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"Next to doing the right thing,
the most important thing is to let people know
you are doing the right thing.” - John D.
Rockefeller
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I've been asked this question more than a
few times lately:
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John Rich |
“How can I run a travel program in this
economy” It is often followed by…”We are
laying people off, how can we take customers
on vacation when we are laying people off?”
Or…”My customers are doing less business, so
how can they qualify for a trip?”
Good questions and taken for face value, a
travel promotion seems unlikely. But let’s
examine what a travel promotion is, and what
it is not, and define the purpose for travel
and see whether travel fits your marketing
plans.
First of all, travel is not a vacation, and
it is never an expense if done correctly. It
is a service and designed to drive sales and
pay for itself. Example: You have counter
service; why? Because without counter
service you would miss out on a lot of
business. There is a cost to offering a
counter staffed by trained personnel, but
you expect to gain enough profit through
sales at the counter to pay the expense and
send profits to the bottom line. If your
counter doesn’t make a profit, why do you
have a counter?
Another example: you deliver. Delivery costs
money, but you have found you’ll be more
profitable if you deliver than if you don’t
deliver. Services like delivery and a
counter and every other service you offer
are really investments, not costs, they are
investments in sales designed to produce
profits. So is travel.
Don’t think of travel as a vacation; ask any
manager who’s been on his/her companies
travel program and he or she will tell you
he needed a vacation after returning from 5
days of entertaining his best customers. It
is hard work. Instead think of travel as any
other service you offer; a service with the
goal of driving sales. You wouldn’t cut out
delivery or credit or your counter in tough
times, and you shouldn’t cut out travel
either as it may be the most powerful sales
incentive in your entire marketing arsenal.
Travel done correctly is built around
driving sales, and you are in a selling
business. If your mindset is: “we need to
motivate customers to buy from us and 4
nights in Mexico next January will motivate
these specific customers.” Then the only
question is how to make it pay for itself?
Now think of travel as part of the cost of
doing business, or better yet an investment
in sales. And then determine what percentage
of the sale can be invested to drive more
sales. Think of it this way, if a rebate of
$2000 would motivate a customer to give you
$100,000 in business, and that is a
substantial increase over what you would get
without the rebate; simply replace rebate
with a $2000 trip instead. A travel program
will have way more “wow factor” than a
rebate, is harder for your competitor to
compete with than a rebate, and offers the
added benefit of spending several days and
nights with your customer under ideal
circumstances building a solid relationship.
Looked at this way travel is a no brainer.
Just think of each individual customer as a
profit center, and determine how much of an
investment is required to gain a particular
amount of business from that customer.
Forget about what he bought over the last 10
years, think about this year and how much
business you want from that profit center
this year, and what are you willing to
“rebate” or invest in travel to get that
business.
When you take the “vacation” aspect out,
when you remove the 100 people times $2000
each = $200,000 and just think of each
customer as a profit center; and you are
going to invest a specific amount of money
in each customer to drive a specific amount
of business, it is easier to see the benefit
and the profits driven from travel.
John Rich
john@thegragroup.com
440.328.8587
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Have Marketing Questions?
Ask the president
of The GRA Group, John Rich, your marketing questions
and become
more informed. Starting with this newsletter we will
pick two or three submitted questions,
and post them, with the answer, in an upcoming
newsletter. Just click on the link below to
submit your question.
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Testimonial For Using The GRA Group
The GRA Group is a company that
cares. Their employees are genuine
people and are professional in every
way. As we all know, a company IS
the employees. Everyone in every
department is caring, efficient and
will go the extra mile. I have been
their customer for over 5 years, and
they have helped me get my message
out to my customers in a very
creative, professional style.
You will not find a company who
cares more. I highly recommend The
GRA Group.
Jodi Saladucha
Vice President, Swift Electrical
Supply
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Jodi Saladucha
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It is our pleasure to announce that
Matt Johnson from Etna Supply
Company
in Grand Rapids, MI is the winner
for two (2)
roundtrip airline tickets for travel
in the
contiguous 48 states. Matt's name
was entered
into this drawing for completing our
survey this past
summer along with dozens of other
participants.
Congratulations Matt, enjoy your
trip!
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Watch for upcoming opportunities to
participate
in our
surveys. Your input is greatly
appreciated |
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Get
Your Customers’ Attention With Direct
Mail!
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During slower economic times,
everyone makes cuts in what is
deemed non-essential operations.
Companies are cost conscious,
and are looking for the most
effective way to get their
customers’ attention in order to
promote their goods and
services.
In the recent issue of Deliver
Magazine Rod DeVar, discusses
six ways that direct mail will
thrive in the New Year.
According to Rod, direct mail
has been — and will continue to
be — a viable, effective
marketing tool. |
Here's Why:
It’s a
strong acquisition tool.
Marketers
like paying lower prices to search for
new customers online, but they’re often
disappointed when these folks don’t
stick around. That’s because targeting
new acquisitions online is much less
precise than sending a mail piece to
prospects you know will likely be repeat
purchasers.
Technology
continues to improve.
Variable
data printing is letting marketers
acknowledge
customers
as individuals. Not only will more
marketers take advantage of it, those
already using it will get smarter about
their applications by using customer
data to better track relationships and
tailor content as wants and needs
change. That’s important because
increased personalization makes direct
mail more relevant to the end user.
Newspapers
are suffering.
As
newspaper circulation dwindles, it will
spur a significant migration to the mail
by those marketers (particularly
retailers) that need to reach a high
number of people in a very targeted
geographic location.
Content
marketing is on the rise.
Transpromotion and custom publishing are
delivering marketing messages in more
personal and relevant ways, with
information woven right in the content —
a plus for both marketers and
recipients. Custom publishing continues
strong growth because consumers like the
quality, and with transpromotion the
senders of statements and bills can
include marketing messages that connect
with how the customer is using their
services.
Clean
lists are eco-friendly.
As
marketers continue to address list
hygiene, they’ll be mailing more
efficiently. Not only will that deliver
a better return, it also is good for the
planet because the number of wasteful
pieces will decline.
Mail will
be even easier to track.
More
marketers will begin using the
Intelligent Mail® barcode, a new Postal
Service™ barcode used to sort and track
letters and flats. With it,
they’ll be receiving more detailed
information than ever on how and when
their direct mail is being delivered, as
well as how customers are responding.
You have a
story to tell, now is the time to tell
it. Your story may be about your
Technical
Support
Team, your Delivery Service, your
24-hour emergency hotline, your Customer
Service
Reps, your
Credit Options, your extensive
inventory, years of service, branch
locations, a new product launch,
collective knowledge and expertise to
name a few. Your story is what brings
your customers and prospects to you, as
opposed to the competition.
The bottom
line is, tell your story in a manner
that will not only be heard but
understood in a more effective manner
than your competition. The GRA Group is
ready to help you get your story to the
people that need to hear it.
Tim Merriman
Solutions Provider
tim@thegragroup.com
440.328.8595
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Thoughts for living a good life – A Handbook for 2010
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Health:
1.
Drink plenty of water.
2.
Eat breakfast like a
king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3.
Eat more foods that
grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is
manufactured in plants.
4.
Live with the 3 E’s —
Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5.
Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.
6.
Play more games.
7.
Read more books than
you did in 2009.
8.
Sit in silence for at
least 10 minutes each day.
9.
Sleep for 7 hours.
10.
Take a 10-30 minute
walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
Personality:
11.
Don’t compare your
life to others’. You have no idea what their journey
is all about.
12.
Don’t have negative
thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead,
invest your energy in the positive
present moment.
13.
Don’t overdo. Keep
your limits.
14.
Don’t take yourself so
seriously. No one else does.
15.
Don’t waste your
precious energy on gossip.
16.
Dream more while you
are awake.
17.
Envy is a waste of
time. You already have all you need.
18.
Forget issues of the
past. Don’t remind your partner of his/her mistakes
of the past. That will ruin your present
happiness.
19.
Life is too short to
waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
Negative emotions drain you of energy.
20.
Make peace with your
past, so it won’t spoil the present.
21.
No one is in charge of
your happiness except you.
22.
Realize that life is a
school, and you are here to learn. Problems are
simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade
away like algebra class but the lessons you learn
will last a lifetime.
23.
Smile and laugh more.
24.
You don’t have to win
every argument. Agree to disagree.
Society:
25.
Call your family
often.
26.
Each day give
something good to others.
27.
Forgive and you will
feel healed.
28.
Spend time with people
over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29.
Try to make at least
three people smile each day.
30.
What other people
think of you is none of your business.
31.
Your job won’t take
care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay in touch.
Life:
32.
Do the right thing!
33.
Get rid of anything
that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34.
GOD heals everything.
35.
However good or bad a
situation is, it WILL change.
36.
No matter how you
feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37.
The best is yet to
come.
38.
When you awake alive
in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39.
Your Inner most is
always happy. So, be happy.
40.
Spend time each day
with God in His word.
Originally posted from Andrews Mortuary
http://andrewsmortuary.com/blog/?p=41
April 2, 2009
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Turn Your Business Card into a powerful
selling tool. |
Whether you keep yours in
one of those shiny
flip-top cases, in the
custom pocket of your
go-to-meeting folder
(with built-in calculator) or
curled at the edges in
your wallet, your business
card is the one selling
tool that you need the most
to make an impression at
the start of a business
relationship.
It’s a compact
advertising billboard for your business and it’s
inexpensive to produce. But, are you taking full
advantage of it to maximize its selling potential?
Here’s a simple test.
Take five business cards from your file and place them
face down on your desk next to yours. What do you see?
Nothing? Or does one of these cards fill the empty space
with helpful information about product lines, services,
branch office phone numbers or even a tagline. (E.g.
“Electrical wiring experts since electrical wiring was
invented.”)
If you have already done
this, then you are way ahead of the game. If not, then
it’s time to make use of that blank space with some
useful information that can help customers learn more
about who you are
and what you provide so
they can choose you over the competition.
The next time you are
reprinting those business cards, think about taking
advantage of the other side. With today’s printing
technologies, printing on two sides is still an
economical way to add an extra promotional punch to your
selling.
– "Denny the Brand Guy"
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From Denny Pavan, President & CEO
BFL Marketing Communications, Inc. |
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Please
visit us at our website:
www.thegragroup.com |
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