Print Solutions Magazine, November 2002 -- Preventing 6 Common Business Problems

ou don't have to be a former Enron principal to have a face like this. Every company misses the boat once in a while. No matter how proficient your firm is at providing document solutions to customers, it's bound to face dilemmas. It's bound to make mistakes. And you're bound to say, "What were we thinking?"

The best way to tackle common business problems is to prevent them. But preventing problems usually requires approaches that are well-organized and systematic, not helter-skelter and slipshod. Such proactive measures take time, something that's hard to come by for most companies.

Six experts are here to help. On the following pages, they offer insights on overcoming common small-business mistakes in marketing, sales, management and technology. Consider their advice, and face your future with confidence.

Build a better mousetrap, the saying goes, and the world will beat a path to your door. "If you believe this," quips marketing expert Jeffrey Dobkin, "you've been reading too many comic books. Only invention submission firms will beat a path to your door."

Quality products and excellent customer service help companies generate referrals, but sustained success is determined largely by firms' marketing strategies, says Dobkin, president of The
Danielle Adams Publishing Co., Marion Station, Pa. Problem is, marketing often is an afterthought.

"In business, you need two things to succeed: sales and profit," Dobkin says. "Everything else fades by comparison. Marketing is chiefly responsible for both of those objectives. The worst thing document professionals can do is adopt a hit-or-miss approach."

A common mistake small and medium-sized firms make, Dobkin says, is failing to sustain marketing campaigns once they begin. "A single direct mail piece to a prospect or customer isn't really a campaign," he says. "To stay on top of your prospects' awareness and to improve notoriety, you should send mailings consistently. Persistency is a must. If it takes five face-to-face sales calls to convert a client, why do some people think one sheet of paper mailed once will do magic?"

The most simple, effective marketing campaign companies can start is a series of mailed letters, Dobkin says. "Letters are the most underused marketing tool of the decade," he says. "In direct mail, a letter is a portrait of the sender and the most important piece. Consider it a highly stylized ad in which you can show all the benefits of your product or service. Brochures can tell, but letters sell."

Distributors and manufacturers can make their letters--and the rest of their direct mail packages--stronger by following these steps outlined by Dobkin:

Step 1: Write your marketing objective in the upper-right corner of a blank sheet of paper. Refer to it throughout the remaining steps. Nothing muddles marketing like not having a specific goal.

Step 2: Draw a line down the middle of your paper. On the left, write features of your product (physical characteristics). On the right, write the benefits of those features (what prospects will gain because of those characteristics).

Step 3: Rank the benefits by their value. Choose the most significant two or three benefits, and write at least 20 interest-arousing headlines to highlight each one. Take several days, not several minutes. The best headline will be the teaser copy of your direct mail piece (or the headline of your print or online ad) and the most important words you draft. Keep your message specific.

Step 4: Start with a few lines flush right, above the letter salutation, to highlight the most significant benefit. Write a short letter that includes plainspoken reasons for doing business with your firm. Make sure the copy is captivating and supports your objective. Keep paragraphs short.

Step 5: Revise the letter using the "AIDA" concept: Attract the reader's attention, arouse Interest, stimulate Desire, ask for Action. Tell readers exactly what you want them to do, using strong words invoking immediacy ("now," "today," etc.). Offer a free brochure, data sheet or specification sheet so readers have an easy, stress-free reason to call.

Step 6: Follow up with a harder-hitting, more benefit-rich, longer mailing package. Send new letters every three weeks for an accelerated campaign and every six weeks for a typical one.

"You can have the best products and services in the world and still go out of business because you don't know how to market your services--to make the phone ring and bring in customers," Dobkin says. "Word of mouth may be the best form of advertising, but it's slow. Can you afford to wait?" Multiple-exposure marketing is an easy way to develop an active strategy instead of a passive one, he says.

For insight into mailing list resources and tips on targeting prospects, visit www.dobkin.com and click on "Articles."

"Customers today often view sales calls as unnecessary irritants," says Dave Kahle, president of The DaCo Corporation, a sales consulting firm in Grand Rapids, Mich. "Like everybody else these days, they have too much to do and too many things on their desks. They're under tremendous pressure for time. A few years ago, they could take the luxury of spending 30 minutes with a salesperson. They just don't have that time today."

To sell more effectively in today's competitive market, salespeople must be better prepared, better organized and more focused on customers than they were five years ago, Kahle says. They can add value to their sales calls by presenting clients and prospects with ideas for saving time, streamlining operations and growing their businesses. "The salesperson really has to be a consultant," he says.

Salespeople today also must do ample homework before approaching prospects. Kahle recommends they visit the prospects' web sites, conduct internet searches for the companies (annual reports often are online), locate the firms in directories and seek referrals. "Before they [meet with] a prospect," he says, "they should know the prospect's business, what kinds of customers the prospect sells to, and some of the problems and opportunities for people in the prospect's line of business." Salespeople also should know the major players and trends in the prospect's industry.

"Three or four years ago, you could strike up a conversation by saying, 'Tell me about your business,'" Kahle says. "Today, you walk in and you tell the prospect about their business." He suggests salespeople open sales calls by making 25-word statements explaining who they are, what they do and what they can offer. "The statements should be created, refined and memorized so they come out in the most powerful way possible," he says. Salespeople also should prepare 5-minute versions of the statements for prospects who ask for details.

Salespeople often make the mistake of talking too much and not listening enough during sales calls, Kahle says. "They make assumptions, they're quick to make conclusions, and they focus on what they want to say and not what the customer is telling them." He suggests salespeople ask prospects several well-designed questions that open opportunities and demonstrate their competence. "Ask a question such as, 'In this day and age, 30 percent of companies like yours are struggling with these two issues. Are these concerns of yours also?'" he says. "Well-designed, thoughtful questions will get the customer interested in you because clearly you know what you're talking about."

Some salespeople initiate sales calls by asking the wrong questions, Kahle says. One such question is: "What problems are you having with your current vendor?" "It would seem on the surface to be a pretty good question," Kahle says, "but who do you think selected the current vendor? Probably the person you're talking to. You're saying, 'Expose to me the mistakes you've made.' You're setting yourself up to create defensiveness and lack of candor in the prospect."

Every sales call should end with an agreement between you and the customer about what action it will take, Kahle says. For example, if a customer asks the salesperson to send a sample, the salesperson should respond, "I'd be happy to send you a sample. If I get it to you by Wednesday, will you look at it and meet with me at 10 a.m. on Thursday to discuss it?"

Kahle also urges salespeople to devote at least 5 percent of their work time to self-improvement, including listening to sales tapes and reading sales books, magazines or
e-newsletters. "Only 5 to 10 percent of salespeople ever invest any time in their own improvement," he says.

To subscribe to Dave Kahle's Thinking About Sales newsletter, visit www.davekahle.com.

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