Make it a Deal

I'll be honest, I'm cheap, or to be politically correct I am conservative. With that being said I am always looking for a deal. Here's some criteria to earn my business (plus the other thousands of potential customer you could have:

• Make it an incredible offer. I will only try you and leave my current provider if it is an unbelievable deal. And yes, you as the owner may not make much money on this, however it is now your job to show the new customer how great you are!




• I got an oil change coupon for $8 off an oil change, big deal, is my oil change still going to be$45? Show me how much it was and now show the incredible deal.




• Same thing with %percentages. Consumers don't know/don't care about percentages. Don't use them, show the price, customers know price.
  
  


• Referral Programs - If you want me to put my name on the line for you, make sure you give me something that is worth that risk.




• Rewards program- if you don't have one, get one ASAP. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and think about it if you have a card that you buy 4 oil changes and then you get one free, where do you think they will go? Remember make it a great reward!

Remember, the time to show you are family owned, a great place, and trustworthy is after you have them in the store..... the key is to get them in the store..... with a great offer!

Read this, this guy is smarter than your or I..... or maybe just me

Here is a copy of what I recieved from:

http://www.firedrummarketing.com/public_message_view.jsp?s=5lrizmg0xd

A Testimonial Ad Writes Itself

Not long ago I met with an electrical contractor in a midwestern town. The company had been advertising on television for a couple of months and hadn't seen any results. They were running a testimonial spot, featuring an actual customer. Because I don't have permission from the station or the client, I'm disguising the name of the contractor. Otherwise, here's the customer testimonial, word for word: "I had an electrical issue that needed repair, so I called MyTown Electric. My great experience started right away. What really impressed me was that even though it was a Saturday, my appointment was set up for the same day, at no additional charge. The technician even wore shoe covers to protect my floors, which was a really nice touch. He fixed my issue right away, and I couldn't have been happier. When it comes to customer service, MyTown Electric really stands out."

This is an example of what Bill Glazer, in Creating Copy That Sells, calls a "meaningless testimonial." There is nothing in this story that communicates the problem that this customer was having, how the technician solved the problem, or why this particular electric company is the best one to call. In fact, the only reason you would know that this was an actual customer is that a graphic under her face said, "Monica -- actual customer."

Glazer says that to be effective, a testimonial must do one of two things:

1. Relay an outcome. In the case of the electrician above, this could have been, "My power went out Saturday morrning, and there was no way I could wait until Monday to get it fixed. The first electrician I called told me they couldn't get to me over the weekend. So I called MyTown Electric. The technician was there in an hour, found some faulty wiring behind the wall, and got things running in time for me to have guests over that afternoon. All for no extra charge!"

2. Overcome an objection. "I thought you had to pay an arm and a leg to get an electrician on the weekend -- if you could get one at all. So when my power went out on a Saturday afternoon, I braced myself for the worst. But when I called MyTown Electric, they were at my house within an hour. They fixed some faulty wiring behind the wall and had me up and running in time to make dinner. And there was no extra charge for the Saturday call!" Here's an outcome-based testimonial that isn't currently in a commercial -- but it could be: A woman I know recently replaced the windows in her 1920's-era home in my hometown of Portland. A couple of days after the installation, I happened to be in her office when the owner of the window company called to see how she liked them. Here's what she said: "Yesterday was garbage-pickup day in our neighborhood... and the garbage truck didn't wake me up. My bedroom faces the street, and that's the first time in 16 years that I've been able to sleep past 6am on a Wednesday!" She had bought the windows to make the house warmer, but she'd gotten another benefit she hadn't even considered -- a decent night's sleep. This is one testimonial that practically wrote itself. All you'd have to do is bring a crew to her home and have her tell the story while the camera rolled. If you're considering a testimonial campaign, look for stories like that one -- stories that relay an outcome, overcome an objection, or both.

Boost New Media Effectiveness With.. Old Media

I recently received a pitch from Google, inviting me to try their new Adwords Express program. The pitch began like this:
"Did you know that 58% of Americans search online to learn about products and services they're thinking about buying? Wouldn't you love your business's message in front of the people who are searching the web for what you're selling, right when they're searching for it?" How did Google deliver this message to me? A banner on one of my favorite marketing web sites? Nope.

A text ad on Google when I searched for "advertising"? Wrong again. I found it in my mailbox. Not my email box... my actual mailbox. In a paper envelope, delivered to my by the United States Postal Service. It looked like this: Google, the new-media goliath whose GMail program is one of the nails in the Postal Service coffin... uses old-fashioned snail mail to reach out to new clients. Google used an actual printer to put ink on paper, stuffed it in an envelope, and had someone deliver it to my office. Marketing guru Dan Kennedy, who also received a letter from Google, had this to say: "Even the company that dominates online advertising is unable to rely on online advertising to get its new customers... And by the way, they didn't just mail a simple postcard and tell folks to go online to get te sales letter or watch a video or whatever; they enclosed a 2-page piece laying out their full sales presentation." Here's another example of "new media" companies using "old media" to bring in customers: a recent one-hour episode of the ABC-TV show Castle had commercials for: The iPad 2MicrosoftDroid Razr smartphoneNook TabletAtt Wireless/iPhoneKindle Fire TabletAmazon, maker of the Kindle Fire, has millions of email addresses on file, along with an enormous amount of information on the purchasing habits of each customer. They can, and do, push the Fire every time someone logs onto http://www.amazon.com/. They can, and do, email their customers to promote the Fire. The marginal cost to Amazon of either of those approaches is close to zero. In addition, they have lots of other inexpensive online and mobile ways to target customers. And yet, as holiday purchasing decisions were being made, Amazon opened its virtual checkbook and wrote a nice fat check for a commercial on... The ABC Television Network. The same ABC Network that brought us Howard Cosell, Harry Reasoner, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father. So did Apple, Microsoft, and AT & T Wireless. Maybe they know something.....

Honesty is the Best Policy

I watched a lot of Leave it to Beaver and Bonanza growing up with my dad. Two things that came out of watching those shows were 1. I had my first crush on June Cleaver and 2 Honesty is the best policy!

My dad always referenced the term "I'd rather hear bad news from you than the teacher/principal/neighbor. Gosh that is so true, even in the business world.

Too often we find out our advertising partners run something wrong, didn't run it or made a mistake by someone telling us or us having to find out ourselves.

Even worse, everyone has a million excuses. As we all know and come to appreciate: If someone simply says "it was my fault and I am sorry" wow that means a lot. Simply because it is the truth and you don't hear it anymore!

Long story short, if you screwed up, admit it right away, take ownership, apologize, and fix it. That simple.

Thanks to Ben Cartwright, Haas, The Beaver, my dad, and June Cleaver for the correct advice!

Boo from Boone

Wow, where to start? Well let me give you a re-cap of the last10 months or so.

So I became a father, which has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. On May 7th of this year my wife Nicole gave birth to Boone Wells Edens. Our lives have been better every day with him in it. The pic above is a recent picture from him in his Halloween costume.

Also in March of this year I was able to open my own marketing company named Hard Knox Marketing. I have a handful of clients who trust me with their marketing decisions. I absolutely love it. I deal with Marketing all day, rather than paperwork, sales, and a little marketing in my past TV sales jobs. Also with the new company I am able to stay at home 2 days a week with Boone and we do everything from watching cartoons to sending out emails together...It is great!

Now that I am back to a normal schedule I am going to continue to write. One thing that continues to get me upset is the lack of Customer Service in all industries. Going forward this will be a theme for me.

Thanks for your patience and continuing to listen to this old man blabber about marketing.

PS. I need you to like me.... on facebook, search Hard Knox Marketing

My 15 minutes are over... As seen on Good Morning America!

So if I haven't told you yet I was famous for a little while. My co-worker and I were featured on a segment during Good Morning America.

Here is a link to the video
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/work-spouse-real-spouse-12959290

I did enjoy my 15 minutes while they lasted!

Marketing Vs. Advertising

Do you think in Marketing Terms, or simply in Advertising terms?
You should be looking at your Marketing. Advertising is simply a part of your marketing plan. Let's look at an example.
You buy a TV commercial (Advertising) However the creative in that ad is based on your overall marketing plan. Then that person calls you, how do you answer the phone call (marketing/customer service) How is their business routed through your sales process (marketing/customer service) all the points of contact during the buying cycle (marketing) how your salesperson talks to them and about what (marketing/sales). So they just bought from you, how do you thank them? (marketing/follow up)
So advertising gets them in the door and a great marketing plan gets them to be your long term customer and refer others!
That is why I have decided to open a Marketing Firm called Hard Knox Marketing starting March 15th. www.hardknoxmarketing.comMy goal with my clients will be to look at their overall marketing plan to ensure all points of contact with a customer is consistent with their overall plan. Feel free to contact me at hardknoxmarketing@gmail.com or via phone at 920.265.2255 This is not a solicitation, it's just that I am very excited about the opportunity to help others strengthen their business!

What's my name?

OK, it's a small thing to some people however it's a big deal to me! I go to local bank and usually use the drive through. Well about a month after I have been going there they said hi to me, more importantly they said Hello Andrew. Wow they know my name! Seriously they know my name. I realize that is the way banks used to be, but it's definitely different to get a hello with my name! I can go to a different branch in another part of town, but i purposely go to the bank that remember my name now.
Just think if you could remember the names of all your clients, or at least the top spenders, and say hi to them by name. It makes a difference to me and i am sure it would make a difference to your customers.

Your Plan: Remember the name of one of your current customers. Oh yeah, call them by their first name, much more personal. And how about a buisness owner telling me " I realize you have a lot of options out there, and sometimes cheaper options, I just want to let you know we appreciate your buisness" May sound cheesy, but it's honest and I gaurantee you will remember it and maybe give them the benefit of the doubt when competing on price!