Even word-of-mouth doesn't happen on its own

One of the big news stories in the US this week is the purchase of XM by Sirius Satellite Radio. It's big news because of the discussions around competition and how the consumer is affected by Sirius buying up their competitors.

But I bring it up here because their marketing tactics could have foretold who was going to come out on top. A couple of years ago, I was working with a large financial institution on a project in which we needed some prizing. I chose a package from Sirius as the major prize and had to defend this decision with the senior executives. Their big question was, "How do you know Sirius will be around in a few years and that everyone won't have gone with XM?"

My answer was, "Their marketing". Now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, marketing has to be interpreted here as more than just advertising. I was never a big fan of the Sirius advertising, but they were managing their budget well. They became a supplier to Canadian Tire and other large retailers. They sponsored some great events. They had a terrific PR machine keeping them in the forefront of people's minds.

Where was XM?

And this is my point today for small and rural businesses. You have to get out there. It doesn't always have to do with advertising.

This week, I heard a story about a group of small business owners lamenting that they had made no sales. When asked what they planned to do to change this, they all said, "Nothing, word of mouth will get me sales eventually."

For those of you who have read some of my other blogs, you can probably imagine the screaming going on inside my head when I heard this. Word of mouth doesn't happen on its own. You have to start the cycle of referral with planned tactics.

Similar to Sirius, rural and small businesses can increase their sales, and their chance of still being in business a year from now, by getting out there with whatever means are possible. I'm not talking a huge advertising campaign. I'm talking specific, economical tactics that have an excellent chance of returning the investment.

Event-based marketing is a good example. Develop or sponsor an event and promote the dickens out of it. Use media releases, posters in your neighbourhood variety store and post offices, develop an inexpensive postcard to carry with you and hand out everywhere you go.

You don't have to spend a fortune to get your business into the front of people's brains. But you do have to be creative with your tactics and messages. As a rural or small business owner, you have to set the ball in motion so word of mouth can develop. Take advantage of networking opportunities like your local Chamber of Commerce. Attend their events and hand out your postcards or business cards and talk up your business like crazy.

Once you have a few satisfied customers, then word of mouth marketing stands a chance. But if you can't get a few people talking, word of mouth will never do you justice.

Customer service - the face of your brand

This week was an interesting experience for me in the world of customer service. Some people came out of it with accolades and others should be ashamed of themselves. And even more interestingly, small business owners dropped the ball the most.

The staff at Mormac had cause to be on the phone with customer service departments from five large companies this week. By name, they are: Hewlitt Packard, Amtelecom, Black Sun, Ministry of Revenue for the Province of Ontario and the Department of Immigration and Employment for Canada. Yes, there are two government agencies on this list.

In every case, the customer service staff were helpful, attentive and knowledgeable. Good heavens, the guy from the Ministry of Revenue even had me laughing uproariously while he worked through my questions.

I make a point of including the names of the companies here because good customer service is hard to find. People are mainly self-involved, too busy and just don't care. And when that spreads into the delivery of customer service, it says a lot about your brand.

The front-line people are the real owners of delivering the brand experience. So whether it is salespeople, customer service folks or the owner of the company, everyone needs to buy into the brand definition and deliver that experience. The companies mentioned above have instilled enough pride in the brand and enjoyment of the job that the customer service people are trusted to be the face of the company. (Here's the spot to say - you get what you pay for...make sure your front-line people are paid well enough to enjoy their job and want to stay.)

And now for the ball-droppers. I won't name them here because this message is no doubt broadly true. And you know who you are - the small business owner that is just too busy running the business to pay particular attention to being on the front-line.

These are the people who don't return emails and phone calls. They are the ones who are negatively vocal about their competition, rather than identifying the positives in their own business. And they are the ones who don't care about how they are perceived by their suppliers.

Yes, suppliers. Your customers are not the only people that can destroy your brand for you. Your suppliers interact with you on a regular basis and have the biggest opportunity to develop an opinion about your business. Just because they are a supplier doesn't mean they don't have the power to recommend you to others, or tell others not to do business with you.

Make it a point to return emails in 24 hours. Even if it is just a note that says you are busy and will get back to them in a day or so. (Or make sure to have an auto-reply saying when you will be back to your emails)

Acknowledgment is one of the driving forces of humanity. Acknowledge your customers and your suppliers. Always remember that everything you do reflects on your brand and on your business. If you don't return emails, people will soon question your reliability and organization skills. And when I say "your", I don't just mean you, I mean your business as well.

Get into the habit of talking about the uniqueness of your business rather than the negative things about your competition. By talking about your competition, you are giving them mind-time they wouldn't otherwise get.

Many small business owners are also the customer service department. You need to think like a customer service representative. It is easy these days to bring to mind a negative customer service experience, not so easy to remember a good one. That alone will make you stand out from the crowd and will help you grow your business.

The little card tells a big story

I've been seeing a lot of small and rural businesses' business cards lately. You can really tell the ones that have been designed and printed on home computers. You can also tell the ones that have been designed and printed professionally.

I have to guess that the businesses putting their face forward with business cards designed on their home computers and printers just don't realize the message this sends to their potential customers.

So here's the scoop:

Your business card is your first contact with a good portion of your customer base. You hand them over at networking groups and at every meeting you attend. They hang around in people's day-books, pockets and in weird places in their cars. You should never underestimate the value of great looking business card.

Unfortunately, too many rural and small business owners think the business card is a throw-away and not worth an investment. Think again. Your business card tells your story, represents your brand and has more staying power than almost any other kind of printed marketing.

So what message do you think an unprofessional, flimsy business card relays?

What it says is, "I don't really care about my business. I probably won't be around in six months so don't worry about losing my business card. I don't have enough pride in my business to bother about looking professional or reliable."

I've still got business cards from people I met 10 years ago. And you can bet the quality of the card reminds me why I have done business with them, or why not.

Your business card sets the tone for all the rest of your marketing - your stationery, your print ads, your website.

So say, for instance, your customer base is highly educated people with a disposable income. If your business card is messy, cluttered and on cheap paper, do you think this customer base is going to trust you?

It isn't rocket science. Get your business card designed and printed so you can be proud to show it off. You'll find your customers believe in you faster and you'll also find yourself being more excited to hand your cards out to others.

And all he sees is the almighty dollar

I did a survey recently and discovered that 98 percent of rural and small business owners were handling their own marketing. I also discovered the majority have an intense dislike of advertising sales guys. You know the ones - they get your phone number and call you all the time, they stop by unannounced and muddy the marketing waters by insisting their advertising is the best way to go for your business. They are slick and shiny. And they have left a very bad taste in a lot of people's mouths in my area.

And out of this environment of intense dislike, one of these sales guys opened his own business selling advertising and promotional items to local small businesses. Changed his tune, but didn't change his schtick. He is still slick and still shiny and believes success is based on being the cheapest at what he does.

What he has also managed to do is take away the uniqueness of many businesses. He achieves "cheapest" by offering a standard paper so he can take everyone's work and pile it up into one print run. (It's called 'ganging' the work. e.g. business cards from 25 different businesses all laid up on one sheet, same paper, same ink, same quality - or lack thereof)

Of course, businesses don't have to work with him and can keep their uniqueness. But when you see 1,000 business cards offered in full colour for $40, who would say no?

For goodness sake, say no. If your company is promoted on the same paper as everyone else, how will you stand out?

And while he shared with me the wonders of his successful business, our advertising-guy-turned-business-owner laughed over mistakes he'd made in people's information. Are you willing to accept mistakes that hold up your marketing efforts or, heaven forbid, get out into your customers' hands?

Attention to quality costs money. People are always cheapest for a reason. They rush the job through so it takes less hours which can translate into mistakes. They don't use quality supplies which reflects poorly on your brand. And often times, they just don't care about your business.

Buy the right solution for your business. Keep your uniqueness alive. And don't scrimp on your marketing. Your customers will see it and measure your business by it.

And the first to go is the marketing budget

When sales go down, as many industries will see in the next while because of the state of the American economy, the accountants start making their lists of cutbacks and layoffs. This is true in big business as well as rural and small business. And one of the first things to go, in the majority of cases, is the marketing budget.

Accountants see marketing as a cost centre. There is no direct line from marketing to increased revenue in an accountant's mind. It is the sales department that brings in the revenue. So cutting back the marketing budget will save money, right?

Wrong!

If you cut back on your marketing spend, how will your customers learn all the great things about your business? If anything, you should plan to increase your marketing budget to support your sales during times of lean coffers.

I've lost count of the number of times I've had this discussion with accountants and actuaries. Okay, for their sakes, I'll change what I just said (plan to increase your marketing budget) to leave the marketing budget alone - leave it at the same level it's at before your business starts to shrink.

This is where having the right marketing team in place is so very important. Your messages have to be fine-tuned and extremely targeted during the lean times.

I've just had the pleasure of working with a bunch of brand new business owners as they build their business plans. Needless to say when you're first starting your business, times are lean as well.

It was painful for me. They were being told by the class facilitators that a reasonable marketing budget is between two to five per cent of their annual sales projections. Of course, they were also coached that they should decide what they needed to do to market their business and plan an appropriate budget. Not one of them went above the five per cent mark, and most went with two per cent. Needless to say, these percentages were created by accountants.

Brand new businesses should be planning a bigger marketing spend to get the word out and promote strong sales. With a tight, skinflint marketing budget, their business will grow slowly and may not survive the first year.

Economies of course make sense when times are lean, but it's important to look at the big picture. If you cut back your marketing budget, what will support your sales team and deliver your message to your customers?