Supersizing case study #1
As part of my coaching process I teach my clients to find ways to ‘Supersize’… The term comes from the geniuses at McDonald’s who realized that there is HUGE profits and margins in simply asking clients if they want more of what they’ve already ordered. (Smiles are free….and asking your customers to ’supersize’ doesn’t cost anything either!!) This morning I was filling my gas tank like usual. Nothing out of the ordinary. As I go in to pay, the lovely attendant says, “Hi sir! Did you know the lottery jackpot is $17 million?! How many tickets would you like?” And I thought…”Wow. Finally! Someone who gets it” After buying a lottery ticket she asks, “Would you also like a cup of hot coffee? We just brewed it fresh…” A $40 gas fill-up turned into a $50 purchase by the time she was done with me, and all it took was a couple of questions. Cost? $0. Return? 25% increase on the spot. Genius.
Copycat Marketing: The Sequel
The other major ‘copycatting’ mistake I see is that small businesses look to big businesses for advertising ideas…and they end up using ‘awareness’ advertising. Listen…your marketing budget is not $100,000,000 (if it is, give me a call…lets talk!) Which means that every dollar you spend should be tracked. If you do ANY form of advertising you should be able to calculate the return on investment. And now with all the online options like pay-per-click advertising you really have no excuses to create an ad that says ‘Here’s my company name, here’s a pretty picture of what we do, and here’s a life size replica of our company logo’.
The “Word-of-Mouth” Paradox
Here’s a fun conversation I have with small business owners. It usually goes something like this… ME – “..so how much of your new business comes from referrals and word of mouth?” SMALL BUSINESS OWNER – “We get around 70-80% of our clients from referrals” (note – any good company gets a tonne of referrals…it can range anywhere from 50-100% depending on the industry) ME – “How much of your marketing budget do you allocate for word of mouth and referrals?” SBO – “Huh? What? What do you mean? I guess, nothing…they just happen.” ME – “Amazing. So, 80% of your business comes from referrals, and you spend all of your money chasing the other 20%?” SBO – “Doh.” The moral of this story? Maybe its time to invest some of your hard earned marketing dollars into a form of marketing THAT ACTUALLY WORKS FOR YOU. (Sorry…I’m a little passionate about this).
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The “Word-of-Mouth” Paradox