Sunday, December 03, 2006

Business philosophy

Organization is about managing people, growing ideas and business and telling

stories to customers

Operating plans: getting the most we can come up with by comparing

- How well the competition did

- How well we did last year



Embrace top 20, deal with middle 70, face with bottom 10

Let employees know where they stand every month

Monday, November 27, 2006

Promotion

Promotional mix includes 4 factors: sales promotion, public relation, advertising and personal selling.

Sales promotion

Non-personal promotional efforts that have immediate impact on sales. Examples include: discounts, contests, coupons, free samples, incentives and rebates

Public Relations

Def: Art of managing communication between an organization and its key publics to build, manage and sustain a positive image.

Method used: ROSIE ( Research, Objectives, Strategies, Implementation and Evaluation)

Tools used: press releases, brochures, Web sites, media packs, video news releases, news conferences and in-house publications.

Personal sales

The successful questioning to understand a customer's goal, the further creation of a valuable solution by communicating the necessary information that encourages a buyer to achieve his goal at an economic cost is the responsibility of the sales person or the sales engine

Form of sales: - direct( face to face eg door to door, retail)
- indirect( human mediated but indirect contact eg telephone)
- electronic( B2B or B2C)

Qualities of a good salesperson: Humble, Outgoing, Sincere, Honest, and Tenacious

Advertising

Drawing public attention to goods and services by promois performed through a variety of media.

Media: various paid or free advertising

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Create a one voice organization

Factual


Emotional


Symbolic

5 important components to the thinking process

Facts

Feelings

Images(most crucial)

Attentiveness

Logical structure

TNT, a cable network pick that one message: DRAMA

Making a promise that people can identify with(focus) " You can stand for anything, but not everything'

First in the category, not a me too( unique)

Be something you can live up to( your strength)

Be consumer relevent(hit your attractive target audience and advertisers can target with)

Brand Loyalty and Evangelism Marketing

Def: Consumer's commitment to repurchase the brand demonstrated by repeat buying of a product or service or positive behaviors such as word of mouth

True Brand loyalty implies that consumer is willing to put their own desires in the interest of the brand.

Evangelism marketing is an advanced form of word of mouth marketing in
which companies develop customers who believe so strongly in a particular product or service that they freely try to convince others to buy and use it. The customers become voluntary advocates, actively spreading the word on behalf of the company.

Creating customer Evangelism

1. Customer plus-delta (Continuously gather customer feedback)


2. Napsterize knowledge (Freely share your knowledge)


3. Build the buzz (Create intelligent word-of-mouth networks)


4. Create community (Encourage communities of customers to meet and share)



Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Finding and hiring superstars by Andrew Field, President and CEO of PrintingforLess.com

5 steps process

1) Defining the ideal employee( impt!!!)

Hiring criteria if matches–core company values( see if it fits!!!)
-value to customers

Key Skills- training:pros and cons

2) Finding your key employees

Advertising –traditional: print, web, storefront, careerfairs
-word of mouth: employees(ask them to keep a list of people) or customers


3) Attracting your employees

Selling your company to potential hires

Company culture

Innovative workplace

Small company offering big benefits: health, retirement, vacation

Growth opportunities

Great Location

Lifestyle

4) Selecting your employees

Interview process- topgrading( ‘A’ players only),
-prescreening,

-first interview- aptitude testing

-job shadowing

( Doesn’t need to always hire the right background or experience, attitude is impt!!!)

Final Interview – rate on criteria

5) Retaining your employees

Company culture- create pleasant working environment

Career path- give opportunities

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Web site must do from magazine retail asia

Have a search box that appears on every page

All key words describing your business must be included

Web page look and feel must be clean, simple and uncluttered. Stick to white background

Highlight main attractions (extensive inventory, hard-to-find items, helpful employees, whatever)

Highlight sales specials, unusual items, seasonal categories and promotions

Use the site to establish you and your company as an expert in your field.

Collect email addresses from walk in customers to your store

Search for sites to link to

List your web address everywhere

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Time management secrets of Billionaires by Chet Holmes

Plan meetings beforehand,

3Ps secrets of highly successful companies:

- Planning
- Procedures
- Policies

Dedicate 1 hr per week on:

- improve company
- personal productivity
- procedures
- Sales motivation
- Sales performance
- Marketing positioning, marketing strategies, marketing and sales effectiveness


The most successful business are always constantly training their staff, preparing them for challenges of today and tomorrow


Break the company down into manageable pieces’ impact areas’, and systematically improve and manage each of these areas every week.


Regular meetings= better internal communication


Staff are asked to hold ideas until weekly meetings and be discussed


Tasks, deliveries and datelines are assigned


Make lists: list down the 6 most important tasks that you have to complete


Plan how much time you have to allocate to each task, but don’t think when( exp 1 hr)


Plan your day


Do thet most impt things first

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Attracting more business by becoming slightly famous

Being a mini celebrity to just the right people, be visible
Establish within a carefully selected segment of a market

Principles embraced by all slightly famous entrepreneurs

- Target the best prospects = know who u want to reach and what their needs and wants

- Developing unique market niche= select a market niche that can be dominated ( untapped market, not filled with competitors)

- Positioning your biz as the best solution

- Maintaining your visibility= have your message out there to keep your name alive in the customer’s mind

- Enhancing your credibility= together with visibility, display your distinction, competence, expertise, authority and leadership= give enough info

- Establishing your brand and reputation
Visibility + credibility + word of mouth=reputation


Look at the customers problems and market in a non-selling way to them

Building reputation in print
Placing articles abt your biz in publications, email newsletters and web sites that reach your target market is one of the simplest and most effective marketing techniques available

To attract new client
Appear in targeted print media

Gain free exposure
$1000+ for 1-3 magazine pages v $0 with just the right info

achieve instant credibility
articles are much more convincing than advertising

Article reprints= ability to transfer to brochures, online, mailers and newsletter with just 1 quality article

Remember, marketing is a process, not an event. Consistent and impatience is critical