Marketing From The Heart: Issue # 7

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Marketing From The Heart: Issue # 7
http://www.doublein26weeks.com
By Tom St. Louis
"The Shortest Distance Between You And Greater
Profits(tm)"
December 04, 2001
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Today's Tip: How Marketing Has Changed

Back in the mid 80's, when I started out as a
telemarketer, marketing seemed to be an easy and
straightforward activity. All you had to do was call a
company from a list, usually the white or Yellow Pages
and say something like: "Hi Mr. Jablonski, it's Tom
St. Louis with ABC TurboClean. We have developed a
unique system for removing all the dust from your
blinds. It costs less and it works better! I'd like to
set up a meeting with you and Jim Smith, our Regional
Sales Manager to visit you and show you the TurboClean
Process."

Then the prospect would usually say something like:
"Gee Tom, that sounds interesting. Do you have
something you can send me?" "Sure I do. I'll get it out
to you right away, and I'll get back to you on Thursday,
okay?" "Sure, Tom. That sounds great".
Thursday would come and I'd call. "Hi Mr. Jablonski,
it's Tom St. Louis with ABC TurboClean. I'm calling
to..." "Hi Tom! I got the package. It looks really
interesting! Can we get together next Tuesday?"
"Sure, I'll send Mr. Brown out to see you. How's
11 AM?" "That'll be great!". "Okay, thanks, we'll see
you then, bye!".

If this sounds like a hallucination, it's not. That's
the way it really was. These days, you'd be very
lucky to get someone on the phone on the first try.
To expect after that masterstroke of good fortune
that you'd also be able to call them back and reach
them a second time is farfetched. To believe that
they would remember you and your materials is simply
too much of a strain on credulity for the year 2001.

So what's changed?

Everything! But, the biggest change is the pace of
business. In the old days, we had more time and less
coming at us. We really could answer our phones. We
really DID have time to look at someone's brochure.
We really did remember who we talked to a week ago.

Sales organizations really could do cold calling as a
numbers game and produce predictable profit. (It can
still be done today, but the tactics would have to be
very different. More on that in a later issue).

Look at the numbers from 1985. You'd call ten people
and get an appointment. One out of three would be a
sale. Thirty dials to a sale...we didn't know how
easy we had it!

Nowadays, it's important to be a lot more focused.
The reason I tell you all this is to get you to think
about your marketing differently. It is far more
challenging to get through to the ultimate decision
maker. But guess what? The fact that it's harder to
do is good news for a quality company.

Why is that? Because if you are willing to "do what
it takes" to effectively distinguish yourself from
your competition, then your prospect will see and feel
and sense your commitment. In 1985, it wasn't so
bad to be a commodity. In 2001, it is the mark of
death.

The bottom line is that, with thousands of marketing
messages coming our way every day, we simply can't
afford to pay attention to companies and people that
do not understand us and do not have a unique story to
tell us.

Next Week: How to "De-commodotize your company".

Go to Issue # 8
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CLIENT TESTIMONIAL:
"Tom, I can't thank you enough. You are willing to go
120% to work with me to make sure there's value for me
before you think of yourself. I just had the best month
of my business life, stretching back 35 years. And I
recently sold an order which was the biggest in our
history by 400%. How can I thank you?
Ron Tabachnick, The Business Huddle Incorporated
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FREE E-BOOK: The Three Most Powerful Marketing
Strategies in History, by Tom St. Louis.
http://www.doublein26weeks.com/3MostPowerful.pdf
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