S&MM SoundOff

Cabin Fever: When it comes to flying, how close is too close?

    Between flying back and forth from New Jersey’s Newark International airport to Chicago’s O’Hare International airport several times a year (I’m a Jersey Girl who attends Northwestern University), and making the seven-hour flight to and from Madrid to visit my boyfriend at least three times a year, I consider myself an expert flier. 
    True—I’ve only tasted the luxury of first-class seating once in my life, but I fly with the masses, and my experience with five different airlines in the past seven months has well-acquainted me with many types of people—perhaps too many—as we squeeze into our economy seats.
    So imagine my shock and alarm when I came across this New York Times article (may require sign-in) that brings to light Airbus’ hush-hush pitches to Asian carriers that they include the option of standing-room-only airplane seating!  As if we weren’t already cramped enough—what’s next, laptop body-harnesses for standing business travelers?
    The Times article also unearthed another dismaying fact: Carriers have already been cheating us of a couple of inches of extra leg-room.  They are using lighter-material seating with slimmer seatbacks to fit six additional coach seats on typical Boeing 737’s and as many as 12 extra seats on Boeing 757’s rather than passing the saved space onto passengers.
    And to think on my last flight back from Spain I just thought I had grown another inch.  Ha!
    While soaring fuel costs and pressure on carriers to avoid going into the red are bringing economy passengers closer together than ever before, I wonder how long frequent fliers, like myself, will put up with this annoying inch-trimming trend.  (Keep in mind, carriers continue to invest a great deal of money in developing larger, heavier first- and business-class seats since they’re such large revenue-generators.) 
    Do you think standing-room-only seating would ever fly in the United States?  Or are we better off shipping ourselves in sardine cans?

Dunkin' Sales

Last week we noted that McDonald’s—despite including  salads on its menu—was still making most of its money off of its cheaper and less healthy products, burgers and fries.

Dunkin’ Donuts expansion to coffee has had the opposite results. As Seth Stevenson’s points out in Slate, Dunkin’ Donuts now makes more money from caffeine than from donuts. According to Business
Week, beverages now make up 63 percent of Dunkin’ Donuts sales, while donuts only account for 17 percent. Their new advertising campaign focuses on their coffee, showing dozens of people drinking Coolatas and relegating the donuts to a trademark white Dunkin’ Donuts bag.

The ad campaign is part of a larger drive to make Dunkin’ Donuts a national chain. Future customers will be introduced to them as a coffee place that sells donuts instead of the other way around.

In some ways, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are taking the same advertising approach: They’re both promoting their respective top sellers, double cheeseburgers and coffee. For Dunkin’ Donuts, a sales shift offered a chance to transform their image from a sleepy eyed donut maker to a hip,
everyman caffeine addict. And since the new image is backed up by sales, so the change works.

For more on branding, check out this article on BT America’s transformation from our S&MM archives.

Marketing Guru Scott Hornstein on Your Customers: Who They Are Versus Who You Want Them to Be

My name is Scott and I am a music-holic. I have been this way since my early teens. I am not in recovery, but I am confused.

Actually, I think it is music marketers who are confused. They are chasing the tweeners, but I am the one with the disposable income.

When I was a kid, all music was marketed to my generation. I loved music: Buying albums and going to concerts ate up most of what money I had. Every act, every publication, every record (and there were a lot) was aimed at us; and I believe the music industry was wildly profitable.

Things are different now. Virtually none of the acts, publications, or recordings are aimed at my generation now. New artists are few and far between. I can no longer listen to The Doors and Led Zeppelin because with the lack of anything new or imaginative, it's been played to death, despite being good music. My tolerance for the ridiculous prices of “reunion” concerts has ebbed. If I find music I like, I buy the CD, I do not share the file. I'm the ideal client for a down and out industry.

It seems to me that this is the difference between who your customers really are versus who you want them to be. It’s very sexy to hype maladjusted little blondes, but I think it would be very profitable to go fish where the older fish are.

Focusing on the Core

There’s a lot to be said about expanding your product or service offerings to stay competitive in the marketplace. The world is changing fast and companies need to rise to the challenge of keeping up with customer demands for new products and services. But I think it’s also important not to lose sight of your core offerings—in fact sometimes the most revenue comes from that core.

Take McDonald’s for example: They started out in the 1950’s selling burgers and fries. Over the years they built up their menu, and most recently—amid complaints and studies that linked the food chain with a rise in obesity—they added healthier fare at their restaurants. Even though they branched out, they didn’t lose focus on core offerings, and continued to heavily market the basics: burgers and fries. In fact, according to an article in yesterday's New York Times, the biggest driver of its revenue is the basic double cheeseburger, not the healthier, fancy salads. Still unhealthy? Sure, but McDonald’s is not alienating its core products or ignoring what its customers want.

Do you think companies spend too much time and too many resources developing and marketing new products or services, instead of expanding their offerings without losing focus of the tried and true core products or services? Are there some industries where focusing on core offerings is not worth it?

Eye of the Storm

It’s been tough times lately for Bausch & Lomb, which is roiling in controversy over whether its ReNu MoistureLoc product had a part in causing a serious eye fungal infection in some of its users. Having a product branded as a health risk is one of the worst PR nightmares of any consumer packaged goods company, and the jury is still out on whether Bausch & Lomb is handling the crisis the best way it can.

On the surface, it seems that the company is doing what it’s supposed to: It immediately stopped shipments, placed advisory ads in newspapers, and placed a letter from CEO Ron Zarrella and links to press releases that address the situation on their home page. They also requested that retailers remove the product from their shelves for the time being.

But some critics believe the eyecare company’s current efforts are coming late in the game. ReNu MoistureLoc was first associated with health problems in Asia about two months ago, and Bausch & Lomb has yet to recall the product. A few major retailers also voluntarily removed the product before the company had asked stores to do so.

With the recent filing of a class-action lawsuit and ongoing, yet inconclusive, research of the product’s role in the fungal infection, it looks like Bausch & Lomb won’t be out of the woods for a while. Here’s what some experts think the company should do to manage the crisis.

My question is how the sales and marketing staffers, who are presumably expected to sell other Bausch & Lomb products during this time, are addressing the situation. It is, inevitably, the elephant in the room when they go on customer calls.

What advice would you give to a sales force that has to sally forth during a PR disaster? Here’s some tips from S&MM for managing through a crisis.

Marketing with Morals

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a joke with “ethics” and “sales” in its punch line.  Just as lawyers and journalists are taunted for their willingness to sell their souls in return for a winning settlement or confidential source, salespeople often find themselves demonized for their overzealous, bottom-line tendencies.

In the wake of such scandals as Enron and Tyco, I wonder whether or not there is a little truth to this joke: “The Devil tells a salesperson, ‘Look, I can make you richer, more famous, and more successful—but you have to sell me the souls of all your future descendents.  The salesperson replies, "What's the catch?"

What would happen if managers made a conscious effort to emphasize morality and ethics in the dealings of running a business?  What if, instead of always looking for that cushy, black, bottom line, salespeople sold for the customers and the greater good of their clients?  Many companies claim to do this but do they practice what they preach?

There are a number of new books out on the market that address these same questions.  Check them out in this New York Times article (may require sign-in or purchase).

While some of you may be shaking your heads, saying that the rule of business is to make a profit, I ask you this: What could generate more business than a singing reputation as the company that cares?

An Important Question From Sales Maven Dave Stein

How do your customers buy? That is what I asked a group of 20 CEOs last week in Dublin, Ireland, and I immediately got their interest. If you haven’t thought about this in the past year, you’re overdue. It doesn’t make much difference to me what you are selling or to whom. How they are buying now is probably different from how they bought in 2005.

Think for a moment about Google and the impact it has on how your customers may or may not buy from you. Type in your company’s name, a space, a plus sign, followed immediately by the word “problem.” Hopefully there are no hits. Or key in *.ppt, then “site:” and add your company’s Web site address, like this: *.ppt site:www.YourCompany.com.” That will allow you to see what PowerPoint presentations may be residing on your site, available for all to see. Use *.xls for Excel spreadsheets and *.doc for Word documents in that search formula. Now you know what it means when you hear that buyers have more access to information than ever before.

Add into the mix reverse auctions, consultants/middlemen, buying-service Web sites, the abundance of options and choices for buyers, and the overall increase in skills that those buyers now possess, and you have a call to action. Does the way that you sell and market align with how your customers are currently buying?

Impact of Your Company's "Learning" Culture on Training from Professor Mary Donato

This week I'm in Chicago with a group of 18 sales consultants from a big name consulting firm who have gathered together to hone their skills around understanding customer needs. What stands out to me is that this is a seasoned group of professionals who might have easily said, “Sales Training? I don't need no stinkin' sales training.” However, all of the sales consultants, some with 20-plus years of experience, are eager to learning.

Several months ago, I had the opposite experience with another company whose sales consultants didn't want to come to the course. They felt they knew everything there was, and felt “forced” to attend by their manager.

What is the difference between these two organizations? From my view, their different company “culture.” The first company believes that it is a learning organization: You can never be too old, too seasoned, or too successful to not pick up new ideas and to share what you know there. And they support this type of thinking by encouraging their employees to spend at least 40 hours a year in some type of skills-based training environment. Sales managers receive training on how to coach their team members to help reinforce their learning.

The second company, on the other hand, doesn't have the same passion for learning. Skills development is viewed more as a “training event” that you have to mark off on your checklist. The participants in the course come back to “real life” and fall into the same old routine with very little support and coaching on the new skills.

Skills development and training can be a significant investment for any business. However, if you're going to invest in your people, help build a culture that will help sustain the new learning and reinforce the good habits that they are forming.

It's no great mystery which company is experiencing 12 percent year-over-year revenue growth and which is getting 2 percent.

Dangling Wine & Cheese to Close a Deal

Recently, I attended a bridal showcase at a major hotel with my newly-engaged cousin. With my own wedding planned and just weeks away, I wasn’t interested in being bombarded with sales pitches from various wedding vendors.

However, after two glasses of wine and a few nibbles of cheese, I was prodding my cousin to sign on the dotted line for a photographer and DJ. Why? The presentation was fun, creative, and I was convinced they could provide a great service.

Do you know how to creatively close a deal? Take a couple tips from their playbook:

Get Face Time
Prospective customers aren’t going to beat a path to your door. Consider taking your products on the road to show off your goods and services. At this particular event, my cousin and I were lured by the complimentary wine and cheese reception.

Don’t Pounce
While downing glasses of wine, we mingled and casually looked at all of the photographers’ albums and viewed sample wedding videos. The salespeople were helpful in answering questions, but didn’t hover or aggressively pitch their packages to us.

Gimme a Beat
Add a fun element to your sales presentation to liven things up. As part of the bridal expo’s finale, several DJs came out and took turns spinning party classics that got the whole room in a celebratory mood. The DJs threw out Hawaiian leis, colorful guitar balloons, and maracas to all the prospective buyers or “party guests.” The next thing I know, I’m part of a Conga line. What I thought was going to be a boring sales pitch quickly turned into a party with a purpose.

Close the Deal
The expo’s emcee wrapped up the festivities with a quick reminder to book our favorite wedding vendors and a warm “thank you.” My cousin ended up booking a couple of services and we both went home very happy. I couldn't stop talking about it.

Did you or your company creatively pull off a sale? Tell us how you did it.

In the pages of S&MM, learn how creative deal making can solve thorny conflicts.

A Rant From the Road by Marketing Guru Scott Hornstein

I am on the road, in Louisiana for a marketing meetings with a gem of a company located on the north shore of Lake Pontrachain. On the other side is New Orleans, or what was New Orleans.

My practice takes me to many cities. On each visit, I always ask myself, is this a place I could live? Does a whisper remind me to return? Mostly, it’s an intellectual exercise–my assignment is over and I’m gone like a cool breeze. This, however, is one sweet place.

This was my first visit to New Orleans since Katrina, so my friend Kenny took me for a ride. We passed through a neighborhood full of restaurants and shops and traffic lights, bustling with everyday life and we crossed the levee into the Lakeview section.

Once this area was under more than 20 feet of water. You can see the high water mark at the tops of the (really nice) homes. Everything is gray. The buckled roads, the yawning houses, the toppled trees are all gray. Not a bird, nor a blade of grass. No squirrels. No kids on bikes. Just gray. Drapes, chairs, beds, hopes and dreams--dead in the sun on the gray lawns. Some orange insulation blew down the street. Occasionally we’d see a FEMA trailer.

At 17th street, where the levee broke, it looks like a hose turned on an anthill, with twisted walls and eddies of gray dirt. You’ve seen it on TV, only you really haven’t seen it at all. And it hasn’t changed since the water was pumped out.

I believe the Constitution of this great country of ours refers to a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. It’s time for some sober thinking about how the situation in New Orleans got so out of hand, and what needs to be done now to put it right.