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by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Nobody needs to tell anybody running a small business that doing
so successfully takes a combination of skills and attributes
rarely found outside heroic sagas. We know that.
We have too much to do, too little time to do it in, and other
interests and responsibilities which occasionally need our
attention.
In short, we need help.
Fortunately, that help is now available in the personal computer.
But what bothers me is that the computer, the most significant
aid to small business people ever developed, is not being
utilized effectively by them. Hence this article.
This failure to utilize the computer effectively seems to me to
be due to two major reasons: continuing (and deeply irrational)
computerphobia and an even more serious inability truly to
integrate the computer into each facet of a business,
particularly marketing.
As a one-time computerphobe myself, I understand why people like
the lawyer who visited me the other day literally break into a
sweat when they see this electronic cyclops. It seems to be
terrifying. But while understanding this feeling, I can no longer
sympathize with it. We have reached the point where each small
business must be computerized. And that's that. The computer is
the least expensive and most effective way dramatically to
increase your productivity and hence your profitabililty. And if
either of these crucial business objectives interests you, you
must become computer proficient. Your fear and loathing of the
machine is a luxury you simply cannot afford.
Hence, my first piece of advice. If you are still not
computerized and are still failing to profit from this crucial
machine, get and use a simple, inexpensive book: A MOTHER'S GUIDE
TO COMPUTERS: A NON-TECHNICAL, PRACTICAL GUIDE
TO COMPUTERS. (See Resource Box for details.) Despite the
unfortunate title of this book by Norma Leone, computerphobia is
not just a problem for mothers and their children; it's a problem
for anyone attempting to run a business without one.
And, now we get to the crux of this article, that includes people
who already have a computer but just don't understand how to
integrate it into their marketing efforts so that they are
getting the maximum benefit from this machine in identifying,
contacting, and keeping prospects and customers.
Towards Routinization
Most marketing tasks in any business are routine. That is to say,
the same things take place day in, day out. The smart business
owner knows this. His objective is, therefore, simple: to
identify every marketing task that needs to be done and to find
out how to do it easier. Thus, he knows that:
1. each day new people whom he has never heard from before will
ask for information about his products and services;
2. each day people who have been sent information in the past
will fail to respond to this information and so will need follow-
up;
3. each day people who have been customers of the business in
the
past will fail to buy and will, therefore, need reminders on why
they should do so again;
4. each day someone will buy from his company and will need to
have this buying decision confirmed as sensible and to be told
about other, related products and services offered by the company
which will also assist him;
5. each day media outlets will be contacted which can publicize
and promote products, services and activities of the company;
Each of these marketing tasks should be routinized and can be
with the help of the computer.
Is This What You Do?
Recently, I've been sampling small business owners (including
computer consultants and others particularly skilled about
technical details of the machine) to discover how many have
actually identified routine marketing tasks of their businesses
and prepared detailed responses, the kinds of responses the
computer is so good at delivering. The results are shocking.
For instance, taking this survey at a recent small business
conference I addressed, I discovered that not a single business
had identified its routine marketing tasks and provided for
standard yet personalized, computer-assisted solutions. True,
many of these businesses were utilizing the computer for list
management and accounts receivable functions. But no one was
using the computer to strengthen their day-to-day marketing. This
is ridiculous!
In practice what does this mean?
It means that what these businesses are sending out is either
"canned" (and hence not specifically developed for the prospect),
or it is specifically created for the prospect, and is thus time-
consuming, expensive and incapable of being sent to the prospect
quickly.
If what is sent is canned, it cannot, by definition, be packed
with benefits that are specific to the individual prospect. At
best, these prospects are getting standardized brochures, flyers,
and sales letters "personalized" by the harrassed entrepreneur
with the provoking letters "FYI" at the top of the page. Let me
say it here and clearly: that technique is not a personalized
technique. Rather, it is a sign that personalization, for
whatever reason, was out of the question and that you were hoping
such scattershot marketing, rather than something personal, would
make the sale.
On the other hand, developing a tailored-proposal and materials
for the prospect generally takes too much time and ordinarily
means that you cannot answer the prospect the same day he
contacts you. Yet you know that waiting to send materials is a
mistake.
Computer-assisted marketing solves both problems.
It enables you to:
1 . send detailed, benefit-rich copy to each prospect or customer;
2. ensures that this information is sent promptly, so that your
prospect has it fast while his interest is still high.
To be able to achieve these crucial marketing objectives, here's
what you must do:
* Identify each possible customer you'll have for each of your
products or services. Then write down the benefits that each kind
of customer will get from each thing you are selling. Remember:
different people buy for different reasons. Your job is to know
who is buying and why they're buying and to tell them, in no
uncertain terms, that you'll give them the benefits they want.
* Develop the appropriate response vehicle before you ever come
into direct contact (by phone, letter, or in person) with any of
your prospects or customers. In other words, it is your job to
know who will call you, what they'll want, and to have, already
completed, the benefit-rich response vehicle you'll use in
connecting with them -- before you come into direct contact with
anyone!
The Computer-Assisted Marketing Materials You'll Need
The computer can assist you at each stage of your marketing effort. And should.
-- Using The Computer Before You've Closed The Sale
The tasks here are plain:
*develop a list of the different kinds of prospects who'll be
buying what you're selling;
*write down precisely what problems they have and precisely
what benefits they get by using your product or service.
The more benefits you have the better. Remember: different people
respond to different benefits. Personally, I like letters that
are LONG, at least three pages offering single-spaced benefit-
rich copy. Why do I do this? If the person is interested, he
wants to know what I've got for him, and the longer he spends
reading the copy (so rich in benefits for him), the better chance
I've got of persuading him to take action. (Note: by keeping your
printer on draft mode, you can produce such a letter in under a
minute.)
Develop a second letter that reprises the benefits originally
presented in the first. This letter should point out:
* the benefits of acting NOW;
* what the prospect is missing by not acting NOW.
You should determine just when to send this benefit-laden follow-
up letter. My suggestion: no more than 10 days following the
original letter. Again, the computer ensures that this letter is
complete and personalized. Hint: make sure every marketing letter
concludes with an order blank that's dated, especially if you
have an offer that expires. The computer ensures that the precise
expiration date of your offer is updated daily.
-- Using The Computer After You've Closed The Sale
Too many business people make the terrible mistake of simply
selling the prospect exactly what he asks for. There's no talent
in that. Instead, make sure you are trying to upgrade every
customer. Thus, when a buyer acquires my book THE CONSULTANT'S
KIT: ESTABLISHING AND OPERATING YOUR SUCCESSFUL CONSULTING
BUSINESS, I always let him know the benefits he'll get by also
using TRICKS OF THE TRADE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SUCCEEDING IN
THE ADVICE BUSINESS.
But I don't simply insert package-stuffer information with these
benefits or take the time to write a personal letter. No, I have
an already-existing benefit-laden letter which goes to each
individual buyer with all the reasons why he'll find TRICKS OF
THE TRADE useful. And gives him the immediate reasons for taking
action now, including getting a special premium of his choice.
This letter, though standardized, is warm, packed with benefits,
and seemingly very, very personal.
-- Using The Computer To Retrieve Lapsed Buyers
Too many businesses allow their lapsed buyers to get away, or
feel they are connecting with them sufficiently often if they
merely mail them some standard sales piece. This is a mistake.
The more money a now-lapsed buyer has invested in you through
purchases, the more you must be prepared to romance him back, to
get him to buy again.
The computer is perfect for this task.
Start with the realization that some of your buyers will drift
away. It is your job to get them back. Understand that standard
mailings are not always going to be sufficient to get them to buy
again. So, develop a letter packed with benefits for a lapsed
buyer and send this to him personally. The benefits he gets
should be timed, so that if he doesn't take action he'll have a
real sense of loss. And, above all else: make it personal. Say:
"Mr. Jones, we haven't heard from you in a while, and we want you
back. Here are the benefits of coming back. But if you don't act,
here's what you'll lose." The computer enables you to bring home
with a sense of urgency and directness the actual benefits that
the non-responding former-buyer will lose. And thus induce him to
do what it takes to get them.
The Computer And The Media: Using Computer-Assisted Marketing To
Get Free Publicity
As you might suspect from someone who wrote a book entitled THE
UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE, I am a fanatic about getting
free publicity to sell my products and services. Sadly, however,
while other business people are willing to recognize the benefits
of getting free publicity over buying paid advertising, they
don't have the slightest idea how to achieve this result. Much
less how to achieve it with the help of the computer.
To begin with, media sources are not in the business of promoting
your products or services. But they will promote your products
and services to the extent that they are perceived as solutions
to the problems of their readers and listeners. Thus, if you want
to get free media attention, you need to:
. keep a list of the problems of your targeted buyers, and
. indicate how you can solve these problems.
Then you need to bring both the problems and an indication of
what you have to say about them (including, of course, the
availability of your own problem-solving products and services)
to the attention of appropriate media who reach the people you
can help. The computer is invaluable for doing this.
You should maintain a stock letter on diskette that can be
immediately sent to a media source. This letter should clearly
outline the problems and anxieties of a particular group of
people; this group should be both the group you are marketing to
and the group the media source is trying to attract. Then you
should indicate what kinds of solutions are available to help
these people (that is, what expert information you have that
could solve their problem). This information can and should
include the fact that you have a product or service available. In
return for your specialized information about how to solve a
particular problem, the media source allows you to provide
specific promotional information about your product or service.
I contact media sources daily as part of my marketing program.
But in very few instances are the letters I send actually
personal. Almost always, they are based on stock media letters
which I maintain on diskette. The fact that these letters exist
means I can contact more media sources, and as a result get more
free media attention. The only truly personal part of the letter
is the name and address of the person I'm writing.
Make Sure You Benefit From Computer-Assisted Marketing
With so many advantages to computer-assisted marketing, why are
so few people using it? Essentially for three reasons:
1) Vast numbers of small businesses are still not computerized.
This is outright folly. Nothing increases your productivity more,
including your marketing productivity, than a fully utilized
computer.
2) Too many people with computers have not studied their
businesses to find out where a computer can help routinize tasks,
including marketing tasks. Unless you know where a computer can
help you, you are clearly not going to be using it sufficiently.
3) And finally, too many of those who are computerized have not
yet attempted to write down the specific benefits for each of
their services and products and each of their different kinds of
prospects, so that they can develop highly-personal, benefit rich
copy pertinent to each kind of buyer. Thus, they are foolishly
relying on stock documents when they need specific benefit
documents. And they are using the computer to do little more than
maintain their mailing lists and handle their accounts receivable
instead of profiting from it as their most powerful marketing
tool.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Resource Box
If you're still a computerphobe, you need A MOTHER'S GUIDE TO
COMPUTERS: THE COMPUTER SURVIVAL MANUAL by Norma Leone. 112
pages. $8.45 postpaid from The Sure-Fire Business Success
Catalog, 50 Follen St., suite 507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or with
MC/Visa from (617) 547-6372.
______________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Jeffrey Lant is one of America's best known business develop
writers. His books include THE CONSULTANT'S KIT: ESTABLISHING AND
OPERATING YOUR SUCCESSFUL CONSULTING BUSINESS; THE UNABASHED
SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE: WHAT EVERY MAN, WOMAN, CHILD AND
ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING AHEAD BY
EXPLOITING THE MEDIA and, his latest, MONEY MAKING MARKETING:
FINDING THE PEOPLE WHO NEED WHAT YOU'RE SELLING AND MAKING SURE
THEY BUY IT. Each is $32.50 postpaid from The Sure-Fire Business
Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., #507, Cambridge, MA 02138. Don't
forget to ask for your FREE copy of this 100-item Business
Resources Guide!
