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Looks like in an effort to be more hip and cool, the folks at Yum Brands are going to change the name of Pizza Hut to "The Hut". Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, it's a terrible idea.

blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2009/06/19/pizza-hut-cuts-the-quot-pizza-quot.aspx

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I have the perfect real-world example of how one bad thing can throw out all of the hard work and money a company spends on marketing their company.

There is another Concept Media. We are by no means competitors (they sell training videos for healthcare workers) and I have never had anyone confuse our two companies....until recently. Apparently the other Concept Media merged with a competitor of theirs. I know this because I received several emails, phone calls, and sales packets in the mail from companies congratulating me on the merger. Oh, and they were all investment firms wanting my money. That's right... salespeople from major financial planning/investment companies hounded me incessantly for weeks because they were sure that I was Ralph, the President of Concept Media: the training video company.

From the various solicitations I received, one thing was clear: these people did NOT do their research. Their companies all subscribe to a service that alerts them to company mergers. They probably saw the name "Concept Media", did a Google search, found me...and started the "sales process". 

One salesman in particular from a VERY large company who shall remain nameless (GOLDMAN SACHS), sent me an email that in a nutshell said "Congrats on the merger. Now that you have a lot of money you should invest with us. We require at least a million dollars to open an account. Let me know if you're interested." Not only did this guy get the wrong Concept Media, but he decided that the best method for reaching out to this potential million-dollar deal was via email. No phone call. No paper packet. No DVDs in the mail. The process began and ended with a very simple email.

His company spends a great deal of money on marketing. Their web presence is fantastic. Their name is huge in their industry.They've been doing a lot of hard work to brand themselves as a modern, progressive company. All of that went right the window with one salesman's email.

Remember, marketing isn't just advertising. It's not just your sales materials, website, videos, etc. Marketing is everything between your product and the customer. It encompasses all of the processes and activities that exist for getting your product in their hands. Sales is absolutely an integral link in the marketing chain. For Goldman Sachs, it's apparently the weak link in their chain and will undoubtedly cost them business.

Time to look at all of your processes. You're building an image of your company with every sales call, every advertisement, every web page... Have you taken time to analyze each link in your marketing chain?

 

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I don't go to Starbucks all that often. I know many people claim to be addicted to their overpriced caffeine concoctions, but I'm just not much of a coffee guy. But, I found myself there not too long ago for a meeting with a colleague. He wanted to do Starbucks, so..what the heck. 

When I first step into any kind of store, I often find myself looking around and taking everything in. How is the product arranged? Are they pushing anything in particular? That's when I noticed a sign right in front of the counter. "Perfect Oatmeal".

Now, before I rant...let me make one thing clear. I've had a perfect bowl of oatmeal. Years ago I was traveling on business to Vancouver. I was staying at a pretty nice hotel and made my way downstairs bright and early for a nice breakfast in the restaurant. After looking over the menu, nothing was really screaming at me. So, I asked the waiter "Any chance you have oatmeal?" "Sure! No problem."

The waiter quickly brought out a LARGE white bowl filled to the top with perfectly textured oatmeal. In addition, he also placed neatly around the large bowl several small decanters filled with cream, butter, brown sugar, and raisins. For something that wasn't on the menu, this was one amazing bowl of oatmeal.

So, with that in mind... I was curious to see Starbuck's take on hot cereal perfection. I place my order, and the lady at the front counter was very open about the preparation. Did she dip into a big, hot cauldron of ready-made oatmeal? No, she took out a small paper packet of instant oatmeal (Quaker?), ripped it open, put the contents into a small paper cup, put hot water in it, handed it to me and said "Might want to wait a minute or two...it's still cooking." Oh, and to be fair, she also handed me a small cellophane baggy with dried fruit.

There you have it folks. Starbucks' take on the perfect bowl of oatmeal. The cost? Over $3. Fifty cents extra for the pieces of dried fruit!! I guess somebody has to pay for the cushy chairs.

In the age of cynicism and blowhards like myself, what is Starbucks thinking? First of all, I realize that "perfect" is a subjective term. Somebody out there probably thinks that it is, in fact, the most perfect bowl of oatmeal they've ever had. But seriously? Opening the packet of instant oatmeal in front of the customer, pouring in water, charging $3, and claim that it is flawless?

Are you doing anything similar with your business? Are you or your salespeople overselling something that your clients see as expected or ordinary? I can't tell you how many prospects I sit with are able to talk endlessly about just how fantastic their product/service is. They will go on and on about how THEY have the answer to every problem out there. Then, when push comes to shove... you learn that they have faults just like everybody else.

Don't let your sales and marketing people oversell your product. If you paint everything you do in glowing terms, your clients will be quick to jump on the smallest of mistakes and point out where you fall short and how you aren't what you claim to be. Instead...and here's a novel approach... be honest! How about "We're not perfect, but we do work extremely hard. When we make mistakes, we do our absolute best to learn from them and make sure we don't repeat the same mistake twice. If you trust in us, we'll be extremely responsive and stand behind you every step of the way." Sounds comforting and real, doesn't it?

 

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In times like these, it's smart to look for more cost-effective and efficient ways to market yourself and manage client relations. Thankfully, technology gives us many different options for better running our business. Here are several that we have recently implemented. If any of these are interesting to you and you'd like to learn more, let me know!

 

Creating Presentations - Putting Them Online: For a while now, I've recognized that we didn't have any ready-made visual presentations. If somebody were to call and ask us to present or speak to a group of people...we had nothing ready to go. So, we went ahead and created an effective presentation in Keynote (the Apple version of Powerpoint). We then converted it to video, split it into several parts and placed it on Youtube. This will expose us to the worldwide Youtube audience, and help boost traffic to our site (as well as boost our search engine optimization via the links and text associated with the videos). See our Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/conceptmediavideos. We'll also use Youtube for any videos we've created or videos related to our clients (like the WHAS story on Dr. Walker).

 

Online Project Management and CRM: We have now moved all of our client and project management to web-based software. This means higher security, data backups, scalability, and the ability to access our data securely from any computer.

 

Online Proofing: One of the most time-consuming aspects (for us and our clients) of doing design work is sending proofs back and forth via email. Cataloging versions with client feedback can get complex and leaves us open for errors. With our new online proofing system, our clients are notified via email of a new proof for them to review. They click on a link and are then directed to a website with the proof on screen. The client can then literally draw on the proof, make notes, and eventually approve of the proof. All versions and client feedback is cataloged by the system. We have just began using this with excellent feedback.

 

Online Estimating/Invoicing: Continuing with the online theme, we've also implemented a system that allows our clients to view their estimates and invoices online. Clients also now have the option of paying invoices with their debit/credit card directly... all via their account. 

 

 

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