Lorraine Ball

As a confirmed networking junkie, I am always looking for my next fix. My new fix is LinkedIn. An on-line social network, Linkedin is often described as Facebook for professionals.  With an emphasis on career history, educational background and association membership, Linkedin has millions of members, with thousands more joining each day.

Start with your contacts.
Once you register (basic membership is free) you can invite people to Link In (connect to you through the online tool). You can search the LinkedIn data base for people you know or upload your email address book. You will only be able to view contact information for people with whom you are directly connected. The interface is easy to use and will pull contacts directly from your address book in Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo or MSN accounts. And if you are Outlook users, the downloadable toolbar makes it easy to continuously update your contacts.

Your Contacts Have Contacts!
This is where the real power of LinkedIn comes in. While you may have only 100 people in your contact circle, each of those people know other people. For example, after a year of building my contact list, I have more than 750 contacts (each of whom know on average 100 people) so my second tier circle contains more than 80,000 people.

These same connections exist in the off-line world. Your friends know people you want to meet, and sooner or later they may get around to introducing you. With LinkedIn you can accelerate the process by requesting invitations. You can search by skills, type of company, jobs held, geographic regions, and common interests.

If you find someone who fits your search criteria, LinkedIn will tell you how you are connected, who you know in common, and you can request an invitation. When my assistant moved to St. Louis , we searched my data base and discovered I had connections to marketing directors in some of the largest companies in the city. We were able to make introductions and accelerate her job search.

Beyond Your Address Book
LinkedIn is often overlooked in the world of social media, but as the tool has grown it is much more than just another place to “add your friends.” For job hunters and sales people with specific targets, it’s actually one of the world’s best networking tools.

Whether you are looking for a job, an employee, an introduction to a key executive or simply someone with the answer to burning questions, LinkedIn can help you find people who will meet your need.
LinkedIn will never replace the face-to-face interaction, but it can give your traditional networking an extra buzz.

By Lorraine Ball
Roundpeg

If you want to build loyalty is it more important to increase purchase frequency or purchase volume? In their book, “Meaningful Marketing”, researchers Doug Hall and Jeffrey Stamp concluded that focusing on purchase volume is 3.9 times more effective when trying to build annual loyalty.

Why? Loyalty is not static. Your competitors are always out there, trying to make even your best customers try something new. The research shows that it is best to strike when the iron is hot! When the customer is in a buying mode, help them buy. You may not get another chance later. Hall and Stamp recommend that business owners follow the lead of McDonalds, and think about supersizing the offer.

Give your customers a reason to buy more!

When your customer is ready to buy, give them incentives to purchase more. Long term contracts or larger packages offer you more profit, so pass along some of the
savings to customers. Offer incentives, such as discounts on multiunit purchases, to encourage them to buy more now.

Do you want fries with that?

Every time you walk into a McDonalds, and order a hamburger, the person behind the counter asks, “Do you want fries with that?” By simply training their employees to ask the question, McDonalds increased their sales dramatically.

The same technique can grow sales for your business. Do you routinely offer accessories and extra services with every sale? Are these options clearly listed on every proposal with the benefits spelled out for your consumer? If not, it is time to revise your proposal. The research shows that if you don’t mention it up front, you may not get a second chance.

The Meal Deal

McDonalds discovered most customers wanted a drink, fries and sandwich. As a result, they developed a pricing structure that was so attractively that almost everyone buys a “#1, #2 or #3.”

This concept can work for you as well. Bundle accessories and service contracts into the purchase price as standard. Discount the your package only slightly when you leave out an accessory and most consumers will buy the whole package.

Offer “Free Stuff” This bundled approach allows you to offer an extra service ( which costs you very little) “free” with complete system sale.

This bundled approach will help you set yourself apart in the market place as well.

Don’t’ stop with the Meal – Offer a Complete Package

Another tactic is to view your product from the customer’s perspective. What will they need to maximize the use or enjoyment of your product or service? If you offer these related products, either directly or through a strategic partner, your customer has fewer reasons to go elsewhere.

What types of services should you offer? If you sell a product to new homes, consider offering a $25 coupon for a landscape company or nursery with every system you
sell. Or maybe a gift certificate for carpet cleaning, or floor refinishing. Your customers will appreciate the little extras.

These extra services don’t have to be an expense item for you. Many companies pay referral bonuses. Talk to service provides about giving you the coupons for free instead of the referral bonus. And, if you are smart, you will give them coupons for your services as well.

These are just some examples of ways to grow you your business by building customer loyalty. For other ideas, simply observe successful companies in industries very
different from HVAC, and you may learn other ways to Supersize your business.

Lorraine Ball helps business owners find a starting point for growth and change.

http://www.roundpeg.biz or call 317-908-0262
Lorraine Ball
President of Roundpeg
317-569-1396
Lorraine@roundpeg.biz

Lorraine Ball

One of my favorite examples of marketing persistence is the story of the scientists at the 3M Company who found a use for an adhesive which didn’t stick. Originally developed in 1968, by Dr. Spencer Silver, no one saw any use for the product.

A few years later, another scientist, Art Fry developed applications to use the adhesive on bookmarks. Despite discouraging feedback from the marketing department and his peers, he believed in the potential of this unique product.

Bypassing traditional channels, he made a batch of the pads in the lab and distributed them to the secretaries of all the executives at 3M. He correctly assumed, these professionals would use the product, become fans and share them with others. And he was right! In no time at all, the secretaries and their bosses, were using the handy notepads, and calling for more.

Initial launch plans in the late 1970’s built on the same strategy as pads were sent to secretaries of executives of all major Fortune 500 companies. And the rest is history!
Post-it® Notes were successful because they were a great product, put into the hands of people who would use it, and more importantly, share it. Introduced in 11 Western states, consumers in those communities actually shipped notes to their co-workers in cities where the product was not yet available.

Everyone needs a great secretary

You simply have to find your “secretaries”, people who understand your product and will share information with others! Begin with your most loyal customers, asking them for testimonials and referrals.

Then, the next time you go to a networking event, shift your focus; instead of trying to find your next customer, look for people who call on your customers. These strategic connections will become your best secretaries over time. If they truly see the benefit of your product or service, just like the secretaries and the Post-it® Notes, they will become evangelists for your brand.

Of course, in return, you need to be their secretary, too. Networking is a two sided process. If you want other business owners to carry your message to the marketplace, you have to be willing to carry theirs.

Be patient, these relationships don’t occur overnight. It takes time to turn a customer or strategic partner into a raving fan!

There is another important lesson in the 3M story. Although not really a networking lesson, I would remiss if I didn’t point the successful launch of this product began with a free trial.

People Need to Try Before They Buy

Even after 3M execs were hooked on the product, they still couldn’t figure out how to get others to buy it. Simply describing the benefits was just not enough and the product received mixed reviews in the market.

Sales really took off when they distributed free samples in office supply stores. Sampling works with products and services. Take a lesson from 3M – Accelerate your brand growth by demonstrating your expertise or giving away a small free sample to people with the potential to be your secretaries and tell your story to others.

A twenty-year veteran of corporate America, Lorraine is an accomplished marketing professional, who has won regional and national communication awards. She is a certified teacher, facilitator and college instructor. Lorraine Ball is a frequent guest panelist featured on “Sound Advice,” the popular online audio program from What’s Working in Biz.

Her articles on marketing, team building, and business development have been featured in Contracting Business, The New York Forum and The ACH&R News. In addition, her books: “The Entrepreneur’s Notebook” and “The Confessions of a Networking Junkie” are quickly becoming “MUST READS” for new bu siness owners.

Today, her company, Roundpeg http://www.roundpeg.biz helps small business owners discover the secrets to big company marketing!