Customer Contact
People might want you to send frequent offers if they appreciate your services. It can depend on the quality of your customer service & what kind of offers would entice them to visit a store.
Since some people move &/or change e-mail addresses often, it's vital to give them ample incentives to keep their information in your database up-to-date. What constitutes ample incentives is up to them to decide.
Ask them or make suggestions like these examples - "We get special offers from suppliers for specific products. What kinds of products would you like to get notices about?"
Since high-profit customers value products/services, it shouldn't be hard to get their input.
Here's a sample script-
"You seem to enjoy what we offer as much as we enjoy serving you. It may be important to you to get notices of offers & new products/services. We can send more details via email than mass media. If we can send you notices by e-mail, we could offer you lower prices because we save money by e-mailing notices. What is your e-mail address?"
"Please be sure to keep us updated on changes of your e-mail address so we can keep you updated?"
-OR-
"Would you like to receive our notices via phone, mail, or through the mass media?"
"Which radio station do you listen to most? When do you listen to it most?"
"Which newspaper do you read most often?"
"Thank you for the information, to show our appreciation, here's __." You can fill in that blank with a brochure or an article of information they can implement.
Practice what you say, so you say it smoothly & confidently. If you're shy about asking, customers may be shy about answering. Ask easily as if it's a regular part of business. It should be a regular business practice.
When they give you information, you can give them an advertising specialty (imprinted with your contact information) &/or valuable information they can implement (with your business information included).
Value includes how & when products/services are delivered & performed. Here are some things to consider about adding value:
When do customers need a result? How do they define just-in-time delivery for a specific result? How can you fulfill it?
Should you work with another business to deliver & install all or part of a result?
How much of a result can you provide? How can you make a result easier to obtain?
How can you make a result more satisfying?
What does satisfaction mean in a specific situation? Does it mean durability? Does it mean more convenience, reliability or functionality?
You can ask customers for more specifics.
Regarding their situations, how do they define convenience, reliability, functionality & durability?
Would reliability depend on customers knowing more about using & maintaining a product?
Do they know how to use product functions in their situations?
Do they know how to avoid more problems?
Combine Concepts For More Benefits
The concepts in this post can be combined with insights about Searchers, Delegators, Collaborators & Streamliners in "The New Market Leaders Who’s Winning & How in the Battle for Customers" By Fred Wiersema.
You can refine your efforts with "The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market." By Michael Treacey & Fred Wiersema. Those disciplines are Customer Intimacy; Operational Excellence & Product Innovation Leadership.
You can set up customer service with guidance in "Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge" by Janelle Barlow & Paul Stewart.
Thank you for using my blog. If you have comments or questions, please post them.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
Your business will thrive, no matter who your competitors are, if you market it powerfully & do everything else correctly.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Walmart Customers At A Local Pet Store
Walmart Customers Pet Store
Subject: W-mart customers Author: Shelia Date Posted: 15:14:54 01/23/02 Wed
I own a pet store that is only 2 miles away from a super Wal-Mart. I have been is business for 3 years and each year there is positive growth. Each day there is at least 2-5 customers that come to me because they need someone to tell them how to use the product they just purchased at Wal-Mart. Better yet, they want to know why all the fish they purchased at Wal-Mart have died. It seems like we are always correcting the problem "after the fact". It brings us business, but how can I educate the public to come to us first. (We advertise heavily already) Worse, are the customers that want our advice and then ask us if they can go and purchase the "fix" at Wal-Mart. How do my and my employees deal with that kind of problem? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Here's my original response to Shelia 's post:
Subject: Re: W-mart customers Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 15:10:44 02/02/02 Sat
In reply to: Shelia 's message, "W-mart customers" on 15:14:54 01/23/02 Wed
Hi Shelia,
Let's start this way -
If you didn't own a pet store anymore, what would you (as an educated consumer) look for in a pet store or pet department in a chain store?
My guess is -
-You'd look for people who can answer your questions (in case there was some information you'd want/need)
-If you wanted fish, you'd probably want to know if dead fish are removed from the tanks regularly/quickly and why the fish died.
I worked at two Wal-Mart stores. I've smelled the dead fish that were left in waste baskets.
I've also been recruited to catch loose parakeets (when some were brought in for a promotion).
I've seen the new pet food stock put on top of or in front of the old stock. (Many employees don't rotate stock because they're pushed to work quickly, plus they figure rotating stock is a hassle.)
Wal-Mart employees are mostly trained in W-M policies with a bit of emphasis on the products they sell (unless things have drastically changed in the last 3 years).
Now for another question (This isn't meant as an insult) -
Do you run your store differently than that?
I'm sure the answer is YES!!! But do customers know that? Do consumers know how much of a difference that makes?
This may seem off-subject, but stay with me here.
The minimum wage is about $5.50 per hour. So, how much is a consumer's time worth?
If they're asking you questions in person -
1)they've already found a parking spot
2)they've already found a knowledgeable person who can help them.
3)their time and energy is valuable so it's your obligation to serve them so they can save their time and energy.
It seems like they want "tech support."
How can you do give them that?
You can use a computer (or a paper system if necessary).
Have a specific file for them and their pet(s).
Record what they bought (animals, food, accessories, etc.) and the purchase dates.
Record their challenges and questions.
Have a solution/answer database.
Imagine this -
You have a question. You call me.
Me- "Hello, this is ___ Pets, the animal lovers' tech support center. How can I help you and your pet today?
"OK, if you tell me your name I'll access your file so you don't have to answer questions you've already answered.
"OK, Shelia, thank you for calling. I see you talked to Amy yesterday, did the XYZ help?
"So, there's been some improvement, good! Then we're on the right track. We have a lot of information about that. If you tell me your e-mail address, I can send you the specific information you need right now.
"Yes, I know it would've seemed good if Amy had given you this information. If she had, you'd still be reading it, it's that much. With the things you told me, we've narrowed it down to ABC, so I can send you 2 pages instead of the 50 pages Amy would've had to have given you to cover the situation. I hope you understand."
You should set consumers' buying criteria.
"Get the products & service you & your pet need in one place. Asking questions one place then going somewhere else to get what you need is wasting your time. It means your pet waits even longer for comfort while you search for somebody to help you at one of those chain stores. Spend the time & energy you save with the pet you love.
"Each business does things differently. Some stores have clerks who work in many departments & don't know much about what they sell.
"We believe you & your pet deserve better service & caring. That's why we answer your questions & are ready to give you 'pet technical support.'"
The whole answer for your situation would be a lot longer, but hopefully, this will get you off to strong start.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Here's my updated post: 2/28/2017
If people ask for advice about buying anything from other stores, you need to be careful. Do you know about possible hazards in other stores? I wrote about some hazards below.
Here are important factors in determining people's buying criteria.
Why do people buy a specific product? Will they repurchase it?
Why do people buy a specific brand? Will they repurchase it?
Why do people choose a specific store? Will they return there?
You should arrange & prioritize these ideas (below) based on your needs.
You can influence people by focusing on why they should choose a specific product, brand & store for their situations.
I wrote some questions below to help you to focus on these factors. Some questions are similar but explore slightly different angles.
To offer unique value, you need unique thoughts. To get unique thoughts, you need to think in unique ways.
Why Are Certain Animals Important To Certain People?
Pets can be like family members. Family members have roles to fulfill. What's the value of a pet's function? How can you help a pet add value to a person's situation?
When people adopt pets, what kind of gap do they intend for a pet to fill? That gap is a person's desire & need. Why does a person want a situation to be different? Specifically, what does s/he wish would be different?
How do they intend for a pet to fill a gap?
What does a pet need to fill a gap?
If a person did a job evaluation for a pet (or any product), what would be the criteria in an evaluation?
Have Some Fun With This.
If a pet said, "This human expects me to ___." & "This human expects me not to ___." What would those expectations be? How could you help a pet fulfill those expectations?
What are the main purposes for people to have pets? You may know these or you should do research.
Possible examples: Pets can be therapeutic. They can be educational - help people learn about life (biology) & responsibility.
How do/can you help pets fulfill people's main purposes? Do you excel in science? Can you add to the therapeutic effects?
Pets can be entertaining; they need things to help them fulfill that role.
If a pet would prefer a certain toy over another, what would that preference be? How might a pet fill in these blanks? "He bought a ___. If he gave me a ___, I could ___ a lot better."
How can you communicate those purposes & your specialties?
How do competitors come up short on or fail in these factors?
Some competitors may be open 24 hours per day. Could you or staff members check those competitors without consumers seeing & recognizing you?
Do you have anybody who isn't recognized as being connected with your store? Are there others who would check competitors? You need somebody who knows about pet issues. S/he should be objective & accurate, not prone to exaggeration. S/he can report about potential problems, inventory, display methods & promotions.
Here are considerations for marketing messages & helping to choose pets & supplies:
Can you check pet owners' forums/blogs? You can learn what's important to them.
What are their logical & emotional reasons for:
Choosing a certain kind of pet - breed, size, age, gender, color & number?
When they buy supplies, do they buy the best, better or average quality? Do they buy large quantities?
Who receives a pet as a gift (child or family)? Which animals require a lot of adult supervision?
Who is most responsible physically & financially for a pet?
What are their household sizes (1-2 people, family, room mates)? Maybe you can advise certain pets based on sizes & habitats.
Do pet sitters have separate supplies or are supplies transported with pets?
Statistics can be interpreted many ways. Are there firm, objective statistics about survival rates for pets from big stores & specialty shops?
What are major reasons for differences in pets' survival rates?
How well can you help people find reliable information resources to help pets be healthy & happy?
Considerations For Choosing Which Stores To Buy From.
It can make a difference how animals & pet supplies are handled in stores. Are they exposed to potentially harmful materials like cleaning supplies &/or other merchandise?
Are pets protected from cleaning supplies & procedures? They can be harmed by exposure to cleaning materials. Though they may survive, their health could be compromised in subtle ways that contribute to longer term problems.
Are animals stressed in various stores by employees, customers, other animals, etc.?
High traffic store maintenance can require different cleaning products & more frequent procedures than cleaning other stores. Hazardous chemicals can be absorbed by food in bags. Hazardous chemicals can cling to supplies & toys. Hazardous fumes can end up in cages & aquariums.
When employees work in different departments, they could have hazardous things on their hands & clothes. If they smoke tobacco or anything else, residue can be transferred to pets & products.
There's a difference in the quality of water pets are given or put into. How often is water changed/filtered? How often are filters changed?
Employees might wash or sanitize their hands & still have harmful residue on their hands.
In your messages, you can include a short list of criteria to increase people's awareness of issues. It could also mean they'll be more watchful in your store too. Your criteria should show you have high standards & imply people should have high standards when they choose stores. You can help them set standards in their homes.
Even if you don't know how pets are treated in other stores, the questions might create awareness in people's minds. Help people realize you have high standards & so they'll favor your store.
Do you have the same supply chain as big stores? Do you have safer products? Do you have information about product safety? If you stock the same brands as competitors, you need superior reasons for people to buy from you.
Pets may seem tough enough to withstand many things since they hold things in their mouths. Though they may seem to be unaffected, some things can hurt them slowly.
You might have information about hazards.
Are animals exposed to too much light in big stores? Stores opened 24 hours per day might constantly display pets. Even security lights might be too much for pets to adequately sleep. When people bump or tap aquariums & cages, animals can be stressed especially if it happens many hours each day. Noises can disrupt animals' sleep & stress them in other ways. Animals hear noises which humans don't hear.
Are safe insects used as food? Have those insects been exposed to anything that could harm animals? If insects are dying from insecticide, they might move enough to attract a lizard's attention (& be eaten). If rodents are used as food, are they diseased or poisoned?
Why Do People Shop At Walmart?
As well as you can, you need to learn reasons pet owners buy from Walmart. These reasons shouldn't be your perceptions. People won't always admit all reasons they do things. It depends on what seems logical (sounds good) & their real reasons (possibly emotional).
Do they buy from competitors so they can save money? Do they prefer one stop shopping to save time? Do they buy only from familiar stores & locations where they feel safe?
What can you do to counter those reasons? According to consumers' perceptions, what is real value? Is value based on brand confidence? Do they measure value based mostly prices?
Does Walmart have the same brands of the same products as you do? Do people buy Walmart branded products (Ol' Roy dog food)? Do those products seem to be good enough? Do customers think those products are close enough to what you offer?
Part of your solution should be helping people feel comfortable buying from your store. People might dislike Walmart & shop there anyway because they're familiar enough with Walmart to be comfortable. When people know more about your store & what you offer, they might buy from you more often.
Long-Term Improvements
I don't know how long your efforts might take to turn the tide. Effective marketing often depends on building momentum.
People may need information to help them feel comfortable with what you sell. They might not have time to read or listen to it while they're in your store.
Unfortunately, they might not read information after they leave.
They might buy if they know or are familiar with people who are comfortable with products. Testimonials & endorsements can help. In effect, when others have decided already, customers might just go along with them.
Case studies might help them more than plain scientific facts. Scientific facts & jargon might confuse people. Can you show a result happened because a product was used? Can you show a consequence happened because a product wasn't used?
Certainty & near certainty can help people have enough confidence to decide. People might change shopping habits when they have strong reasons.
You can help people organize their thoughts & feelings about products & services into buying criteria.
You can determine if you'll take on competitors directly by listing their faults. You can do it indirectly listing your criteria for choosing products & suppliers.
You can specify your employment requirements & business practices. You can specify why you do some things & refuse to do others.
People will be more comfortable when their buying criteria match your criteria.
When they recognize your valuable resources, they may buy enough to keep you in business.
They might have a hard time in determining the value of your resources, so you need to do your best to balance high value for them & low costs for yourself. They might expect more than you can offer.
You might need to reveal some of your costs to help them realize how much they should buy to keep you in business.
People may be indecisive if they don't have enough information. Unfortunately they can be indecisive even if they have the right information but they don't have it organized according to priorities.
You may know what's important in various situations but you might have a hard time giving advice without knowing people's conditions. You can say, "If you answer some questions, I can help you choose what's best for your situation."
You could give people tips about how to find information. You probably know better search terms to help them find information sources via search engines.
Your Continuing Education
You can use social media & internet retail sites to get insights about what people need & want to know. You can check what they write about products & services. You can check book reviews & discussions about articles.
There's a limit to how much I can help now. I'd need to know more about your situation & have time to test marketing methods. You can learn more methods to test from my other posts & what other people have written in books & articles.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if you need me to clarify what I wrote.
Subject: W-mart customers Author: Shelia Date Posted: 15:14:54 01/23/02 Wed
I own a pet store that is only 2 miles away from a super Wal-Mart. I have been is business for 3 years and each year there is positive growth. Each day there is at least 2-5 customers that come to me because they need someone to tell them how to use the product they just purchased at Wal-Mart. Better yet, they want to know why all the fish they purchased at Wal-Mart have died. It seems like we are always correcting the problem "after the fact". It brings us business, but how can I educate the public to come to us first. (We advertise heavily already) Worse, are the customers that want our advice and then ask us if they can go and purchase the "fix" at Wal-Mart. How do my and my employees deal with that kind of problem? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Here's my original response to Shelia 's post:
Subject: Re: W-mart customers Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 15:10:44 02/02/02 Sat
In reply to: Shelia 's message, "W-mart customers" on 15:14:54 01/23/02 Wed
Hi Shelia,
Let's start this way -
If you didn't own a pet store anymore, what would you (as an educated consumer) look for in a pet store or pet department in a chain store?
My guess is -
-You'd look for people who can answer your questions (in case there was some information you'd want/need)
-If you wanted fish, you'd probably want to know if dead fish are removed from the tanks regularly/quickly and why the fish died.
I worked at two Wal-Mart stores. I've smelled the dead fish that were left in waste baskets.
I've also been recruited to catch loose parakeets (when some were brought in for a promotion).
I've seen the new pet food stock put on top of or in front of the old stock. (Many employees don't rotate stock because they're pushed to work quickly, plus they figure rotating stock is a hassle.)
Wal-Mart employees are mostly trained in W-M policies with a bit of emphasis on the products they sell (unless things have drastically changed in the last 3 years).
Now for another question (This isn't meant as an insult) -
Do you run your store differently than that?
I'm sure the answer is YES!!! But do customers know that? Do consumers know how much of a difference that makes?
This may seem off-subject, but stay with me here.
The minimum wage is about $5.50 per hour. So, how much is a consumer's time worth?
If they're asking you questions in person -
1)they've already found a parking spot
2)they've already found a knowledgeable person who can help them.
3)their time and energy is valuable so it's your obligation to serve them so they can save their time and energy.
It seems like they want "tech support."
How can you do give them that?
You can use a computer (or a paper system if necessary).
Have a specific file for them and their pet(s).
Record what they bought (animals, food, accessories, etc.) and the purchase dates.
Record their challenges and questions.
Have a solution/answer database.
Imagine this -
You have a question. You call me.
Me- "Hello, this is ___ Pets, the animal lovers' tech support center. How can I help you and your pet today?
"OK, if you tell me your name I'll access your file so you don't have to answer questions you've already answered.
"OK, Shelia, thank you for calling. I see you talked to Amy yesterday, did the XYZ help?
"So, there's been some improvement, good! Then we're on the right track. We have a lot of information about that. If you tell me your e-mail address, I can send you the specific information you need right now.
"Yes, I know it would've seemed good if Amy had given you this information. If she had, you'd still be reading it, it's that much. With the things you told me, we've narrowed it down to ABC, so I can send you 2 pages instead of the 50 pages Amy would've had to have given you to cover the situation. I hope you understand."
You should set consumers' buying criteria.
"Get the products & service you & your pet need in one place. Asking questions one place then going somewhere else to get what you need is wasting your time. It means your pet waits even longer for comfort while you search for somebody to help you at one of those chain stores. Spend the time & energy you save with the pet you love.
"Each business does things differently. Some stores have clerks who work in many departments & don't know much about what they sell.
"We believe you & your pet deserve better service & caring. That's why we answer your questions & are ready to give you 'pet technical support.'"
The whole answer for your situation would be a lot longer, but hopefully, this will get you off to strong start.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Here's my updated post: 2/28/2017
If people ask for advice about buying anything from other stores, you need to be careful. Do you know about possible hazards in other stores? I wrote about some hazards below.
Here are important factors in determining people's buying criteria.
Why do people buy a specific product? Will they repurchase it?
Why do people buy a specific brand? Will they repurchase it?
Why do people choose a specific store? Will they return there?
You should arrange & prioritize these ideas (below) based on your needs.
You can influence people by focusing on why they should choose a specific product, brand & store for their situations.
I wrote some questions below to help you to focus on these factors. Some questions are similar but explore slightly different angles.
To offer unique value, you need unique thoughts. To get unique thoughts, you need to think in unique ways.
Why Are Certain Animals Important To Certain People?
Pets can be like family members. Family members have roles to fulfill. What's the value of a pet's function? How can you help a pet add value to a person's situation?
When people adopt pets, what kind of gap do they intend for a pet to fill? That gap is a person's desire & need. Why does a person want a situation to be different? Specifically, what does s/he wish would be different?
How do they intend for a pet to fill a gap?
What does a pet need to fill a gap?
If a person did a job evaluation for a pet (or any product), what would be the criteria in an evaluation?
Have Some Fun With This.
If a pet said, "This human expects me to ___." & "This human expects me not to ___." What would those expectations be? How could you help a pet fulfill those expectations?
What are the main purposes for people to have pets? You may know these or you should do research.
Possible examples: Pets can be therapeutic. They can be educational - help people learn about life (biology) & responsibility.
How do/can you help pets fulfill people's main purposes? Do you excel in science? Can you add to the therapeutic effects?
Pets can be entertaining; they need things to help them fulfill that role.
If a pet would prefer a certain toy over another, what would that preference be? How might a pet fill in these blanks? "He bought a ___. If he gave me a ___, I could ___ a lot better."
How can you communicate those purposes & your specialties?
How do competitors come up short on or fail in these factors?
Some competitors may be open 24 hours per day. Could you or staff members check those competitors without consumers seeing & recognizing you?
Do you have anybody who isn't recognized as being connected with your store? Are there others who would check competitors? You need somebody who knows about pet issues. S/he should be objective & accurate, not prone to exaggeration. S/he can report about potential problems, inventory, display methods & promotions.
Here are considerations for marketing messages & helping to choose pets & supplies:
Can you check pet owners' forums/blogs? You can learn what's important to them.
What are their logical & emotional reasons for:
Choosing a certain kind of pet - breed, size, age, gender, color & number?
When they buy supplies, do they buy the best, better or average quality? Do they buy large quantities?
Who receives a pet as a gift (child or family)? Which animals require a lot of adult supervision?
Who is most responsible physically & financially for a pet?
What are their household sizes (1-2 people, family, room mates)? Maybe you can advise certain pets based on sizes & habitats.
Do pet sitters have separate supplies or are supplies transported with pets?
Statistics can be interpreted many ways. Are there firm, objective statistics about survival rates for pets from big stores & specialty shops?
What are major reasons for differences in pets' survival rates?
How well can you help people find reliable information resources to help pets be healthy & happy?
Considerations For Choosing Which Stores To Buy From.
It can make a difference how animals & pet supplies are handled in stores. Are they exposed to potentially harmful materials like cleaning supplies &/or other merchandise?
Are pets protected from cleaning supplies & procedures? They can be harmed by exposure to cleaning materials. Though they may survive, their health could be compromised in subtle ways that contribute to longer term problems.
Are animals stressed in various stores by employees, customers, other animals, etc.?
High traffic store maintenance can require different cleaning products & more frequent procedures than cleaning other stores. Hazardous chemicals can be absorbed by food in bags. Hazardous chemicals can cling to supplies & toys. Hazardous fumes can end up in cages & aquariums.
When employees work in different departments, they could have hazardous things on their hands & clothes. If they smoke tobacco or anything else, residue can be transferred to pets & products.
There's a difference in the quality of water pets are given or put into. How often is water changed/filtered? How often are filters changed?
Employees might wash or sanitize their hands & still have harmful residue on their hands.
In your messages, you can include a short list of criteria to increase people's awareness of issues. It could also mean they'll be more watchful in your store too. Your criteria should show you have high standards & imply people should have high standards when they choose stores. You can help them set standards in their homes.
Even if you don't know how pets are treated in other stores, the questions might create awareness in people's minds. Help people realize you have high standards & so they'll favor your store.
Do you have the same supply chain as big stores? Do you have safer products? Do you have information about product safety? If you stock the same brands as competitors, you need superior reasons for people to buy from you.
Pets may seem tough enough to withstand many things since they hold things in their mouths. Though they may seem to be unaffected, some things can hurt them slowly.
You might have information about hazards.
Are animals exposed to too much light in big stores? Stores opened 24 hours per day might constantly display pets. Even security lights might be too much for pets to adequately sleep. When people bump or tap aquariums & cages, animals can be stressed especially if it happens many hours each day. Noises can disrupt animals' sleep & stress them in other ways. Animals hear noises which humans don't hear.
Are safe insects used as food? Have those insects been exposed to anything that could harm animals? If insects are dying from insecticide, they might move enough to attract a lizard's attention (& be eaten). If rodents are used as food, are they diseased or poisoned?
Why Do People Shop At Walmart?
As well as you can, you need to learn reasons pet owners buy from Walmart. These reasons shouldn't be your perceptions. People won't always admit all reasons they do things. It depends on what seems logical (sounds good) & their real reasons (possibly emotional).
Do they buy from competitors so they can save money? Do they prefer one stop shopping to save time? Do they buy only from familiar stores & locations where they feel safe?
What can you do to counter those reasons? According to consumers' perceptions, what is real value? Is value based on brand confidence? Do they measure value based mostly prices?
Does Walmart have the same brands of the same products as you do? Do people buy Walmart branded products (Ol' Roy dog food)? Do those products seem to be good enough? Do customers think those products are close enough to what you offer?
Part of your solution should be helping people feel comfortable buying from your store. People might dislike Walmart & shop there anyway because they're familiar enough with Walmart to be comfortable. When people know more about your store & what you offer, they might buy from you more often.
Long-Term Improvements
I don't know how long your efforts might take to turn the tide. Effective marketing often depends on building momentum.
People may need information to help them feel comfortable with what you sell. They might not have time to read or listen to it while they're in your store.
Unfortunately, they might not read information after they leave.
They might buy if they know or are familiar with people who are comfortable with products. Testimonials & endorsements can help. In effect, when others have decided already, customers might just go along with them.
Case studies might help them more than plain scientific facts. Scientific facts & jargon might confuse people. Can you show a result happened because a product was used? Can you show a consequence happened because a product wasn't used?
Certainty & near certainty can help people have enough confidence to decide. People might change shopping habits when they have strong reasons.
You can help people organize their thoughts & feelings about products & services into buying criteria.
You can determine if you'll take on competitors directly by listing their faults. You can do it indirectly listing your criteria for choosing products & suppliers.
You can specify your employment requirements & business practices. You can specify why you do some things & refuse to do others.
People will be more comfortable when their buying criteria match your criteria.
When they recognize your valuable resources, they may buy enough to keep you in business.
They might have a hard time in determining the value of your resources, so you need to do your best to balance high value for them & low costs for yourself. They might expect more than you can offer.
You might need to reveal some of your costs to help them realize how much they should buy to keep you in business.
People may be indecisive if they don't have enough information. Unfortunately they can be indecisive even if they have the right information but they don't have it organized according to priorities.
You may know what's important in various situations but you might have a hard time giving advice without knowing people's conditions. You can say, "If you answer some questions, I can help you choose what's best for your situation."
You could give people tips about how to find information. You probably know better search terms to help them find information sources via search engines.
Your Continuing Education
You can use social media & internet retail sites to get insights about what people need & want to know. You can check what they write about products & services. You can check book reviews & discussions about articles.
There's a limit to how much I can help now. I'd need to know more about your situation & have time to test marketing methods. You can learn more methods to test from my other posts & what other people have written in books & articles.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if you need me to clarify what I wrote.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Promotions & Offers for an Online Shop
Subject: Online Shop Author: April Jennings Date Originally Posted: 22:54:25 01/02/02 Wed
These messages were originally posted in another service.
Hi, I've visited this forum for awhile and think I am ready to ask for your opinion. I have an online shop and want it to be mainly an online shop. I would consider wholesale orders also. Anyways, the name is going to be "Natural Stone Jewelry & Rosaries", for healing the body and soul... I'm going to market it as such and really get this business going this year...I'd like any ideas and marketing strategies for getting the site noticed and profitable...
I offer a weekly inspirational email note as part of the site..for me and the people getting it... Maybe the site will give you a better idea of my overall shop and what it's about...
April Jennings
http://rosariesangelsmore.theshoppe.com
apjen2360@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Online Shop Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Originally Posted: 19:27:15 01/03/02 Thu
In reply to: April Jennings 's message, "Online Shop" on 22:54:25 01/02/02 Wed
Hi April,
Thank you for joining us.
Many churches have web sites.
Some clergy members are open to letting vendors promote religious products. If you offer them a donation for each sale you get through them, for example, 1 cent per dollar when your web site logs show a buyer found your site by clicking a link in their site.
You can promote that on your site - "I'll donate 1 cent of each dollar from your purchases to the church whose site you used to find my site."
Your site may be directly mentioned to church members as a way to get them to contribute more money, besides passing around the offering plate/basket.
It may sound almost blasphemous, but some people feel like church is mostly about giving money. ("Gees, they're asking for money AGAIN!!!")
By buying products from you, they'll contribute money and get something tangible. (Religion tends to be intangible.)
You should have a solid headline that loads immediately when your site is accessed.
How about -
"Hold A Bit Of Heaven In Your Hand While You Pray"
Followed by -
"Sometimes it's easier to offer a sacrifice of praise when you're holding and looking at a beautiful devotional item."
"Some people find it easier to focus on devotions when they have something beautiful to look at and hold. Have you tried it for yourself?"
NOTE -- An experience tends to be more fulfilling when we involve more than one of our senses.
So, what you offer are products that are visually and kinethestically (feeling) appealing.
If you add a link (through an affiliate program, so you get a commission) for somebody who sells devotional music (maybe even Gregorian Chants), you'd help people add an auditory stimulus.
Incense (possibly through another affiliate link) would add an olfactory stimulus.
So, people can use four of their senses to make their devotional time more stimulating.
I don't know if you'd be able to add a gustatory (taste) element without getting to the realm of communion.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
This is an update to a blog post from January 2002. The original post might've been a disguised promotion attempt. I took a chance & responded with some advice.
Based on what I wrote below, you may think I'm trying to dissuade you from using my suggestion. I'm just helping you be realistic.
This disclaimer is part of being realistic: I'm not a lawyer. You're responsible for being sure your promotions are legal in your area. My advice is based on a limited knowledge of your situation. There are things I don't know about your situation which can affect you & your customers. You need to follow through with due diligence to be sure you do what's necessary for success.
If you think you'll generate enough donations this way, you could suggest for church leaders to use the money for a specific cause or improvement. Example - If a repair is necessary, church leaders could dedicate your sales donations to pay for a repair. When the repair is made, people will have a personal reference & satisfaction in helping make the repair happen.
If there wouldn't likely be enough donations, you shouldn't link your business with something that won't be fulfilled. The cause or improvement should be something members think of as significant. The total cost of the cause or improvement should be what you could provide through a program like this.
You'd need input from members & leaders about what would be significant & fulfillable. After you get their input, you should consider the possibility of your sales & donations being lower than they anticipate. It's too easy for excitement to lead to high expectations.
Here are a few things to consider about a program like this: Success would depend on -
1 - the number of church members & their financial situations;
2 - how well you can fulfill enough sales to make it work in a specific time frame;
3 - how much & how often church leaders would encourage members to participate;
4 - your ability to promote it to each church group on a regular basis;
5 - your ability to track sales & send donations each month;
6 - your supply chain should be able to send you enough products to avoid inventory lapses
If you have ready access to members, you might be able to maintain top of mind awareness. If church leaders inspire members to order things each week, you might get enough orders each week.
You'd need to maintain a steady flow of donations based on your sales. If people order things but your donations lag behind, you could cause suspicion.
If you do this with more than one church at a time, you could have a hard time tracking sales & sending donations. I suggest moderation in setting up a program, so you can do it well. You'd need to be sure to track sales from specific groups & send the donations to the correct person in each group.
It can be run somewhat like an affiliate program. You might find software to help you administer it.
Your suppliers should provide enough high quality products to avoid an out-of-stock problem. If there are defects, people might return products or demand refunds. You need to be sure you allow for possible returns, when you send donations. If you send donations each month, you should limit returns & refunds to 30 days after a sale.
Your sales copy should specify the importance of people confirming their orders. You should specify refunds will only be available up to 30 days after a sale. After you make a donation & pay suppliers, you won't have funds available for refunds.
To prevent interruptions of sales & donations, church leaders should encourage people to only order what they intend to keep.
You should be sure your program fits all regulations where your business & the churches are. You might need guidance from a lawyer.
You can be successful with programs like this when you gather whatever insights you can.
I don't want to mislead you into thinking there are no risks in promotions.
Please use discretion in what you do & how much you do at any time.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
These messages were originally posted in another service.
Hi, I've visited this forum for awhile and think I am ready to ask for your opinion. I have an online shop and want it to be mainly an online shop. I would consider wholesale orders also. Anyways, the name is going to be "Natural Stone Jewelry & Rosaries", for healing the body and soul... I'm going to market it as such and really get this business going this year...I'd like any ideas and marketing strategies for getting the site noticed and profitable...
I offer a weekly inspirational email note as part of the site..for me and the people getting it... Maybe the site will give you a better idea of my overall shop and what it's about...
April Jennings
http://rosariesangelsmore.theshoppe.com
apjen2360@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Online Shop Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Originally Posted: 19:27:15 01/03/02 Thu
In reply to: April Jennings 's message, "Online Shop" on 22:54:25 01/02/02 Wed
Hi April,
Thank you for joining us.
Many churches have web sites.
Some clergy members are open to letting vendors promote religious products. If you offer them a donation for each sale you get through them, for example, 1 cent per dollar when your web site logs show a buyer found your site by clicking a link in their site.
You can promote that on your site - "I'll donate 1 cent of each dollar from your purchases to the church whose site you used to find my site."
Your site may be directly mentioned to church members as a way to get them to contribute more money, besides passing around the offering plate/basket.
It may sound almost blasphemous, but some people feel like church is mostly about giving money. ("Gees, they're asking for money AGAIN!!!")
By buying products from you, they'll contribute money and get something tangible. (Religion tends to be intangible.)
You should have a solid headline that loads immediately when your site is accessed.
How about -
"Hold A Bit Of Heaven In Your Hand While You Pray"
Followed by -
"Sometimes it's easier to offer a sacrifice of praise when you're holding and looking at a beautiful devotional item."
"Some people find it easier to focus on devotions when they have something beautiful to look at and hold. Have you tried it for yourself?"
NOTE -- An experience tends to be more fulfilling when we involve more than one of our senses.
So, what you offer are products that are visually and kinethestically (feeling) appealing.
If you add a link (through an affiliate program, so you get a commission) for somebody who sells devotional music (maybe even Gregorian Chants), you'd help people add an auditory stimulus.
Incense (possibly through another affiliate link) would add an olfactory stimulus.
So, people can use four of their senses to make their devotional time more stimulating.
I don't know if you'd be able to add a gustatory (taste) element without getting to the realm of communion.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
This is an update to a blog post from January 2002. The original post might've been a disguised promotion attempt. I took a chance & responded with some advice.
Based on what I wrote below, you may think I'm trying to dissuade you from using my suggestion. I'm just helping you be realistic.
This disclaimer is part of being realistic: I'm not a lawyer. You're responsible for being sure your promotions are legal in your area. My advice is based on a limited knowledge of your situation. There are things I don't know about your situation which can affect you & your customers. You need to follow through with due diligence to be sure you do what's necessary for success.
If you think you'll generate enough donations this way, you could suggest for church leaders to use the money for a specific cause or improvement. Example - If a repair is necessary, church leaders could dedicate your sales donations to pay for a repair. When the repair is made, people will have a personal reference & satisfaction in helping make the repair happen.
If there wouldn't likely be enough donations, you shouldn't link your business with something that won't be fulfilled. The cause or improvement should be something members think of as significant. The total cost of the cause or improvement should be what you could provide through a program like this.
You'd need input from members & leaders about what would be significant & fulfillable. After you get their input, you should consider the possibility of your sales & donations being lower than they anticipate. It's too easy for excitement to lead to high expectations.
Here are a few things to consider about a program like this: Success would depend on -
1 - the number of church members & their financial situations;
2 - how well you can fulfill enough sales to make it work in a specific time frame;
3 - how much & how often church leaders would encourage members to participate;
4 - your ability to promote it to each church group on a regular basis;
5 - your ability to track sales & send donations each month;
6 - your supply chain should be able to send you enough products to avoid inventory lapses
If you have ready access to members, you might be able to maintain top of mind awareness. If church leaders inspire members to order things each week, you might get enough orders each week.
You'd need to maintain a steady flow of donations based on your sales. If people order things but your donations lag behind, you could cause suspicion.
If you do this with more than one church at a time, you could have a hard time tracking sales & sending donations. I suggest moderation in setting up a program, so you can do it well. You'd need to be sure to track sales from specific groups & send the donations to the correct person in each group.
It can be run somewhat like an affiliate program. You might find software to help you administer it.
Your suppliers should provide enough high quality products to avoid an out-of-stock problem. If there are defects, people might return products or demand refunds. You need to be sure you allow for possible returns, when you send donations. If you send donations each month, you should limit returns & refunds to 30 days after a sale.
Your sales copy should specify the importance of people confirming their orders. You should specify refunds will only be available up to 30 days after a sale. After you make a donation & pay suppliers, you won't have funds available for refunds.
To prevent interruptions of sales & donations, church leaders should encourage people to only order what they intend to keep.
You should be sure your program fits all regulations where your business & the churches are. You might need guidance from a lawyer.
You can be successful with programs like this when you gather whatever insights you can.
I don't want to mislead you into thinking there are no risks in promotions.
Please use discretion in what you do & how much you do at any time.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Using Memories & Feelings to Promote Personalized Candles - Candlegrams
Subject: Personalized Candles - Candlegrams
Author: Lori Ritchie
Hello all,
Dennis your marketing insite is fabulous and I am now at the point where it is time to market my product - Personalized Candles and Candlegrams (decorative candles that are personalized with text and graphics chosen by the purchaser for special occassions).
I am concentrating on offline marketing specifically at this time and am thinking of wholesaling to gift shops and florists but I am unsure about their willingness to handle the personalization aspect of the product. . .
Also, should I mail a brochure, business card, and letter ahead before approaching shops with samples to show them? Do you have thoughts on this? I really do not like the direct selling method like this, but if this will be the most effective way to go, I am willing to make it work.
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to offer.
Lori Ritchie
http://wwww.geocities.com/miraclecandle
Premium Personalized Candles
miraclecandle@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Personalized Candles - Candlegrams
Author: Dennis S. Vogel
Hi Lori,
Do I have any thoughts on this? Does a candle have a wick?
Thank you for contributing to the discussion forum.
The first thought leaping into my mind is (what Chet Holmes, who works with Jay Abraham, would probably call a Superior Access Vehicle) for you to find out which occasions are special to the store owners.
Was a business anniversary just announced?
Did the owner(s) just get an award for something?
Did the owner or a relative just have a special personal occasion?
Whatever special occasions you find, I suggest you develop a candle for it. Take (or ask somebody to take) a professional quality picture of the candle and send the picture with a brochure, business card, and letter ahead before approaching shops with samples to show them.
So, yes, I think you should contact them ahead of time. After you're sure they got the letters, you can call for an appointment, they're apt to remember what you sent to them.
Promise to bring the special custom-made candle with you to present to him/her/them.
About five minutes after you do present it (allowing the effect to soak in), ask/say, "Now you can imagine how people will feel when they receive candles recognizing something special in their lives, right?"
This should get his/her/their attention!!!
The candle will probably be proudly displayed in the store. Even if the owner(s) don't point to it, customers are bound to notice it and think how great it would be to have one of their own.
I've heard of people burning their mortgage documents after they've made their last mortgage payment. I wonder how people would feel about lighting a candle in the shape of a bank (or labeled "Bank"). Then they can use that flame to light their mortgage documents.
Maybe school shaped candles (or labeled "School") for graduates. Art quality candles don't have to be burned.
If you have a product many customers will want, store owners will probably accept them on consignment. What they will want is "proof" the product will sell just as well or better than whatever else they could have put on the display they use for your product.
You should also consider using your candles as a bonus offer for the store owner's customers.
For example- If the store sells party supplies, customers could get a custom-made candle, (at 50% discount) for the occasion the party is to celebrate, for a purchase of $XX or more. Then the display would be small and the owner would be encouraged to promote the program.
I hope I didn't misinterpret what you wrote. I figure if somebody were to WAX poetic, their poem could put on or with a candle.
Well, what if somebody got a favorable article written about him or her, the headline could be put on a candle.
Considering what you mail to retailers, is there small 3-dimensional object you could put into the envelope? It should relate to your product.
This "lump" in the envelope may tempt people to open it, even if they would've tossed it out otherwise.
Your letter should be HEAD-OUT -- meaning the salutation and opening statement are visible when the recipient opens the envelope & pulls the letter out. The statement should entice recipients to read the rest of the letter, it'll determine the campaign's success.
You could put a teaser on the envelope, "Congratulations On (The store owner's special occasion), please accept my gift commemorating your special occasion." This kind of personalization, plus the little lump, should increase the response you get.
A Safety Note- I heard of a wooden candle holder recall. When people left their candles unattended, the flames started burning the candle holders.
A Liability Note- For better advice, you should ask a lawyer, but it'd be a good idea for you to include a warning about unattended burning of candles.
Warmly (or hotly),
Copyright 2016 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
When you compete against big businesses with
big budgets you need powerful marketing
strategies and tactics. You'll find them here-
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Subject: Personalized Candles - Candlegrams - update
Author: Dennis S. Vogel
Many times, memories of our experiences have more lasting value than possessions.
When possessions are linked emotionally with experiences, we can renew or review how we felt in special times.
Aromatic memories can be even stronger.
When a stimulus is linked to emotions through one or more of our senses, it can increase our benefits.
Our emotional links can be powerful also, when possessions connect us with loved ones.
As we tend live miles away from loved ones, we can own identical or similar objects to share with people who share our experiences.
Example - We can look at, touch & smell copies of a scented candle at the same times.
When we talk to or text each other, we can use our senses to rekindle what would otherwise be fading memories.
If you can add a taste aspect (even just a drop on a tongue), we can look at, touch, smell & hear our experiences again - even if some of the sensory aspects are only in our memories.
As we communicate, we can touch, taste, smell, see &/or hear the same kinds of objects.
Depending on the product, you could add a note card to help people prompt their memories & feelings.
You could put things like these on the note cards -
"I remember how I felt the _____."
"I could smell the fragrances of ___."
"When I looked at ____, I saw ___."
"I remember how the ___ tasted."
"The ___ sounded great."
We should do what we can to increase the positive intensity of what we offer.
Thank you for using my blog.
Copyright 2016 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
Author: Lori Ritchie
Hello all,
Dennis your marketing insite is fabulous and I am now at the point where it is time to market my product - Personalized Candles and Candlegrams (decorative candles that are personalized with text and graphics chosen by the purchaser for special occassions).
I am concentrating on offline marketing specifically at this time and am thinking of wholesaling to gift shops and florists but I am unsure about their willingness to handle the personalization aspect of the product. . .
Also, should I mail a brochure, business card, and letter ahead before approaching shops with samples to show them? Do you have thoughts on this? I really do not like the direct selling method like this, but if this will be the most effective way to go, I am willing to make it work.
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to offer.
Lori Ritchie
http://wwww.geocities.com/miraclecandle
Premium Personalized Candles
miraclecandle@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Personalized Candles - Candlegrams
Author: Dennis S. Vogel
Hi Lori,
Do I have any thoughts on this? Does a candle have a wick?
Thank you for contributing to the discussion forum.
The first thought leaping into my mind is (what Chet Holmes, who works with Jay Abraham, would probably call a Superior Access Vehicle) for you to find out which occasions are special to the store owners.
Was a business anniversary just announced?
Did the owner(s) just get an award for something?
Did the owner or a relative just have a special personal occasion?
Whatever special occasions you find, I suggest you develop a candle for it. Take (or ask somebody to take) a professional quality picture of the candle and send the picture with a brochure, business card, and letter ahead before approaching shops with samples to show them.
So, yes, I think you should contact them ahead of time. After you're sure they got the letters, you can call for an appointment, they're apt to remember what you sent to them.
Promise to bring the special custom-made candle with you to present to him/her/them.
About five minutes after you do present it (allowing the effect to soak in), ask/say, "Now you can imagine how people will feel when they receive candles recognizing something special in their lives, right?"
This should get his/her/their attention!!!
The candle will probably be proudly displayed in the store. Even if the owner(s) don't point to it, customers are bound to notice it and think how great it would be to have one of their own.
I've heard of people burning their mortgage documents after they've made their last mortgage payment. I wonder how people would feel about lighting a candle in the shape of a bank (or labeled "Bank"). Then they can use that flame to light their mortgage documents.
Maybe school shaped candles (or labeled "School") for graduates. Art quality candles don't have to be burned.
If you have a product many customers will want, store owners will probably accept them on consignment. What they will want is "proof" the product will sell just as well or better than whatever else they could have put on the display they use for your product.
You should also consider using your candles as a bonus offer for the store owner's customers.
For example- If the store sells party supplies, customers could get a custom-made candle, (at 50% discount) for the occasion the party is to celebrate, for a purchase of $XX or more. Then the display would be small and the owner would be encouraged to promote the program.
I hope I didn't misinterpret what you wrote. I figure if somebody were to WAX poetic, their poem could put on or with a candle.
Well, what if somebody got a favorable article written about him or her, the headline could be put on a candle.
Considering what you mail to retailers, is there small 3-dimensional object you could put into the envelope? It should relate to your product.
This "lump" in the envelope may tempt people to open it, even if they would've tossed it out otherwise.
Your letter should be HEAD-OUT -- meaning the salutation and opening statement are visible when the recipient opens the envelope & pulls the letter out. The statement should entice recipients to read the rest of the letter, it'll determine the campaign's success.
You could put a teaser on the envelope, "Congratulations On (The store owner's special occasion), please accept my gift commemorating your special occasion." This kind of personalization, plus the little lump, should increase the response you get.
A Safety Note- I heard of a wooden candle holder recall. When people left their candles unattended, the flames started burning the candle holders.
A Liability Note- For better advice, you should ask a lawyer, but it'd be a good idea for you to include a warning about unattended burning of candles.
Warmly (or hotly),
Copyright 2016 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
When you compete against big businesses with
big budgets you need powerful marketing
strategies and tactics. You'll find them here-
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Subject: Personalized Candles - Candlegrams - update
Author: Dennis S. Vogel
Many times, memories of our experiences have more lasting value than possessions.
When possessions are linked emotionally with experiences, we can renew or review how we felt in special times.
Aromatic memories can be even stronger.
When a stimulus is linked to emotions through one or more of our senses, it can increase our benefits.
Our emotional links can be powerful also, when possessions connect us with loved ones.
As we tend live miles away from loved ones, we can own identical or similar objects to share with people who share our experiences.
Example - We can look at, touch & smell copies of a scented candle at the same times.
When we talk to or text each other, we can use our senses to rekindle what would otherwise be fading memories.
If you can add a taste aspect (even just a drop on a tongue), we can look at, touch, smell & hear our experiences again - even if some of the sensory aspects are only in our memories.
As we communicate, we can touch, taste, smell, see &/or hear the same kinds of objects.
Depending on the product, you could add a note card to help people prompt their memories & feelings.
You could put things like these on the note cards -
"I remember how I felt the _____."
"I could smell the fragrances of ___."
"When I looked at ____, I saw ___."
"I remember how the ___ tasted."
"The ___ sounded great."
We should do what we can to increase the positive intensity of what we offer.
Thank you for using my blog.
Copyright 2016 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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