Atomic Penny

Recently I contacted a businessman that I had done business with, commented on his blogs, tweeted his success and shared his writings with others. Because I knew he was busy, I used his personal email address, and did not want to interrupt him with a phone call. The response I received was not from the business owner, but from some unknown assistant. It read in part, “thanks for writing Bob (not his real name). If you wish to leave a message please go to his website and post a message.”

WOW!

Now I know what my support is worth. It must be that I didn’t attend all the seminars, workshops and consulting he tried to sell me. He will never understand my frustration, but I probably won’t go out of my way to use his services, which are quite good. I just wanted to support him when he started out, and hoped that I could learn something which I did.

By the way, I have emailed or twittered Seth Godin, Pamela Slim and Tony Hseih and received a personal response. I was no only surprised, but more importantly I was impressed. I am not a captain of industry, I am not a major player, and I am definitely not someone who can bolster his or her career. But to each of them I am important enough to respond to, and they have a fan for life.

If you put this in the context of your business, have you ignored your older customers because they didn’t buy everything that was offered? Do you consider the person with the biggest car or highest credit limit more important than the customer paying with cash?

Who stood by you when you started up and when times turned tough? What have you done for them lately?

POWER ON–Mark

A School World Fair, 40-50 countries represented by 200 15 year olds saying the same thing. The objective was to discuss the flag, food culture, geography and native dress. Each display also usually had a native food and possibly music. If this criteria was met, the teen had the adult sign a card, and after ten adults signed the card, the assignment was complete.

After listening to many presentations, the words of Seth Godin came back to me, reinforcing that learning is not being done in our school system. These kids did a great job of memorizing and regurgitating facts. I do not believe that many of these students learned anything. Ask them today about the country they presented and I would guess you get a blank stare.

What does this have to do with marketing? In marketing we are taught the 5 P’s: Price, Product, Placement, Promotion and People. A traditional formula that doesn’t always fit into today’s marketing culture. If an item is given away, there is no traditional price point. Or if a product sells just by word of mouth or spreads virally via the web, there is no traditional placement. Both of theses, price and promotion can be planned and managed, however they can also take on a life of their own. Let them spread, and manage the resulting sales. Don’t manage the spread. This is the new world of marketing. Unlearn what you know, don’t become locked in to any one measure or marketing process. Start with a goal in mind, but while using the plan as a guide, make it flexible and changeable. Your public will guide you, you can no longer guide them.

Get used to it or get out of the way.

POWER ON–Mark

Creating a marketing program can be amazingly tough. Do you base it on media, social media, referrals, or inside actions? Do you spend a massive amount of money using a ‘push’ strategy, hoping for the best? Or do you create an ‘pull’ strategy with your customer’s assistance? The possibilities are infinite, as are the frustrations. When starting your Confetti Project, the countdown is an essential step to determining what will work best for you in your situation. The countdown starts with a blank sheet and an open mind. Being proactive instead of reactive can lead to ideas that really fly.

There are resources also that will help stimulate your process. Here are four that can help you out:

Seth Godin-Author, Marketing Expert, All-Around Good Guy

John Jantsch-Duct Tape Marketing

Dave Crenshaw-Author, Time Management Whiz

Pamela Slim-Coach, Speaker, Small Business Expert

These are just a few experts, use them, or find your own. Just don’t carry the burden alone.

POWER ON–Mark

I am not a fan of reality TV, but the new CBS show, “Undercover Boss,” has my attention for a variety of reasons.  I am intrigued by the fact that a CEO is not recognized by any of the people he works with. Does that mean that the communication from the top does not include information about the CEO? Or does it imply that there is a lack of communication? Also, if you watch the show, are you surprised that the majority of workers are either 1) Happy and go lucky in their position, or 2) Have overcome obstacles to maintain his or her job?

The one employee that really stuck out for my was Dolores from the episode that aired on February 21, 2010. Dolores had taken it upon herself to get to know her customers–all of them. She knew names and situations while serving the most coffee of any 7-11 store in the US. All this while living with a failing kidney. Dolores was clearly the driving force in retaining customers and achieving high sales. Seth Godin even calls her a Linchpin.

You can learn from her much more than you can learn from the CEO. It is not about margins, ROI, metrics or even advertising. It is about doing the right thing. It also affects employee and corporate morale. What a pleasure it must be for customers to be greeted with a smile and their name when they walk in the door! Spreading the word about one’s business through actions and interactions, as opposed to a big advertising budget, is what I call the Confetti Effect, part of my Confetti Project. More on that soon…

Learn from Dolores, take what she teaches and find a Dolores in your company, or better yet: become one.

POWER ON–Mark