Customer Trust Builds Customer Loyalty

Customer Trust Builds Customer Loyalty

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, Sound ADvice

In last week’s article and podcast episode which featured material from my SoundADvice newsletter, I mentioned that when all things are equal, the decision we use to determine who we purchase from is based on… perception! And that perception is, who’s better, who’s more “trustworthy”, and who’s more reliable!

The internet has changed the way your customers buy.  Before most purchases, they go online to learn more about you and your competitors. Successful marketers today know the route to higher closing ratios and sales is built upon stronger customer relationships. And those relationships are built upon trust.

“Trust” is defined as, confidence in a person or thing because of the qualities one perceives in them. Your advertising, your website, and your front-line people can create the qualities your prospects perceive in you and cause them to choose you over your competitors when they go online.

If your customer count and page views are not reflected in your sales, you need to examine four key areas:

  1. Does your advertising pre-sell customers and build realistic expectations?
  2. Do the expectations match the actual shopping experience?
  3. Does your website answer the questions your customers are asking?
  4. Are your front-line salespeople competent and confident?

The powerful four-way marketing of credible advertising to pre-sell your prospects, matching expectations with actual experience, combined with helpful websites/Facebook pages and knowledgeable salespeople to improve your closing ratios will increase your sales.

In the Twelve Trust Techniques, Technique Number 3 is Be Real – Turn Weaknesses into Strengths.  Every business has a “perceived weakness”. Don’t be afraid to share the weakness and turn it into a strength. People will trust you more when you share an inadequacy.

Click here to review our Twelve Trust Techniques to create a pre-need trust and preference for your website and your salespeople.

What’s Your Edge?

What’s Your Edge?

by | Oct 19, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

In the world of selling products and services, when all things are equal, the decision we use to determine who we purchase from is based on… perception! And that perception is, who’s better, who’s more trustworthy, and who’s more reliable!

In most cases, many businesses offer the same products or services that you offer. In these cases, standing for “something” and being “different” is what is needed to break the tie.

At this very moment, people have a need or a want to buy the products or services you sell. Their next decision is the all-important one. Where will they choose to buy, and why!

First, let’s be honest.  For a certain percentage of people, price is all that matters, and you may or may not even be in the conversation.  But when price isn’t the only criteria, that’s when you have a shot.  Will it come down to a relationship, an emotional connection created from strong advertising, or a past experience, good or bad?

The key is getting people to know you and your business and know about your business BEFORE they need the products or services you sell.

Developing your tiebreaker, a consistent business strategy you can use to differentiate your business in your advertising and marketing, can be a challenging task but well worth the effort. 

Once you’ve clearly established your competitive difference (strategy), your challenge is to develop a unique and memorable way to consistently highlight that competitive tiebreaker.

Remember, when all things are equal, the “buy” goes to… whoever has something that is perceived to be BETTER or DIFFERENT!

It’s imperative that you have a clear and compelling reason for consumers to choose you over your competitors. 

If you would like help in creating your unique difference, click here to receive our Ten Tiebreaking Strategies as thought-starters for this important exercise. If you would like additional help, contact me and we will help you conduct a creative brainstorming or storyboarding session.

Feelin’ Good

Feelin’ Good

by | Oct 13, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

How are the feeling right now?

Are you:

Happy?

Sad?

Excited?

Scared?

Hopeful?

Hurting?

Melancholy?

Enthused?

No matter what you said you are feeling right now, it’s okay.

I just randomly came up with 8 possible emotions that you could be feeling at this moment and if you were in a room filled with 25 other people, I’m sure you could find someone else who is experiencing the same emotion you identified with.

Some of us have days when we go thru all 8 of those emotions in just a few hours.  Others can experience the same emotion for not just hours, but days, weeks, or even longer.

Emotions are part of our human experience and even if you think you are a facts and logic person, your emotions are actually in the drivers seat of your life.  If you are a facts and logic person and you got a little miffed by what I just said, it simply proves the point.

But I’m not here to play with your emotions today.

No, instead I want to help you understand the importance of our emotional side.

Because I write and talk about media and marketing and offer tips for businesses, I’m going to focus on how our emotions work in that context.

The emotional state of the people you deal with are going to have an influencing factor on how that conversation or interaction occurs, just as your emotional state at the moment will too.

Quite frankly there is a lot of negative news out there, and some peoples emotions are rubbed raw.  I’m not even talking about the political stuff, I’m referring to the challenges we are facing as we wrap up 2021.  Prices are going up.  We have shortages of everything from computer chips to staffing shortages.  A year ago we saw empty shelves instead of toilet paper and sanitizing supplies, and in my visit to the store recently, we seem to have plenty now.

There are other reasons people are having a tough time.  In my circle of friends and acquaintances, I’ve witnessed marital discord and divorce, loss of loved ones, either permanently by death, or because of disagreements that are hopefully temporary.

If you own or run a business, realize that your team wants to be the best versions of themselves, but there are other things going on that could be preventing that, at least temporarily.

If you work for someone, what I just said also applies to your boss.

Customers and clients, they are going through the wide range of emotions too, and we just don’t know the full story of what is going on in their lives do we?

I titled this piece, Feelin’ Good, because ultimately that is what we all want.

We want to feel good about our lives, our jobs, our family and friends.

We want to feel good when we spend our money.  

My wife recently spent money on two very different experiences, one was a gift box that included some fun things she picked out to send to out of town family members.  The other was spending money on getting her car repaired.

Two very vastly different reasons to spend, and yet both times she wanted to feel good when she punched in her pin number as she paid for her purchases.

It might be easy to make someone feel good when they are buying gifts, and more challenging to make them feel good when they are spending it on a repair.  But no matter what your business, please do your best to help your customers and staff feel good.

That’s the best kind of marketing you can create, an experience for all that leaves them Feelin’ Good because of what you did for them.

One more tip and this may not be earth shattering but after living in a world where we couldn’t see peoples smiles because of being masked up, please smile purposefully.  Even behind a mask, we can see a smiling face.

 

Are You Missing?

Are You Missing?

by | Oct 6, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

A decade ago, I took a break from working in radio to work full-time for a website development firm that had some cutting edge technology back in 2011.

My job was to find companies that needed website upgrades and introduce them to our platform so we could bring them into what was then the current version of the internet age.

A new website could cost $20,000 for a simple landing page up to well over 100 grand for an eCommerce site.

These days, you can hire a professional to build you nearly anything you need for under $50,000.  I have a few connections that I trust to do the work for a tenth of that, depending on what your needs are.

Yet, I am amazed at the number of businesses that are missing online.

What do I mean by missing?

Well first off, I should be able to find you with a simple Google Search for your business name.

Google tries to be your friend by providing businesses with free listings so that when I am looking for you, I can find you.

And by find, I mean find your website, your location including directions, your phone number and whatever else would be appropriate.

Yet there are still too many businesses that seem to be ignoring the internet because they don’t show up when I Google them.

Similar circumstances with Facebook.  Too many of you don’t exist.

Now I’m not a tech wizard nor am I a web designer, or even an expert in Search Engine Optimization anymore.  Consider me your average potential customer who is just looking to connect with you or one of your competitors because I have a question that requires your expertise.   Or maybe I have money to spend right now and I just need to connect with you and give you my money in exchange for the product or service you provide.

But you are missing when I ask my phone to find you, or my laptop to send me to your website.

To me, I find this shocking, that a business is still invisible online.

This violates one of the very basics of marketing.  You need to be able to be found.

Stop ignoring this and either pay someone or do it yourself, but create a way for people like me to find you online.

Also, if you have not updated your website, or updated your social media this year, (or longer)… do it.  Our whole world has gone through numerous changes since the pandemic began over 18 months ago and I’m sure your business has too.  Update your hours, and other policies we need to know and want to know.  Even if it’s back to business as usual, tell us that too.

One more tip and this is for you as an individual:

Don’t be missing online personally.  You don’t have to create your own website like I did years ago, but you might want to.  At the very least, get on social media.  Create a LinkedIn profile, Go ahead and  get on Facebook.  Those two are the most important for adults who want to be found.

Sure, you can also use Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and others but don’t ignore Facebook and LinkedIn because those are the two primary social media channels still for grown-ups.

Are you missing?

If you are, what are you missing?

And are you going to do something about it?

P.S.

Everything you just read I wrote on Sunday 10/3/21 and used as the script for this weeks podcast.

Then the next day, Monday 10/4/21 Facebook.com goes down.  I mean for several hours, you cannot connect to Facebook and some of their other holdings like Instagram.  Does this mean that you should NOT use Facebook?

No, it just means you should not use Facebook exclusively.  As I am writing this on Monday afternoon and Facebook is still down, I have full confidence in Facebook coming back online.  This is just an unfortunate hiccup that will cost them some money in lost revenue.  However, for the businesses that only rely on Facebook or Instagram to be found online, this will have a much more serious impact.

Go back and read what I wrote in its entirety and then do it.

6 Lessons Learned From Surviving A Pandemic

6 Lessons Learned From Surviving A Pandemic

by | Sep 29, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo Sales Tips, ScLoHo's Media, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Now that we’ve made it this far in a once in a century pandemic, I thought I’d share with you a piece that I wrote for radio insiders.

First, the backstory.

This summer, radio consultant Loyd Ford reached out to me to be a guest columnist on his website that is designed for people in the radio industry.  People who work at radio stations on the air or behind the scenes.  I’ve done both but for the past couple of decades, what I do is not on the radio with the exception of a few ads I voice on WOWO radio where I am the General Sales Manager.

So what I am about to share was written for a very specific niche audience, however I believe you too will perhaps get some insight and ideas for you and your business.

6 Lessons Learned During A Pandemic was first published earlier this month at https://rainmakerpathway.com/free-blog/f/6-lessons-learned-from-surviving-a-pandemic

At the beginning of 2020, none of us thought that Surviving a Pandemic would be on our to do list, but sure enough, it rose to the top of the surprises for the year.

Now that we are in year two and continuing to battle the lingering effects of the Coronavirus that still rears it’s ugly head and will impact the communities we work and live in, I’ve got a few hints on how to move forward, no matter what happens next.

1. Pivot for your people. Pivot was an overused word in 2020, but it was appropriate. We are in the people business, otherwise we would not be needed. When our radio stations needed to allow our air talent to broadcast from home, our engineers made it possible. When our sales and office support staff needed to stop coming to the office and needed some leeway to accommodate kids at home instead of in school, we worked with them instead of being inflexible.

2. Don’t dwell on the past. In Northern Indiana, we saw our weekly revenue reports going from our best ever, to being cut in half, and then negative numbers. Weeks went by with only a fraction of the new business that we had been used to and had budgeted coming in. Instead of getting stuck there, our company made some cuts and also adjusted. When we closed the books on 2020, we finished further ahead than we thought we would when everything hit the fan in March 2020.

3. Create a Plan B, Plan C & Plan D. This is a lesson that I’ve had to relearn and apply more than ever. If you never have to use the alternative plans, fantastic. However the process of creating the alternative plans helped us leap forward and update practices that needed to be revised.

4. Care about your business partners. I gave my sales team the latitude to do what they felt was needed to help their customers. Some got reduced spot rates, some received extra no charge ads. Some had to suspend their ads because they were shut down and had no way to make money. We ran free ads informing our listeners and their customers what was going on. Meanwhile we heard about other local broadcasters that stuck to the letter of the law and refused to help their advertisers because they were trying to hang on to their radio revenue. In the end, the business owners remembered who cared and we have stronger and more robust relationships with them.

5. Adapt to the new ways. Video conferencing was never really on my to do list for 2020, although I was familiar with Zoom because of a client I meet with who does a weekly Zoom meeting with her marketing team across the country. Now video calls are another tool for connecting. In the retail world, they adapted to curb side pick-up and delivery. What ways can we adapt to make life easier for people to do business with us?  We also added an online payment portal in 2020.

6. Follow the Basics. No matter what the circumstances there are basics we need to do every week, like prospect, meet, present, sign, and service. Repeat. Business owners need and want our help to make bring them customers.

Our Guest Expert

Scott Howard is the General Sales Manager of WOWO Radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana, one of 6 local stations owned by Federated Media. WOWO is nearly 100 years old and continues to be both the most listened to station and top billing station in both our company and also in Fort Wayne.

Scott has been with WOWO since 2013 and his background includes sales and management positions in both Indiana and Detroit after starting his broadcasting career on the air and in programming a few decades ago.

Since 2004 Scott has been writing and publishing media and marketing insights every week at https://www.scotthoward.me/and launched the Genuine ScLoHo Media and Marketing Podcast also updated weekly with over 200 episodes under 10 minutes each at https://podcasts.federatedmedia.com/show/scott-howard-media-marketing/

You can find him online by Googling, “ScLoHo” which is his online persona. Besides leading, teaching, training and mentoring the WOWO Local Sales Team, he also is called upon the guest lecture at area colleges and universities annually.

 

Thank you Loyd for the opportunity and I will be contributing to his website regularly in the future.