Enjoy the TD

There are times when you’re pulled in so many directions that you overlook an important step or neglect to contact a person in a timely manner.

When this occurs, it’s best to acknowledge the misstep with an apology.

How you deliver this communication depends on each circumstance. An Email may be sufficient in some cases, but not all.

I often send my apology in a handwritten note, and sometimes the envelope or package includes a conciliatory offering.

Most of all, it’s best to deal with this situation right away as part of your marketing plan. Nothing takes the sting from a mistake as fast as a speedy acknowledgment.

Handling Customer Complaints, an article featured on The Gourmet Retailer’s Web site, provides an approach to resolve this issue.

You won’t lose customers if handling apologies quickly is part of your marketing strategy.

A friend of mine who, years ago, owned a take-out restaurant, was committed to serving healthy foods such as vegetables and organic juices.

What her customers requested each time they arrived was fried chicken.

She told me that not only was fried chicken never to be on her menu, it was too expensive to make because she couldn’t determine how much would be consumed each day, and there would be waste at the end of each night’s work.

Chicken, of all things, too expensive?

Her logic proved costly, as customers went elsewhere for food. She closed the failing business before the first year’s anniversary.

The one thing that will always be too costly for you is deciding for customers what’s best for them rather than creating what they want.

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal’s front page story, entitled Women Fall Head Over Heels for Shoe Makers’ Arch Designs, focuses on shoes made with 5-, 6-, and 7-inch heels that are big sellers today.

Did shoemakers consider wearers’ sprained ankles and back problems? Absolutely not. Their focus is more revenue from the fashion trend.

“Mr. Blahnik, who for more than 20 years topped out at 5-inch heels, pushed the envelope this year, adding a 6-inch style to his line. The designer-who doesn’t do platforms-says that 6-inch heels already account for about 30 percent of his company’s business.”

This fashion fad has also created a new service - “injections of a cosmetic filler such as Restylane or Juvederm to plump up the balls of feet.”

Sometimes conscious plays a big part in business, and I can understand that. There are some things you simply won’t make available.

However, before you create or update a new product or service, focus solely (no pun intended) on what clients want. If something you believe to be beneficial is not on their menu, it may not be a good fit on yours.

There’s lots of emphasis in today’s newspapers on how businesses are keeping more of their dollars by getting rid of non essentials.

Grass in front of buildings is being mowed by employees
Weekly donuts are being axed
Paper is now printed on both sides

It seems that big business is now attempting to do what we practice every day - spend money wisely.

Have your marketing plans changed during this current financial crisis, or have you uncovered more-resourceful ways to produce results?

Tomorrow, I’m attending a local all-day event that will introduce me to hundreds of prospects, and the investment cost is extremely low. I found the event’s information in my local newspaper, a lead source I’ve mentioned in the past.

Such events may be available to you, too, and is wise to consider rather than flying to larger venues where meal, lodging, and incidental costs await.

There’s a roster of local events in most newspapers and may also be available online. My newspaper prints meeting news in the business section on Sundays and Mondays.

Consider marketing your business to in-town prospects. After a while, big business will follow your lead, and that will lead them straight to you.

Whether you’ve created a dynamic phrase to describe how your business benefits others or if you’re still hazy on how to start, I found a great tool to help define who you are.

A form to develop your elevator pitch is housed in Microsoft.com’s template section.

It’s available in Word 2003 format, so if that program is in your computer, it can be downloaded. Print the two-page form to begin the easy five-part process.

You’re jack of all trades in the office, but when you attend meetings and conferences, it’s time to be very specific when introducing yourself to potential friends and prospects.

I printed the form and after some tweaking developed my elevator pitch. This morning I’ll attend a breakfast meeting and confidently state my words to gauge its effectiveness.

Have you developed your elevator pitch, or will this form be the beginning of a beautiful phrase?

Now you saw it. Politikerjockey for position, as they approach the end of running. Few of us saw the main politics to spread from first hand. Rather we build on the means to political updates and information. A thing, which particularly loves the means to report, is „, who in the lead is “, basedly on choice numbers. While votes are a useful research method for the collection of information about a population, votes are reliable only if you know whether they are statistically or not important. They can explain, if a vote is reliable by its error margin. This measures the accuracy of the results. Since the error margin increases, the discoveries are less reliable and exact. If a vote does not show the error margin, then you do not have a way to judge its accuracy and statistic meaning. E.G. you let candidates, whom A 44% of support of the voters has say us, while candidate has B 46%. If the error margin were 4%, this meant that candidate could really have A everywhere between 40-48% of support of the voters and candidate could have B 42-50% of support of the voters. Choice numbers must fall outside of the error margin thereby it on really middle important something. Moral of history: Do not believe that everything, which you hear. If it on the error margin do not report, then report it not on FULL HISTORY. And, if them on the error margin report, and the numbers fall you within this range, then the means should say that it is too close „to the call “because of the lack of statistic meaning.

“Basically, numerous little things went wrong, and they all came together to produce a very hazardous situation.”

This explanation, in the article Courage on K2 in the October edition of Climbing, about an expedition that resulted in numerous fatalities, could easily be said for marketing hazards that create business catastrophies (less capital, more bills, going back to working for someone else, etc.).

I’m certainly not making light of deaths that occur while climbing. However, some risks we take as solo marketers could spell the death of our businesses.

That’s why we must always think twice before acting on decisions that drain our cash registers dry.

In 1993, I decided to participate in a west coast trade show with just one item to sell - a $19.95 spiral-bound marketing manual.

It was written with the best intentions for a specific industry, and through my shaky calculations I believed that by selling 20 books a day during the three-day event, I’d at least break even.

I failed miserably, and the debt from travelling, lodging, meals, and incidentals seemed insurmountable. It took me 18 months to pay it off, and I swore I’d never participate in another trade show again.

The show was not at fault. It was my:

Product’s low price. How could prospects see value in an under $20 spiral-bound marketing manual?

Poor on-site plan. I didn’t collect attendees’ business cards, so there was no way to continue the post-show marketing process.

Willingness to answer every non-product question. I thought the rapport would sell more books, but instead people received my premium advice that was best referred back to the presenters paid to speak at the show.

So, all of those little things produced my hazardous situation.

Like a climber, I still search for risks but unlike many of them I calculate rewards more cautiously.

What’s the biggest marketing challenge you’ve faced, and would you do it again?

The sky is falling according to world news, and for those of us with any type of invested cash, the financial picture is not rosy right now.

It’s a coin toss as to whether the space under your office chair or a money market account is the better place for your funds.

But one thing’s for sure no matter where you stash it: your business marketing plan must stay on course.

Perhaps the way I’m proceeding will also help guide you.

1. Look at the upcoming quarter’s plan. Is contacting customers right now a smarter choice than connecting with them in the coming weeks? Doing so may strengthen your relationships.

2. Review the text in your direct mail marketing materials. Is it best to add a sentence or two that reflects the current economic trends and your commitment to customers at this time?

3. Meet with top clients (if they’re within your region) over breakfast or lunch. This is one important way to gauge the pulse (strengths and weaknesses) of each industry you serve so that if one firm closes, you’re already insulated with opportunities from others.

Rather than hold your breath, it’s time to fortify your firm with marketing techniques that connect with customers to strengthen ties so that when the smoke clears, you’re still in business moving in a forward direction.