by Debra Ellis
The anticipation of a game was almost too much to bear when my son first started playing Little League. He doubled checked his equipment, warmed up before we left the house, and couldn’t wait to jump out of the car when we arrived at the field. His team had their fair share of wins, but one stands out. The other team forfeited because they didn’t have enough players.
There wasn’t a celebration, only disappointment. The sadness in the faces of the boys from both teams was almost too much to bear. Winning is fun, but they were there to play the game. Win or lose, there were lessons to learn, experiences to remember, and stories to tell. A forfeited game provides nothing except disappointment and a statistic that no one will remember past that season.
Sometimes marketers forfeit because they don’t show up. [click to continue…]
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by Debra Ellis
Sometimes the best-laid plans can go awry. A marketer can spend weeks planning the perfect campaign and something completely out of his or her control sabotages it.
On January 17, 1991, I visited a catalog mail order client who had put together a spectacular marketing campaign. It was their in-home date (predictable, but not controllable) for their catalog, they were supporting it with television direct response spots, and the President of the company was scheduled to appear on a national news show. Everything was in place to kick off a great sales year.
You could feel the excitement went you walked through the door. People were smiling, happy with anticipation. The company had just finished a triple digit growth year. Every employee had received good bonuses. The plans for 1991 included increases in compensation based on growth and profitability. Everything was perfect.
Or, so we thought.
Operation Desert Storm began the night before. The company President’s national appearance was cancelled. Catalogs arrived at homes where people were glued to the television watching CNN’s live coverage. The advertising spots were useless. No one was interested in buying anything.
The thing I remember most [click to continue…]
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by Debra Ellis
The competition for market share this season is fierce. Marketing budgets are stretched thin. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to increase sales without breaking the bank. A couple of days ago, we posted “Five (Almost) Free Ways to Increase Your Sales This Holiday Season.” This post is for the people who emailed me with “Got any more ideas?”
- Improve your inventory management. It’s hard to sell from an empty pushcart. Focus on getting hot items restocked as quickly as possible. And, when you can’t get any more, go to number two on this list.
- Provide substitute item suggestions for out of stock items. Granted a no-name MP3 player may not satisfy a customer looking for an iPod, but a blue sweater in a different style may do the trick. Suggest, don’t insist. The objective is a happy customer.
[click to continue…]
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by Debra Ellis
Why are so many companies and personal brands hiding from their customers and prospects?
In a world filled with chatter about “transparency”, “accessibility”, and “authenticity”, it should be easy to contact anyone with an online line presence. It isn’t.
I first noticed this trend when I attended two social media conferences last fall. Both were for B2B marketing people. When I returned home and sorted through my stack of business cards, I found:
78% didn’t have a mailing address
72% didn’t have a telephone or fax number
63% didn’t have an email address
84% had a Twitter user ID
98% had a URL [click to continue…]
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by Debra Ellis
It’s been said that the best things in life are free. This truth is apparent when it comes to friends, family, and the other things in our life that make it special. The small touches that make a big difference in personal relationships will improve your connection with your customers and increase sales. This holiday season is a good time to test them. Take a little time to think about what your company can do to make it easier for your customers to have an exceptional shopping experience. Then start testing. Here are a few ideas to get you started: [click to continue…]
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