Compare With Caution

Compare With Caution

by | Mar 2, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo Sales Tips, Sound ADvice

Comparing one product or service or one business to another is always acceptable… when you are the consumer. 

But as a business selling itself, comparing comes with caution!  Make sure you’ve given deep consideration before you compare your product or service with your competition!  

This word of caution holds true whether you are making a comparison in your advertising message, or communicating face to face with a customer. 

Think back to the last time a salesperson was comparing his or her company, product, or service to their competitors’. If they went too far and made unsubstantiated claims, degraded the competition or its people, it can easily backfire. Instead of gaining confidence in the product, service, or company, they may end up losing credibility and therefore the sale.

In our Do’s and Don’ts of Comparative Advertising many of the rules that apply in advertising also apply when selling person to person. 

This applies to major companies as well as small local businesses. In the famous  “Get a Mac” advertising campaign, Apple gave great consideration to the possible retaliation that the PC manufacturers could re-attack with.  If you are ever considering comparing your business to another, you should too.

Like dynamite, comparative selling and advertising can be a very powerful strategy, but it can also blow up in your face. 

Proceed with Caution!

To see the complete list of the Do’s and Don’ts of Comparative Advertising, click here.

If you would like more Sound ADvice like this, subscribe to my email below.

Timeless Marketing Principles that are Pandemic-Proof

Timeless Marketing Principles that are Pandemic-Proof

by | Aug 11, 2020 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

As we zoom thru the last few month of 2020, many businesses are wondering what’s next?  and how do we survive?

The answer is simple.

You need to rely on timeless human relationship principles for your business survival and success.

By the way, I purposely used the word Zoom a moment ago because of it’s two-fold meaning.

Zoom as in, going fast is a timeless concept.  But Zoom is also one of the most popular video meeting platforms this year and for many businesses, it’s helped us keep the humanity alive in this crazy pandemic.

So what are these timeless human relationship principles that are also timeless marketing principles?

  1. Trust must be your foundation.  Do what you say you are going to do.  Be trustworthy. Do not by flaky or unreliable. My wife and I visited a restaurant twice this year before the pandemic and both times we were very disappointed.  Why did we visit the 2nd time if we were not thrilled after the first visit?  Because the place was new and had potential, so we were willing to give them another shot. Unfortunately our 2nd visit wasn’t better, it was worse.  We won’t be back.
  2. Invite people. You have to let others know you are open for business. While humans are a curious creature, we are also creatures of habit and in order for us to change our habits, you need to invite us.  I’m not going to show up uninvited to a friends house these days and unless a business invites me, I probably won’t be showing up there either.
  3. Appreciate people.  This is what I call the kindness factor.  Be sincere.  Thank the people who spend money with you.  Thank the people that say nice things about you.  Be kind to everyone.  None of us like to deal with rude people, so don’t be one.

These three principles were true last year, before the COVID-19 pandemic and they are just as important today.  Do you want some practical advice and guidance on how to implement them in your business? Contact me.

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Feelings First, Facts Second

Feelings First, Facts Second

by | Jun 9, 2020 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

No matter what your personality make-up consists of, there’s a universal truth that you have to know:

Feelings First, Facts Second

This is how humans work.  Even those analytical engineering types, believe it or not.

Those engineers and scientists that rely only on facts… they use those facts to confirm how they feel about something, or if their research contradicts what they feel, then their feelings about the evidence will also change.  You just can’t completely separate facts and feelings if you are human.

How does this apply to the business world or the advertising and marketing world?  I’ll tell you a story about a client of mine who is fantastic at what he does and is also very analytical.  He tries to track all his marketing efforts and respond accordingly.

His ad campaign started in December and continued through May.  During the month of May, he was trying to decide if he should continue for another 6 months.  I am actually writing this on Friday morning May 29th which is the absolute deadline for making changes in his advertising starting Monday June 1st.

The facts alone point to a net loss on his advertising investment in dollars spent compared to income received that he has tracked.  If he was a robot, or some form of non-human, the data or facts would tell him to stop now and cut his losses.

But why has he struggled to say yes or no?

Simple answer.

He’s human and his feelings are overriding the simple facts of Return On Investment in his spreadsheet.

By the time this article and podcast goes live, he will have made a decision, based on his Feelings First and Facts Second.

His feelings are telling him that perhaps he is climbing a hill with his advertising investment and perhaps he is almost at the top.  If he stops now, then he rolls backwards and never seems a return on the 6 months of investment.

Or perhaps he is almost at the top of that hill and in a few more weeks he will starting seeing the payoff if he keeps moving forward.

On a side note, we did not remain stagnant during these last 6 months and we have fresh ideas for his summer campaign that he is contemplating.

Feelings First, Facts Second also applies to the way our businesses are coming back to life as I shared in a recent Sound ADvice newsletter. (You can get your own copy free in your inbox nearly every Wednesday by subscribing in the box below.)

Happy, Healthy, Wealthy & Wise…and Safe

Benjamin Franklin is most often credited with the quote, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. One would assume that if you are healthy, wealthy, and wise, you would also be happy, right? But what about being safe?

When good ole Ben fashioned this statement in his Poor Richards Almanack in the mid-1700s, safety at work was not much of an issue.  Fast forward 270 years, add in a pandemic called COVID-19, and suddenly safety and health have become even greater factors in determining whether your employees are happy, which in turn is important in determining the wealth of your company.

Study after study has determined that employees who are motivated regularly are 43% more productive. A study conducted by Lockheed Martin concluded that developing a “safety culture” increased employee productivity by 24% and decreased factory costs by 20%.

As businesses begin to reopen and your employees return to work, how they “feel” will determine their level of productivity.  Taking for granted that everything will return to normal once you flip on the ‘We’re Open” sign will be a mistake.

The one common magnet that draws people to a business is not the product or service, but how the business made them FEEL!  Your employees will ultimately determine your customer satisfaction, but for them to make your customers feel good, they first must feel good.

Motivated employees that feel safe and valued can and will move mountains for a business.

In the 9 Rules to a Happy and Healthy Reopening, Rule #9 is “Be a Leader”. Leaders lead! There are few times in life when true leaders must stand up and lead. This is one of these moments.  Whether in war or business, nearly every soldier and employee want to be led by someone they respect and trust. By implementing the eight other rules to a Happy and Healthy Reopening, you will then confirm that you are the leader of your organization!

If you would like to see all 9 Rules to a Happy and Healthy Reopening, click here .

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Consumers Crave Open & Honest Relationships

Consumers Crave Open & Honest Relationships

by | May 19, 2020 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Last month I was cleaning out my email inbox and found an article from 2018 from Mediapost that I had been saving for the future.

Today is the future.

As much as things have changed this year, I’m sure you’ll agree that somethings have changed very little.

The Mediapost story is titled Boomers Crave Open, Honest Marketing and when I first read the story, I thought, not just Baby Boomers, but everyone craves honesty in the advertising and marketing they are exposed to.

First, let me share some quotes from this 2018 article:

Target. Equifax. Cambridge Analytica. Our system of voting.
It seems every day a new report comes out explaining how a major company has failed to protect our personal data or attempted to monetize it in an exploitative way.

While senior users make up only a fraction of all internet traffic, they are very concerned about their privacy. A 2017 poll by AARP found that 78% cite privacy as a major concern, while 84% fear having their personal information hacked or stolen. The boomer market is fearful about information security.

In recent weeks, the concerns about internet security have hit people of all ages.  The video conferencing company Zoom was discovered to have lax security measures and yes there have been multiple more companies that have had data breaches over the past couple of years.

Healthcare providers and financial corporations are moving away from person-centered customer interactions, automating as much as possible to save money.  In reaction to this trend, we find many boomers and seniors attempting to eschew digital interactions because it makes them feel safer. With the news blaring the pitfalls of Facebook, online credit scams, and major privacy concerns, it’s no wonder that this is a trend. But the modern world makes it hard for boomers to escape the clutches of marketers.

Nearly every boomer and senior has adopted the ubiquitous “membership card” for local grocers and other stores. Maybe they’ve even signed up for emails about upcoming deals. After all, who doesn’t love a sale?

Yet each of these contacts provides a way for a retailer to collect data about consumer preferences and interactions. Even the simple act of having a Facebook account causes this to happen.

The Covid-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders really made it impossible for everyone to avoid the web.  So what is the solution to give all consumers, not just Baby Boomers and Seniors, what they really want, which is open and honest relationships with the companies they do business with?

In a word, Transparency.

Here’s my challenge to you.

What can you do to over communicate the stuff that your customers might feel uneasy about?

If you are a service business, how about upfront price guarantees?

If you sell online, how about a big bold message that states how you will use or not use your customers information?

If you say, you do this stuff already, is it buried in a bunch of fine print or legal terms and conditions that no one reads anyway?

Change it.

We want to trust you.  Give us open and honest communication and transparency and in return we’ll give you our money.

Signed, the consumers of the world.

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Forget Plan B, It’s Time for Plan C

Forget Plan B, It’s Time for Plan C

by | Apr 14, 2020 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

An Opportunity to Evolve…Create a Category

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Right now, lemons are definitely being thrown at many businesses.  Are you open to making a different kind of lemonade?

Just a few short months ago, at the beginning of December 2019, I wrote and published an article and podcast with the title, What’s Your Plan B?

Not that I was foreseeing the future, I just knew that the spiraling success of economic growth and consumer confidence would one day have a flip-side and you better start getting prepared.

If you created a Plan B for your business operations, congratulations.

However now it’s time for Plan C. Yes, you may be working thru a Plan Coronavirus or Plan Covid-19 or whatever nickname you want to use for the here and now.  Also the Plan C I’m talking about has nothing to do with Medicare supplements or abortion pills.

But this Plan C is taking the past Plan A when everything was great, mixing in your Plan B which was designed for an economic slowdown, adding in the things we are learning each day in the middle of this pandemic and how we are adapting and creating a new recipe for success that we’ll call Plan C.  If you pretend we can just go back to Plan A when the stay at home restrictions are lifted, you are wrong.

If you simply put your Plan B into action, you are missing out on some of the great things that we are learning in the middle of this history lesson.  Here’s more timeless tips from my most recent Sound ADvice newsletter:

For many business owners, this is a perfect time to re-evaluate their business and potentially re-position their company.  What is it that you’re currently “known for”?  Are you known for having the lowest prices, best selection, highest quality, the fastest service? Or, are you not really known for anything specific.  Is there something different that you would like to be “known for”?

If you are looking to re-position your business, NOW is a perfect time to start planning and potentially implementing your NEW position. Many brands have been born during or immediately following a major crisis!

Do we really believe that a business can consistently offer the highest quality and the lowest price?

Many marketers make the mistake of trying to be all things to all people. Consumers’ minds won’t allow a business to own both the quality position and the discount position.

Very often the position you own is not that of a particular product or service, but rather it is an experience or demographic.

For example, Michelin doesn’t own the tire category, they own safety, while Pirelli owns the performance experience. Both come with a higher price tag and both have plenty of consumers who value their product.

GEICO doesn’t own the insurance category, they own “saving you time and money”.  They never speak to how well they pay claims.  On the other hand, if you want an insurance company that you are confident will pay your claims, even the crazy ones, you’re more inclined to lean toward Farmers Insurance. “They know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two”.

In their groundbreaking book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Al Reis and Jack Trout state law #2 as: “If you can’t be first in a category, create a category you can be first in”.

Through marketing and advertising, a business can create its own niche or demographic category.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon whether you want lemons or lemonade, now is a good time for many of us to re-evaluate the position your business holds in the minds of your customers, potential customers, and your community.

Former Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, said this about a crisis, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”

Being known for something specific is far more profitable than trying to be all things to all people!

If you’re looking to create a category you can own, click here to see The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.  If you’d like to further discuss creating a category for your business to own, contact me.  Also subscribe to my weekly Sound ADvice business tips and marketing email newsletter by filling out the form below.

Stay Safe – Stay Healthy – Stay Strong!

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