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~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NousNEWS - March 2003 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published by Stuart Ayling - sales & marketing consultant.
http://www.marketingnous.com.au
"Specialising in marketing for service businesses."
Tel: 07 3806 2238 Mobile: 0407 588 468
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This is your no-charge monthly marketing newsletter. You are receiving this because you requested it, or it was forwarded to you by a friend.
For options to join or leave please see the end of the newsletter.
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CONTENTS
1) Important bits from Stuart.
2) Feature article - Do you really need a brochure?
3) Interview with Ron McDermott of Skyline Displays.
4) Tips on selling - Going Up Against Goliath.
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Ed. note: There's lots of good info in this issue. But if you're in a hurry and just want to access the main articles, find them online here:
Do you really need a brochure?
http://www.marketingnous.com.au/archive/needabrochure.htm
Interview with Ron McDermott on how Skyline has used seminars to drive the growth of their business.
http://www.marketingnous.com.au/archive/skyline.htm
= = = = = = =
1) Important bits from Stuart.
Well, university has started again. I've been asked back to tutor at the University of Queensland, and I've still got one subject to complete for my postgraduate course. So the next four months will be a little bit busier than usual.
And I need your help. Due to the proliferation of email filters to block and delete suspected unwanted email, would you please take a moment right now to add
nousnews[at]marketingnous.com.au to your whitelist (if you use any kind of filtering system), on "safelist" (Hotmail), or your address book (AOL) . Because each issue of NousNEWS will always come directly from here, by adding this address to your list you can make sure you don't miss an issue.
At the moment New Zealand readers may have seen my article that is featured as the top story on HomeBizBuzz. http://www.homebizbuzz.co.nz/
Sometimes I'm asked about nous. What is it? "Practical intelligence" is one definition. Read about it here http://www.marketingnous.com.au/nous.htm
Finally, if you've got time to read an interesting case study on how Dell computers is planning to drive future growth, look no further than http://tinyurl.com/73d2
Have questions or comments? Please let me know.
Happy reading...
Stuart Ayling
P.S. Sometimes links don't work. If that happens to you,
just paste the link directly into your browser. Thank you.
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Printer friendly version -
For those who like to print NousNEWS for easier reading and storage there is now a printer-friendly version of this issue at -
http://www.marketingnous.com.au/printer/nousnews0303.htm
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2) Feature article - Do you really need a brochure?
Read it online at:
http://www.marketingnous.com.au/archive/needabrochure.htm
The phone rings. Good news... it's a potential client. You say, "Thanks for calling, I'll send you our brochure."
But what should you really be sending them?
I'm often asked to review brochures or asked about brochure design. But before I make any comments I always ask one question-
"Why do you think you need a brochure?"
Often there's an awkward silence before the answer comes. "Because we need one to send to customers."
Do you really need a brochure?
The desire to have a brochure is often automatic. But if you run a service business I suggest you consider all your options. The usual type of brochure that most businesses use may not be your best solution. Read on, and get a few ideas on why you might want to save your marketing money for something that really helps you.
When a potential customer contacts you it is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of your field. You can help your customer make a more informed decision about using your type of services. Remember, one of the critical factors in marketing your service business is to instil trust in you. Customers must first come to trust you and understand how you can help them before they will use you.
Education is often the key.
The problem with most brochures is they are focused on 'what' the business does, or 'who' the people are, or 'where' the business is located. This is all good information but it wont help your customer to trust you. There's little educational value.
Keep in mind that your potential customer probably has other brochures from other firms that also talk about their "latest equipment", "highly trained staff", "years of experience" and "friendly customer service".
How do you send out the brochure?
Another factor to consider when deciding on whether you need a brochure is how you will send it out. Many firms send a covering letter with the brochure. In this letter they often say the same things as in the brochure, listing the services provided, pricing and contact details. So why do you need the brochure?
In many cases a personalised letter from the business owner will have more impact than a simple brochure. Plus, in the letter you can focus on the main issue for that particular customer, making an even stronger impression. Of course you can save time by using a template, so you don't need to completely re-write the letter each time. And as you would expect, a letter is much less expensive to produce than a brochure.
Be honest... how often do you sit down and fully read a brochure. You're not alone. Usually it's a quick scan, a brief look at any pictures, and drop in the bin (or the "to do later" pile).
Even large firms have trouble using brochures. One client of mine, a state office of a large engineering firm, doesn't like using its corporate brochure because it has too much of an international focus. They find the brochure doesn't address the needs of their clients.
What else can you do?
Marketing a service business requires a bit more thought than just placing pictures of your equipment, staff or premises in a brochure. Give potential customers a reason to trust you. Minimise their risk by giving them helpful information. Be different - most businesses don't do it!
If we think about building trust, there's a few ways we can go about it. Instead of the usual brochure,
why not try one of the following:
* A checklist to help customers decide what they really need to do.
* Tips on how to minimise their need for your type of services.
* An impartial fact sheet on why the problem occurs, giving the customer some background on the issue.
* An information sheet on your business including client testimonials, success stories, case studies, and some history of the business. Remember to make it about customer benefits, not just about you.
* A reference list of associated information sources, so the customer can see how much there is to know about your field.
* If you offer a range of services, develop a series of information cards so you can send only the ones each customer wants. They'll look great with your cover letter!
* Some services (accountants come to mind) have lots of helpful data (such as tax and depreciation rates) that can be shown on a small pocket card or folder.
(Remember, all these items can be produced cost effectively on your letterhead, special paper or printed on coloured card. Even large firms can use the same concepts.)
At this point you might be thinking, "Great, I could put some helpful tips in my brochure." That's a good start. Please note, I'm not against using brochures. After all, the definition of a brochure varies widely. I'm just suggesting there is often a smarter way to use your communication opportunity.
And if you're worried that by giving your potential customers information, they wont want to use your services, then maybe you should think again. After all, as a customer, none of us want to pay for a service we don't really need.
Have courage.
Have the courage to tell your customers what they need to know. Give them a reason to trust your expertise. Reassure them that you have their best interests at heart.
And there are some great benefits from educating your customers. You'll find you face fewer customer complaints, and attract a better standard of client. Because you have shown integrity and given the customer information, they will trust you more and be less inclined to complain about trivial matters. Give it a go.
What's that I hear - you want me to send you some information. Sure. I'll send you a broch...
oops... I mean one of our fact sheets.
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Looking for a guest speaker for your meeting or event?
Stuart Ayling is available to address your business or community group at no charge. Why no charge? Because he likes doing it.
Find out about his new topic - 6 Myths of Marketing a Service Business
http://www.marketingnous.com.au/speaking.htm
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3) Interview - Ron McDermott of Skyline Displays
Read it online at:
http://www.marketingnous.com.au/archive/skyline.htm
Stuart Ayling: Ron, give me a rundown on Skyline Displays. What services do you provide? What type of businesses are your clients?
Ron McDermott: Skyline specialises in the design and manufacture of portable and custom modular display equipment and large format, high impact graphics. Our products and services are used in a range of events, namely, trade shows, exhibitions, conferences, careers markets, field days and in export marketing.
Our clientele come from all walks of life, but I suppose they would broadly fit into the three categories of large corporate, public sector (that's Government, Defence & Education) and up-and-coming SME’s.
SA: Skyline has been around for many years, can you share with us some of the highs and lows you've experienced over this time?
RM: Skyline was formed internationally in the late seventies, with Ken Cunz, our Australian Director bringing the business to Australia in 1984. We celebrate our 19th birthday in April.
Our first “golden age” commenced in 1990 with branding established through inflight magazines and a drive to become
national in our focus. This period in our growth saw Skyline in six mainland capitals and, for the next eight years, an exponential growth curve. In the late 90’s domestic and international factors contributed to the worst downturn in our industry in twenty years, so the new millennium brought with it its share of challenges. The
dot com blow-out, implementation of the GST, non-existent post Olympic marketing budgets, a number of state, territory and commonwealth elections and September 11th all led us through an 18 month period where our industry nearly died and our very survival was threatened.
And, whilst these new realities caused us to re-evaluate our business structure, trim costs and become
lean and mean, it was our Eye Power Educational Seminar program that has led our recovery and started us toward our second “golden
age” as a company.
SA: Being a national company, which marketing activities do you use?
RM: Whilst we built our brand with in-flight magazine exposure 10-15 years ago, we have not found anything near as effective as that since. That is, until Eye Power.
Eye Power is an educational outreach that does very little “sell” of our products and services. Rather, it provides empirical evidence to support that event marketing is the quickest and most cost effective way to reach your clients, and expose yourself to new prospects. Since first releasing Eye Power in July 2001 at the Australian Institute of Marketing / Society of Business Communicators conference, we’ve presented Eye Power 35 times to nearly 1,700 attendees in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Toowoomba.
We’re now launching Eye Power Plus workshops that zero in on the two high interest areas of Exhibit Design and Promotions & Measurement. These run separate to the standard Eye Power seminars and are particularly targeted at former attendees who want to extend their event marketing knowledge in these areas.
SA: For many service businesses seminars are a great marketing tool as they provide a forum to share knowledge and expertise with clients and prospects. Tell me a bit more about how EyePower seminars work for Skyline.
RM: Eye Power works because it takes the focus away from selling “stuff” and puts it back to where it should be, selling “solutions”. By educating our clients, we give them the information that enables them to brief us, and their other event marketing partners more fully. This forces us to listen better to their needs and, invariably leads to specifications that help them meet and exceed their stated objectives.
Skyline provides premium products and services to the market. We provide the Eye Power and Eye Power Plus seminars at no cost because we receive return on our investment many times over through working with a better educated clientele. If attendees come away from Eye Power believing they should be involved in event marketing, then they need the tools to do it right. And who’s got the tools to do it right? We do of course!
SA: You've been running regular EyePower events for around 18 months now... how do you keep finding more participants?
RM: That’s the tough one! It’s not easy, especially in Brisbane to keep finding 40-50 new people every four weeks. We employ a variety of marketing methods, direct mail, mass (broadcast) fax and individual e-mail invitations. Interestingly, mass fax works the best of these.
We also rely on our sales team to bring in the clients they may currently be preparing proposals for. We ask them to commit to personally pulling in 5-6 people each. And finally, MicroHire, our national Eye Power partner does their own database marketing and usually account for about half a dozen attendees as well.
SA: How does the EyePower seminar fit in with your sales process? Do you communicate with seminar attendees in a structured way?
RM: Eye Power fits beautifully into the way we sell. We are almost “evangelical” about our products and services and really just need an audience to whom we can convey our enthusiasm for what we do. Being a “top end” product provider, we are only rarely going to be successful when treated like a commodity (just another display provider). Skyline designs such great solutions; it’s great to have a forum which demonstrates our products are anything but a commodity.
Presenting Eye Power gives us amazing credibility in the eyes of attendees, so they continually come back to us with questions, comments and stories about their own event marketing experiences. These not only get used to further enhance and update our own seminars, they also keep the lines of communication open with these clients and potential clients, and they stay open!
SA: How do you see your seminars being used in the future? Do you expect to introduce many changes?
RM: I mentioned earlier the two new Eye Power Plus workshops. The first of which - Exhibit Design - was introduced this month (March 2003). Being smaller and more intimate, these provide the ideal setting to really work over these specific areas. And we gather just as much knowledge by listening to our attendees, as we are able to convey to them!
As for Eye Power, it is a phenomena that has a huge amount of momentum behind it and, I think, it will continue on for some time, albeit with updated statistics, case histories and images.
SA: Do you have any other comments or suggestions for our readers about using seminars as a promotional tool?
RM: If you offer a premium product or service, your best tool for selling to your market is to educate them. You have to educate them honestly, in full knowledge that, in some instances you may generate business for your opposition. Yet, through providing education, you are held up as an expert by your market and the market’s perception of the value of your products and services is also lifted in the process.
SA: OK now, looking across your industry, what is happening in the world of exhibitions, trade shows and regional road shows?
RM: Within Australia, we experienced a very strong resurgence at the beginning of 2002. As a company, we experienced one of the best six month runs in our history and profits were excellent. Yet, in the latter half of 2002, that recovery faltered, with the usual September/October peak failing to eventuate. I believe this is due more to a case of our market getting a case of “cold feet” in the face of delayed recovery in the U.S. especially and, possibly, a fear of war in Iraq.
2003 has started very much as a year ago. It’s like the Australian market has said, “Let’s have another run at it!” and we’re inundated with quality work. If the global recovery can take hold in the second half of this year, then Australia is very well positioned and has hit the ground running.
As to the type of shows people are attending, that is changing as well. Attendees appear to be moving away from large “horizontal” shows, and are favouring more and smaller “vertical” events. Similarly, road shows, which became very popular in the early nineties, then fell from favour, are back, often with several non-competitive companies combining their resources and sharing costs.
SA: Before we close Ron, what's your advice to companies who are thinking of exhibiting, or want to create a display?
RM: Define your objectives, learn all you can about event marketing and write a great brief setting out exactly what you want to achieve. Of course, you can learn all of this through attending Eye Power!
Link - http://www.skyline.com.au/
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You'll find other useful articles in the NousNEWS archive:
http://www.marketingnous.com.au/newsletter.htm
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4) Tips on selling..
Going Up Against Goliath.
Many a small firm sets out to carve a niche, but finds itself going head-to-head with a giant in the business. It can be daunting for even the most enthusiastic entrepreneur. But take the right steps and you can protect yourself and your market from the big guys. Here are some tips to arm you for the battle:
Become a specialist. Don't try to compete against everything your giant competitor does. If you’re a small tech firm, it's hopeless to compete against every division of Microsoft. Instead, carve out a niche and become the best there is in your chosen specialty.
1. Be Speedy. One of the big benefits of being small is the ability to move quickly. Take advantage of this and focus on bringing products to market faster than your competition. A big company can afford to keep a customer waiting. You can't.
2. Keep costs down. One sure-fire way to lure a customer away from a giant competitor is to show that you can do the job cheaper. Few buyers can afford to overlook a company that offers the same product for less, even if that vendor is a small fry.
3. Invest in training. Your distributors are your lifeline. Be sure they are experts in your product. Not only does ongoing training help by making your distributors more knowledgeable, it helps keep those people loyal to your firm. When you invest in their training, you show you care about their success, as well as your own.
(Reproduced with permission from
SALESandMARKETING.COM)
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Thank you.
Stuart Ayling
> Sales & Marketing Consultant <
www.marketingnous.com.au
Specialising in marketing for service businesses.
Tel: +61 7 3806 2238
Mobile: 0407 588 468
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Copyright 2003 Marketing Nous. All rights reserved.
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