Face to Face Marketing and Door to Door Marketing

Nothing beats the reality that one gets when you can interact with potential clients face to face physically moving from door to door within a community or household to household, face to face field marketing is also called personal selling or door to door marketing, customers are met directly in order to sell their products, using this method of field marketing we rely on our skills and persuasive abilities. During the period where we get to interact with the client face to face we get more chance to pass across edible information which would be useful to all our customers at that time and it’s also an opportunity for us to get feedback and to gauge your opinion about our business.

I did door-to-door sales for nine years, in hundreds of different cities and towns all across the india. Through long, hard, agonizing trial and error, I eventually developed enough skill that I could take any product into any area on any day and make sales.

In the beginning, I struggled. But when I was about to give up on myself and quit (like 99.9% of people that try door-to-door sales do within their first few days), experienced salesperson to give me a chance to get on track.

What I saw that day changed my life forever.

I watched as the experienced salesperson drove to an area where he had previous sales success, and listened as he explained to me why he parked his car in the exact spot he did to start his day and laid out his exact plan of attack.
Within the first 10 minutes, I learned a valuable lesson that not only made my door-to-door sales career much easier, but has also been the key to bringing in millions of dollars in revenue for my own companies, and those of thousands of others I’ve consulted to:

A current customer is the easiest person to make a sale to – many, many times easier (and less expensive) than trying to get new customers.

Most business owners operate a risky, day-to-day, transactional business, believing that the reason for getting a customer is to make a sale. That’s their biggest problem: making nothing more than “a” sale to a customer. After that initial transaction, they simply hope that their product or service or location is good enough that they will get a repeat visit from that customer.

On the other hand, sharp business owners (and door-to-door salespeople!) know that the point to making a sale is to get a customer. We have systems put together to maximize the value of that customer by making future offers to them, so that they buy more of the same product or service, or a different version, or even an entirely different product or service.

In other words, we recognize that a current customer is the easiest person to sell to, and a prospect is the hardest and most-expensive person to sell to. Therefore, we concentrate on maximizing the value of every new customer we get.

If you want to grow your business during these challenging economic times (and even during boom times), your time and effort should be invested in working to turn prospects into customers and retain them to market to in the future.
While your marketing is doing its job to get you prospects, you need to be working on turning those prospects into customers. There are a few key ways to draw them in and seal the deal. You need to be:

Inviting
Informative
Enjoyable

The biggest fear of most new customers is the dreaded “buyer’s remorse.” You want to minimize this as best you can, and if you’ve provided a quality product or service that delivers on the marketing claims you’ve made, the risk will be lower.

However, returns can still occur. Here are the two most effective ways to deal with this:

Offer to refund money — no questions asked
Offer a bonus they can keep even if they return the product

These offers alone will also lessen the impact of buyer’s remorse, because the customer will trust you more just because you showed the confidence in your product or service to offer these options in the first place.

There are number of other ways to turn a prospect into a customer:

Offer a special price as an opportunity for them to test the market.
Offer a lower price with a legitimate reason, such as clearing out inventory to pay a tax bill, for your kid’s braces, or another tangible reason. (Added bonus: Customers love you for doing this, because it makes you so much more human to them.)
Offer a referral incentive.
Offer a smaller, less expensive entry-level product to build trust.
Offer package deals.
Offer to charge less for their first purchase if they become a repeat customer.
Offer extra incentives, such as longer warranties or free bonuses, if they order by a certain date.
Offer financing options, if applicable.
Offer a bonus if they pay in full.
Offer special packaging or delivery.
Offer “name-your-own-price” incentives.
Offer comparative data or other comparison tools.
Offer to let them trade up or upgrade to something better if they want.
Offer additional, educational information to help them make the decision.

The options are really only limited by your imagination and marketing skill. You can use these or other ideas to discover what works the best for your specific business, with your specific products, services and target market.

Even if you ever find yourself doing door-to-door sales.

marketing agencies in hadapsar

3C’s model Ohmae

Definition: 3C’s model Ohmae

Developed by the Japanese strategy guru Kenichi Ohmae, this model enlists the three significant key factors which provide a sustained competitive advantage for the success of any business corporation.

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a. Customer

A firm’s main focus should be its present and potential customers to be successful in the long run. To understand better, these are usually segmented in three broad categories, though one may come up with his own categorization as he/she may find convenient-

Segmentation by objectives

Here, the segmentation is based on the different ways of usage of the same product by different customers. For example- A car is used by some as a mere mode of conveyance while it can be status symbol for others.

Segmenting by customer coverage

This segmentation involves a strategic trade off in terms of marketing costs and market coverage. A businessman needs to evaluate the two and come up with an optimal strategy such that cost of marketing is beneficial in comparison to its competitors. Thus, he/she needs to prioritize the markets to be focused on, given the restricted promotional budget.

3. Re segmenting the market

In this dynamic world of cut throat competition and continuously changing customer needs, a successful marketer needs to continually do sample testing to keep on track with the current and expected demands of its customers. It is in this way that he can keep ahead of competition. But the frequency of such tests depends on the magnitude of cost implications of the same.

b. Corporation

A corporation needs to carefully evaluate both the short term and long term strategies to beat competition and have a sustainable competitive advantage. The strategies can be-

Selectivity and sequencing

The corporation needs to identify one or two core areas of its expertise and devote its resources in them to succeed rather than trying to lead in all functions with no relevant expertise.

Make or buy

The company can either outsource non value adding or costly activities or undertake backward integration to stay ahead of competition. Example- if the price of coffee increases in the market, then the retailer who has his own farms (backward integrated) is able to reap greater profits than competition by competitively pricing his offering.

Cost effectiveness

This can be implemented in three ways-

1. Reducing basic costs
2. Exercise greater selectivity
3. Sharing key functions with corporation’s other businesses or even with other companies.

c. Competitor

It is essential for a firm to differentiate its offering from that of its competitors operating in same market. There are 3 broad ways to do this-

1. Image

This acts a very powerful differentiator in a market where the offerings and benefits of the firm and its rivals are almost the same.

2. Capitalize on profit and cost structure differences

a) A difference in profit source might be used to vent out competition. Example- profits due to having a first mover advantage in some particular market as Maggi enjoys over Yippe noodles or Top Ramen.

b) A company with a lower fixed price to variable price ratio can lower the prices of its products to gain instant market share. However, this is possible only with a mature firm which has covered most of its fixed costs.

c) Hito – Kane- Mono: It is a Japanese proverb meaning people, money and things. These three entities should be in balance for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Accordingly, the corporation should firstly allocate management talent, based on the available mono (things): plant, machinery, technology, process know-how and functional strength. Once these hito (people) have developed creative and imaginative ideas to capture the business’s upward potential, the kane (money) should be given to the specific ideas and programs generated by the individual managers.

Brand Extension – Meaning, Advantages and Disadvantages

Brand Extension is the use of an established brand name in new product categories. This new category to which the brand is extended can be related or unrelated to the existing product categories. A renowned/successful brand helps an organization to launch products in new categories more easily. For instance, Nikes brand core product is shoes. But it is now extended to sunglasses, soccer balls, basketballs, and golf equipments. An existing brand that gives rise to a brand extension is referred to as parent brand. If the customers of the new business have values and aspirations synchronizing/matching those of the core business, and if these values and aspirations are embodied in the brand, it is likely to be accepted by customers in the new business.

Extending a brand outside its core product category can be beneficial in a sense that it helps evaluating product category opportunities, identifies resource requirements, lowers risk, and measures brands relevance and appeal.

Brand extension may be successful or unsuccessful.

Instances where brand extension has been a success are-

i. Wipro which was originally into computers has extended into shampoo, powder, and soap.

ii. Mars is no longer a famous bar only, but an ice-cream, chocolate drink and a slab of chocolate.

Instances where brand extension has been a failure are-

i. In case of new Coke, Coca Cola has forgotten what the core brand was meant to stand for. It thought that taste was the only factor that consumer cared about. It was wrong. The time and money spent on research on new Coca Cola could not evaluate the deep emotional attachment to the original Coca- Cola.

ii. Rasna Ltd. – Is among the famous soft drink companies in India. But when it tried to move away from its niche, it hasnt had much success. When it experimented with fizzy fruit drink Oranjolt, the brand bombed even before it could take off. Oranjolt was a fruit drink in which carbonates were used as preservative. It didnt work out because it was out of synchronization with retail practices. Oranjolt need to be refrigerated and it also faced quality problems. It has a shelf life of three-four weeks, while other soft- drinks assured life of five months.

Advantages of Brand Extension

Brand Extension has following advantages:

1. It makes acceptance of new product easy.

a. It increases brand image.

b. The risk perceived by the customers reduces.

c. The likelihood of gaining distribution and trial increases. An established brand name increases consumer interest and willingness to try new product having the established brand name.

d. The efficiency of promotional expenditure increases. Advertising, selling and promotional costs are reduced. There are economies of scale as advertising for core brand and its extension reinforces each other.

e. Cost of developing new brand is saved.

f. Consumers can now seek for a variety.

g. There are packaging and labeling efficiencies.

h. The expense of introductory and follow up marketing programs is reduced.

2. There are feedback benefits to the parent brand and the organization.

a. The image of parent brand is enhanced.

b. It revives the brand.

c. It allows subsequent extension.

d. Brand meaning is clarified.

e. It increases market coverage as it brings new customers into brand franchise.

f. Customers associate original/core brand to new product, hence they also have quality associations.

Disadvantages of Brand Extension

1. Brand extension in unrelated markets may lead to loss of reliability if a brand name is extended too far. An organization must research the product categories in which the established brand name will work.

2. There is a risk that the new product may generate implications that damage the image of the core/original brand.

3. There are chances of less awareness and trial because the management may not provide enough investment for the introduction of new product assuming that the spin-off effects from the original brand name will compensate.

4. If the brand extensions have no advantage over competitive brands in the new category, then it will fail.

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Articales from http://www.managementstudyguide.com

Sales Leadership: 5 Steps to Exceed 2015 Quota

Sales Leadership: How to Ensure You Exceed Your 2015 Quota

The end of the year is rapidly closing in and while everyone in your organization is focused on achieving their targets; as a sales leader it is crucial you are also focused on the new year. At this time of year I am working with each of my clients to begin to position them for success. I have listed the actions most organizations need to consider to exceed next year’s quota.

Begin to recruit. This is the best time of year to recruit as top performers are evaluating their current situation, so you may lose individuals and you can add individuals. Assuming your sales quota will go up, you will need additional salespeople on your team to achieve those higher numbers. Recruiting takes time and training new salespeople takes time, get a jump on your headcount. Also you may have salespeople failing and you may need to let other go, not having enough quality salespeople to achieve your numbers is the number one reason sales managers are let go! Check out my book on Recruiting High Performance Sales Teams, if you do not currently have a recruiting/interviewing process-it also includes a salesperson “On Boarding” process.
Evaluate your compensation plan. Does the plan match your organizations strategic objectives? Is it competitive? Will there be changes to your products/services in the new year that could impact your compensation plan? It takes time to build a new compensation plan, do no leave this till December! You need to test it and plan how to roll it out. There is a free sales compensation assessment on our website: www.AcumenManagement.com
Review Account Planning and Salesperson Business Plans. Depending upon your sales model, review whatever templates you are currently using; are they sophisticated enough, do they achieve what you want them to accomplish? Account Plans should at a minimum include a “strategy” and 5 tactical steps to either open or penetrate the accounts more effectively. Salesperson Business Plans should include more than simple forecasts; they need to include goal setting, training needs, marketing activities and business objectives. If you want a free sample, simply ask: Ken@AcumenMgmt.com
Create annual sales contests. One of the key components in building high performing sales teams is the creation of the annual sales trip. There are many variations to concept and I don’t have room to detail in this blog, but the facts are where we have annual team reward trips, I see great sales organizations. They build pride, team work and drive revenue. In my book; Creating High Performance Sales Compensation Plans I have an entire chapter on incentive compensation.
Plan what major sales training your team requires. Consider the skill level of your general team and what changes there are in your market and then assess various training programs that are available. We are not a sales training organization but we can make recommendations based upon your general needs. Create a budget and insert it into your new year plan!

Each organization is different and requires a unique solution however these 5 basic actions, if acted on, will position you to be ahead of the game!

Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 16 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout the world.

His latest book is, Ken’s 5^th book: SLAMMED!!! For first time sales managers is now available: http://www.acumenmgmt.com/Books

Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.