Brainstorming  some Shop Local PSA’s today.  So, how can we encourage our local listeners to shop locally and keep the dollars in our own hometown? 

Maybe we could have ”local” merchants come in and say… 

“I’m Bob from Bob’s Burger Barn on First Street encouraging you to shop local. We have six local community members as employees, we pay local taxes, and support local Little League. There’s no reason to send your locally earned money out of our community if you don’t have to. Think local, shop local, and we’ll see you when you come in.”

or…

“Everyone orders out…pizza, Chinese, heck these days you can order movies out. But what if everybody ordered out for things like A/C or car rental. What if you went to the next town or even farther still XYZ City just down the road. What do you think would eventually happen to the economy of our town. Well you can make a difference. How? Glad you asked…by shopping locally at your local business and keeping our money here in our own economy. By doing that you maintain the job market, and help keep our town…blah blah blah blah…so the next time you want to order out for pizza…go ahead. But the next time you need something done to your home or want to shop for that designer brand. Remember the business right here at home. Because without eachother…we’re just another sad cliché inserted here for effect.”

or in the Dick Orkin fashion…

Male1: Jane, I see john’s still sitting on the curb.
Jane: How long has it been…two
Male1: Three weeks now
Jane: He comes in to eat…
Male1: what the heck did he order again?
Jane: one of those flashy dashy, chromy domey…
Male1: You know he could have got that here locally…
Jane: He wanted to say he got it on the internet
Male1: He does know that 80% of local store owners have a website
Jane: I know…He’s a Leo
Male1: Ohhhh..Gotcha
Annc: Shop Locally.. Yada Yada Yada

OR any number of other promos that come to mind.  Are you doing something special to encourage your local businesses to shop local?  If so, let me know by adding your $.02 to the conversation.

Justin Kaiser
Creative Identity Group

I am extremely fortunate to have been surrounded by talented people. Today as I sit and evaluate the next steps I need to take in the growth of my business, I am looking for the next client case study.

I cannot stress enough how valuable the client case studies are for us… First, clients LOVE the attention. The client quotes are much more powerful for marketing than anything I could write.  I just need to blatantly ask for “juicy quotes.”

Second, third party endorsements are easy deal closers when you are presenting to clients. You can extol your virtues until you’re blue in the face, but hearing it from someone else makes a big difference.

Finally, people like to read about other people. It is interesting, engaging content, and I know people read it.

A couple of other things we do that I think make a difference:

1. We send the article to the client in a nice frame with a box of chocolates to say thank you.
2. We frame the articles and put them in our office.
3. We always give the client an option of including a flyer or promotional piece about their business in with our newsletter mailing, at absolutely no cost to the client. We print the flyer and mail it with our mailing.

Here are some other marketing tips that we have implemented or look forward to implementing in our business model. 

I’ve found this rule to be true. 7 touches (phone, visit, fax, email, letter, rescheduling) to an appointment. 25 touches to contract.  If I had to do it all over again I would go an hour early or stay an hour late after every job I did and walk into every business around it asking them how they are marketing their business. 

I’ve learned so much and have more to learn.  The biggest thing I want to hit, though, if you DO have the time, thoroughly plan your business, then GO FOR IT!

Justin Kaiser

photo credit: Erica_Marshall

Here’s the latest Pap from the RAB, however sometimes, pap to ponder for us indies prospecting for new clients. You ARE spending at least 10%-20% of your workday prospecting, aren’t you?

Justin Kaiser
Creative Identity Group

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Just like our universe, sales are made up of some basic elements. Each time you explore a new opportunity to make a sale, you should take time to consider how many of these elements are present.

1. Decision-Makers — Make certain that the person you are working with is authorized to allocate company funds for advertising, marketing, and promotions. If multiple decision-makers will be involved, make sure you know who they are and try to arrange for them all to be present at the moment you intend to ask for the order.

2. Specific Need(s)– Most salespeople only identify generic needs, like more traffic or more name awareness. Top performers know they need more specificity to make the sale and do their job. If the prospect says, “I want more traffic,” drill deeper with questions like, “Describe the type of person you need more of,” “Exactly where do you want these customers to go?” or, “When do you need them to come to your store?” And, “What do you need them to do when they get there?”

3. A Relevant Plan — Just because you think your plan is perfect for the client doesn’t mean they will. You must develop a proposal based solely on the client’s perception of how relevant it is to them. To do this, you must do a thorough CNA. It also helps to brainstorm ideas with the client during the CNA to get an idea of what kinds of programs they are predisposed to accept.

4. Sufficient Budget — It is not uncommon to find clients with needs that they cannot afford to address. Make sure you know how much money they are willing to invest in the needs you uncover. If it is insufficient, be honest, and then work with them to explore alternative funding sources like manufacturer support of diverting other budgets. You may need to manage the client’s expectations to make sure they are reasonable based on the investment they are willing to make.

Some people call this “qualifying” a prospect. If you believe that all four of these elements are present, chances are good that this is a sound investment of your time and effort. If you believe that only one or two of them are present, you may want to pass on the opportunity and look for one with better potential. If you will do an honest post-analysis of each sale you lose, you will almost always find that the absence of one or more of these elements was the reason for the loss.