So You Want To Be An Expert Marketer? Develop These Four Critical Traits...

Marketing Quick Tips

So You Want To Be An Expert Marketer?
Develop These Four Critical Traits...

By Richard Harshaw

Trait #1: Notice Your Own Buying Strategies: Pay closer attention to what everyone else in the world is doing to try to sell you something. You will find that there are already alot of good marketing stratgies out there that you don't have to invent again. I do not watch TV for the programs; I channel surf for marketing strategies. I turn the station if music comes on the radio. I get on every mailing list I can to see what kind of "junk" will show up in my mailbox. I read all billboards. I go shopping just to see how the sales clerks treat me. I read the paper and magazines for advertisements, and then if I have time I read the articles. I read the yellow pages for fun (even though 99.99% of the ads stink). I respond to every "free" offer under the sun. Then I check to see how well the company follows up. If you will constantly monitor what turns you on; what marketing strategies keep appearing week after week; what makes you like something or hate something--you will start to find things that you can incorporate into your business. Then we can talk about Trait #2.....

Trait #2: The Ability To Cross-Pollinate Marketing Stragies:
This is not a botany lesson. All it means is to take a marketing strategey that works well in one industry and use it in another. For instance, if you get a chance, go to a shoe store called Just For Feet. See if you notice anything that could be adapted to an upscale floor covering store that caters to designers. Sound like a tough assignment? Basketball shoes and expensive oriental rugs just don't match, do they? Quit using your brain to worry about all the details and start to use it to look at things in more general terms. When you walk into Just for Feet, you'll immediately notice that the music is very loud, and geared toward young people. There's a huge video screen that either has music videos or live sporting events. There's an indoor basketball court that always has at least a half a dozen people waiting to play. They have a snack bar and free popcorn. It is a FUN place to be. So what can you, as a marketing expert, take out of Just for Feet and inject into the high-end floor covering store that caters to designers? Just for Feet made their store a place where their target market (young people) wanted to be. They added elements of FUN that none of their competitors have. They are killing their competition. The high-end floor covering store needs to make their store THE PLACE to be for designers. How? Ask designers what they want. This is a real situation for a real client. Here is what they decided to do: 1) Put in a cappuccino machine, sodas, and snacks that the designers can have for free without having to ask. 2) Provide four offices that designers can use at any time...that are loaded with all of the office essentials, like fax, copier, computers, phone, etc. (We actually got this marketing strategy from an insurance brokerage agency client of ours). 3) Provide a nice conference room for designers to use with their clients. 4) Provide free and discounted rates for related services such as carpet cleaning and installation services. 5) Provide samples and loaner pieces to help designers sell their customers. This stuff all sounds simple, but there is one fact that you might not realize: There is not even one other floor covering store that offers even one of these services to designers. Borrow marketing stratgies from everywhere. Right now, we are selling grand pianos the way most car dealers sell cars....by giving away a huge package of free stuff with every purchase. We are selling foundation repair and plumbing the way a realtor sells houses...with a metal sign in a yard with a "take one" tube on top. We are selling SBA loans the same way we sell cellular phones....by advertising over the fax. Get yourself out of your paradigm of "what you do" and realize that, as long as it's legal, moral, and ethical--if a given marketing stragey makes money, it's worth pursuing.

Trait #3: Be Specific: I don't want to go into my entire discourse about how people in general are lazy communicators. Just suffice it to say that 99% of what's said in marketing and advertising is useless, non-compelling, non-specific, non-definitive, amorphous FLUFF. You say things like tastes best, highest quality, biggest selection, best service, and lowest price. But think about the impact of these types of statements on your prospects. Your prospects fully expect you to claim that you're great. Who ever heard of a promotion that said, "Our prices are high, our service is terrible, and our quality is marginal at best!" To set yourself apart from the competition, you must quantify all claims made into specific, compelling terms. Instead of saying largest selection, say, "15,400 square feet divided into 5 showrooms, with over 5,220 items from 327 manufacturers, in 2,022 styles and 460 colors, in price ranges from $.99 to $27,000." Which do you believe? Instead of saying qualified mechanics, say "Most auto repair facilities have one or two certified mechanics. We have 11 ASE certified mechanics on staff with an average of 16 years experience...including 4 mechanics who have passed the coveted "L-1" test, and two who have double master certified." Where would you rather take your car?

Trait #4: Ability To See From The Customer's Perspective: If you've ever bought a diamond, you know how confusing that process can be. The problem is that most people rarely buy a diamond, therefore most people have no clue how to judge a diamond's worth. They have to rely on that guy at the jewelry store to tell them. Don't worry that he will say anything to make a sale because he's going to starve if you don't buy. He'll probably be perfectly honest with you.
I met a man that sold diamonds out of his huge, beautiful home at wholesale prices straight to the public. He understood his customers' perspective....which was "HELP! We know nothing and we're afraid we're going to get a raw deal!" He would sit perspective customers down in a nice, leather chair and explain to them the history of diamonds, from volcanoes, to mines, to cutting, to polishing, to wholesale buying and selling. He used a myriad of books, charts, and pictures. He explained exactly what someone needed to know about diamonds before making a decision. And oh, by the way, if they wanted to look at some diamonds, he had some of those, too. His process was so disarming, and so educational, that he sold 80% of the people that sat in that nice, leather chair. Compare that to the usual jewelry store: they shove 63 rings on you finger in 12 minutes and try to pressure you into buying the big, ugly, yellow one that has a huge commission because it has been in their inventory for so long. The average jewelry store will sell less than 10% of the people that sit in their cheesy, velvety chairs. (Bonus question: How could you cross-pollinate this sales method to other businesses? Hint: it has nothing to do with the nice, leather chair.)


Monopolize Your Marketplace. Separate your business from the competition, then eliminate them. More free articles by Rich Harshaw and others are available at http://www.businessmarketing-hdq.com/ including Richs’ series “Marketing & Advertising - 53 Strategies”. Just click => http://www.businessmarketing-hdq.com/ for lots of free information to help you with growing your business.

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