Crack for Clunkers

Maybe I missed something. Just read that the Government Used Car Lot traded in 700,000 soot factories on wheels they call ‘clunkers’. Good that we got some unsafe and/or vile vehicles off the road to save Americans from our dependence on foreign oil. Read on.

Given that the average clunker got 12 miles per gallon and the pristine ‘new’ car (with a pristine payment book for our formerly non-spending shoppers) gets 25. Driving 12,000 miles a year, the deathmobile uses 1,000 gallons; the bluebird of vehicular happiness uses 480. Love it.

That’s 520 gallons saved per vehicle. We are geniuses! For the 700,000 vehicles, we just saved 364MILLLION gallons of fuel. We are even more smarter than geniuseseseses! Since we get 23 gallons of automotive fuel from one 55 gallon barrel of oil, that’s about 16MILLION barrels of oil we don’t have to buy!

Take that, Oily Mongers! Since we’re currently gulping down 6million barrels of your crudeness a day, we just saved nearly 3 days worth! HA! Go find another customer!

For my next to last calculation (because my abacus is smoking) at $75 per barrel, that’s a savings of $1.2billion dollars. The savings are racking up like crazy now! The only slight negative here is that it cost us $3billion to save the $1.2b.

If anyone in the health care debate brings up “Cash for Cankers,” I’m moving to New Zealand.

By the way, this is not political commentary, policy debate, or assailing the effort to save fuel or car dealers. This is about shallowness and mismanaged relationships.

Though the Clunker program brought great throngs of people trading in $500 cars for $4500 and the ensuing “great news” of heavy spending surge, I have a fairly dire prediction for the next couple months: ain’t nobody trading in any more clunkers unless you pay ‘em handsomely. Sorry. Get ready for really ‘bad’ car sales numbers. We’ve built an expectation we can’t continue, and it was NOT based on loyalty.

The best relationships may start with an inducement, an urgency, a ‘reward’ (faster service, discount coupon, tax credit offer) but will not last unless one of two things happen. Whether a car dealer or a contractor, the same rules apply:

1. Offer another incentive, equal or better than the last. This shallow “gimme” based relationship is why I caution that over-using Direct Response is like crack, i.e. ‘more is better’. This is a downward spiraling, profit robbing model.
2. Build a solid (preferably programmed) plan of contact that deepens trust, instills confidence, reinforces value, and requires cooperation from both sides.

The first one is easy to offer, harder to maintain. The second is harder to start, easier to maintain. And the second one kicks bootie every time.

You wanted something more glamorous? You wanted me to talk about getting more leads for less dollars, or how to guarantee differentiation in your market? You’d rather learn how to turn one sale into many? You feel our time would be better spent discussing the nuances of phone-melting headlines?

Well, if you practice the rare art of “active” customer retention, all of those things can happen. It is truly, the “X-factor” in a contractor’s marketing arsenal.

Of course, this is already known by a small, well-rewarded group of contractors who’ve held a tight lid on this weapon.

In fact, a few years ago, I began polling contractors on “Who uses customer retention?” and only about 6% did. Now that figure is nearer 11% - and growing.

Given that contractors don’t spend where there’s no result, I’ll let you conclude why this number has nearly doubled in three years. This is also the marketing method that has gotten most of the credit for “saving” contractors in this recession. The profitability among “those who do and those who don’t” seems to be widening as well. Makes sense.

Regardless of which group you’re in, you may find the following useful.

If you already have a Customer Retention program:

• Increase your aggression for maintenance agreements in stand alone mail/email and in your newsletters. Do not limit newsletter mailings to MA customers only, since you want to increase the natural ascension from “normal” customers to MA customers.
• Push for greater differentiation through IAQ initiatives, which, due to a high-tech nature and health slant, can elevate your marketing position considerably. (Request a free IAQ Marketing Report from us if you want to read more.)
• Stealth pursuit of web-based lead generation allows “customized, flexible lead flow” largely under the befuddled noses of your competitors. Those who get in early tend to maintain an advantage. This is inexpensive and fast.
• Continue to wean yourself from Yellow Page addiction to fund and extend your newsletter, thank-you campaigns, and follow-up referral sources. Allow your remaining YP ad to be a pure lead generator – small, fast, and uncluttered.

For New Retention Marketers

For those who have just recently begun a customer retention campaign, allow it to build momentum. Too many contractors get the instant differentiation benefit and positive comments from customers, yet have a tendency to jump to the next thing. These sporadic efforts lose the momentum and bring confusion to your staff. Remember, retention is a program, not an event.

Also, realize that the effect of retention marketing is like compounded interest – the true benefits requires continued application. It builds on itself, multiplying the effects, allowing low-cost marketing advantages for the earned loyalty, shorter sales cycle, easier upsells, more referrals, and a greater response rate.

For the “I’m Still Thinking About it” Group

The remaining 89% of contractors who leave their customer base at risk are either “hoping” their customers come back or must regularly initiate an incentive to generate new leads. Doubtless if you’ve read this far, you’re looking for change.

The first one is to change your mindset. And since it’s my job to be your personal tour guide for guilt trips, check this mind-shift:

• The “normal” contractor gets a customer in order to make a sale.
• The “marketing” contractor gets a sale in order to make a customer.

Admittedly, that sounds odd, and the scarcity of those who actually understand this mind-shift is almost the point. But this should make it clear…

The contractor who is wisely counter-intuitive in marketing wins the marketing. Period. Those who think, act, and do like everyone else get results just like everyone else. I’ve also noticed that his or her complaints are just like everyone else’s too.

So, by really understanding and applying the contractor marketing mindset, you’re automatically in the small segment that has differentiated from the pack. No matter how you initially get your leads and customers, make sure your effort to keep them proves you value them. After all, they’re customers, not clunkers.

Request a free Customer Retention Report and Fall customer newsletter sample.

Corduroy Pillows Are Making Headlines!

Get it? HA! Okay, that was bad, but it got you here. (Marketing Lesson #1: Your headline's main job is to get your prospect to your next statement.)

So, what got you where you are now, and where are you going next? I mean, humans are presumably the only of God's creatures who think of the 'future', though someone needs to tell me how we know this. (Did scientists poll wolverines and platypuses with questions about living out their dreams?) Regardless, the past is an awesome teacher about the future.

The core of every survey, the reason we "apply" for loans, insurance, jobs, etc., is to allow the past to be a vaguely reliable predictor of future behavior. (The sub-prime mortgage research teams apparently overlooked this fact. Too busy interviewing wolverines.)
I get calls from contractors who say they're 'stuck' at a certain sales level. As an overpaid consultant, I'm trained to ask, "And what have you done differently in the past 24 months?" The highly predictable answer is "Nothing much." No changes equals no change. And why was there no change? The core cause - usually unspoken but obvious - is fear.

During this "R-word" economic time, contractors more often call to get marketing 'suggestions' to get out of their financial calamity and make the phone ring. We make suggestions, by the dozens, in both broadly publicized media and to private coaching clients. Results shared, stories retold, strategies revealed.

Oddly, the ones who never did anything different during good times are just as resistant to change anything during bad times. Why? "Fear", plain and simple.

The past behavior weaves its nasty way, right into the future. Goes both ways.

The hyper-active, hyper-achievers seem to relish in differentiating behavior. (Marketing Lesson #2: Market leaders, by definition, don't copy and can't wait on the crowd. However, they often sensibly "reformulate" based on proven criteria.) Those stories, new successes, and "breakthroughs" carry them into the future. They tend to see a wave coming and prepare to ride it ahead, while others frantically splash about.

Which way are YOU going next?

5 Things the Super Successful DO NOT Do

1) Accept the Norm – A few examples: If “normal” contractors spend over half their budgets in the YP and perennially complain about the sorry results, the leaders shun same. Our top clients spend about 20% in the yellow pages – less if we can make a business case for it. Likewise, the “normal” ad is a stupid, puffed up, ego-driven and ridiculously ineffective ad designed for “Free!” by the staff whose design criteria is to “not stand out too much”. Leaders advertise with customer-focused direct response ads that DO stand out.

Likewise, if the “crowd” is not having success with Maintenance Agreements, the leaders find a way to pile them on. If the “crowd” is not getting publicity, the leaders focus on it. If the “crowd” doesn’t want to invest in customer retention, the leaders quietly amass legions of devoted fans by using it.

2) Resist Outside Advice from Qualified Experts – The “fear of change” aspect again. Leaders typically hire specialists in finance, estate/succession planning, insurance, legal, marketing, sales, personnel, and technical training. They see these as “investments”; the crowd sees them as “unnecessary costs”. In time, the gap between the investor and the fearful non-spender widens. The “crowd” calls them lucky. The leaders would call the crowd names, but they have bigger things to focus upon.

SIDE NOTE #1: Our Coaching Clients typically say things like “just having someone on my side, giving advice and urging me forward is worth several times the fee”. That was NOT a plug to join OUR Coaching Program, but to find someone, some place, where you get a regular “sense of mission”. Looking at the same walls, the same employees’ blank faces, generally will not do it.

SIDE NOTE #2: This month’s Coaching Call is with none other than sales superstar Joe Crisara, who had one of THE most provocative (and successful) short sales videos I’ve ever seen here. Coaching Clients WILL get a double earful of Joe’s “Triple Your Sales” magic on this call. Be ready. (Not in Coaching? Click to find out how to join.)

3) Refuse to look at the “Hole in the Bucket”. If the website visits are going down, there’s a reason. If the response to direct mail has sunk, there’s a reason. If your ‘old’ customers aren’t calling you back, there’s reason. If you regularly hear people ‘not’ requesting a certain tech of yours, there’s a reason. All are costing you. Turning the other way doesn’t make it go away or get better.

Self Admission Time: Though our ‘renewal’ rate for newsletter clients had gone up, I still wondered about those who did NOT renew. So we launched a 3 part mail/email/call campaign to all who – for any reason at any time – didn’t renew. It’s amazing. Many new phone calls, old clients feeling “appreciated”, and new orders came in. The hole in the bucket, now smaller.

There are negative habits, practices, trends in your company NOW that are reversible. Take a hard look at them. Be the leader who a) Admits b) Takes corrective action c) Measures and repeats accordingly.

4) Being ‘Hurt’ by Criticism. Sorry, but we’ve become wimpy, politically-correct, crybaby prone fence-sitters concerned about everyone’s self-esteem. This is, to me, the ‘fear’ behind change. We fear resistance, reluctance, ‘making a wrong move’ (so we make NONE) or offending. Respectful leaders forge ahead without bullying but also without regard to slings and arrows of sideliners. Most critics do little other than criticize. So, if you have something you’ve “been thinking about doing” for awhile, there’s a God-given reason it won’t leave you alone. Apologies to Nike, but just do it.

5) Expect New Results from Old Habits – The “old” model has died. This economy just gave it a not-so-respectful funeral. Those who change are going to manifest their destinies accordingly. Yet following the same marketing pattern, sales presentations, going to the same discussion boards and same industry events with the same speakers, are NOT going to bring change.

Best thing you could do is buy a plane ticket to visit a business you want to become and find what they did. Ask whose advice they sought, what ‘systems’ they have. You’ll find that they were never afraid to change. Emulate that.

Watch for these 5 nasty habits in your business, and pick one thing you can change now. You’ll soon make far more headlines than corduroy pillows.

Questions to consider:
1. Which of the above 5 are most damaging to you now?
2. What people can you involve to change it?
3. What’s the FIRST step you can take to change it?
4. What day will you do that? Now, go do it.

The Pricing Spiral

My son is 16, which of course means that I have been downgraded in intellect to somewhere between a sponge and a dead moth. My “inclusion” in many of his activities is often restricted to no closer than 3 zip codes. I remember being a teenager too. So, imagine my elation when he suggested a summer trip and I got (sort of) invited!

What was his idea of a trip with Dear old Dad? A roller coaster tour. Yes, a tour of the best parks in Ohio, whose new state motto is, “Come Hurl in a Loop-D-Loop!” Sounded like fun to me. Let me back up a sec.

First, he’d never been a wanton, crazy thrill seeker. Second, I’ve scarcely mentioned a desire to go 100 mph upside-down in a spiral either. Third, Ohio? Are you nuts?

Turns out I was wrong about Ohio. The drive was beautiful. I mean, 'Get out of the car and take a picture' beautiful. Gorgeous green rolling hills, picturesque farms, Amish Cheese flowing out of Amish Cheese wells. Unreal.

So, we went to two terrific parks: King’s Island near Cincinnati and Cedar Point in Sandusky. These are not your normal amusement parks with people with questionable hygiene – and a low inventory of teeth to prove it.

These parks are immaculate. The rides are incredible and the focus of their incredulity is on “Roller Coasters”. If you’re thinking “up the clickety hill, down the other side, ‘Whee’, ride’s over,” you’d be criminally mistaken. They’re rocket launchers on tracks. They hurtle into outer space, narrowly missing other planets at speeds that actually put you into the future.

>> Click here to read if Adams still has most of his organs AND the marketing lesson in PAYING someone to make you go upside down at warp speed >>

Value Lesson: It may be worth noting that the average attendee spends $50 to enter, is totally on their own to navigate, figure out ride choices, and spends – on average – 90 minutes per ride standing in line. This means, in 8 hours, with eating, walking, and required bathroom visits, they can ride 4 rides, 5 if they forego food. (Not the worst idea.) My son and I rode 19. Our average wait? Under 2 minutes. Lunch? Free. How’d we accomplish such a thing?

Given that I only plan on doing this once, and Cleveland is 1070 miles from my house so I can’t really “drop by”, we did what’s called the VIP tour. Our personally-appointed guide knew exactly which rides did what. She also got us in through the “exit”, meaning no wait. Ever.

One ride, called “Top Fuel Dragster” was new to Cedar Park. It was so popular that the wait was – get ready – just under 3 hours. The ride lasted 40 seconds. Lest you feel that was being gypped to Madoff like proportions, please know a couple fun facts - -

It was 41 stories tall. Not a typo. You start off, strapped into a padded car that renders you paralyzed from the eyelids down. Then it shoots horizontally, from 0-120 mph in just under 4 seconds. When your eyeballs almost hit the people behind you, the thing turns 90 degrees straight up said 41 stories to give your thoughts time to catch up. But no, they over shoot and merely orbit with space junk among other thoughts, many of which are just two words, starting with “OH”. You turn around at a navigational satellite next to Ursa Major and head straight down 180 degrees – in a spiral – to make sure your spleen comes out smoothly (no one knows from where) and clears the horrified onlookers below. By the time it stops at over 1g, you know exactly what snorting Red Bull laced with LSD must be like. Before you exit, you check your pants for potential waste fluids, and stagger away.

People waited 3 hours for this. We rode it twice in 6 minutes. But I had the time of my life, albeit now sans spleen.

So the questions for you, oh seeker of the truth, are…

Q: Am I cheap?
A: Yes. But I like to call it “value oriented”.
Q: Am I easily sold?
A: You ever read these editorials?
Q: How much is the VIP package worth?
A: You tell me how much it’d be worth it to you to ride the rides, on a once in a lifetime trip with your child, building far more memories than standing in line having to go to the bathroom for the last half of the wait. Send your guess here.

This is about “price elasticity”. You think your drain cleanings are ‘x’ because that’s what people charge. You think your services should be ‘y’ because that’s what people charge. Price elasticity exists in all markets, for all people. You must locate the ‘value’ for them and charge accordingly. Next issue will explore that.

Part of my value – and one clearly known by the amusement park people – is that a vacation is typically not repeatable. The “best time” means making the most of that time, with price an often secondary consideration. I assure you, I never once considered price while spiraling upside down, out of control wishing I’d never heard of blue ice cream.

Finally, I don’t know about you, but time with my children is special and moving by faster than any ride at the park. Now where are those seat belts?


Questions to consider:

1. What do you charge for a “normal” service for the top 3 most common services you do?
2. What would customers pay extra for to make this extraordinary? Name 3 things.
3. What would they pay? Ask around. You’ll be surprised.

Love Hurts

I love contractors – seriously. That’s why you get to read exploits with the various good, bad, and ugly varieties out there, hopefully learning along the way. Today, we’ll look at a bad and a good, while I play the role of the ugly.

Now, this may be a shock, but the deep south is hot. This causes electrical panels to erupt, irrigation systems to work overtime, and hvac systems to burn their little bearings up. Contractors love it here.

A couple weeks ago, a tenant at our old office (we still own) called the property manager to say, politely, that she thought the ac vents were blowing hotter than the ‘bad place’. (No, not Cleveland.) The property manager suggested his “ac guy” take a look, and I agreed. Told him, “Whatever he says, I’m probably fine with it. Just get the system and her cooled down.”

After about 3 hours for him to actually make it out to the property, he checked the outdoor unit (without announcing himself to the tenant – take a note) and surmised that it was too small for the building. This was made more astonishing since I later found his company had done the installation. He also said the duct system (which they didn’t do) was “a mess”.

I waited for him to give me a suggestion, or options, but he said nothing else. So I just asked, “Then your only recommendation is to replace the system? That’s it?”

His response? “Yeah, that’s about it. If you’re interested, I can go back, do some more measurements and give you a quote.”

Let's see, it's 103 ̊; this is Alabama; it's late July, I have a tenant who is about to ignite, and his statement, in case you missed it, is: "If you’re interested, I can give you a QUOTE."

Not terribly impressed, I felt stuck, so I answered “Sure, I’d like a quote, but in the meantime, can you do SOMETHING, like make sure the charge is up, the system clean, or even let me rent a couple window units to help her out?”

“Nope, I don’t do that. Plus, I'm kind of shorthanded right now. I’ll try to get back by there in a couple days.”

Maybe I expect too much. But my blood pressure was just under the level required to boing your eyeballs out on cartoon like springs.

Mr. "Get a Quote in Days! Not Hours!” seemed a little lacking in the customer service department, and perhaps a couple pounds shy of coolant himself. Given this, I made my way to the dreaded Yellow Pages, called another company I had used in the past. Can’t remember now why I didn’t use them again. (Take another note.)

Says they’ll be there in about a half hour.

Wondrously, he’s early. The tenant lets him inside (note). He handles her very professionally, apologizes for her inconvenience (note #3), takes a look and calls me. “The unit probably is a quarter ton too small, but mainly just dirty, both of which are exaggerated by the heat. BUT, we’re gonna clean it up, reduce some flow to the storage room she’s hardly using, pump that to her office (note) and I recommend you install some solar tinting on the back of the building. I don’t do this but have a pro who can” (note)

Whoa. Not bad for the first 20 minutes. “How about the duct system?” I ask.

He replies, “Beautiful. All hard pipe, well-crafted. Not sure who did it but it’s first class.” (note)

Credibility of Contractor #1 goes subterranean. “Can you help her out a little now, and then go ahead and schedule whatever repairs will make the unit work for her?”

“Sure thing. I don’t have window units, but I have a bunch of desk fans I picked up at Harbor Freight and left her a couple. She seems appreciative. I’ll call the window tinter now and give him your info…”

“No need to,” I interrupted, “just have him do it and bill me”. (Please note, sales occur quickly with a trusted referral.)

One day later, Contractor #2 does the work, drops the temps in the office, re-calms the tenant, reclaims his fans. Calls me to give the update.

He then quotes on a Maintenance Agreement for the building. Done. Asks what else I need. He’s installing a new system at a warehouse as I write this. We’ll see how that goes.

Funny thing. A little turns into more, long as you keep the momentum with some customer service and good sense. Don’t make doing business with you too hard. Rivers of money are forged with the path of least resistance.


Questions for you:
1. Is solving your customers’ problems your first concern?
2. How much income do you lose a year if this scenario is repeated in your business just once a month?
3. Once your image is shattered, it’s hard to repair. How are you using service to keep a higher image in your market?

Death of a Salesman

“Billy Mays here, for Oxy-Clean.” Wow, we won’t hear those words again, unless his near clone of a son, Billy Mays Jr. does it. At the moment, unlikely.

Those of you in our Coaching Group have heard me laud Mays’ show, “Pitchmen”, regularly due to the background of how products were positioned, priced, and pitched. A fascinating introspection into the world of influence on a mass level, quite applicable on the individual level.

I’ve also encouraged you to pay attention to most any oft-repeated infomercial since it was a) Successful and b) Worthy of study for the ‘sales triggers’ and sequence of pitch to apply to your own business.

Billy Mays had a sixth sense about such things. Getting to ‘know’ him through the show allowed us to see past the tightly groomed beard and over-zealous voice affectations rising and falling under the blue starched shirt.

To him, and to those who do any craft well, their zeal is real, thus credible. We knew without any pretense, that he was there to ‘sell’ us something, something new, amazing, wonderful, and probably something we could live without.

Do I really need to Mighty-Putty a hose reel to the wall in 4 minutes flat? Didn’t matter, nor that this product (plain old two-part epoxy) wasn’t ‘new’ at all. When Billy Mays pitched it, “For the incredibly low price of just nineteen ninety-five… here’s how to order”, over 10 million orders poured in.

That’s $199,500,000 from a 1 minute commercial folks. Not too shabby for a product that had sleepily laid in bins at auto parts stores, hardware stores, general merchandise stores, grocery stores, and drug stores for nearly 20 years. And therein lies at least 1 part of the sales epoxy: the ability to ‘see’ the opportunity others miss.

These sales masters clearly don’t “need” a new product, only a new way to package or angle the product, re-aim it to a different audience, remove the mystery of its use, while maintaining the mystery of its miracle (very important). And the second part was the Mays’ epoxy – we’ll call it the hardener – is the beauty of the pitch.

There are 5 parts to a well-crafted pitch, as old as PT Barnum, as cutting-edge effective as the iPod, and as copyable as a slow dance. Here they are –

“The 5 Step Pitch of SuperStar Salespeople”

Anyone who says, “A pitch is a pitch,” may as well be talking about baseball, because neither is true. There is art, craft, timing, skill, indelibly linked to a single emotion of persuasion. If you’ll watch the infomercials closely, you’ll see they all start at the same place, which is precisely where you should start…

1. The problem. Be it weight loss, wrinkles, an overcrowded purse, no time to go to the gym, acne, flabby abs, halving meal time preparations, or by golly needing that darn hose reel to stay stuck on a brick wall, the “problem” is framed harshly.

No one cares about solving a minor problem, so the “old” method of trimming the dog’s toenails (which seemed fine only moments ago) will now cripple him and get you turned into the SPCA. Those “old” pants you used to fit in would be great if you didn’t have a rear end the size of Missouri. And that wrinkle on your forehead that TO YOU seemed small is actually making strangers on the street call hospice for you or have you carbon dated.

There’s no time in direct response for minimizing the issue, and actually there is no point. You either agree or you don’t, and are welcome to change the channel, unless of course…

2. The Proof convinces you. Whatever you “thought” or “suspected” is now confirmed. A dude in a lab coat with an unpronounceable last name tells you so. The Swedish Sleep Institute has confirmed it, NASA took that crap into outerspace, the 4 half-drunk neighbors think YOUR Magic Bullet Margaritas are the best, and Tony Horton – whose biceps actually won the Kentucky Derby – swears you’ll be able to bench press a building by Friday if you’ll just watch the DVD.

Billy Mays showed Magic Putty pull a Naval Carrier; Oxy Clean turned a vat of red dye clear; he erased stains, greened lawns, and uprooted weeds right before our eyes. What other proof does a person need?

Aside from my playfulness here (done to dramatize their universal existence) the preponderance of proof is what takes you from mental query to mental acceptance. This is the exact step they want you to be at, and as your mind enters this “what if” stage, out comes…

3. The Probe. These are deeper questions that ask your subconscious for a “yes”. Once asked for and gotten, you’re just millimeters from whipping out your Visa, but not yet. You must now ask yourself, “Could it be that I’ve gotten that out-of-shape?” or “Wouldn’t it be fun to scrapbook?” or “Can I get my vitality back?” and “Why do I pay the exterminator when that plug-in thingy will electrocute any bug that even considers coming to my house?” The probe appears to be an impartial judge, merely an internalizing of a fair question. This is the same thing you’d do presenting your prospects with your contracting offer.

“Why put up with that leak any longer? Why not be comfortable in your own home? Shouldn’t you lower your energy bill?” Get your prospects to probe and make their subconscious seek you as a solution. This bring us to…

4. The Presentation. Ta-da, here’s the solution. You asked, and here’s the answer that supports your very own conclusion! “I am sick of my partner wanting a ‘too firm’ mattress, so check it out – a SLEEP NUMBER BED!” Or “Man, I do need exercise, but don’t like the confines of the gym, so that Tryke thing is for me!” And “Yes, I hate hours of back-breaking labor or paying a detailer hundreds of dollars, so the ‘Miracle Wax’ is the answer!”

Each presentation is indeed the rabbit-out-of-the-hat syndrome. Your contracting offer must ‘answer’ or ‘solve’ the initial problem you handed your customer. I don’t care WHO handed it first, your job is to make it stink to the rooftops (at least) and present your solution as the fragrance from on-high.

This step also contains the price and the negating thereof, known as the guarantee. There must be an offsetting acceptance where the gain far outdistances the pain (price) and IF that is just hype, there’s always the fall-back (guarantee).

Your presentation is not separate from the price; price is a merely a trivialized component. The dollar amount is ONE element within a well-crafted presentation, minimized to nothingness. “Sure, you COULD throw all these hopelessly stained clothes away, or eliminate the stains and save hundreds!” Or “A private fitness coach is $200, $300, $400… but you get 28 sessions of P90X, each like a one-on-one private lesson, for just $90.”

The dollar amount is then dropped again in one of several ways. Payments are extended. The amount of product is doubled at the last second. The last payment may be dropped entirely. In any of these, the lingering pain of payment is dropped to a non-issue. But if a molecule of hesitancy remains…

The guarantee saves them. It is the safety net of perceived risk. The bolder the better. “We guarantee you’ll save 25% on this 16SEER system, or we’ll write you a check for the difference.” “We guarantee this water heater will be the last one you ever buy for this house, or we’ll give you a new one, all you pay for is minimal labor.”

Billy Mays’ presentation helped turn Oxy-Clean into a $300,000,000 soap. How? It was safer, faster, worked better, less harm to your clothes, less toxic than the competitive (bleach), worked ‘naturally’ (a great distrust over the unnatural in case you wondered), was cheaper (more loads due to concentration), and who could argue with what they saw?

Once you’re nodding, or salivating, the final frontier is upon us.

5. The Push. Also called the “Call to Action”. In this, a sense of urgency pervades. “Operators are standing by for your call, but you must order in the next 7 minutes to get all the bonuses mentioned.” I don’t need to elaborate here, we all know them, and they do work.

In contracting, you don’t use these enough. Inventories run low, and people HATE to wait, so why not use it? Price increases do happen, but few contractors use that as an incentive to act. Crews get busier in the summer, so a return to normal NON discounted pricing is expected. The Tax Credit rebate ends in 2010, but who knows when they could pull this program? We can schedule you in for Tuesday, but if you wait, it could be another 10 days. All of these are legitimate “pushes” to help make the decision, and to make it faster.

In fact, using the 5-step pitch can radically change your business. Too many contractors focus on “product” which you’ll notice was NOT one of the “P’s” covered. Why? Because no one wants a drill… we just want the hole. Focus on solving the problem, with convincing proof, and a credible presentation filled with price and pain minimizers. Then gently push toward the acceptance.

Billy Mays showed that sincerity coupled with a gift toward the dramatic, we all wanted cleaner clothes, better lawns, sharper knives, and better glue. And we’d buy any of it from someone we trust.

So relaying that homeowners want safer, more efficient, cleaner, and more comfortable homes shouldn’t be too hard. But wait! There’s more! Because since they trust you to help them make good decisions, it should make both of your lives easier.

Questions for you:

What problems do I solve for homeowners?
What 3rd part proof do I share with them to support the solution?
What probing questions do I WANT them to ask themselves?
Is my presentation convincing? What are the steps I take to convince. (If you answered ‘none’, you’re NOT convincing, you’re hoping.)
How to I incentivise action? How do I follow up to help?

Why I Hate Twitter

I could almost just generalize with “Social Media” in the above headline, but it sounds more violent and unruly to hate something with a cartoon name. I mean, it’s like “I’d Like to Scrub the Toilet Bowl with Sponge Bob”; who wouldn’t read that? (Power in a headline.)

Anyway, “Twitter” and other social media sites are indeed the rage. Facebook, with a mere 200 million users, is hardly a kiddies’ playground anymore. LinkedIn (sort of like Facebook for business) is “the” social hangout for commercial connections. With myriad other discussion groups, subgroups, and topical hotspots for micro-niching, how’s a marketer to make it anymore?

Heck, we got kicked off of two social sites in 40 minutes because my 20-something year old intern failed to read the rules. He posted a mildly promotional link (“mildly promotional” to a marketer is like “moderately costly” to a Government Official) on both, we got an “instant death” email, and that was that. Oops. Been kicked out of better places.

But we continued down the Social Media paths as an experiment, attempting to see why it was so crowded, being reminded of Yogi Berra’s famous quote: “It’s so crowded, nobody goes there anymore.” As it turns out, he was more prophetic than imagined.

Before you get your twit in a wad, or unlink me from the scintillating post that “you’re going to breakfast soon”, please put on the marketing glasses for a second. My first and main interest is the “who”. It is the defining, crowning, all-valuable “who” that dictates the message and its hopeful response.

If a market’s sole value is sheer numbers, then there’d best be a unifying language, problem, villain, or passionate cause in their psyche or the marketing is for naught. Have fun with that “branding” campaign; just don’t ask me to pay for it. Thus, my “who” needs definition. The reason I also hate card decks (Money Mailer et al) for contractors is the same: big, broad, ill-defined numbers.

By all accounts, staying “active” long enough to define your Social Media groups is time consuming. (I’m bracing for the email response now “IT IS NOT! MY BOSS WOULD BE MAD IF I SPENT MORE THAN 7 HOURS A DAY DOING IT!”) Some experts claim just “30 minutes a day” but I ain’t buying it.

Any interruption in our ADD prone world takes 10 minutes to refocus, so if you’re tweeting your little pecker off (bird analogy) at each twit, that’s a lot more than any 30 minutes. And going “silent” in this group is not endearing. Plus, given the parameters of the group, “marketing” to them is not nice or socially acceptable. Seems a three-time loser in productivity.

Yet, in a nearly redemptive statement that all marketers do not have leprosy, FaceBook has just announced sweeping changes to their advertising rules. They may now realize that ad revenues actually support media. (Just ask XM and Sirius.) We’ve got an experiment going there too; I’ll let you know.

In Twitter, you get 140 characters per Tweet. (Every time I talk like this, I imagine myself wearing huge orange shoes, scanning for Sylvester the Cat.) This is scarcely what we’d call “long copy”, and without a TweetDeck (organizational tool) you’ll be mind-numbingly insane before you establish enough of a relationship to even mention what you do for a living. Snidely, you may be in the minority there anyway.

So, back to the numbers. The hours spent, the nose-time invested, the “ad aversion” mentality, message brevity, and response reaction time all lead me to conclude this is a currently sorry place for B2B. For the time/productivity wasted, you could buy a radio station and get your following that way.

Twitter has its place – obviously - but do NOT consider it as anything other than a tangential media. It is really NOT for business any more than hanging out at the bar or golf course is designed for business. That may come as a long-term, profitable way to rationalize the time spent, just don’t mistake the mission.

So, let the crowds check it out; let the Today Show feature it; and let the marketing gurus laud it (and be sure to watch for their “how to” packages, kits, training on “mastering it” at an e-commerce site near you soon!) You’re advised to spend your time more productively.

Next time, FaceBook and LinkedIn.

Until Then, Here are some thoughts on how (or if) you should consider Social Media...

1. Common sense first. Do your target buyers use social media? If so, READ THE RULES and register. Follow the lead of those claiming success. Basically, understand the WHO.
2. How big is your database? If of the above group, ask them to sign up for your Facebook page or follow your Tweets. See how many do so.
3. If your database is under 500, is building the list on social media the way to go? Similar to #1 above, you must know who they are and if they are online.
4. Once you’re POSITIVE social media is right for you: start a Facebook and Twitter account. Stay focused on your profession, not what an idiot your Congressman is, or how Dale Jr keeps getting the shaft this year. Let people know you by your profession, and put SOME personal things in there, but never damaging or unnecessary polarizing.
5. If it gets active, get a Tweetdeck. Far easier than the Twitter tool. In a shocking display of efficiency, Tweetdeck helps organize your posts, replies, and followers.
6. Provide quality content. Just like the golf course scenario, it helps to ‘give’ advice before expecting someone to pay you for it. You can discuss technologies, ‘green-ness’, point to articles (hopefully ones you’ve written), other sites, books, more. you need to be a “Helpful authority.”
7. Get Promotional and Get Gone. This is why you do #6 instead. If it becomes the “you show”, then you can get banned, deleted, cancelled and otherwise “offed”.
8. There are some benefits to consider:
   a. Fast feedback. (Quantity and quality of your responses is a great measure of your success.)
   b. Good posts get spread virally. Clever, informative posts get shared on other networks, creating more links and exposure.
   c. Cross –promotion. You can put other sites, blogs, of yours on Twitter, Facebook, linking them back and forth. (Of course, once on your site, you can promote.)

Let us know your THOUGHTFUL thoughts, reactions, responses, or suggestions by sending an email to TwitThis@HudsonInk.com. Some selected comments may make it to our editorial or blog. Thanks!

There's Goodness In The Badness

Housing starts are up. (What? Someone in this country is being paid to build an actual house? Someone tell CNN!) Pending home sales up 2.1% from February to March. Unemployment slide slower than expected. Retail sales better than both 3rd and 4th quarter projection. Consumer confidence – perhaps the most important of the indices – plateaued in March from a 6 month freefall.

Sure, you’re used to me doing April Fool’s jokes, but this time I’m leaving that predictable hilarity to others. (“Contrarian” being my continued advice to you.) This is good news for real, though the perceptions remain “bad”.

People are paralyzed, polarized, or both by “bad” news (it also sells media, opinions, and short-term dependency.) Yet people are magnetically attracted to good news, and right now, “good news” is the attractive contrarian approach more than ever.

You can change one perception into the other, because as an entrepreneur, you’re in charge of both.

In other good news, the Hudson family returned with all the ligaments we had before our ski trip. (click to read last editorial if you missed it.) If the ski vacation business mirrors America even slightly, then more people are staying home (important to note contractors), saving more, and being more sensible. This is certainly not a bad outcome, even though skiing vendors say post-boom business is off 30%. Considering the escalated prices paid for dinners, they’re making more money off of less food. Complaints were few, because regulars told me they enjoyed their trip more due to less crowding. Take two marketing notes there.

Yet the whole buying public seems to be in a holding pattern of collective schizophrenia: “Capitalism is good; gluttony is bad.”

A fine line of perception divides them. Hard to spend your way out of a recession when – to a large degree – the inability to save enough for a “proper” down payment triggered it. (Feel free to disagree openly in your comments; I’m not running for office.) Regardless, most buyers aren’t inclined to plunk down for the unnecessary when they might need supplies during the apocalypse. “Showy overbuying” is definitely out. Makes you feel good to be a supplier of required services doesn’t it?

So, what perception isn’t selling now? Okay, cars, namely American ones. The perception is that this is due to a “quality” issue. Sure, the US Auto Industry has its woes, but quantifiable quality is not among them. To wit: since its inception in 1990, Lexus has won the world-acclaimed “JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index” (the top “Oscar” of automobiledom). Until this year. It was won by the very American Buick. The most “unreliable” car on the list? Suzuki, which last time I checked was Japanese.

However, the perception (important word for salespeople and marketers) among the public is that the average unreliable Buick is driven by a 112 year old female who needs a periscope to see above the steering wheel. Sorry if that’s NOT you, but that IS the perception. (I owned a turbocharged Buick Grand National, loved it, but every time I drove it I had the irresistible urge to shop for dentures.) Likewise, we think, “If Japanese, then reliable.”

Both are factually incorrect; perceptionally intact.

So, perceptions are running the asylum, and you and I are inmates.

What perceptions are in the market now? The general perception is that contracting is down (as an industry). Yet the #1 reason our clients miss a paid coaching call: “We’ve been too busy.” They’re having record months, amassing customers from quieted competitors because services are in high - and potentially increasing - demand.

That’s one perception you can drive a stake in. Good riddance. I’ve written so often about not becoming a silent statistic to your customer base that I’ve chosen to only give the shorthand list here –

1) Thank you cards 2) Scripted Thank you calls 3) Scripted Follow up surveys/referral generators 4) Newsletters 5) Maintenance Agreement bumps 6) Radius Mailings 7) Google and YOUR own website “Rankings” (no one is taking this seriously enough; thus a leadership role awaits you)

Then there’s the public perception (not your customers) that contractors are messy, unprofessional, and on the edge of trustability. Whatever, I don’t make the opinions. Your job is to obliterate that perception about you.

As an entrepreneur, you’re the Chief Perception Officer out there. For the last several months, we’ve urged clients to resist the dour attitude, find the good news, focus upon finding more. Become the “anti-contractor” image. He’s quiet; you’re loud. He’s amateur; you’re professional. He forgets his customers; you tattoo your logo into their frontal cortex. His ‘fleet’ looks like extras from a crash film; yours like a showroom. And on it goes.

So if the “norm” is to gripe and become a long-term repellant, then the “contrarian” becomes a relevant long-term attractant. You’re an entrepreneur, this is what you do.

In his February 24th State of the Union Address, Barack Obama publicly declared that “The future of our economy relies on the imagination of our Entrepreneurs.” Regardless of your political convictions, those 12 words are about business, and the perception of your role in it. Curl up with the complainers or gather gold with the gainers.

Benjamin Franklin – our nation’s first millionaire by the way – persevered through adversity, always seeking the “good in the bad”. He said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain… and most fools do.” He followed that up with, “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.”

Get moving.