S&MM SoundOff

Pushing PR?

Some of the best lessons come from personal experience don't they?

Early in my career, my bosses boss thought it would be a good idea (no doubt he got it from his counterpart at the reseller he was negotiating with) to issue a press release at a user group meeting about the company forming a reseller agreement (not yet signed) with a reseller about a product that had not yet been announced.

Can you see the three red flags in this?
User Group Meeting - press releases are to attract the press. There are no press at user group meetings. Although this is changing since many analysts often go and they have blogs now.
Reseller Agreement - boring. I'm reminded of the Ben Stiller line in Meet the Parents "Do you think that in a strange bid to actually make a profit the luggage company might make more than one bag that looks the same?" Surely worthy of customer newsletters, direct mail to customers, but not press release.
Product Not Yet Announced - Yikes.

Despite my strong objections my boss and his boss made me take the PR to the president of the division who, as luck would have it, was standing at the elevators on the 16th floor on the way home. He quickly scanned the draft PR, and politely said "This ain't news." Relieved, I agreed and apologized for wasting his time.

Here's an example where InterVoice ran into a similar circumstance - unknown customer, unknown product - except, it went out and the reporter had some fun at their expense. Some would think that it have been better (for InterVoice) to ignore the release; maybe this way their PR department or executive team will have learned something.

Do you have PR scars like this?

Peter Brockmann is a high tech industry analyst and consultant. Learn more about Brockmann & Company.

High Tech Product Naming

With apologies to William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, (1534) a "rose by any other name would smell as sweet," the name of high tech products can matter a great deal. More so the closer you get to consumers where branding are key. Naming selection and even branding strategy can have huge effect on the efficiency and effectiveness of your promotional budget.

In my experience, www.brockmann.com the development of effective naming and branding strategies is getting harder and harder to develop and nurture. That's because the marketplace for ideas is an increasingly crowded domain, and with the instant information gratification services of the Internet and a good search engine, we can be instantly aware of others using the same or slightly variant names. Software technologies in particular are easily reverse engineered. And dozens of smart people around the world are presented with exactly the same market trend information at the same time, so there are fewer instances of truly unique ideas. Innovation leads are reduced to months and weeks.

All of this instantly available information means that some product naming strategies are harder and more expensive to implement than others.

The most popular strategy is those where the equity of the product name flows to the 'master brand.' A master brand is usually the brand of the corporation - Cisco, HP, IBM, 3Com. This way corporate marketers can create and nurture value around the master brand, where it is supposed to stand for something. Something is usually attributes like - innovation, quality, agility.

In this strategy, a good product name is the product category and is usually followed by a model number or some designator differentiating the elements inside the product category. So, a Nortel Multimedia Communications Server 5100 for example, fits this strategy since the Nortel is the master brand, MCS is the category and the 5100 is a size/market designator. Also, here the corporate marketer reigns supreme. They have the advertising budget to push their overarching brand, and the product marketer is left with reminding buyers that BRAND has the CATEGORY. Many times, it is important in the multi-product company to pick favorites (hopefully tied to high growth and as the embodiment of the master brand attributes) and put a lot of wood behind that arrow. Five years ago, Apple advertised almost exclusively the iPod and only in the past 18 months has been making a big deal about the Mac computers. HP is making a big deal about the PC being personal again.

The argument is that focused branding behind one product line raises the profile of the brand (lifting all boats as it were) and at the same time promotes the innovative new product.

Alternatively, companies can create brands around a specific product. There are two problems here. Firstly, what is the multi-cultural name that points to the benefit of the product? Secondly, how can that new brand be nurtured and grow within the great background noise of the marketplace? Good examples of this are iSpeedbump and PhoneFactor to name two hot new products that fit this discrete brand naming strategy. iSpeedbump is an appliance that improves VoIP quality by buffering other Internet traffic to let VoIP traverse narrow access links. PhoneFactor is a free 2-factor user authentication service that uses your phone to confirm user credentials at login.

Both of these products are independently named from their creators. Both have discrete websites. Both launched their capabilities at the Las Vegas Interop 2007 show. What tips would you give these marketers on getting their product brands going?

Peter Brockmann is a high tech industry analyst and consultant. Learn more about Brockmann & Company.

How to Win Customers and Build Brand Awareness

Winning customers is critical to marketing firms especially those whose sales depend on gaining an adequate market share with their brand. Customers are savvy shoppers who need more than the features of a product. In a recent case study at a retail store, customers showed 100% response to the new product when the marketing manager stressed the benefits of the product and concentrate less on the features.

What this means for businesses?

Stressing the feature of a product at times tend to be more appealing to marketing managers. On the other hand, marketing managers need to be aware of what is more important to the customers. Selling the benefits of a product will gain a better market share more-so than the features.

How can businesses develop their brand and make it sticks?

Businesses need to be extraordinary in their marketing presentation. If everybody is doing sampling then do a live demonstration using a well-known character. Using celebrity status helps in developing brand awareness. Shoppers are excited to receive acknowledgment from their favorite celebrity. This can be in the form of an autograph on the product items. Another idea is to have a mystery show on spot and cast shoppers as participants. Getting customers involve in your brand is a sure seller. Building excitement in your product will get the attention of customers to buy your product. Marketing is not an easy job but it can be fun using innovation. Remember customers are always looking for something different. Use marketing as an opportunity to sell brand as well as to sustain customer’s loyalty using creativity.

The Job Market's on Fire Again. The Time to Cash in Is Now!

By Christine E. Lauzon

Are you ready to party like it is 1999? Well jump on in, because the job market is heating up again, and it is creating a path to superior career growth, a bigger paycheck, and overall more options to find a better work environment.

Simply put, the "law of supply and demand" is working in your favor—there are more jobs then qualified candidates to fill them. Hence, many companies need to stretch and loosen some of their requirements in order to fill the jobs.

For example, let's say a company wants a "business development executive" with 10 years experience in IT consulting focused on the telecommunications vertical. In a hot job market, there is a higher probability that the employer will have to bend on their criteria. This gives individuals who want to make a career move into this industry the opportunity to break in, even if they only have two of the three criteria required for the position.       

LinkedIn

Sales Tools & Ideas by TJ McCue
PowerMoves to make LinkedIn more productive in your networking efforts.

It's in the Bag

I was talking to a close friend of mine who recently started her own business. She never struck me as the stereotypical fashionista--her wardrobe consisting mainly of old jeans and sweatshirts--but I listened in disbelief as she ecstatically related to me her most recent purchase--a new designer bag bought at a bargain price.

Her uncharacteristic behavior must have caused a befuddled look to cross my face because she immediately proceeded to justify her purchase. She said the clients she is trying to attract care about “those” things—designer labels, fashion and luxury products. The people in her town who saw the bag immediately doled out compliments on her taste and she was able to snag a few potential customers through the impromptu conversations. 

“To me it’s just a bag. I don’t care. But everything is about appearance to these people,” she said. “So what if I spent $100 on a [designer bag]? That doesn’t bother me because I would rather spend that small amount of money now and fill this bag with their money [when I get their business] later.”

That last comment made me stop rolling my eyes at her splurge and start thinking how appearance fits into branding strategy. She was on to something.

Companies distinguish their brands with clear-cut marketing, consistent logos and styles, and a commitment to customer service. But how do its employees play a role? Sales reps must always look presentable and professional when meeting with clients. CEOs and upper management—even middle management—must dress to impress on a regular basis to establish a sense of professionalism with their employees. Does it matter if your sales reps wear a suit by no-name brand or Armani? Does it matter if you use a cell phone that you have had since 2002? The answer is a resounding yes.

Although not everyone is brand savvy or up-to-date on the latest runway styles, they subconsciously notice how you dress and accessorize. Designer brands breathe success. They tell your clients, “I am a competent professional. I can give you quality business. And I know this because I have been successful enough to afford the designer clothes I am wearing.”

Does your style attract business? It’s something to think about the next time you reach for those discount shoes at Payless.

Now, Shall We Buzz from CRM to CEM?

By Tom Richards

Business is so quick to embrace the latest buzz phrase in their quest for customer loyalty--but a phrase does not make a strategy. Bob Thompson, president of CRM Guru, has just pronounced CRM dead and has changed the name of his company to Customer-Think. Goes to show you, don't name a company after a buzz phrase.

                        

Bob's not alone, of course. Others are declaring CRM dead. Too many cost overruns, poor workflows, disgruntled employees and unhappy customers, they say.

What's the new buzz phrase? 

Designing a Meeting for Max Networking (Part II)

By Edgar Valdmanis

In my post a couple weeks ago, I gave a few tips about how to design a meeting for max networking, and thought I would follow up with some more today.

Before a break, the MC should again remind people to take the time to network with someone they have not met before, or at least not seen for a long time. Also, make sure that breaks are long enough for people to

a) go to the bathroom

b) get a coffee (or other beverage)

c) and network

This usually means that the break must be at least 15 minutes.

If there is an exhibition and you want the exhibitors to be happy about the investment they made in time and money, make sure the exhibition is in the break area, and allow another 5 minutes for attendees to visit the exhibitors' stands. Also, make sure that all exhibitors are mentioned on the same list as the other attendees, with company name, their own name and professional title.

After the break--if possible--ask attendees to sit with someone else than before the break.

Playing Poker

Recently, I was playing a type of poker called “Up or Down” with my son, who is home from college. As each card is dealt, the player chooses whether to have it dealt face up (so the other players can see it) or face down. Only one card can be down at any time, so by the end of the deal the players can see four of the five cards in every hand and often have a pretty good idea what the “hole” cards might be. After winning a rather large hand, my son pointed out to me that I was paying too much attention to my own hand and not enough to what the other players had.

This reminded me of the way some companies compete: many are self-focused and develop their products, pricing, strategies, promotions, advertising, etc. based on their own products and their own goals and objectives. They (hopefully) have a general understanding of their competitor’s products, but do not necessarily pay strict attention to their competitors’ actions. Yet, your competitor’s situation may affect your future even more than your own.

Suppose, for example, that you see an opportunity to improve upon a commonly used product. You focus your efforts on creating differentiating features, developing new sources that bring the price down, testing the product to make sure customers appreciate the benefits and indicate a willingness to buy at your price point, and developing a knockout ad campaign to launch it. Meanwhile, one of your competitors has been at work too. But the competitor has gone a different route, developing a piece of equipment that eliminates the need for your shiny new product.

The flip side of this is when you expend energy going head to head with a competitor, developing products with features that have the advantage over their product’s features, pricing relative to their pricing, trying to outfox them in the market, only to find that their hand wasn’t so strong afterall. By not reacting, you would have sold more at a better margin and not been sidetracked (perhaps allowing another competitor to gain ground).

Of course it’s not always easy to find out what competitors are up to, particularly with regard to product development. But be alert to their activities and you may pick up information that will give you an indication of what their “hole card” might be. Have your reps alert you to any changes in the way their reps are selling against you. Look for changes in dealer relationships, company structure, or marketing direction. Is a competitor suddenly gaining or losing ground in a particular category? Have their marketing expenditures changed? Have they made changes to their corporate structure that give more emphasis to a particular market or distribution channel?

In marketing, as in poker, paying attention to everyone’s position, not just your own, is the key to a winning strategy.

E-Mail Selling Techniques

Sales Tools & Ideas by TJ McCue

This post isn't a technology tool, per se, but it is such an overlooked topic and it is one that I almost don’t want to share. Ideas for using e-mail more effectively as a sales support and not allowing it to be a crutch. I just finished reading a new book by Stephan Schiffman, E-Mail Selling Techniques (That Really Work!). This one is outstanding just like the rest of his books. A few of the ideas that I liked:

• Always have a Next Step to suggest in all of your sales conversations. Our goal should be to keep the sales process moving.
• Use a strong subject line that gets to the point and gets the message read: “May 15 meeting” would be one example.
• Don’t  send LARGE attachments. They often get nailed as spam anyway. Of course, if you have to and they are expecting it.

Okay, so it may seem a little basic. But how often do you send or get a super long message that you simply scan or don’t even read? All the time, I’m willing to bet. It is a fast read and he mixes in a lot of very helpful sales tactics. Schiffman has a number of useful articles on his website, doesn’t have a blog, and, unfortunately, has not yet posted an article about e-mail on his site. www.dei-sales.com.

He dwells mainly on the content of your message, but also comments on structure, HTML versus Text, Images, etc. Many of us turn to providers like www.ConstantContact.com or www.myemma.com (Emma E-Mail Marketing) when we need to create sharp HTML emails with tracking/reporting. Schiffman mentions EmailLabs as a great provider.

TJ McCue is president of Q4 Sales, LLC – a business development and sales consulting company. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. He can be reached at [email protected]