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March 29, 2007
VARs: Know Your Value; Vendors: Know Your Partners
Back in 2000, Michael Hammer created an editorial in Information Week in which he wrote:
“The notion of a distribution chain is becoming obsolete; in its place is arising the notion of a distribution community, a group of companies that collectively create value for the customer. There's room in this community for many companies besides the manufacturer, as long as they are ready to rethink their roles in customer value terms.”
Fast forward. On March 21, 2007, Jessica Davis penned an article titled "Changing Channel Influence" for ZiffDavis' Channel Insider Website in which she explored evolving programs for measuring not only absolute sales by channel partners, but also the influence value of smaller VARs. This subtle but very critical concept illustrates the changing dynamic between modern manufacturers and their channel distribution partners.
In the evolving, customer-driven world of marketing, mindshare for complex decisions is influenced by many factors, one of which is the tangible presence of a local reseller who will be there to support and service the product. Introducing Hammer's original concept, VARs and dealers increasingly need to think about what their real "value" in the market is. Consultative support value is a huge factor in many markets, and that value is typically overlooked by many channel support programs.
Good article to review.!
Posted by jcioban at 8:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2007
Bad Behavior Begets More Resistant Readers
The challenge of geting consumers or B2B prospects to respond to any lead generation program is making people downright liars. Recently, I got a very creative mailing from Ricoh with the message outside saying "Your Rebate Information Enclosed." Well, surprise...there was indeed information about a rebate program, but the mailing was intentionally designed to look like a "check" in a secure mailing format to get me to open it and read the promo. Misleading...but not technically a lie (and, truth be told...it did trick me into opening.)
But, I was reading AdRants earlier today and came across the post "Bank of America Direct Mail Misleads." The article rails against a BoA promo with the message "Account Information Enclosed" on the outside of the envelope. You guessed it...just another promo.
I understand the rationale for the approach, but as mailboxes, inboxes, TVs, radios, etc. fill with ads, and unwanted solicitations, it is fueling the backlash against marketing that is making it harder to break through. Bad behavior begets more resistant readers. And, that marketing readers, is real food for thought.
Posted by jcioban at 9:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 13, 2007
On Good Vs. Great and Other Tips In Channel Sales Motivation
Several years ago, I entered a local Buick dealership to shop for a car. It was around 7:00 pm, and the slightly dingy dealership had only two salespeople on duty. The one assigned to me shuffled over and we walked back to his desk. He sat down, leaned back in his chair, and put his feet up on the desk! I talked to hom about 30 seconds, then got up and left (without tipping his chair over as I so badly wanted to do.) I thought things had changed since this happened to me...
Which leads me to a rant on sales and customer service in the form of a great posting on Seth Godin's Blog. Seth (for those readers not familiar with him) is a well-known author, speaker and consultant who is a passionate advocate for approaches to sales and marketing that are "customer-friendly" (like permission marketing) and that emphasize excellence. His latest blog is eerily like my story above, only all the more shocking because it involves Toyota.
Read: Good Is Not Almost As Good As Great
If you are a corporate reader with a large dealer network...this is scary reading. I have long advised clients on the importance of thinking about how dealers are trained, supported and treated...because behavior like this can undo all the value of great engineering and superior advertising when it comes to customer loyalty.
Do not say that "we have no control over dealer's sales beahvior..." Sending a link to a simple blog posting like this along with a sales tip and an acknowledgement/thank you for their commitment to excellence, can convey both a profound lesson and a boost of confidence that you care about their business.
When supporting sales channels...direct or indirect...it helps to continually remind people of the little things that make a big difference. Doing it creatively and supportively only makes the message more likely to be absorbed.
Posted by jcioban at 6:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 11, 2007
Cold Calling: Some Sage Advice
I hate cold-calling. I don't like to have my day interrupted, so I cringe when I have to interrupt another busy executive. But, cold-calling is part of business. The other day, I was stunned when I succeeded in reaching a C-level executive of a $16-billion company who actually picked up a call (I wasn't even calling to sell him something...I was seeking to use them as a supplier!)
Understanding most people's hatred of the cold-call process, I saw a great posting today on making cold calls by John Caddell, a contributor on the Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog. His tips, culled from a book by Jeff Thull (another contributor) Exceptional Selling, are great advice. The fact is that personal contact remains crucial to kick-starting the sales process in many B2B markets as contacts become overwhelmed with product/service options. A professional approach to cold-calling is essential if you are to make ANY headway with senior managers.
The short version of John's posting:
- Professionally identify yourself and your company.
- Give the prospect an easy way out.
- Demonstrate relevance for companies like the prospect's.
- Reference a generic problem they might be facing.
- Ask for permission to continue!
I especially like the last bullet, since it is the ultimate sign of respect to ask for permission to continue to invade the person's time. As obvious as these tips sound, I am continually amazed at how few salespeople consistently apply all the steps.
I encourage you to click through to John's posting or his personal blog site, Shop Talk - Innovation, Marketing and Alliances.
Posted by jcioban at 5:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Mental Break: Innovation Thoughts (Good and Bad!)
Innovation is the word of the day for businesses large and small these days. From small local dealers to multinational conglomerates, innovation is the fuel that drives business growth. So, in service to our readers, here are some fast thoughts on innovation:
- According to the Franklin Institute's Braindrops Website (cool place to bookmark) it takes about 90% less energy to recycle aluminum cans than it takes to make new ones. (3/11/2007)
- Some of the patents issues in 2006 (Ref. New York TImes Sunday Magazine 12/10/2006) included:
- a head-nodding alarm to avert sleep while driving (No. 7,126,485)
- an apparatus for injecting an edible filling to a bagel (No. 7,107,900)
- a device for dispensing animal-scent attractant for behind ankle of user (No. 7,093,770)
- a ball with gripping handles (No. 7,044,820)
- a ropeless jumprope (No. 7,037,243)
- a urinating animated toy (No. 7,115,014)
- the reissue of a lap-dance liner (No. RE39,371)
- The Sony Playstation 3 processor runs at 1.8 teraflops (with a theoretical limit of over 2 teraflops). Teraflops is floating point operations per second...a measure of a computer's processing ability. To put this in context, 1.8 teraflops is roughly equivalent to the processing power of 287 Pentium 4 PCs, or 10,000 Cray-1 supercomputers (...at least, "supercomputers" when they were introduced in 1976.) (Facts courtesy of Wired Magazine.)
It's all enough to make you stay up late and try to invent something....
Posted by jcioban at 1:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 10, 2007
Great Advice For Entrepreneurial Businesses
I spend a lot of time working with dealers, brokers, VARs and other independent channel partners. What strikes me is how entrepreneurial these businesses are...typically running far more efficiently than most direct sales organizations for large corporations.
As a result, Guy Kawasaki's blog posting titled, "Founders at Work" in which he relayed some interesting anecdotes from the book Founders at Work: Stories of Startups Early Days" was both amusing and engaging. As with many of Guy's postings, there was a great takeaway line:
"Entrepreneurship is all about tactics, hootspah, not knowing that things are not done "this way," and making do with not enough money."
It is a plight that many small companies can understand...twisting the old adage..'adversity is the mother of innovation." But, what distinguishes the truly successful entrepreneurs is also the ability to think big, stay focused as distractions emerge, and to never stop believing in their own vision and skill.
Kawasaki is a source of great advice for entrepreneurs and his blog is must-bookmark destination.
Posted by jcioban at 4:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
On Building Reseller Brand Identity
For dealers, VARS or other independent channel partners, there is a nice article in the March 5, 2007 issue of VARBusiness titled, "Building the Perfect Brand." The article articulates the importance of building brand equity as a reseller.
I particularly liked their Top 10 DO's and DON'Ts for brand building...I don't agree with all the items, but the basic concepts are good. (e.g I agree that postcards are not a panacea, but properly used, they can be integrated into a communications campaign to make a cost-effective nurturing touch to select industries and audiences.)
Things to Do:
1. Do give customers face-time.
2. Do cold-call prospective customers.
3. Do read the trades for news and trends so you can engage existing and potential customers in meaningful conversation.
4. Do put together your own trade shows, conferences and seminars.
5. Do PR: It's the cheapest way to build brand awareness.
Things To Not Do:
1. Don't send postcards.
2. Don't limit yourself to attending only vendor trade shows.
3. Don't spend a lot of money on billboards; in the age of the Internet, they are minimally effective.
4. Don't bombard customers with e-mail; keep messages focused.
5. Don't lose sight of your mission.
I also liked the following fact: 41% of VAR survey respondents said they spend between 6-10% of revenue on marketing!
Good advice for all indpedendent channel partners.
Posted by jcioban at 3:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Importance Of Merchandising Your Channel Marketing Program
If you're title is "Channel Marketing Manager" or "Director, Channel Programs" or some similar version, I have some advice..."Get Your Consumer Hat On."
Many B2B channel marketing programs would benefit from a dose of "consumer-think." It takes real energy to gain adoption for new marketing programs among channel partners bombarded with messaging from multiple suppliers. That means programs need to, first and foremost, be relevant and valuable to the channel...not just be pumping up the volume on self-serving manufacturer-talk. But, even a well-conceived program requires serious merchandising to get the attention of over-burdened partners. Forgetting to "market" your valuable "marketing program" is one of the surest ways to doom the program to failure.
Here is an example. We have a client...a tools wholesaler located in Oklahoma. Now, Oklahoma, tools and wholesaling do not sound like they lead to creative marketing. But these folks are good...really good.
They contracted a set of interns to call thousands of channel partners to update their profiles and gather e-mail address to kick-off an electronic communications program. They observed channel partners abandoning orders for customized flyers and said: "Can we target these people with a special offer?" They looked at people who had ordered marketing programs and said: "Can we give them an incentive to order again?" If you are in consumer markets, you're thinking "what's the big deal?" But, if you are in B2B channels, this IS a big deal.
This client's team is thinking like marketers or merchandisers -- when they launch a program, they focus on ensuring its success instead of just setting it on its way! They're being analytical. They're being creative. That is very different from the "throw stuff at the walls and see what sticks" approach that so many manufacturers take with new marketing campaigns. Too often, companies fall prey to the desire to introduce "something new" instead of ensuring the sustained success of concepts they already lauanched. This leads to fragemented mindshare in the channel and even more confusion.
In the perfect world, all channel partners would be dedicated, single-supplier drones tethered to your messaging. GET REAL. Successful channel partners are high-performance sales organizations with little marketing skill, but lots of manufacturers vying for their loyalty. To get noticed, you need to get your consumer mindset turned on.
Posted by jcioban at 9:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 5, 2007
What You Can Learn From A Ride On Amtrak
I am riding the train from New York to Washington as I write this. Having used the rail system in Denmark and France recently, I find Amtrak depressing. Penn Station in New York was littered with unahppy-looking people, the food options at 5:30 am were few, the building was in disrepair. As you ride along the Northeast corrider, the next thing you notice is that our rail infrastructure is crumbling. Depsite high fuel costs and increasing pressure to use mass-transit, Americans shun the rails. By comparison, in Europe, the train is a delightful experience -- clean, reliable and fast.
Which made me think about an article in the American Demographics insert of AdAge on November 20, 2006. In that article, titled, "Consumers Cite Past Experience as the No. 1 Influencer When Buying," the author noted:
"In a survey by GfK Roper Consulting, 83% of adults cited past experience with a brand as the most important factor in their purchase decisions. Quality and price -- issues often promoted in advertising -- ranked second and third. Personal recommendations came in fourth, highlighting the importance of word of mouth."
Some time ago, I ranted about manufacturer's often short-sighted obsession with products...sometimes at the exclusion of an equally obsessive customer service orientation (I took particular aim at General Motors..). So, it was not a surprise to me to see this data. However, it does surprise me that so many companies continue to ignore the evidence.
Which brings me back to Amtrak. There were some Amtrak employees this AM who made the experience relatively pleasant. The legroom in my Business Class seat was ample...and the availability of a power outlet meant I could work the entire trip. But seedy, decaying stations, trash along the route, and some notably unpleasant employees are some of the detractions. By comparison, Europe's high-speed rail cars with sumptuous first-class accommodations (OK, the unreserved coach cars can often be crowded and stuffy....), make using the train a delightful experience.
Which is, as the article points out, what it's all about -- the experience. Advertising/marketing-driven brand messaging can help drive the first order from a new customer. Or, as in my case, business need can drive periodic use. However, loyalty comes from the total experience. If Amtrak wants me to consistently look at the train instead of the car or plane for regional travel, it needs to clean up its act. One can only hope that Amtrak finds its way before bad service drives it out of business.
Posted by jcioban at 7:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
