The BV Blog

We’ve talked before about how to grow your business by selling more to your existing customers. And during these economically challenging times, it seems like that advice is more important than ever, according to the top marketing mind at the nation’s biggest electronics retailer. From a marketingprofs.com interview with Barry Judge, Chief Marketing Officer at Best Buy:

Identify and focus [your marketing] investment on your highest-value customers. These customers are your most identifiable and reliable source of revenue and profit across your business; and because they are enthusiasts for your products or services, they will be most likely to continue spending in your categories during a down economy.

Smart businesses know they can’t afford to slash their marketing efforts just because sales are down. Smarter ones will go one step further and put their marketing dollars into efforts to expand their base by growing their sales to customers who are already sold on them.

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Try to imagine the world without music.

Life would not be nearly as rich or enjoyable. And, of course, you’d have no need for your favorite dancin’ pants.

Music is tremendously important to human beings (including your customers) for many reasons, but among its greatest values is its ability to affect our mood in a positive way. You can see evidence of this at concerts and high school dances, and in the faces of people listening to their favorite songs. (Learn more about the marketing benefits of music.)

You can also witness the power of music at nursing homes and rehabilitation centers where music is used to lift the spirits of residents and patients. In the summer 2008 issue of The Director, a magazine for administrators at long-term care facilities, Ed Newman wrote:

Activity directors and nursing professionals at hospitals and nursing homes have long recognized the role music plays in their patients’ care. According to Brian Rife, Activity Director at the Rehab and Nursing Center in Monroe, N.C., music can play an important role in healing. “Often residents in nursing home settings become depressed and withdrawn. An activity department has such a huge responsibility to help these individuals through different types of pleasant and meaningful activities. One element that we use here is music,” Rife explained. “You can go into a resident’s room and play some type of uplifting song and they become alive with joy. It’s amazing how music impacts our lives on a daily basis. Music just makes you feel good when nothing else will.”

Music is essential for creating the right mood within your business too, whether it’s a small town retirement facility or a major hospital; a local clothing shop or a regional chain of grocery stores. Not only does music put your customers and staff in a better frame of mind - a state they may subconsciously associate with being in your office or store - it can be used to connect with your target audience and solidify your brand image. Click here to look through some facts and figures.

Read Music: Food for the Soul and Good for Business.

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Has the time come to adjust the thought process behind your business plan?

My first job after college in 1973 was in the semiconductor industry. My second job was selling computer supplies door to door in New York City.

When I think back on that time in my life, I realize that it was pretty simple. We had no cell phones or e-mail, and only substantial companies could afford computers. The only way to grow my client base was to organize my prospect list and knock on doors. In the 1970s, the way we sold was very personal: door to door, face to face.

Fast forward 35 years. The information age, supercharged by the birth of the Internet, has consumed us. We are inundated with thousands of e-mails every month, computers call us on the telephone, and there are hundreds of channels available via cable and satellite. Information is everywhere - in our cars, on our cell phones, laptops, desktops, and PDAs. Acquiring information is no longer a problem, which also means that the ability to do so does not represent a competitive advantage. So, it’s safe to state that the communications infrastructure has been built, and the Information Age is over.

My claim is that the Age of Commitment is now here and, in a way, we’ve come full circle. To clarify, if you have all the information you need to run a business and the same is true for your competitors, customers and prospects, the playing field is level. The thing to do now is work on building more meaningful, long-term relationships, just like we did in the 1970s and for many generations prior.

The quality of the relationships you develop and nurture with people is still the most important piece of the business puzzle. It always has been. Most of us have just been a little too distracted by the flash and fast pace of the computer revolution to remember that.

Succeeding in the Age of Commitment requires that you learn all you can about the nature of commitment and what it takes to truly serve your current and prospective customers. It’s that commitment that will help you succeed in this new age.

Dan Molloy heads Molloy Business Development Group and has created a series of very unique and effective training programs designed to improve sales and leadership competencies. To learn more about Language Of Commitment training, read this or call 866/473-9000.

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You know that telephone customer service is a hot-button issue when people are writing letters to the editor (scroll down to the bottom) to complain about it. But maybe you didn’t know just how much it costs when incoming calls from sales prospects are mishandled.

In a fascinating article for marketingprofs.com, internet marketing expert Todd Meichiels quantifies this in stark numbers. He tells the story of a client who was paying big bucks for Google AdWords to promote their web site and drive calls to a toll-free number. But when he made a test call, Meichiels arrived in the sixth circle of automated attendant Hell, with no way to speak to a live person. Like most callers, he just hung up.

This company was paying $65 per click to get roughly 1 out of 10 visitors to actually pick up the phone and dial a call to the sales team. This amounts to $650 per call (actually much more, when indirect marketing costs are factored in), and that $650 call was immediately flushed down the abyss of the automated phone system. Any chance of a positive impression was immediately turned into a lost sale.

Maybe you’re not using AdWords, but you’re spending money to get people to call you by including your phone number on your web site, in ads, sales flyers, brochures, on letterhead and business cards and in the local phone directory. Maybe you don’t use an automated attendant, but a poorly trained staff can do just as much damage as a badly designed call answering system. How are you doing? Why not pick up the phone and check it out for yourself.

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Good marketing advice is like a quality food ingredient — there are lots of ways to use it in any “menu” of service. Take this tidbit that comes to us from Roy Bergold in his column on Fooodservice.Com. The topic — how to increase sales at your restaurant:

It’s called Path of Least Resistance, or POLR. Always think POLR. Look for the easiest way to raise sales. Harvest the tree from the bottom. Do it the smart way.

With POLR in mind, turn your attention to your current customers. After all, they already come to you. They will be easier to get one more visit from. But how? Talk to them, find out what they want.

Usually it’s rewards or excitement. Rewards could be anything from a free coffee once in a while to a frequent-dining club. Maybe they have never tried your breakfast; they only come for lunch. Maybe they only come during the week and never thought to come on the weekend. After all, we are creatures of habit. Give them a reason to amend their habits.

OK, maybe you don’t serve food, but you probably have customers or clients who can do more business with you. Use Ray’s advice to talk to them and find out what they want. And give them a reason to change their habits. Need more advice on battling a business slump? Here are questions that may lead you to the answers you need.

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Do you remember when you were growing up and your parents used the old adage “honesty is the best policy?” And when you told the truth you were thanked for your honesty, but punished for the bad deed that you had to be honest about?

Well, times have changed a bit. Honesty is still the best policy, but in business it’s how you deliver the truth that counts.

The Get to the Point newsletter I receive daily from Marketing Profs pointed me to a favorite blog, The Church of the Customer. In an April posting, Jackie Huba tells a great story about honesty and customer relations from clothing retailer J. Crew.

Our office recently held a seminar on the Language of Commitment, presented by Molloy Business Development. Our speaker was an inter-personal communications guru, and he had a great communications philosophy– Truth over Harmony.

It’s the same philosophy Huba’s salesperson had when she told her the dress made her hips look big.

When you’re faced with a decision to placate a client or customer and keep the peace, or tell them what you really think and risk hurting their feelings, go with the latter.

It’s never easy to tell someone their clothes aren’t flattering or that their ideas aren’t good, but when it comes to customer service, it’s necessary to rip off the band-aid. The next step is to offer a way to make things better, either by suggesting a new outfit or a better idea.

The truth might sting a little, but your honesty will be appreciated and respected, and you’ll have earned a customer for life.

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One of our clients is very happy with the results of a recent Point-Of-Purchase Audio Marketing test we conducted. Read the mini-case study here. While the number of units sold is smaller, the increase in sales during our measured P-O-P campaign is dramatic.

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After 105 years, Miller Brewing Company is breathing new life into their original bubbly pilsner. The Milwaukee brewer recently launched Miller High Life Extras, a points-based loyalty program that rewards those who are “livin’ the high life.”

It’s simple. Just buy a specially marked 12 or 30-pack of Miller High Life, or Miller High Life Light, if you’re watching your figure. Each bottle or can is worth 10 points, which then can be redeemed with the click of a button at MillerHighLife.com. Proving once again that loyalty and enjoyment go hand-in-hand.

First put on the market in 1903, Miller High Life, also known as “The Champagne of Beers,” is Miller Brewing’s oldest and perhaps most dormant brand in the family. But over the last few years, High Life has more than doubled their advertising budget and enlisted the help of a quirky, down-to-earth delivery truck driver. And it’s produced results: shipments increased to just over 5 million barrels by the end of 2007.

With the huge push behind Miller High Life Extras, one can’t help but remember the enormous (and still ongoing) success of the 1996 launch of PepsiCo’s “Pepsi Points” promotion strategy.

While the Miller Merchandise doesn’t include multimedia prizes like MP3s, the rewards range from High Life screen savers (60 points) to branded fire pits (31,000 points). In between there’s a wardrobe to be earned, like deliveryman shirts and baseball caps. Unlike previous efforts in the beer industry, this promotion is running for a full-year. Maybe even longer.

Miller has done a phenomenal job in utilizing multiple facets of the marketing mix to revitalize an aging brand. The TV spots combined with the new loyalty program are hitting on two important consumer behavior points. Whereas advertising typically provides consumers a reason to buy, sales promotions offer consumers an incentive to buy. And a tangible giveaway, like a Miller High Life-branded fire pit, is a pretty good incentive. Consumers who may not have ever yearned to “live the high life” may want to at least try the brand now. And those who have a fiery brand loyalty to the bargain brew will be compelled to buy more, and buy often.

Miller High Life–aged 105 years and positioned as common sense in a bottle. But will consumers buy into it?

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Seems we can’t get through the day lately without hearing all about how the American economy is goin’ to hell in a hand basket. I’m certainly no economist so I can’t address whether it is or not, but in light of the current headlines I thought it important to reiterate a simple truth: when business slows down, it’s not a good idea to cut activity that drives sales - like marketing.

As support, I offer this excerpt from Jay Lipe’s “10 Commandments of Marketing.”

“Thou Shalt Not Cut Marketing Spending During Slow Times

From 1980 to 1985, McGraw-Hill Research analyzed 600 companies and their marketing spending. After 1985, McGraw-Hill concluded that those firms which had maintained or increased their advertising during the recession in 1981-82 boasted an average sales growth of 275% over the next five years. But those companies who cut their advertising saw paltry sales growth over the next five years of just 19%. When is the right time to market your business? All the time.”

And here’s a piece from Advertising Age on how Kraft and Kellog’s are responding to lower 4th quarter earnings.

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In 2007, we thought we’d seen it all. Skyrocketing oil prices, toys with lead-based paint, the Western wildfires, senators in bathroom stalls, and of course Sanjaya. And just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, there they were: Precious Moments coffins.

According to the TippingSprung Brand Extension Survey, deeming the best and worst brand extensions for the second year in a row, the heart-warming keepsake-maker was one of the numerous brands that just œdidn’t know where to draw the line”when it came to line extensions.

In a poll of 785 Brandweek readers, the coffin was voted the most inappropriate extension followed closely by the Humane Society Dog Lovers Wine Club, and Girls Gone Wild apparel.

Since the œNew Coke debacle of the 80s, marketers have become more cautious with product extensions. But brand extensions? As time marches on, it seems all sense has gone out the door. Usually new developments are used to increase add-on sales to an already powerful portfolio. But too often, these new endeavors result in a straying from the core values of the brand, along with the associations consumers have tied to it.

It’s been proven”one mistake and a company can dilute or even severely damage the brand they have spent years building. When you raise eyebrows, you raise doubts.

Brands that did it right, however, proved that you can capitalize on the core values that make you strong, but still can differentiate in a positive way. PetSmart PetsHotel was voted best brand extension overall; Curves Cereal finished a strong first in the food extension category; and The Food Network was tops with its kitchenware line. Innovative, successful”these brands know how to play their hand.

And as America’s preoccupation with celebrities continues to climb, it seems that a classic will still win over the audience. Newman’s Own released a new wine line that was to the liking of 75% of the respondents. On the other hand, The Jeff Gordon Collection of Fine Wines bombed, with an over 90% disapproval rate. I’m not going to touch that one.

It seems that certain companies may need a call back to the basics; a reminder to “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” When designing a brand hierarchy, think commonality. Think relevance. And above all, think simplicity. And if none of that helps, think about what your brand would look like in a Precious Moments coffin.

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