enough already, I am outty
Funny you bring this up. I am Re Reading Emyth Mastery this week. Right now I am on the [I]discipline of the marketing leader[/I]. This is amazing stuff… I am especially intrigued by [I]" Your most probable customer". [/I]Basically it breaks it down to help you target only the people most likely to buy your product or service. I highly recommend this read.
Does dominoes still offer that guarantee? I thought they quit that.
Yeah, it is gone do to liability issues (driving too fast) Now they are just a shabby pizza chain.
doesn’t really matter after the first billion is made… that is the real point of this story, not what happened later.
nobody stays on top forever
I think the cops made them stop in some states because of the high vehicle accident rate.
CFP, great post. It really gets to the heart of advertising. This is where you really have to put yourself in the customers shoes and ask “who would I call for this service/product and why”. Better price? Free or discounted add-ons? Hassle Free Service? Convenient Scheduling? Repeat Customer Rewards? The list goes on and on but what would put you in a different league than your competitors USP?
Nice thread.
Little choppy, and turning into a bit of a free-for-all, but some excellent concepts and suggestions being shared…
And I agree totally with the importance of getting into the heads of potential clients, and figuring out what they want from us.
Thx
This thread is very important, and the reason why much of our marketing fails. The question is what are we selling? Some examples of what I mean.
Take CFP’'s example -
The product dominoes sell - pizza
The marketing they sell - convience
There is a RV Dealer here where I live; their slogam is "Where memories begin"
The product they sell -RV’s
The marketing they sell - memories & family enjoyment
McDonald’s their slogan "I’m lovin it"
They product they sell - greasy hamburgers
The marketing they sell - fun times
One last example, back in the early eighties 7-Up did a poll of the soft drinks people bought, even though 7-Up was third in sales, it was like sixth or seventh in recognition. It was then that 7-Up came up with the commercials that showed people hot and sweating in an oppressively hot scene. They open a can of 7-UP, and it starts to rain and they start dancing and laughing. What were they selling? The product was a soft drink. Their marketing was selling refreshment. The add resulted in significant increase in sales.
This is what I do, as I look at, and listen to advertising, I try to figure what they are selling, not the product, but the marketing.
So… What are we selling in our marketing?
Ive always thought all we are really selling is TIME. Our service could actually be completed by our customers if they wanted to or if they had the TIME to do it themselves. Obviously they wouldn’t do a great job like we all would 
Yikes! the thread has been rated :eek:
I love when people start getting the juice squeezed and thinking about this stuff. I LOVE MARKETING! yes, I am a freak that way. It sure is nice to see others take interest and see the potential in themselves.
Getting that part of the brain stimulated is when something huge can happen.
Actually, this post was a random thought I had this morning. It is not a seminar…
Sorry, CFP, I wasn’t speaking of the original post by you, just the ensuing flurry of responses…
And who said you could squeeze my juice?
kidding
Nice thread cfp. I would agree with Chris that TIME is a huge part of selling what we have to offer. I have seen this marketed well by maid services. They have a postcard or a magazine ad that shows a husband and wife with their small children playing on thier living carpet or they show a husband and wife cuddled up in a hammock. We all want that extra time with our family. You are really marketing instant gratification without them having to lift a finger.
Steve
I would also say that most home owners never get a good result, so quality is a stand out issue.
(What bugs me is when they get the vacuum cleaner out when I’m doing the windows, so quality is another issue they can’t compete on - wish they would **** off to that hammock).
…
CFP,
I agree, stating that your work is “quality” is a worn out slogan/heading. It has no backbone as to sway a potential customer into using your service. Its has just been used to death. Guarantee’s do hold some weight. I was advised by my accountant not to offer a money back guarantee. Some will take advantage of you. I would be really upset to clean a huge home full of french windows that took all day to do. The end result being no payment from an extremely picky customer or one that is going to take advantage of you before you even touched a window. I have seen WC companies offer a redo of any windows that were questionable. That has always been our policy. Hope I didnt get too far off topic.
Steve
After a residential job i always do a walk through with the owner, and take a look at he job done. when pleased they pay me. I then offer them a free cleaning of any windows they may feel might have been overlooked somehow. but they have to do this within 24 hrs of the cleaning. most are pleased to hear this offer, and none have called to take me up on it.
Quality, Bargain, Value, Convenience, Time, Guarantee, etc.
None of these words/terms are unique in advertising but can in fact become a USP depending on how you creatively deliver it.
Let’s look at [I]Quality[/I] as an example.
[COLOR=“Red”]Company A[/COLOR] uses scrubber and squeegee method to clean windows.
[COLOR=“Blue”]Company B[/COLOR] uses WFP.
Depending on the existing market, these two companies may have a USP just in their cleaning methods alone.
ie: [COLOR=“Red”]Company A USP[/COLOR] “We’re one of the few remaining companies that still insist that all our employees get face to face with your glass ensuring a crystal clear shine, every time.”
ie: [COLOR=“Blue”]Company B USP[/COLOR] “Our company uses leading edge technology to ensure that your windows get the best shine possible. Plus our ladder-free equipment also allows our staff to work safely from the ground, ensuring a safe working environment around your home.”
This is not an argument about which method is better, it simply shows how each company can turn their quality of service into a USP. You don’t even need to mention WFP or squeegee or the word quality.
Hey winderwarsher,
That advice from your, er, accountant? should be put in a bottle and thrown into the sea. Your accountant knows nothing about this. He knows accounting, that’s it.
Never let someone outside of your business give you advice on these matters. I am sure you would not seek his thoughts on marketing (at least I hope not).
You guarantee your work right now, don’t you? If I did not like the work you performed and you could do nothing to make me happy… how would you handle it? Refund perhaps?
I will give you REAL advice from 6 years or 2190 days worth of using a 100% money back guarantee. Not 1 refund, ever! How many guarantees has the accountant been screwed on?
Like I said, most do not offer guarantees for 2 reasons-
- no faith in their work (workers)
- [U]no faith in their customers[/U]
If we can’t trust them, why in the hell should they trust us?
Very good post CFP. It really got me thinking about my marketing.
Just as a funny side point, I actually really like Domiones. It’s on of my favourite pizzas.
In Canada actually Pizza Pizza is the most popular company. They advertise like crazy, sponsoring music hours on R&B and Rap music stations, they sponsor daytime traffic reports, they advertise the Grand Prix of Toronto, they advertise anywhere and often.
They seem to have a good line - Call Pizza Pizza, Hey, Hey, Hey! (a catchy jingle). They know the value of good marketing. But their pizza sucks.
Good one CFP.
I look forward to reading more gems from you.
Mike
Thanks Mike. Nice to hear from you!
You will only get my nuggets of gold (some of it fools gold) right on this forum from now on.
I am devoted to Chris and what he is trying to do here. Please feel free to get more involved in the discussions. I would love to hear your opinions and ideas.
Done with NWCD? I’m much more into what’s going on here too. I’m sitting back and learning. I’ll contribute as I gain experiance.
CFP,
Glad you had good results with that guarantee. I have seen enough customers dodge payment from me over the years (17 years and gobs of days). Some of them leave the house before you are finished and they say " oh, just put the invoice in the mail and I will get a check out to you tomorrow". I had one guy that moved away a week later to the other end of the country. I take information from people just like you and everyone else I talk with (mostly business owners themselves) in consideration. Its doesnt have to be from a marketing genius to give plain and simple advice that you can take or leave at the table. When he told me that, we werent talking about marketing at all. We were talking about getting paid for the work that is owed. Getting taken advantage of was probably the topic. 17 years ago was along time to remember that far back. Im not knocking your marketing plan. Have you ever heard of someone eating food in a restaurant and demanding full refund because their food " wasnt perfect to their expectations". Ask a waiter or waitress and you’ll probably get some good feedback on that one. If you dont think there are people just waiting to get a free bee out there, your wrong. It just hasn’t happened yet.
Steve
