For those of you who don’t know yet, I’m proud to be part of the team at Offermatica (recently acquired by Omniture). Here is what I’m sure will be the first in a series of shamless plug posts as I use most of my energy to get settled in SF. 

The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling books for the week ending September 8, 2007 - 2 out of the Top 14 mention Offermatica:

• No. 2: Four-Hour Workweek;
  
• No.13: Super Crunchers

Full list here:

(Credit to Stephanie Yang at Offermatica.)

Technorati Tags: Offermatica, Omniture, Super Crunchers, Four-Hour Workweek

Companies are desperately trying to get your attention. I’m sure you’ve heard or read that you are bombarded with somewhere between 300 and 3000 advertising messages per day. So marketers are faced with the problem of creating a message that resonates with you so you’ll remember and hopefully purchase their product.

The thought du jour is to create communities around your brand. Ideally a brand community creates loyal customers who feel that they are part of something special. They’ll evangelize for you and interact with your brand more frequently if they feel part of a community of say… something like Mac enthusiasts.

Ford Motor Company has a banner ad running on Allmusic with the tagline:

“The American people love the truth, and they love an underdog.”

This is how potential community members are introduced to the Ford Bold Moves community. Here’s Ford trying to build an online community around their big comeback. I applaud the attempt but remain skeptical as to its effectiveness. First of all, the headline today is (rss feed from Yahoo): “Ford reportedly plans more job cuts” — job cuts don’t make me feel warm or fuzzy.

I watched the current vlog episode and was pretty disappointed. It plays more like a rough-around-the-edges commercial for the new Shelby super fast car than an actual glimpse into this troubled company. Enough commercials guys, show me what the top brass is going to do to fix the mess you’re in. Show me the fights in the boardroom. Give me drama. I think that will increase your chances of making this Bold Moves thing work.

Technorati Tags: Ford, BoldMoves, marketing, community

If you want to learn more about marketing and meet some pretty cool people, you should come on down to Casecamp tomorrow. What is Casecamp? Here’s what their site says:

CaseCamp is a marketing unconference open to anyone. Presenters share case studies of their work, with the goal of creating a commons for discussion, learning and networking.

The latest edition is tomorrow — July 7th at Jamie Kennedy Kitchen in the Gardiner Museum (across from the ROM) in Toronto Ontario Canada. Festivities begin at 18:30.

Technorati Tags: casecamp, toronto, unconference

I’ve learned a lot in the last couple of weeks. One of the first lessons of business communications is that you’ve got to differentiate yourself. Even if you can do a lot a different things, you’ve got to design your communications around one that your intended audience will find most compelling. This is a bit of a gamble. A calculated gamble, but a gamble nonetheless.

Trying to be everything to everyone severely reduces the impact of your message. Ask anyone in communications — it’s a big no no. People will find it hard to relate your product/service to something going on in their lives. People relate to specifics. Details are important.

For example, we’re providing all sorts of technology implementations but when I talk to SME owners I tell them the following:

We’re technology consultants specializing in systems integration. We focus on helping companies growth profits through a better understanding of their data. Typically when we deal with companies, they’re frustrated and disappointed by how hard it is to manage day-to-day operations because the data sits in different programs OR they’re concerned that they’re falling behind their competitors because they don’t have the processes in place to measure their performance.

Again, that’s not all we do — but that’s what we hang our hat on because we think SMB owners can relate to these problems. So when you’re meeting a potential client for the first time, you’ve got to take a bit of a gamble. Throw something out there that’s specific, something that they can relate to and, with any luck, it will resonate.

Technorati Tags: communications, differentiation, entrepreneur

I was working with a company this week who are well-versed in the practices of evidence-based management. It was really impressive how they set up metrics to drive efficiency — sales, logisitics, procurement — all managed via the data.

What soon became apparent, however, is the difference between what I’ll call the process mindset and the growth mindset. When one is in the process mindset, one is focused on designing the most efficient ways to complete tasks. What comes next is tweaking the processes to drive out waste. Over time, the company gets better at conducting its day-to-day business. This mindset is focused mainly on managing the business you already have. In my experience, quantitative stars are most often found here.

In contrast, the growth mindset is focused squarely on marketing and sales. The attitude is “get the sales, we’ll figure out how to fill them later”. This is no way to run a big company because your sloppy processes will kill you. But for a start-up there’s no other way. As Guy Kawasaki points out: sales fixes everything. You’re worried about your strategic position in the market? Go get sales. You’re worried that your product mix isn’t quite right? Go get sales. Fly undone? Go get sales. As an entrepreneur, that’s your job. Grow the company.

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This article from Sean Wise at the Globe takes a different approach. He identifies Business Acumen, Operational Experience and Domain Knowledge as the “talent triangle” necessary for business success. If you’re an entrepreneur — read this article. It will help you identify what pieces of the HR puzzle are missing. And hey, if you can’t afford to hire someone to fill in the gaps, find a mentor.

Technorati Tags: startup, HR, growth, evidence-based management, process, Toronto

I was reading this book last week to give some ideas about marketing the new consulting business. In it the author states that what marketing activities you choose are not as important as the choosing itself. According to Hayden, a marketing program is effective when the same things are done over and over again. So it doesn’t matter what you choose, just choose something and do it often. (BTW — Get Clients Now is a great book and really worth a read if you’re in the consulting business.)

I have to agree but it is extremely tough to stay focused when you’re starting a new business. The self-doubt is constantly lurking in the background. Am I doing the right thing today? What should I be doing instead? Did we choose the right marketing approach? Should we change our focus? And on and on…

I know that it’s totally normal to feel this way. It’s exactly how I felt at the beginning of my last business but I really forgot what it felt like. My solution is to shut out all other distraction, trust in myself and stay focused.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, marketing

The Wall Street Journal has a brief but informative article on some simple techniques for increasing sales. It’s seems like Seth Godin is right — you’ve got to create a pitch that’s different, quirky and worth remarking on.

Here are a couple tactics that may accomplish just that:

1. In store parties and breath mints — “Does the high cost of ink leave a bad taste in your mouth?” (see article.)
2. Tissues (Kleenex) — apparently in Japan, restaurants hand out little samples of tissues with their logo attached. I think this tactic would work wonderfully here in Toronto. The fall brings allergies and the winter brings runny noses. Why not help people out and market at the same time?
3. Chili – on the second disc of the Glengarry Glen Ross DVD, there’s a short, somewhat interesting documentary about salespeople. One gentleman talks about how he uses chili to sell houses. He puts up ads that say “Do you like chili?” and invites people to open houses. It gets people in the door and gives them something to talk about.

So why do most businesses rely on old techniques like matchbooks and pens? Perhaps they work — I’m not pretending to be an authority on the matter — but if you take the time to be creative, I can’t help but believe that you will dramatically increase your visibility.

Technorati Tags: sales, marketing, tactics, WSJ, GlengarryGlenRoss

Yesterday, I went out looking for some simple kitchen chairs. I didn’t buy any but I did get an excellent lesson in sales from a real pro. The pro in question is Marty from Marty Millionaire. He gave my friends and I about three minutes to look around and then he came over to chat to us. His sales technique was so engaging that we all agreed — the next time we need furniture — we’re going to to Marty. Here’s what I learned:

• Be honest – The most important part of sales is establishing trust with your customer. That means that you have to be willing to be honest. Marty was quick to point out that some of his stock was low-quality junk. He told me that certain chairs were likely to break the first week I used them. But you know what — when he told me about other quality chairs — I was listening.
• Be knowledgable (and share) – Marty knows more about chairs than I ever will. He told me that it’s a bad sign if a chair is being held together by too many allen-keys. This is a piece of information that I’ll always remember when I’m looking at chairs and I was greatful to him for sharing it with me. He also told me some things about the furniture business that convinced me that Marty knew what he was talking about. My trust in Marty continued to grow.
• Be funny – Marty had us laughing. It felt good to be in that place. He also engaged us in some good-natured ribbing telling us that it was “time to leave”. He then told us to get out. It’s natural to like people who make you laugh. After a few choice funny remarks, all of us really warmed up to Marty.
• Be interested – Marty also took an interest in the table that these chairs were for. He asked me to describe it and showed me some other tables that he thought were like it. Finally, he asked me if I’d take a picture and bring it back for him to see. I don’t get that kind of service at IKEA. He took a real interest in the problem I was trying to solve and established himself as a credible expert. Most of the other used furniture stores around town don’t get inside your head like this. Rather than saying “What about that one?”, Marty was able to say “These are the chairs that go with your table.” What sales technique do you think is more effective?
• Be confident – Marty was confident enough in his inventory to basically say something like: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t buy today. Check out the competition and I’m confident you’ll be back.” His store and the selection was immediately elevated in my mind. More importantly, it got me thinking that maybe he’s right. Perhaps it’s silly to look around because this is the best place anyway.

If you’re ever in Toronto, give Marty a visit. It’s a great store staffed by a great salesman.

Technorati Tags: sales, salesman, martymillionaire, Toronto, furniture

This article over at Fast Company suggests that there’s too much time spent and money on branding. I agree wholeheartedly. Just look at these two examples from the article:

Consider that some of the most successful brands do little overt “branding” to achieve their status. Chelsea Milling Co. hasn’t changed the packaging on its well-known Jiffy mix boxes in more than 50 years. Though the company has never advertised, it dominates the muffin-mix category with a 55% market share by unit sales. Betty Crocker and Pillsbury have spent decades and untold millions trying to catch up.

The $310 million In-N-Out Burger chain, another iconic brand that rarely advertises or speaks to the press, has been putting the rest of the fast-food industry to shame for years. McDonald’s spent an estimated $1.5 billion on branding efforts last year, producing little more than one day’s worth of sales more per store than In-N-Out. Have you ever met anyone who’s had an In-N-Out Burger who doesn’t believe it’s one of the best burgers they’ve ever had? Meanwhile, just who, exactly, is really “lovin’ it”?

The lesson: spend your time creating great products and services that your customers love. The things we normally associate with brands — logos and advertisements — provide a simple way for your customers to recall their experience. They aren’t a substitute for the experience itself. Improving the taste of a McDonalds burger is where I think they should be spending their branding dollars.

If you’re an entrepreneur building a business don’t worry too much about your visual presence. Hire a Graphic Designer you trust and let her/him go to work. Your efforts should be spent listening to customers and then constantly improving your product/service to better serve them. Dazzle them. Give them something to talk about. That, in my opinion, is what brand building is all about.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, brand, branding, marketing, fastcompany

For the past couple of days, I’ve immersed myself in webcasts, articles and books about sales. The planning for the new business is coming along and it looks like I’m going to be front and center handling most of the client interaction.

One of the themes that keeps coming up is that to sell, you must listen: Listen in an attempt to truly empathize with another person. Don’t listen to judge, advise or advance yourself. Just listen to understand. (N.B. I think a lot of my ideas on this subject have come from Stephen Covey).

But there is one more step too. It was brought to my attention by Keith Ferrazzi’s webcast. You also have to share something of yourself along the way. Be vulnerable, be human. It’s your insecurity that makes you human – and it’s a trait that everyone can relate to. It’s hard to open up to someone who presents him/herself as pleasantly perfect.

After learning all of this wonderful information, I was talking to my brother today and instead of listening, I immediately started acting the big brother and giving him loads of advice – advice that I don’t think he was looking for. After I hung up the phone, I was frustrated with myself. Am I this boneheaded? Perhaps I am. I suppose old habits die hard.

All of this to say that listening is tough. Much tougher than you think it is. Don’t believe me? Try it tonight – don’t judge, advise, coach or anything else – just listen and see what you learn.

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PS - One great resource I found was Tom Peter’s 111 Ridiculously Obvious Thoughts On Selling. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: listening, sales, marketing