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Competitive Advantage Ezine
Formerly Sales and Marketing Strategies & News Ezine
November 28, 2005 http://www.thecompetitiveadvantage.net
Lori Smedley, Editor lsmedley@douglaspublications.com
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CONTENTS:

* Web Marketing: Traditional media ad campaigns give way to stealth marketing in effort to       improve ROI
* Customer Service: How to provide outstanding service
* Career Enhancement: Create positive PR for yourself
* Competitive Advantage: Beat competitors with “have want”
* Sales Training/Management: 4 leadership skills you must have
* Motivation: Praise is wasted unless done well
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Web Marketing
Traditional media ad campaigns give way to stealth marketing in effort to improve ROI

Marketing is the corporate function everyone loves to hate. Companies and consumers agree that there is too much of it; that too much money is spent on product promotion with too little accountability for return on investment. Yet, marketing matters. So, companies continue to spend billions to woo and keep buyers, and potential buyers continue to find ways to avoid being marketed to. 

To remain viable, marketing has gone underground. The practice is called by various names—marketing by masquerade, stealth marketing or undercover marketing.

Product placement, or branded entertainment as it’s called in the industry, was considered undercover marketing until the practice became so widespread viewers started looking for the products and, later, stopped noticing them altogether.

Practitioners of undercover marketing insist it’s the only way to cut through the clutter and grab the attention of potential customers. Critics charge that dressing marketing up as something else entirely is at best disingenuous, at worst subversive. They are particularly distressed that more and more companies sell to children in ways too subtle for children to discern that they are being marketed to.

Nonetheless, the practice will continue, albeit, eventually, with legislative sanctions against covert marketing to children, preteen and younger. It will continue because more people are spending less time watching television and more time online, on their cell phones, at the movies, concerts, sporting and other organized large-audience events, or playing video games. As a result, marketing dollars will continue to be diverted from mainstream broadcast media to the Web, direct mail, and guerilla marketing, which involves persuading ordinary people with promises of trinkets, tickets, t-shirts, and other trade-offs, to extol the virtues of a product or service without admitting to a relationship with the marketer.

Broadcast media will still be part of the marketing mix. But Web advertising will receive an ever-larger share of companies’ marketing budgets. Web advertising offers companies a much bigger bang for their buck.

Stealth or undercover marketing is easier to accomplish online, but it won’t be producers of banner, pop-up, pop-under, or other in-your-face advertisements that get a piece of the action. In the future, Web advertising is more likely to take the form of specialty Web sites that are “intended to entrance visitors with humor, video or games,” writes The New York Times. For example, Burger King’s online promotion for its new TenderCrisp chicken sandwich barely mentions the company or the product. Visitors to SubservientChicken.com can type orders to a person in a chicken costume who is observed via Web cam obeying the visitors’ commands. A discreet link to Burger King’s Web site is the only corporate connection. Kraft Foods swore off advertising high-fat foods to young children on television, but it continues to market them to kids online. NabiscoWorld.com features an Oreo cookie-dunking game in which tiny cookies fall out of the sky while players try to catch them in a glass of milk. It may be entertainment, but it’s still marketing, and most young children don’t know they’re being marketed to, which concerns child advocates.

Such online “advergames” are increasingly popular among all age groups, and so far, government regulators have taken a hands-off approach to Internet advertising. More covert than advergames is the practice of “mainlining” products, which involves identifying people who influence others and giving them a product a company wants to push. These trendsetters wear, watch, read or consume the product and rave about it to anyone who will listen. “If the right person is wearing the right thing, people want it,” says Kelly Cutrone, founder of the fashion branding firm People’s Revolution.

Apparently, if the right people are using the right computer, listening to the right music, or playing the right video game other people will buy it, too.

Understandably, marketers are thrilled to uncover new methods to ensure their messages are heard above the din. But consumer advocates claim that stealth marketing is deceptive.

But it works, so it’s not likely to go away, and savvy marketers who find ways to be less subversive and more entertaining will be successful in reaching their target audiences.

Take Action

• Companies that market to children must clearly state that they are advertising a product or face sanctions from the audience, and later from government regulatory agencies.
• Companies of every size can use the Web to reach target audiences for a much lower cost than broadcast media advertising campaigns.

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Customer Service
How to provide outstanding service

For 10 years, Patricia Twitchell has owned and operated a specialty gift shop In Myrtle Creek, Ore. People from all over the country visit Just Bears and Stuff, and the store draws a very high percentage of repeat customers.

Working with customers has been an education for Twitchell. ‘In the 10 years I’ve owned and operated Just Bears and Stuff, I’ve learned a great deal about customer service. Even though some of it was from books, tapes and articles such as you’re reading right now, much of my insight came from my customers,” she says.

Twitchell says she’s reminded of the basics of customer service every day she’s at the shop. Here are some of the guidelines that have allowed her to not only survive, but thrive in business for the last decade:

• Make customers feel they’re getting something special. Remember their names and use them often. Get to know something about them. The more special they feel the more they will want to return to do business with you again. Guaranteed.
• Go the extra mile. Make your customers feel they’re the most special people to you, Twitchell says. “We offer beautiful gift wrapping at no extra charge. That’s an added value I provide.” What added valued can you add to let your customers know you’re going the extra mile?
• Never make customers feel as if they’re asking for something out of the ordinary. Although customers may ask at times for more than you can give them, the way that you let them know that will determine the feeling they take away from the experience. Always respect the request, avoid the word “but” when you reply. Tell customers: “I wish I could do that” or “You raise a good point. I will bring that up at our next staff meeting.”
• Be knowledgeable about your product or service and industry. Twitchell says: “When my customers look to me to make suggestions, they feel a sense of security in knowing that I know my product line extremely well. I pride myself in helping my customers select just the right gift for whomever they’re choosing it for.”
• Remember that you’re dealing with real people and with real needs. Regardless of the business you’re in, customers make the choice to do business with you. If they feel that you’re meeting their needs, they will return again and again.
• You can make a connection with customers even if you never meet them face to face. Twitchell says: “Many customers find me on the Internet. I have customers all over the world, and each one is so special to me and they know it.” Don’t let a lack of personal contact serve as your excuse to neglect relationship building. You can build solid relationships with customers face-to-face or over the phone.

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Career Enhancement
Create positive PR for yourself

You may believe that to advance in the workplace, you need only show up and do your work. But today, with bosses juggling far more information with far less personal interaction, solid performance alone can’t guarantee you will move up the corporate ladder. Here are some ways you can toot your own horn—softly:

• Pay attention to your image. Do you do what you say you will do? Are you on time? Do you treat people politely? Common courtesy has become increasingly rare in the workplace, so bosses appreciate gracious, helpful employees.
• Do more than is asked of you. Bosses also notice and reward those who do more than their jobs require. So take on extra tasks and responsibilities, especially those your manager finds particularly onerous. Everyone appreciates an employee who’s willing to tackle the dirty work.
• Rally supporters. If you don’t feel comfortable extolling your own virtues, recruit colleagues to do it for you. Gently encourage them to speak up on your behalf. Example: “Jan, if you think any of my ideas are winners, would you be willing to say so in the weekly meeting? And I will do the same for you.”
• Build your reputation outside your organization. Raising your visibility often means becoming an expert in your industry. Network outside the office, speak at industry conventions, write for trade journals or offer yourself to the media as an expert.

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Competitive Advantage
Beat competitors with ‘have-want’

One of your competitor’s customers may seem like your number-one prospect. But how do you begin a sales conversation? Remember: Persuasion begins with fact-gathering. Asking the prospect some open-ended questions usually provides a good opening. Start by asking your prospect these two key questions:

• What do you like most about the (product or service) you already have?
• What do you want in terms of (cost, coverage, service) that you don’t already have?

This skillful combination of “haves” and “wants” helps you beat your competition. How? The first question encourages prospects to discuss what they like. That tells you how to frame your offering. The second question allows them to identify any unmet needs. That saves you from having to guess your way toward the sale. You can’t lose with this one-two knockout punch.
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Sales Training/ Management
4 leadership skills you must have

Here’s a sobering statistic: A whopping four out of 10 newly promoted managers and executives are fired, fall below expectations or voluntarily resign within the first 18 months. What enables some managers to beat this bleak prognosis? While successful managers usually have unique styles, they typically share four leadership qualities:

1. A strong backbone. Successful managers show conviction and tenacity. They go to bat for their employees, working hard to eliminate obstacles and competition for needed resources. They deal directly with conflict because they are not overly concerned with being everyone’s buddy. And they never “play both sides of the fence.”
2. 20/20 vision. Successful managers generate enthusiasm and commitment by communicating a vision about where the team should head and how it should get there.
3. An appreciation of individuality. Successful managers realize that they cannot change people. Rather, they focus on making the most of each person’s strengths. And, contrary to conventional wisdom, they don’t treat everyone the same. For example, they realize that some employees need autonomy while others require frequent handholding.
4. Good people skills. Successful managers avoid turmoil by choosing their battles and maintaining the dignity of others. They also are skilled at negotiation.

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Motivation
Praise is wasted unless done well

Giving praise is not as easy as it sounds. People are not always receptive to compliments because of their own insecurities or cynicism. And many praise givers struggle to find words that sound fresh and genuine. Here are tips to help you praise well:

• Perfect your style. Maintain good eye contact when giving praise, and speak with warmth and enthusiasm.
• Put effort into it. Try to convey that you’re making the effort because the person is worth it. Never assume that people “already know their value.”
• Don’t expect a gracious reaction. Some people will never comfortably respond to compliments. However, make it clear that you mean it and they will understand the message.

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Competitive Advantage Ezine, formerly Sales and Marketing Strategies & News Ezine, is published by Douglas Publications LLC.
Visit us at http://www.thecompetitiveadvantage.net.
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For information on sponsorships for the Sales and Marketing Strategies & News Ezine, contact Curtis Wharton, (804) 762-9600, ext. 254 or cwharton@douglaspublications.com.
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