It is popular to talk about social media, influentials and Web 2.0. But does that mean the old school marketing has stopped working?
No, it means that there are more ways to reach people and depending on your target market, you have more options that all may be less effective than in the past when there were fewer options (and more people condensed into fewer communication channels.)
Here are some old school marketing techniques that still work.
1. Press Releases - When it used to be really read by the press, it was appropriate to call it a press release. Now I would call it a news broadcast. I do not believe a press release will usually find any major writers but I do think that you are going to get some good exposure and good back links to your website. Also, if you focus on a niche or use the more expensive services you may still hit some great media outlets.
2. Email - Way more attention seems to be given to social media than email marketing. However, email marketing will still generate a lot more money for you. It is an essential part of your marketing and if you bought the whole Email is Dead crap, you jumped on the wrong bandwagon. Most marketers I speak to make most of their money from email and SEO.
3. SEO - Search Engine Optimization is not the new hot thing, but if there is one area that is actually using social media well, it is the people that get how SEO and Social Media tie in together The key with SEO is that if you are in a tight target niche with little competition, you can probably pay for a one time project and reap the rewards for a long time.If you are in an even slightly competitive market, you need someone that goes to war on your behalf every month to increase ranking and get more pages indexed.
4. Old Websites - Do you have one of those old websites sitting around that looks like late 90’s and does date back to then? Don’t touch it without talking to a professional! The age of your website is very valuable and the pages should not be changed unless you have someone that can look at your ranking first. I've had clients update one of these old sites after some research and got fantastic results within 3 days - I am talking #1 rankings where a lot of other people were fighting for it. These old sites have great credibility in the eyes of search engines and can be ignited by a good search engine specialist.
5. Directories - Things like directories seem out of date, but getting listed in a good directory still gives you a valuable back-link and can generate a steady (if not huge) stream of traffic. Some of my favorite are technorati and blogcatalog - but the older (less shiny) ones are still effective if you get into them too.
6. Link Exchanges - These things have a bad name, and anything that automates the process I would stay away from. However, doing an occasional link exchange with someone else in your industry will help - not hurt - your website. If link exchanges actually hurt websites, most blogs with blog rolls would be thrown out of Google long ago since they often link to each other. This is one of those things that still works, you just have to be smart about it.
7. Word of Mouth - The oldest of the old school marketing is the new cool. Finding ways to get people to talk about you are the holy grail of cutting through the clutter. But it may just not work for you - you really have to be differentiated.
Dead Marketing - Some things are really gone
Yes, there are some marketing techniques that are really gone. Do not do the following -
* Pass out your audio book on 8 track tape.
* SPAM - Does anyone fall for that now?
* Dressing up as a gorilla and selling encyclopedias door to door - OK, this still works but don’t do it.
Most things will still work with good execution and message. Just be realistic about how people’s attention has scattered. You need to scatter your message where your niche market is to make sure they can find you. But that does not mean you throw the old school marketing in the garbage.
Good Marketing..
The Agile One
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
THE ENTHUSIASTIC EMPLOYEE
Enthusiastic employees out-produce and outperform employees who are not motivated to perform. Most people are enthusiastic when they’re hired. What happens to dampen their enthusiasm? Management.
Managers spend too much time dealing with difficult employees. The biggest problem is the vast number of workers who aren’t openly troublesome but who have become indifferent to the organization and its goals.
How does a company tackle this kind of problem? It can operate in one of two ways: It can pressure employees to do more or it can treat its workers to a series of rah-rah events, speakers and programs. Neither approach will do much good.
There is little conflict between the goals of management and those of employees. The key question us not how to motivate workers, but how to sustain –and prevent management from destroying –the motivation that employees naturally bring to their jobs.
Every successful company has to address three crucial factors: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
Employee enthusiasm results in enormous competitive advantages for those companies with the strength of leadership to manage for real long-term results.
The Three Factor Theory of Human Motivation in the Workplace
There are three primary sets of goals of people at work: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
1. These three sets of goals are what the overwhelming majority of people want.
2. No other goals are nearly as important.
3. These goals haven’t changed over time.
4. When your organization works to achieve these goals, the result will be high work-force morale and firm performance.
Human Motivation
The essentials of human motivation have changed very little over time, but management is acting in a different way and is reaping the consequences. As an example, if you treat workers like disposable commodities, which began to happen with the downsizings of the late ‘80’s and the ‘90’s you should not be surprised that workers are no longer “loyal.”
Employee Enthusiasm and Business Success
Many companies have enjoyed long-term success –ranging from Barron’s Magazine to the Mayo Clinic to Starbucks. They share one thing: the morale of their workers is much higher than most other companies. The higher morale of their workers is a result of specific policies and practices that engender enthusiasm in their employees about their jobs and their companies.
About 16.4 percent of the business units surveyed can be characterized as having highly discontented and perhaps, hostile work forces. Hostility differs from enthusiasm, but they are both highly motivated states that impel people into action. Anger is primarily a product of a sense of injustice. The motivation of a hostile employee is to do less and somehow harm the organization.
The People Performance Model
• People and their morale matter tremendously for business success, including customer satisfaction.
• Employee morale is a function of the way an organization is led.
• Success breeds success. The better the individual and organization perform, the greater the employee morale is, which in turn boosts performance.
Research shows a strong correlation between pride in the organization and the overall satisfaction of workers with that organization. People want to work for an organization that does well but also does good.
There are four main sources of employee pride:
Excellence in the organization’s financial performance.
Excellence in the efficiency with which the work of the organization gets done.
Excellence in the characteristics of the organization’s products such as their usefulness distinctness and quality.
Excellence in the organization’s moral character.
The first two of these factors relate to doing well and the latter two relate to doing good.
Motivated By Camaraderie
People don’t want to come to work to fight. Although employees derive pleasure from associating with others, such as during breaks, their greatest satisfaction comes from interacting as a team on the job in the service common performance goals.
The Total Organization Culture and How to Change It
A partnership culture is the surest path to a high-performance organization.
Partnership organizations emerge when senior leadership—in most cases it has been the CEO—has the foresight to see what can be and not just what is.
Managers spend too much time dealing with difficult employees. The biggest problem is the vast number of workers who aren’t openly troublesome but who have become indifferent to the organization and its goals.
How does a company tackle this kind of problem? It can operate in one of two ways: It can pressure employees to do more or it can treat its workers to a series of rah-rah events, speakers and programs. Neither approach will do much good.
There is little conflict between the goals of management and those of employees. The key question us not how to motivate workers, but how to sustain –and prevent management from destroying –the motivation that employees naturally bring to their jobs.
Every successful company has to address three crucial factors: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
Employee enthusiasm results in enormous competitive advantages for those companies with the strength of leadership to manage for real long-term results.
The Three Factor Theory of Human Motivation in the Workplace
There are three primary sets of goals of people at work: equity, achievement, and camaraderie.
1. These three sets of goals are what the overwhelming majority of people want.
2. No other goals are nearly as important.
3. These goals haven’t changed over time.
4. When your organization works to achieve these goals, the result will be high work-force morale and firm performance.
Human Motivation
The essentials of human motivation have changed very little over time, but management is acting in a different way and is reaping the consequences. As an example, if you treat workers like disposable commodities, which began to happen with the downsizings of the late ‘80’s and the ‘90’s you should not be surprised that workers are no longer “loyal.”
Employee Enthusiasm and Business Success
Many companies have enjoyed long-term success –ranging from Barron’s Magazine to the Mayo Clinic to Starbucks. They share one thing: the morale of their workers is much higher than most other companies. The higher morale of their workers is a result of specific policies and practices that engender enthusiasm in their employees about their jobs and their companies.
About 16.4 percent of the business units surveyed can be characterized as having highly discontented and perhaps, hostile work forces. Hostility differs from enthusiasm, but they are both highly motivated states that impel people into action. Anger is primarily a product of a sense of injustice. The motivation of a hostile employee is to do less and somehow harm the organization.
The People Performance Model
• People and their morale matter tremendously for business success, including customer satisfaction.
• Employee morale is a function of the way an organization is led.
• Success breeds success. The better the individual and organization perform, the greater the employee morale is, which in turn boosts performance.
Research shows a strong correlation between pride in the organization and the overall satisfaction of workers with that organization. People want to work for an organization that does well but also does good.
There are four main sources of employee pride:
Excellence in the organization’s financial performance.
Excellence in the efficiency with which the work of the organization gets done.
Excellence in the characteristics of the organization’s products such as their usefulness distinctness and quality.
Excellence in the organization’s moral character.
The first two of these factors relate to doing well and the latter two relate to doing good.
Motivated By Camaraderie
People don’t want to come to work to fight. Although employees derive pleasure from associating with others, such as during breaks, their greatest satisfaction comes from interacting as a team on the job in the service common performance goals.
The Total Organization Culture and How to Change It
A partnership culture is the surest path to a high-performance organization.
Partnership organizations emerge when senior leadership—in most cases it has been the CEO—has the foresight to see what can be and not just what is.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Salesperson
Have you ever taken a moment to truly appreciate all that your sales people do?
Salespeople are Problem Solvers: They help people buy what they need. The goal of the salesperson is to help customers make good decisions, thus creating satisfaction before, during and after sales. Their first responsibility is to determine needs and locate the product, services and information that help customers reach their business goals.
Salespeople are Influencers: They act as a catalyst or influence buying decisions by applying their knowledge and persuasive powers to convince the customer that one of the solutions offered is viable and profitable.
Salespeople are Facilitators: As new products and services appear on the market, decision makers in all industries and segments face many choices. Salespeople make it easier for the customers to focus or uncover their most important needs. This requires questions, careful listening and identification of various priorities and solutions. This information allows them to facilitate a sound and profitable buying decision for the customer.
Responsibilities of Salespeople
Sales responsibilities obviously vary in different firms and these responsibilities have a purpose, involve a specific task and have a beginning, middle and end. Many of these tasks must be completed on an ongoing basis. Salespeople are responsible for bringing product and services to the market, fitting them to the customer needs, persuading them that the product is of value to them and in the process develop and nurture a strong relationship. In all these cases, the customer has control of the decisions.
There are basically two types of responsibility: Direct and Indirect.
Direct and Indirect Selling Responsibilities
Direct
1. Prospecting
2. Pre-call planning
3. Building customer relationships
4.Attracting customer attention & interest
5. Uncovering customer needs
6. Making sales presentations
7. Handling objections
8. Closing the sales
9. Servicing accounts
Indirect
1. Handling complaints
2. Maintaining customer relations
3. Market intelligence
4. Maintaining technical competency
5. Collecting accounts
6. Networking
7. Trade and public relations
8. Office work
9. Managing information
a. Direct Selling Responsibilities: Those that affect how the salesperson implements the sales process and works when he/she is face-to-face or over the phone with the customer. It is the first function of the salesperson and involves getting organized in your territory, finding new customers (prospects), planning sales calls, building relationships, uncovering their needs, attracting their interests in your solutions, making recommendations and presenting them, closing sales and following-up after the sales with service. For true sales professionals these activities happen over a period of several calls in formal or informal sequences.
b. Indirect Selling Responsibilities: Involve all the responsibilities salespeople must carry out to get themselves ready to sell, satisfy customers and create climate for continued sales. It may take more of a salesperson’s time than direct selling and includes extended services performed for the customer, the company or industry.
- Customers may require more services many times during the year –“touching base” with the customer is important.
- Companies may require salespeople to stay “smart” on new technologies through various training or continued education.
- Industry: Salespeople may spend many hours learning about what is new in their industry.
The following are indirect selling responsibilities;
1. Handling Complaints: When customers have problems with a product or service they express dissatisfaction back to the salesperson who sold the product. The way salespeople handle complaints can win them customers for life or cause customers to look for another supplier. Most firms provide guidelines for handling complaints. Resolving complaints may involve several steps or repeated calls or visits with the customers.
2. Maintaining Customer Relationships: When salespeople become insensitive to customer feeling or when customers feel they are taken for granted, they are taken over by competitors who can give them the attention they deserve. The warning signs to lack of customer attention include customers not returning calls or putting off appointments.
3. Market Intelligence:
Refers to info about customer trends, competitor activities, economic influences – i.e market conditions. Mkt intelligence is not salespeople’s formal job as firms have mkt research & analysts acting as “investigative reporters”. But the salesperson is the firm’s “front line” in the battle for customer business. Thus salespeople must have current knowledge of mkt conditions at all times.
4. Maintaining Technical Competency
Most sales rest on some sort of technical foundation as results and profits are based on how technology is adopted, purchased, used and evaluated. Professional sales people have to be up-to-date on current technology in their field. Many firms provide training to them in this regards.
5. Collections
A sale is incomplete until payment is made. Many firms give salespeople the responsibility to identify “credit worthy” accounts, and to assist with the collection process. Salespeople also explain the credit terms and policies, and to remind customers when accounts are overdue. The difficulty lies with placing too much responsibility on a salesperson to not only sell the account but to collect on bad debt as well.
6. Networking
A professional salesperson is expected to maintain contacts with numerous networking entities. These might consist of industry partnerships, associations, chambers of commerce, etc. Building and sustaining network contacts only leads to a larger more thriving customer base.
7. Educating Customer
As problem solvers and influencers, an important part of a salespersons job is to educate customers through meetings, seminars, one-on-one with customers, service contacts etc.
8. Office Work
Salespeople’s job includes some computer time, paper work, budgeting, administration, completion of weekly call reports, market conditions, order forms, etc.
9. Managing Information
Salespeople need to “plug in”, must be comfortable with computer, internet, email, and filing system etc.
Salespeople are Problem Solvers: They help people buy what they need. The goal of the salesperson is to help customers make good decisions, thus creating satisfaction before, during and after sales. Their first responsibility is to determine needs and locate the product, services and information that help customers reach their business goals.
Salespeople are Influencers: They act as a catalyst or influence buying decisions by applying their knowledge and persuasive powers to convince the customer that one of the solutions offered is viable and profitable.
Salespeople are Facilitators: As new products and services appear on the market, decision makers in all industries and segments face many choices. Salespeople make it easier for the customers to focus or uncover their most important needs. This requires questions, careful listening and identification of various priorities and solutions. This information allows them to facilitate a sound and profitable buying decision for the customer.
Responsibilities of Salespeople
Sales responsibilities obviously vary in different firms and these responsibilities have a purpose, involve a specific task and have a beginning, middle and end. Many of these tasks must be completed on an ongoing basis. Salespeople are responsible for bringing product and services to the market, fitting them to the customer needs, persuading them that the product is of value to them and in the process develop and nurture a strong relationship. In all these cases, the customer has control of the decisions.
There are basically two types of responsibility: Direct and Indirect.
Direct and Indirect Selling Responsibilities
Direct
1. Prospecting
2. Pre-call planning
3. Building customer relationships
4.Attracting customer attention & interest
5. Uncovering customer needs
6. Making sales presentations
7. Handling objections
8. Closing the sales
9. Servicing accounts
Indirect
1. Handling complaints
2. Maintaining customer relations
3. Market intelligence
4. Maintaining technical competency
5. Collecting accounts
6. Networking
7. Trade and public relations
8. Office work
9. Managing information
a. Direct Selling Responsibilities: Those that affect how the salesperson implements the sales process and works when he/she is face-to-face or over the phone with the customer. It is the first function of the salesperson and involves getting organized in your territory, finding new customers (prospects), planning sales calls, building relationships, uncovering their needs, attracting their interests in your solutions, making recommendations and presenting them, closing sales and following-up after the sales with service. For true sales professionals these activities happen over a period of several calls in formal or informal sequences.
b. Indirect Selling Responsibilities: Involve all the responsibilities salespeople must carry out to get themselves ready to sell, satisfy customers and create climate for continued sales. It may take more of a salesperson’s time than direct selling and includes extended services performed for the customer, the company or industry.
- Customers may require more services many times during the year –“touching base” with the customer is important.
- Companies may require salespeople to stay “smart” on new technologies through various training or continued education.
- Industry: Salespeople may spend many hours learning about what is new in their industry.
The following are indirect selling responsibilities;
1. Handling Complaints: When customers have problems with a product or service they express dissatisfaction back to the salesperson who sold the product. The way salespeople handle complaints can win them customers for life or cause customers to look for another supplier. Most firms provide guidelines for handling complaints. Resolving complaints may involve several steps or repeated calls or visits with the customers.
2. Maintaining Customer Relationships: When salespeople become insensitive to customer feeling or when customers feel they are taken for granted, they are taken over by competitors who can give them the attention they deserve. The warning signs to lack of customer attention include customers not returning calls or putting off appointments.
3. Market Intelligence:
Refers to info about customer trends, competitor activities, economic influences – i.e market conditions. Mkt intelligence is not salespeople’s formal job as firms have mkt research & analysts acting as “investigative reporters”. But the salesperson is the firm’s “front line” in the battle for customer business. Thus salespeople must have current knowledge of mkt conditions at all times.
4. Maintaining Technical Competency
Most sales rest on some sort of technical foundation as results and profits are based on how technology is adopted, purchased, used and evaluated. Professional sales people have to be up-to-date on current technology in their field. Many firms provide training to them in this regards.
5. Collections
A sale is incomplete until payment is made. Many firms give salespeople the responsibility to identify “credit worthy” accounts, and to assist with the collection process. Salespeople also explain the credit terms and policies, and to remind customers when accounts are overdue. The difficulty lies with placing too much responsibility on a salesperson to not only sell the account but to collect on bad debt as well.
6. Networking
A professional salesperson is expected to maintain contacts with numerous networking entities. These might consist of industry partnerships, associations, chambers of commerce, etc. Building and sustaining network contacts only leads to a larger more thriving customer base.
7. Educating Customer
As problem solvers and influencers, an important part of a salespersons job is to educate customers through meetings, seminars, one-on-one with customers, service contacts etc.
8. Office Work
Salespeople’s job includes some computer time, paper work, budgeting, administration, completion of weekly call reports, market conditions, order forms, etc.
9. Managing Information
Salespeople need to “plug in”, must be comfortable with computer, internet, email, and filing system etc.
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