Marketing Ideas!

I’ve been at — and have consulted for — more than one company that wondered why their competitor seems to be winning all the new deals. Why all the praise seems to go their way. Rumor has it that they have really good customer service, but it’s really not that different from ours — is it?

To be honest, it may be difficult to see the forest through the trees, so you’ll have a tough time self-discovering if your customer service is up to snuff. But there is another way, and it won’t require hiring high-priced consultants or conducting surveys. But it might require a stop to a donut store or two…

While it might be next-to-impossible to assess your own organization, it is much easier to evaluate someone else’s. So my suggestion to you is to find another business — the more dissimilar to yours the better. In fact, the less you know about the business the better. For me, this meant going to a donut shop.

My youngest son plays t-ball, and after one of his games we decided to go to a donut store (Shipley’s Do-nuts on Brodie Lane) for a mini celebration. They were really busy, and parking was a bit of an issue. Once inside, the line was long, but moved at a good pace. We could see them making donuts through a glass window, which was good for the kids, but I was a little disappointed they didn’t carry my favorite type of donut (glazed chocolate cake). It was a little dirty, not a lot of table space, but overall, it wasn’t a terrible experience. But I began wondering if someone did it better. As it just so happens, there’s another donut shop directly across the street.

Parking was easier at the second donut shop (KC Donuts — I’d like to their site but there isn’t one). There was a line, but despite being shorter, moved slower. As it turned out, there was a lot of apologizing by the staff as people requested items that were sold out. This obviously slowed the line down as people had to find a new item. We didn’t see anyone making donuts — apparently this was done behind a closed door. Instead, people coming in the front door saw a sheet hanging over something … perhaps something under construction. There was no sign with an apology for the dust or explaination for the sheet. We couldn’t see the selection available, so we had to wait until we were up at the counter to order.

We did find that KC Donuts had a different selection (they did have my favorite donut, but there was only one left), and I opted for some items that I couldn’t get at the other shop: kolaches. While it turned out it was pretty cool to get something different, the kolache was doughy and the cheese was goopy (to be fair, apparently the sausage kolaches were very good, but they happened to be sold out of them while we were there).

The customer experience, as least for me, was significantly different. Even though KC Donuts has my favorite kind of donut, I was so unimpressed with the rest of the experience, I will probably not go back.

What do you gain from this experiement? You might see parallels on how your organization operates. Sure, you have have the one item your competition does not, but if you place enough barriers to accessing it, your prospects might give up, chosing to do business with your competitor instead. Use this as a way to evaluate similar experiences as new (or existing) customers come to do business with you. For example, how do you welcome your customers and prospect? Do they see the equivelant of a sheet over some construction?

Networking — the act of actually going out an meeting people face-to-face — is simply one of the most powerful marketing tools any person or organization can use. However, there is one issue with this tool: it’s not scalable.

A colleague and friend of mine runs his own business. This margins are thin and he has little to no help (i.e., employees). Thus, it’s hard for him to both run his business and look for new business at the same time. After talking through his specific situation, we were able to find a great solution for him: email marketing.

Email marketing, while never able to replace the face-to-face networking, can be a great supplement. It’s a great tool to help build virtual relationships with people. What’s a virtual relationship?

A virtual relationship is something that many of us have with Hollywood celebrities (or have had at some point in our lives). We see their image on the screen (movie or TV) and project feelings and situations about the person that are simply not there: we are engaging with a two dimensional image that is not human — but we perceive the image as a real person. Then, we we meet our favorite star at a local restaurant or event, we call them out by their first name and feel as though we already know them.

The star, of course, doesn’t know who we are, but because our celebrity as had some training and has likely experienced this before, reacts as though he or she does know you … which build their brand.

Email marketing works in much the same way. It is a way for people to see your ideas interact with you on some level, and when done well, can feel personal and sincere. For my colleague, email marketing will serve as an augmentation to his normal networking efforts. It can replace several simple meetings with his existing clients and serve as additional touch points for prospects he just met. All the while, he can continue to build his brand, maintain the same personal service he’s known for, and scale his business to the point where he can hire new help.

One of the first things the uninitiated say when I mention Twitter is “why do you care what other people are doing?”

It’s true the Twitter interface includes the ever-present question: What are you doing? But I submit this is perhaps the most misleading question ever.

Twitter Myth #1: Twitter is nothing more than a glorified Facebook status update.

Twitter isn’t about what you are doing “right now.” It’s about connecting, interacting, and having conversations (big or little).

Still not sure? Check out this Twitter case study about how, through the use of  Twitter, Austin and about 185 other communities around the world raised awareness and funds for a global charity.

If you were at Twestival, whether in Austin or any of the other locations, you could answer the Twitter question by stating: Saving the world. That’s pretty significant.

So, if you’re one of those that thinks Twitter is a superficial, teeny-boppy trend, you may want to think again.

In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote about Dave Scott, the legendary six-time champion of the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. Scott would train by riding his bike 75 miles, swimming 20,000 meters, and running 17 miles every single day (on average). He obviously didn’t have a problem with his weight. Still, he felt a low-fat, high-carb diet would help give him an edge. Thus, Dave Scott would rinse his cottage cheese to get rid of the extra fat. There’s no evidence that doing this helped him win all those Ironman Triathlons. But it was one small step that he believed made him better.

The reason I bring this up is that taking care of such minute details is what the ultra disciplined do. It’s what the elite performing companies (and individuals) do. But it is part of an evolution. There is a ton of advice for small business (much of it free) on how to create a marketing plan, use social media, or how to run a business. Some of it is good fundamental advice. Some of it is very much like rinsing cottage cheese.

As much as I would like to believe it to be true, rinsing cottage cheese isn’t going to help me win any kind of race. I would have to first put in a lot of hard work, discipline myself to follow a plan, and work hard to achieve some much less, minor goals.

If your small business is getting into the realm of social media and Internet marketing, if you’re drinking up all the Internet gurus have to say, remind yourself that it is important to take a first step. In fact, below are four key aspects that you should fully embrace as you start using social media:

1. Start with a blog. Discipline yourself to write in it everyday.
2. Understand the three rings of social media: publishing, sharing, networking and know when to use them.
3. Identify which tools affect which area (or ring).
4. Create a process that will allow you to understand why you are doing things and why it’s working (or not working).

With these fundamentals under your belt, it now becomes possible to refine your efforts, to improve on your performance, increase your ROI by another .1% and bring your organization to another level. In other words, now you can start to rinse your cottage cheese.