Author Archives: Kim Clark

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Sidestep Start-up Screw-ups

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Presented for your edification are the final five elements of the start-up advice recommended by John Osher,  former CEO of Dr. John’s Products, Ltd. and an entrepreneur extraordinaire who started three businesses from the ground up and sold each at huge profit.

13.   SEEKING CONFIRMATION OF YOUR ACTIONS, RATHER THAN SEEKING THE TRUTH

“This often happens: you want to do something, so you talk about it with people who work for you.  You talk to family and friends.  But you’re only looking for confirmation.  You’re not looking for the truth.  You’re looking for somebody to tell you you’re right.  You have to learn to give more value to the truth than to people saying what you’re doing is right”.

14.   LACKING SIMPLICITY IN YOUR VISION

“Rather than focusing on doing everything right to sell to your biggest markets,  you divide your attention …trying to be too many things at one time.  Then your main product isn’t done properly because you’re doing so many different things”.   I have been guilty of this and maybe you have,  too.  I was trying to hook as many customer groups as possible using every skill set that I owned.  As a result,  when I would tell someone what I do,  they would sometimes get this confused look on their face.  Eventually,  a networking group colleague told me that he was having trouble trying to categorize me,  couldn’t figure how to remember me for referrals.  A couple of years ago,  I finally found the courage to pare down my offerings,  to simplify and sharpen the focus of my suite of services.   Referrals eventually increased and business got better.   This is a business model issue.  Sometimes,  less is more.

15.    LACKING CLARITY IN THE BUSINESS PURPOSE AND GOALS

“You should have an idea of what your long-term aim is.  It doesn’t mean that won’t change,  but when you aim an arrow,   you aim it at a target.  What are you trying to do?  If you want to create a billion dollar company with a certain product,  you may not have a chance.  But if you’re trying to create a million dollar company,  then maybe with that product,  you’ll have a chance.  Clarity of your business purpose is very important”.

16.    LACKING FOCUS AND IDENTITY

“This list was written from the viewpoint of building a company as a valuable entity.  Remember that the company itself has an identity,  a brand.  Do not go after too many things at once and end up with a potpourri of products and services,  rather than a focused business entity.  When you go into business,   it’s important to maintain a focus and an identity.  You must be focused on who you are and what you do and you build power and credibility from that”.

17.    LACKING AN EXIT STRATEGY

“Have an exit plan and create your business to satisfy that plan.   You may build a business that you feel will start fast and make a good deal of money and for that reason will attract a lucrative buy-out.   Maybe you figure that you can make lots of money for about two years but after that,  competitors will enter and you won’t be able to protect yourself from them.   So after the first year,  you watch the marketplace very carefully and keep a close eye on inventory.  Another exit strategy can be to hand the company to your kids someday.  The most important thing to do is build a company with value and profits so you have all the options open to you;  keep the company,   sell the company,   go public,  raise private money and so on.   A business can be a product, too”.

Next week,  we can examine five things to get right as you build your business.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Don’t Screw-up Your Start-up

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John Osher has business in his blood.  During his 7 years as an undergraduate college student,  Osher started and sold a vintage clothing store and an earring outlet.  On his way to building ConServ,  his first major business venture,  he worked as a cab driver,  plumber and a carpenter.  Second venture Cap Toys,  where sales volume reached $125 million,  was sold to Hasbro in 1997.

When formulating the strategy for his third venture,  which became Dr. John’s Products,  Ltd.,  Osher wanted to start the perfect company and so decided to make a list of everything he had done wrong as he built the previous two.  In 1999,  he used this list when he started Dr. John’s SpinBrush,  an electric toothbrush that retailed for $5.00.  Maybe you had one?  The SpinBrush became wildly popular and in 2001,  Proctor & Gamble bought him out for $475 million.  Enough said!  Below are more pearls of wisdom from John Osher’s list of start-up screw-ups:

7.    FAILING TO HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN TO ADDRESS A SHORTFALL IN SALES PROJECTIONS

“Even if you’ve been realistic about your ability to enter and penetrate your market,  sales projections and start-up and operating expenses,  there are things that happen when you start a new business.  These aren’t a result of poor planning,  but they happen.  Bank rates could go up.  There could be a strike.  You need a Plan B to cover yourself should things not work out within the timing that you want.”

8.     BRINGING IN THE WRONG OR UNNECESSARY PARTNERS

“There are certain partners you need.  If you need money,  you’ll need money partners.  But too many times the guy with the idea takes on his friends as partners.  Many people don’t provide strategic advantages.  Before people are made partners, they have to earn it”.

9.      HIRING EMPLOYEES FOR CONVENIENCE RATHER THAN SKILL

“In my first business or two,  I hired relatives,  but in many cases they were wrong for the job.  It’s hard to fire relatives and friends.  Spend time to handpick people based on skill requirements.  It bogs you down when you hire people who can’ t do the job”.

10.    NEGLECTING TO MANAGE THE ENTIRE COMPANY AS A WHOLE

“You see this happen all the time.  They’ll spend 50% of their time on something that represents 5% of the business.  Too often, the business owner doesn’t have a view of the whole company.  They get involved in part,  but don’t manage the whole.  Whether I handle this aspect or another,  whether I hire someone to do what I can’t,  I consider how it all fits into the long-term and short-term big picture.  Constantly try to see your big picture.

11.     ACCEPTING THAT “IT’S NOT POSSIBLE” TOO EASILY, RATHER THAN FINDING ANOTHER SOLUTION

“I had an engineer who was very good,  but with every product we developed,  he would say  ‘You can’t do it that way’.  I had to be careful not to accept this too easily.  I had to look further.  If you’re going to be an entrepreneur,  you’re going to break new ground.  A good entrepreneur is going to find a way”.

12.    FOCUSING ON SALES VOLUME OVER BOTTOM LINE PROFIT

“Too much of your management is often based on sales volume and market size.  There’s too much emphasis on how fast and big you can grow the business,  rather than on how much profit you can make”.

I’ll conclude with the final five elements next week. Thanks for reading,

Kim

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17 Start-up Screw-ups

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Serial entrepreneur John Osher has developed numerous consumer products,  including an electric toothbrush that became America’s best-selling toothbrush in just 15 months.  He also started several businesses,  most notably Cap Toys,  where he built sales to $125 million a year and then sold to Hasbro, Inc. in 1997.

Osher’s most important contribution to American business may not be the companies he’s started and profited handsomely from,  but rather the business advice that he’s willing to share. His list  “17 Mistakes Start-ups Make”  became a Harvard Business School case study.  See what you can learn from his entrepreneurial experiences and use it to create your version of the perfect Freelance consulting business.

  1. FAILING TO ADEQUATELY RESEARCH THE IDEA TO ENSURE IT IS VIABLE

“The most important mistake of all.  I say nine out of ten businesses fail because the original concept is not viable.  You want to be in business so much that you don’t slow down and take the time to do the up-front research,  so the business is doomed before the doors open.  You can be very talented,  but your business will fail because the concept is flawed.”  Go to the library and do your research.  Read blogs,  journals and newsletters that pertain to the industry you plan to enter,  so that you’ll know what’s going on.  Develop a credible business model.

  1. MISCALCULATING MARKET SIZE, TIMING, EASE OF ENTRY AND YOUR POTENTIAL MARKET SHARE

“Most new entrepreneurs get very excited about their concept and don’t look for the truth about how many people will want to buy what they they’re selling.”  Take the time to research and understand targeted customers and get to know why they will want to buy from you or hire you.  Calculate your potential to penetrate the target market and grow a client list you can live on.

  1. UNDERESTIMATING FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS AND TIMING

“Based on inadequate research noted in Mistakes #1 & #2,  fledgling entrepreneurs operate from the premise of over-stated market size and their ability to enter it.  They then start spending more money than they should on start-up costs,  creating costs that require those inflated sales projections to be met,  so they run out of money”.

  1. OVER-PROJECTING SALES VOLUME AND TIMING

“You have already miscalculated the size of the market.  Now you over-project your portion of it”.  Always another way to run out of money, no?

  1. UNDER-PROJECTING EXPENSES

“Cost projections are often far too low.  Part of the problem is that you’ve projected market share and sales volume that are too high.  There are always unknown reasons that come up to make expenses higher than planned”.

  1. OVER-SPENDING ON AN OFFICE, OFFICE EQUIPMENT AND EMPLOYEES

“Now you’ve got lower sales,  higher start-up costs and then you layer on too-high operating costs.”  I have seen colleagues maintain fancy offices when they have the ability to run the business from the kitchen table at home.  If you can take clients out to a restaurant for meetings,  then why pay for office space?  You can get a telephone answering service to personally take messages,  so it looks like you have a secretary.  I’ve done it for a dozen years.  Besides,  no one answers the telephone these days,  especially not in major corporations. When you need another pair of hands to take on a big project,  hire in another Freelancer and spread the wealth.

More next week.  Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Business Meeting Etiquette

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We are now on the other side of Memorial Day Weekend.  For many Freelance consultants,  the start of Summer means that work assignments wrap up and one wonders not only how to make good use of time,  but also how to create the conditions for a profitable September and fourth quarter.  Over the years,  I’ve found that a surprising number of decision-makers are also less busy in Summer and are therefore more amenable to scheduling a meeting with me.

On the other hand,  you may be very busy working with a client who must have a certain initiative up and running right after Labor Day.  You may be leading a team and thus responsible for achieving milestones,  disseminating information and maintaining team member enthusiasm and focus during steamy Summer days,  all of which will cause you to occasionally schedule meetings.

Regardless of your motive,  take steps to ensure that your meetings are perceived as worthwhile by those who attend.  Define a clear purpose and use that to create an agenda.  If you are a project leader,  you must identify questions that need answers,  confront current or potential roadblocks,  or possibly evaluate the need to make adjustments to the project scope or its time-table.  Next,  decide who should attend and begin the scheduling process.  Invite only the stakeholders: those who are carrying out the project,  the project sponsor and those who will be directly impacted by its outcomes.

To win a client meeting,  your agenda is to articulate the value of what you propose and convince the prospect to meet with you and ultimately,  offer you a contract.  A telephone call in which you propose a meeting is the simplest approach,  unless you can arrange to  “accidentally” encounter him/her at some location and  make an in-person request.

When bringing together your team,  a group email is the preferred method of contact and within it state the purpose of the meeting;  who will be asked to present;  any materials that team members should bring along;  and the expected length of the meeting.  In both scenarios,  offer two or three possible date/time options.  When a date has been chosen,  immediately send a confirmation email and reconfirm 24-48 hours before the meeting date,  with an agenda and relevant reports attached for the team meeting.

Set a good tone by opening your meeting no more than 5 minutes after the official start-time and by warmly greeting participants and thanking them for attending.  Remember at the start to properly introduce any guests or anyone who is new to the team,  stating proper names,  job titles and role on the project.  Have hard copies of the agenda and any meeting materials available for each attendee,  no matter that those were sent with the confirmation email.

Move through the agenda items and get resolution on each one,  even if that means follow-up is needed.  Encourage attendees to participate and enforce good manners.   Make certain that no one gets shouted down and that everyone who would like to contribute gets a respectful hearing.  Ask that only one person speak at a time and that those who would like to speak first raise their hand to be recognized by you,  the presider.   End the meeting on time,  unless participants agree to stay longer to complete unfinished items.

If the meeting is held in a restaurant,   you called the meeting and you pay the bill.  If you are a consulting project team leader,  confirm reimbursement procedures with your company contact in advance.  If you meet with a client,  arrive at the restaurant 15 minutes early and arrange a discreet payment protocol with the host,  so that an awkward moment is avoided.

Enlist a meeting note taker,  or take them yourself.   Within 72 hours after the meeting,  send to all participants a draft copy of the notes and invite corrections.  When corrections have been made,  send the final copy to all who attended and also to the project sponsor,   whether or not s/he attended.  If meeting with a client,  send a thank you letter that is hard copy or an email,   in which you document any agreements and action items.  Make sure that all meeting participants carry through with their follow-up commitments in a timely fashion.

Happy Summer and thanks for reading,

Kim

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Compelling Content Drives Inbound Marketing

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Reach out to potential customers by providing content,   the new tactic for advertising and demonstration of expertise,  and persuade those prospects to reach out to your business.  Traditional advertising,   email campaigns and PR,  better known as Outbound Marketing,  reach out to a broad audience that has been vetted for the presence of target customers,  yet still includes many that fall outside of that profile.

Outbound Marketing  “pushes”  information about your company out to an audience that has not necessarily demonstrated an interest in learning about the company and its products and services.  Moreover,  Outbound Marketing assigns to the intended audience a limited role: buy the product or attend the event.  Outbound Marketing usually costs more money than time to create and ROI can be difficult to measure.

Inbound Marketing is well-suited for the digital age and its use has grown tremendously as a result.  Inbound Marketing is driven by content that functions as a  “pull”,  drawing prospective customers who are interested in posted content to read,  learn and perhaps take action.  Inbound Marketing lives on the internet.  Slide Share,  Google +,  LinkedIn,  Twitter,  YouTube,  company websites and other social media platforms receive content and those in search of information choose to visit those sites.

Content production usually costs more time than money to create and ROI is much easier to measure.  Relevant white papers,  useful videos and podcasts,  research results,  surveys and your blog or newsletter form the basis of high-quality content that delivers your message and your professional acumen wrapped in a package that prospects want to open.  Prospects must take an active role and engage with Inbound Marketing content. They initiate and control the interaction.

When planning your Inbound Marketing campaign,  be advised that it is not necessary to either provide a wide variety of content or post content onto numerous venues.  The type of content provided,  frequency of postings and selected platforms will be guided by target market preferences.  Develop Inbound Marketing goals and devise an appropriate campaign strategy.  Brand awareness, customer acquisition / retention and lead generation will no doubt top your list.

Be mindful that Inbound Marketing content is based on giving and not receiving (despite your goals).  Prospective customers are hungry for knowledge and those who provide high-quality content will obtain trust,  respect and top-of-mind status that is reflected when decisions are made to purchase your category of product or service.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Power and Success

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Powerful people achieve success.  They are able to create opportunities that lead to success,  or they have opportunities to create success handed to them.  Power can emanate from several sources,  most famously from money and family connections.  Power also emanates from various other sources,  such as athletic ability (football hero);  musical ability (rock star);  intellect (IQ, intelligence quotient) that allows one to earn a degree from a prestigious school;  and relationships (EQ, emotional quotient / EI emotional intelligence) with powerful and influential people.  All of these power sources can be leveraged and used to propel oneself into environments where opportunities to create success are available.

For the majority of us power,  should we seek to pursue it (and most do not),  is an attribute that we develop on our own,  knowingly or unknowingly,  with or without intention and the EQ-based power that emanates from relationships is the power that is most accessible.   This variety of personal power is derived through the way we interact with others in personal and professional relationships.  To acquire this power,  one must be competent and trustworthy.   Additionally,  it is imperative to relate to others in a way that makes those who know you feel valued and good about themselves.  Those who acquire personal power through their relationships must be authentic,  or do an excellent job of convincing others that this is the case.  Powerful people inspire great loyalty and respect.

Personal power is an integral building block of leadership ability.  It can be argued that the wherewithal to develop personal power derives from the capacity to lead oneself.  Improving the ability to develop and sustain relationships by heightening EQ expertise helps one open doors that lead to opportunities that help us achieve success in business and life.  Here are guidelines that can serve as your EQ training regimen.  They were developed by Daniel Goleman,  author of Emotional Intelligence  (1995)  and based on the work of John Mayer,  personality psychologist at the University of New Hampshire and Peter Salovey,  social psychologist and president of Yale University:

I.      Self-awareness

The ability  (or courage)  to recognize and acknowledge one’s emotions,  motivations,  fears,  strengths and weaknesses and to understand the impact these have on our decision-making and interactions with others.  Accurate self-assessment and self-confidence are    required to master this element.

II.    Self-management

The ability  (or self-discipline)  to regulate,  control,  or redirect one’s disruptive  (read irrational,  inappropriate or destructive)  emotions or behaviors and successfully adapting to changing circumstances are the essential skills here.  This is not to say that one should knuckle under to adversity.  Just don’t throw any chairs.  Learn to fight back in a smart way that reflects well on you.  When necessary be flexible,  gracefully roll with the punches,  or devise Plan B.  Honesty,  integrity,  follow-through,  time management,  initiative and ambition reside in this element.

III.   Relationship management

Building bonds,  teamwork,  collaboration,  conflict management and social skills are the focus.  Those all-important interpersonal skills that allow us to relate to and connect with people are nurtured in this element,  as is leadership ability.  To strengthen these behaviors,  pay attention to feedback from others,   positive and negative.  Have the good judgment and maturity to display more of those behaviors that elicit positive feedback and much less of behaviors that generate unflattering comments.  Realize that there is such a thing as constructive criticism and avoid getting defensive and hostile when someone lets you know that perhaps you could have handled something another way.  Furthermore,  as painful as it might be,  listen also and check yourself when haters pounce,  for there might be a grain of truth in the venom they spew.

IV.   Empathy

EQ does not exist without genuine empathy.  Demonstrate that the feelings of others matter to you by be willing to consider the impact of your actions and decisions on others.  Think of intent vs. impact.  Challenge yourself to imagine how it might feel to be in the other person’s shoes and see the situation from another perspective.   Learn to take steps to hear and address the concerns of others.  Master this element and you’ll become a more successful negotiator.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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I, Consultant: Value-Added

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Solopreneur consultants and other business owners are always selling,  sometimes overtly and other times discreetly.  To sell effectively,  we must understand and articulate the reasons that clients hire us.  We need selling points at our fingertips and as as always,  it is necessary to adopt the prospective client’s point-of-view.  Why would an organization leader hire me?  What is my value-added?

1. You provide expertise.

Convince prospective clients that you possess the know-how that organization staff members lack.  Let them know that you have the answers  (without revealing specific solutions before you sign a contract).  A high-ranking job title acquired in previous employment confers to you significant credibility.  Well-known clients confer significant credibility.  Speaking engagements at prestige venues,  especially if you met the prospective client there,  inspire confidence.  Blogs,  newsletters and social media serve to support one of the above,  but neither alone nor in aggregate will they convince an important client to hire you (unless you get enormously lucky).

2. You identify problems or gaps.

The ability to quickly and accurately grasp the big picture is essential.  Nevertheless,  be advised that the client may not appreciate hearing the truth.  Be diplomatic in how you bring problems to the client’s attention.

3. You supplement the company’s permanent staff’.

Downsized workforces became a fact of life in the early 1990s and nearly every for-profit and not-for-profit organization is under-staffed.  Big companies can often afford to hire and would be wise to hire,  but company leaders would rather keep payrolls light.  The loss of productivity that under-staffing causes does not show up in an income statement,  at least if acceptable top-line growth occurs.  All organizations have been hit hard by health insurance and other operating costs.  Consultants are hired to fill in the labor gaps because we do not receive benefits of any kind and when the project has been completed,  we leave.

4. You introduce change.

For political reasons,  it may be easier to call in a consultant to implement changes that management would like to make.  The consultant is better equipped to defuse or prevent any push-back or sabotage,  because he/she is a neutral party.

5. You provide training for staff.

Maybe you once ran a sales department and you will provide sales training,  or you ran the human resources department and you’re hired to conduct team-building or diversity workshops.

6. You assist with a turn-around.

This assignment could start with a request to facilitate a strategy planning session.  Vision-Mission-Values,  or Goals-Objectives-Strategies-Action Plans will drive the turn-around.  You ensure that there is follow-through,  enthusiasm and support for the plan and that achievement of milestones and other successes are communicated throughout the organization and celebrated.

7. You assist with a new product (or service) launch.

You may do market research and confirm the prospects for the product or service and discover or confirm key target markets and their expected dollar potential.  You may take an active role in the launch,  joining with the marketing team to define the primary marketing message,  timing of the product roll-out,  formulate the advertising strategy and approve the PR strategy.

Finally,  independent consultants must pay particular attention to how we will obtain clients.  That process forms the heart of our business model.  Speak with friends and colleagues who are highly placed within industries where you expect to work and figure out if projects can at least occasionally be awarded to you.  Further,  if you work with your employer’s clients,  inform your very best friends of your plan and discreetly recruit at least one or two to follow you.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Marketing 2.0: How and Why You Measure Results

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Marketing is an essential function of every business.   Smart organization leaders understand that continually reaching out to current and potential customers,  with objectives to create loyalty and trust in the company,  its products and its services and building a brand,  are integral to sustaining a healthy enterprise.  Like all business initiatives,  marketing objectives and strategies must be periodically evaluated,  to monitor and measure results and determine how to adjust and optimize the program if results do not meet expectations.  Choose your marketing activities based on your knowledge of customer behavior.

The measurement of marketing results can be broken down according to a method recommended by Joseph Raymond Roy,  a marketing consultant based in Meredith, NH,  who gives us the acronym DATA:

1. Defining,  identify the result your marketing will promote (increasing the number of potential customers)

2. Assessing,  measure the dollar value of your marketing program (look at the number of customers and gross revenue)

3. Tracking,  determine if customers came to your business as a result of your marketing activities (ask new customers how they found you, or all customers in a survey)

4. Adjusting,  if it is obvious,  do more of what produces the desired result and less of what does not produce results.  In other words,  optimize your marketing activities.

Begin the measurement by calculating the amount of money invested in your marketing activities.  Obviously there is also time involved,  which should be taken into account,  but  it is usually difficult to attach an appropriate dollar figure to one’s time.  How much is the time you spend networking worth?  What is the time spent on social media worth,  or producing your monthly newsletter?

You may develop good relationships with potential referral sources,  but it may take 5 months or 5 years to receive a referral.  Speaking engagements and webinars  are easier to evaluate.  A well-respected venue always has value,  whether or not you receive referral business or meet a future client,  because the very act adds value to your curriculum vitae.  Calculate ROI by deducting the value of resources spent on marketing activities from revenues generated by customers who have come to you as a result of marketing activities.

Tracking  (i.e., forward tracking),  the process of building an identifying mechanism into each marketing activity before it is launched,  so that you can measure the results derived.  If you present a webinar,   the registration of participants,  which includes an email address for each listener,  is a most accurate tracking mechanism.  Responding to a product offer with a special code is another excellent tracking device.   The marketer will be able to identify which customer was not only impacted by a certain activity,  but also will know if that person eventually does business with the company.

There are various types of tracking methods,   including Point-of-sale tracking,  conducted when new customers arrive by asking them how they heard about you.  You will also use point-of-sale tracking when you tally up the sales results associated with the purpose of your marketing program,  be it bigger ticket items,  referrals,  or other customer actions.   Reverse tracking  is the process of going through your customer list and documenting how current customers became your customers.

If you write a blog or newsletter,  measure your reach by counting the number of subscribers,  email forwards and followers.  Point-of-sale tracking  will let you know if demonstration of your knowledge and expertise brings customers into the door.

The ROI of PR should be measured in at least two ways:  first,  through Media impressions,  in which the marketer counts how many media outlets wrote a story or made a radio or television announcement in response to a press release that was sent (a follow-up phone call will likely boost the response rate).   Second,  through Content analysis one can evaluate the accuracy of what was broadcast as a result of the press release and the prominence of item placements in the chosen media outlets.

Online data analytics systems  will track all visits to your website,  customized to your needs.  How many potential customers abandon your website and how many follow-up with inquiries or engage by clicking on your newsletter or blog? What is the impact of your social media outlets on your marketing objectives? Here is how you’ll know.

The ultimate marketing metric is the percentage of your customer base that result from marketing activities,  or Marketing Originated Customers.

It may take a service provider 6 – 12 months to have results to measure.  Obtaining a contract from a new or returning client is a longer sales cycle than selling ice cream cones.  Metrics make it possible to know which marketing activities yield the best results and that knowledge will give you the opportunity to optimize your marketing efforts.  You will do more of what works,  perhaps launching an advertising campaign during a particular season or increasing your participation in certain business or professional groups.  Other activities may be diminished or dropped altogether.  Gross sales will give a dollar value ROI to your marketing program when compared to the pre-marketing program value.

Marketing metrics ensure that you receive a solid ROI on your marketing activities.  Appropriately chosen and implemented marketing activities that are tracked and optimized will always pay for themselves.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

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Marketing 2.0 : How and Why You Do It

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All those with a product or service to sell must institute a marketing program that promotes those products and services to target customers.  Marketing programs consist of strategies and activities that derive from promotional objectives you would like to achieve for your products,  services,  or the company overall.  Advertising;  writing a blog, newsletter, or book;  speaking at business associations;  teaching a subject that showcases your expertise;  making an in-kind donation to a local charity event;  presenting a webinar;  nominating yourself for (and winning!) a business award;  writing a press release to announce to local media that you are presenting a webinar,  have won a business award or published a book;  networking to meet new colleagues or reconnect and build relationships; and presence on social media are examples of activities that carry out your marketing strategies and have the potential to ensure the achievement of marketing objectives.

For most,  the goal of marketing is to increase sales  (that is, revenue)  by increasing awareness and trust in the company and its products and services and in that way increasing the number of its potential customers.  Marketing is a way to fill the sales pipeline,  as is prospecting for potential customers  (wear your sales hat when prospecting,  although prospecting is not quite selling in the same way that marketing is not exactly selling).  Generally,  marketing strategies are created to produce one or more of these results:

1. Awareness,  so that target customer groups will learn of the existence of your company and its products and services.

2. Perception,  so that target customer groups will think of your company and its offerings in a certain way.  This is the core of brand development; trust and confidence are the primary attributes that you must persuade customers to associate with your company and its products and services.  Depending on your business,  other attributes you may want to attach to the brand are luxury,  practicality,  innovativation or quirkiness.  Reputation management and crisis PR are under this heading.

3. Behavior,  so that target customers will be persuaded to take action.  Your objectives may include attracting new customers;  encouraging repeat business from existing customers;  encouraging sales of higher-ticket items or premium services;  or stimulating referrals by persuading customers to recommend your products and services to others.

Because time and money are limited resources for business ventures large and small,  it is a big advantage to know which of your marketing activities works and if possible,  to also know which activities are effective for certain customers.  Further, it is essential to know how many customers come to your business as a result of marketing activities.

To measure the return on investment ROI of your marketing program,  one must venture into the realm of marketing metrics,  from data analytics to Big Data.  Next week,  we will look at simple yet revealing marketing metrics that will evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing and guide your future marketing activities.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Avoiding Exploitation: How Much Free Advice?

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You’ve seen this movie before.  You are excited by an invitation to visit the office of a promising prospect.  There is a great discussion about the business and where your services would fit.  Serious questions are asked and,  anxious to demonstrate your understanding of the your  (almost)  clients’ needs,   you supply straightforward and practical answers.  The prospect seems impressed with your business acumen;  the energy in the room feels good;  you can visualize your first day on the job.  At the meeting’s end,  there is talk of bringing you in to specify the details of a working relationship.

A week slips by and then two.  Your email or phone call is either unanswered,  or the answer you receive is that your prospect is unable to move forward at this time.  Can you call back next month? Ten days into the new month you call and realize,  with much regret,  that the trail has gone cold.  Who you thought would become a new client was just an imposter,  who robbed the stagecoach of your expertise and disappeared.

That scenario is repeated more than one would think at for-profit and not-for-profit institutions alike.  The fact is,  unless a consulting professional works at Bain,  McKinsey,  or some other big consulting group,   rip-off artists may conspire to defraud you of actionable business information without paying you a dime.  I’ve been invited to two or three interviews where in hindsight I came to realize that the  “prospect”  was merely fishing for free ideas that would resolve a dilemma that would be handled in-house.

Certain salaried predators find it very clever to pretend that there is a nice project available,  call in a few Freelance consultants and pepper us with questions that we answer because we neither eat nor pay the rent or mortgage unless we obtain clients.   The schemers take copious notes and laugh as we walk out of the door,  filled with false hope and visions of paid-off credit cards.

The business press occasionally takes this subject on and presents an article that provides strategies that Freelancers might use to protect ourselves,  but I have little faith in the proposed remedies.  Reading them,  I’ve seen almost nothing that I would expect to work in real-time.  The prospective client asks questions about a project.  How do you avoid providing answers and demonstrating your ability to do the job? Giving a wonderful sales presentation only means there will be better quality information to steal from you.  Recommendations to find out who will be in the meeting and searching for common ground that will allow you to connect on a personal level with at least one person on the team  (oh, you grow roses, too?)  means nothing to someone whose agenda is to exploit.  Knowing when to try to close the deal means nothing because there is nothing to close,  except the door in your face.

There are few effective solutions for this troubling occurrence.  To date,  the best I’ve read was contributed by Grant Cardone,  sales guru and best-selling author of Sell to Survive  (2008)  and Sell or Be Sold  (2012): “I would like to work with you on this issue and I have a few ideas on how we might proceed,  but at this time I don’t know your company well enough to give you answers that either of us could trust to be correct”.

The beauty of this response is that it’s true and it can most likely stop the ” client ” from continuing to press for free consulting advice.  Brazen types may threaten to snatch the  “opportunity”  away from you but if that does occur,  take it as a clear sign that there never was an intention to hire you or anyone else.  Graciously and immediately end the meeting.  If by some miracle the client is real,  your statement will be respected and taken as a sign of integrity.  Your candor might even win you the contract.

Good luck and Happy Easter,

Kim