Money is the life blood of any business. As such, it must be spent wisely, not at: “I think I’ll try this†or that idea.
So when you decide to do some advertising, how do you decide what type? To make that decision you must first understand that advertising serves one purpose, to let people know you exist, what you do, and how to contact you. So “Bob’s Construction, Inc.†doesn’t cut it. Just what in construction does Bob do?
Truck signs, job signs, business cards, billboards, and the many things like coffee cups are all aspects of advertising. But the advertising must not be an opportunity for your sign painter his artistic talents. Use simple fonts, large text, contracting colors (not gold on white) and easily read.
Marketing on the other hand, attempts to make a direct connection between you and the customer, or potential customer. Marketing is “relationship building.†Here’s your opportunity to let them know how you feel about them. And let’s face it. When we hire someone we also want that “connection†to exist otherwise we don’t hire them either. Furthermore, that “connection†must be made, and validated by with your staff, your subs and their staff, your suppliers - everyone that comes in contact with the customer. So marketing never stops, even after the job is completed.
Here’s what happened to me recently to give an idea of “bad†marketing in the form of customer service after their marketing initially got me as a customer.
The broadband card for my Mac laptop died. I called Verizon and the guy walked me thru the procedure to try to fix the problem. He couldn't, and decide the card was bad and told me to take it to a Verizon place to they could do a diagnostic on it. But he failed to tell me to call them first to see if they had a “tech†dept. I went to the store I bought it from - in the mall. I hate the mall and almost never go there. They did not have a tech dept., being just a booth on an aisle. Off to another place that had a tech dept. After waiting about 40 minutes (there was a line) the tech guy took a new card out of a package and sure enough, it worked - mine was bad. That was the extent of the "diagnostic."
Do you think he just gave me that new card? Nope. He told me Verizon would send me a new on and I'd have it in two days. Then I’d have to send my bad one back in the prepaid Fed-X box. All of that additional cost to them, and delay to me, but that’s their “procedure.â€
My Hp scanner will not work with the newest OS for Mac - Leopard. So I got on HP’s web site to download an updated driver which I was sure they would have, but I was wrong. It’s been in the “making†since Nov. 7, 2007. Result: I went to Office Max and bought a new Epson flatbed scanner, and it works with Leopard, plus their web site also had an upgraded driver that provided more goodies for the scanner.
Verizon irritated me as a customer. HP lost me as a future customer. Epson is my new “supplier.â€
Nothing - NOTHING we do or say that involves a customer is ever to be thought of as minor, small, unimportant, or insignificant. NEVER! So for all of their marketing budget, Verizon and HP STILL did not provide what the “marketed.â€
So how does one “marketâ€, in what ways, and at what cost?
To this day I use what I learned in a high school class that’s called The Scientific Method†(TSM). As it can be a tool in marketing, or any other business or personal problem for that matter is this way: On a sheet of paper, make a list of every possible way you can think of to market your business.
On separate sheets list only one at the top, of the above list. Then draw a line down the center of the sheet. On the left side list all pros, and on the right side list all cons. Remember, that’s done on a separate sheet for each item from the original list. When you have competed, Take the sheets that have the most “pros†and the least†cons. The things to concentrate in your marketing program should only be those items with the most “prosâ€. To those, put a cost factor, and go from there.
I use TSM for business problems of all sorts because it eliminates emotion and forces me to the rational realities to find the correct solution to any problem.
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