Public Relations Nightmare for Google Search

The following is from the FKM Agency blog but is of interest to anyone doing SEO.

Hello fellow search geeks,

This is TOTALLY worth the read. (warning: it’s a long article): A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web

For those of you that don’t want to read the entire article, here’s a quick summary:

The article features a website, it’s owner and more then a few irate (understandably so) customers. Essentially, the owner of the site is making a point to capitalize on negative online feedback in order to increase his search rankings (thus traffic and sales).

From an SEO perspective, the guy is playing the system well. He has recognized that his customer service and product are below par and customers are leaving negative feedback online. However, when a customer does this, they often link to the site and mention a product or products that they purchased. This provides a link back to the website, which enhances the websites natural search presence.

Google is just a small part of the colossal fail that lets a guy like this thrive. All those other companies that are listed in the article are also somewhat responsible (his hosting company, the credit card companies, eBay, etc.)

The biggest issue here is that consumers are not doing the research before buying from a company. Just looking at the website for 2 minutes, I know that I would not buy from them. Why?

• Designer goods for low, low prices. That’s the first clue
• Second, the “reviews” are canned - and there are not reviews on a product by product basis. That’s now a basic for any e-commerce website.
• The About Us page content - that’s basically canned content
• They don’t link to FB or any other social networking sites - which would allow for real consumers to provide feedback
• Product images - this one is a little harder - but when you can see the reflection of someone in a product image for a ($300+ item), unless it’s on eBay, run away.

Consumers really need to do their own due diligence before buying from a new vendor. I rarely buy from sites that I’ve never heard of and I ALWAYS Google the site’s name before I make the purchase, particularly if it’s for a big ticket item. And bottom line, if it’s a designer product being sold for half the price, do the research unless you want to tangle with guys like this.

Asset Management

Everyone is a manager. That is a fact. We each manage the assets that we have or that are available to us. As salespeople what are our assets? You should keep a list of yours and review it from time to time to see what you have that you are not using or under-using. They could include;

• Time - How much each day do you devote to your goal.
• Territory - How much ground is yours (so to speak).
• Company - How much back up do you have. Includes customer service, receptionist, credit manager, service, etc.
• Reputation - Yours and your company.
• Physical sales assets - literature, samples, website, YouTube, etc.

There are many other things we manage, but this is a start. Now look at each item; make an honest assessment of how well you manage that asset. Be honest or the drill won't benefit you.

For instance.....your company; Have you talked to everyone in your company that has impact on your customer. Do they like you; are they inclined to help you. Have you discussed your strategy with them so they know how they can help. Think about it...you are just part of the customer experience.

Now on to your list....

Continue Touching

There is an old saying in the editorial world about story writing.

First...You tell them what you are going to tell them.
Next...You tell them.
Last....You tell them what you told them.

Stay on message.

Good selling

Allow Your Customer to Buy

One of the members of the MHEDA group on LinkedIn, Barry Lauterwasser puts it this way;
"Forklifts & forklift services are not sold, they're purchased. If you are not near the top of the mind when the time comes for a purchase, well....the prospect just isn't going to call."

I absolutely agree and would broaden the product mentioned to any material handling product.

The next step in our action plan is to touch the customer. Touch the customer regularly. But we must take care how we touch or it can work against us. There are many studies about how many times a day that we are assaulted by TV ads, billboards, taxi-backs, direct mail and now "tweets"...all attempting to be "sticky" (something we remember). But the only messages that get thru are the ones that resonate with us for some reason. I start my morning with an email bringing me the daily Calvin & Hobbs cartoon. It makes me smile and gives the right start to my day. Now there are 13 other emails that are in the inbox, most are deleted. I read the ones from my grandchildren, airplane manufacturers and photography sites....because that is what I value.

I have always taught salespeople to touch their customers. Touch = personal visit, telephone call, written letter or postcard, email or any other one-on-one action initiated by them. But the addendum to that training is to make the touch in the area of interest for the customer. I am not talking about sending a birthday card...but you could. Remember, our customers job is important to them. Anything that we know that will help them or their company is of interest to them.

Our job is to make what we know fit what they need.

Good selling,

85% of All Stastics Are Just Made Up

He said with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. But really statistics are a two edge sword. You may have a 99.5% chance of living throughout the day. You have a 100% chance of dying ultimately.

This is a departure from our "action plan" but I suffer from "shiny object syndrome", and something sparked this line of thought. Now is a time in history when many displaced workers will relocate into a sales position. It is just fact that many other jobs have evaporated and some will decide to give sales a try. Thru hard work and luck or some help by others they may even reach some level of success. But does that make them a sales person.

I read a study that said that eight of ten people making their living from direct sales were mismatched to their job. They derived little or no satisfaction from the career and would never excel because they were struggling to just survive. It also said that of the two "true" sales people; one was selling the wrong product (tangible vs intangible; big ticket vs retail; etc). My own experience tells me this is close to accurate. I don't know the exact percentages but I have sat across from many a person who was as frustrated as I was. I could not understand why they could not seem to value their own efforts and they could not get anything to work.

So, if you find yourself as one of the 8, that's OK. But admit it, and when things change find a career that you value. Life is too short to be mediocre. Be great or be terrible but never mediocre. If you are the one who is selling the wrong product....change when you can. A step backwards at some point will be more than made up for with a lifetime of production and satisfaction.

If you are the one left....next post we will get back to the "action plan".

Who is Who

Lets see...so far in our little action series we have....
Know who you customer is...
Know what your customer values...

You are going to think I am out of my mind on the next one...
Know who your customer's customer is..

Some of the pressures coming at you from your customer could possibly be from his/her customer. Now if you can identify this situation; you can truly become a partner with them to satisfy the end user. We need to understand that one's customer can be from inside or outside of their own company. In the case of a reseller, the customer is the end user. But if the customer is an end user then his customer might be his boss...CEO...CFO or even department head.

Most of us have customers that are not apparent and satisfying them is important to our job, our career...our life. Identify your customer's customer, it might earn you an inside track.

Good selling,

Short Surveys Then Action

Last post I stated that you should always have a survey running. I don't mind filling out a survey that is two questions ....three at the most and answered by clicking a yes/no radio button. If you have an optional text area for me, I might use it but probably not. I'm busy. I answered your questions, now let me go. If I click and there is a page two. Goodbye.

If you have a three page 40 question study you had better have some good incentive for anyone to take that time. You are not going to get it for free. At some of the restaurants like Chili's they offer a discount on your next meal if you will call an 800 number. Have you done one yet? Not worth the $2 discount.

But really, if you had the answer to two questions about your business from your existing customer base; could you not make some changes that would be of benefit to you both. Too many times we run our business as if the customer was us.

• We use our terms...our slang, even if it is only used by people in our industry.
• We impose our idea of value on the customer.
• We assume the customer knows little and our competitors even less.
• We think we know how the customer wants to do business.

There was a time when I could not understand my customers using products that were, by my standards "cheap". The answer is "they worked for the customers application". So rather than guess....ask your customers. "What can I do for you." Then do it.

I am reading a book titled "Free - The Future of a Radical New Price". If you find there is something that you can do for your customer for free.... do it and publicize it. It will set you apart.

Who is Our Customer

Like the frog who sits in the cool water and when the water starts to heat does nothing; we sometimes continue with a strategy that has worked in the past when all around us is changing.

When you first take a job or start a business your very first consideration is "who is my customer". It may be an internal customer, a department head or a boss. But if you are in sales then it is someone outside of your company. Someone who can choose where they buy what you sell. The old model in our industry was to get a building; fill it with product; go out and find a customer who wanted to buy that product in our market area. Worked. It was based on limited availability of product, brand recognition and competition within a market space.

If the space included unlimited availability, brand parody and enormous competition ..... would you act differently? Wait a minute, that sounds familiar doesn't it?

Large companies perform market research that sometimes work and sometimes yield questionable results. Either way it is expensive and most dealers in our industry wouldn't spend that much if they had it. The DIY market research has as much chance of yielding good data as the expensive kind if it is done correctly. The good news is that it can be carried out while you are doing business daily, by the people you have.

It starts this way. Gather the brain trust .... in most companies that should include everyone that has any contact with the customer. The receptionist, the accounts receivable person, customer service, sales, shipping and yes even the delivery person. It is almost certain this is several separate conversations since you never have the luxury of being able to get everyone together without the phone ringing or a visit from ...... a customer. Everyone in your organization has an idea about the customers preferences. Mine that data.

From those conversations pick the top three things you could focus on to improve your relationship with your customer and increase the likelihood of repeat business. New customers are great but repeat buyers are gold. I am going to use a word that is misused and sends chills down my spine. Survey. A strategic survey should be in place at all times. A survey is a company's quest for information that will please their customer. Don't print a form, stick it in an envelope and expect any real insight into anything.

The best surveys are people to people.....because of the follow-up.

More next time...

Good selling

Kudos to MPIX

A break from my mini-series. We will continue that on the next post...I promise. But first a success story about customer service. We should all think about how we can be this good.

My wife Lee and I are hobby photographers, we have been for 30 years and have the photos to prove it. We decided to enter the State Fair of Texas photo contest this year and have spent the last few Saturday nights crusing downtown Dallas, drinking wine and shooting pictures. A little wine and a lot of pictures. We picked our best to have printed and did the photoshop work on them and were all ready for the deadline....except I misjudged the time and wound up with 4 days left and no prints. What follow here is amazing. First the standard service is set a an increadably high standard.

Wed - 3:30PM I sent an email to customer service asking for custom work with fast service.

Wed - 3:34PM Chevelle with MPIX answered with explaination as to what was possible within that time frame.

Wed - 4:36PM I ask for clarification

Wed - 4:40PM Chevelle tells me that is possible and if after I use the automated ordering system I will send the tracking number that they will shephard it and try to make sure it gets on a FedX truck the next afternoon.

Thurs - 9:36AM Chevelle writes to tell me it is in the mount department and things are looking good.

Thurs - 2:39PM I get an automated notice that my order has shipped and provides me with a tracking number.

Friday - 2:45PM The FedX guy is at my front door.

Here are photos of a happy customer and good packaging...it wouldn't have been a good story if the photos came damaged.

My sincere thanks to Chevell and all the folks at MPIX. If you need photos printed they are definately the real deal.

My Flickr stream can be seen at www.flicker.com/photos/yogiron

What Time is it?

When Traci, my daughter, was about seven years old she brought home a note from her teacher stating that said she could not tell time and suggested that we work with her. I asked her what time it was...she left the room and came back and announced that it was 7:43. We quickly realized that she knew how to read a digital clock but not an analog one.

Overlay that story on the business environment of today. We have multiple generations working together at a time when technology and the tools of the work force are changing every 3 to 5 years. Some of those changes are greater than the previous 2o years. We find ourselves challenged by what is of value....what should we invest in...our time...our money?

In our industry, material handling, the goals have not changed but the way to achieve them have. However, there are some reliable tests that can be applied to our decisions. I would like to discuss them over the next few blogs and I would appreciate your feedback. The first and most important test is "who is my customer and how do they want to do business?" We will discuss that next time.

How much time do you have to make the right decision for yourself or your business? Like the little boy said when he heard the broken clock strike thirteen....."It is later than its ever been".

Follow Up - Trust Your Customer

Well, on Wednesday morning my cell rang and the owner of the business (read last post) was on the other end acting clueless about the events of the previous week. He was not returning my call although later he did acknowledge it. Weird.

To his credit, within a few hours the two workmen and he were in my yard pulling weeds. The job is finished and is acceptable. I will pay the agreed upon price when he presents me the invoice and I will not whine.

However, going in to this transaction I was a loyal customer of his, quick to recommend his services to others. Now, I am still his customer but will not tie my good name to his thru recommendations.

Trust Your Customer

I always try to analyze things that happen around me, judge if it was a success or failure and see how it might make me better. In that spirit I will tell you about something that is not finished but not going well. You will be able to tell by my tone that this is not a rant.

Hot summer, lots of work and some small surgery have come together to make the flower bed around our house look rather natural. Full of weeds, grass and small trees. It makes it hard to make excuses when the trees are 3 foot high.

We decided to spend some money and have a professional service do the job. I am talking about someone who we have used before and not someone I picked up in the parking lot at Chilly Mart. Real business, real trucks with signs on them. I found it odd that the target day of last Monday came and went without any contact so I called late Monday night and left a message. Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday...silent. I called and was told they would be there Friday

Sure enough, 7:45 AM the owner in a shiny truck with a sign on the side and two workers in a not so shiny truck with a sign on the side are parked in front of my house. The owner apologizes and says they will get this done for me. He is going to go to the warehouse and get the fertilizer and spreader and will be right back. True to his word in 15 minutes he returns with the necessary equipment and things are looking good. Then he leaves.

I hear a cell phone ring in the front yard and the boss worker answers it and walks over to the truck, sits down and talks for 10 -15 minutes. He then returns to the spreader which he is working on so they can use it, but is interrupted by his cell phone. Back to the truck, another long conversation. During this time the junior worker was working away but must have been new to landscaping because he was pulling ground cover and leaving Johnson grass. I tell myself to talk with the owner when he returns about his crew....in the distance a cell phone rings.

About 10 minutes after nine, I notice I haven't heard the cell in a while....as a matter of fact I haven't heard anything. Looking outside, I cannot see even one truck with a sign on the side. I place a call to the owner to see if 9:00AM is standard break time but get his voice mail. I leave a message.

Now, this is a blog on customer service. If I told you it is 10:45 AM on Monday morning and I have not received a return call would you see that as a customer service problem. In looking at this from the customers view, I am left to speculate;

• Did he die?
• Will he ever return?
• Do I owe him anything for the little work performed?
• Should I call again?

He has missed two opportunities to make his life easier and to avoid problems on his jobs. Both opportunities were to return my calls. Or better yet, call me as soon as he sees he cannot meet his commitment. I am very reasonable and would have said...just do it when you can.

He might have legitimate reasons why he did not show up when he said he would. There might even be a good reason his workers left after only an hour. But there is no good reason not to call me.....unless he died.

Now excuse me...I have to go to Chilly Mart.

Steel Safety Bollards

Mighty Lift has had a great reaction to their new product line. The Mighty Rail is a inplant safety guard rail system designed to protect products, people and performance. The rail profile being stocked in both Houston and Portland is 14.5" which makes it one of the larger and more substantial on the market. The great thing is that thru Mighty Lifts volume buying and corporate position it is being offered to you, the material handling dealer at savings of as much as 30% over other brands. Do not mistake lower cost for lower quality....the Mighty Rail is a brute.

If you get into a very competitive situation and a smaller rail profile is appropriate, then the 10" version might be the ticket. Call your Mighty Lift office or me to discuss it.

Another thing of interest to the dealer looking for value for their customer is our Safety Bollard. 4.5" or 5.5" in diameter and 42" tall, it is available in both .25" wall thickness and .125" wall thickness. The current inventory is the better seller at .125" wall. This allows for more than adequate protection in most applications. If the exposure is to the heavier side, call for a quote.

A visit to MightyRail PDF will get you the specs on the line. If you need something not included on the part list, check with us...we are adding to the product line almost daily.

Houston Office (Eastern & Central time zones) (877) 916-7600
Portland Office (Mountain & Pacific time zones) (877) 282-7558
My contact number is (214) 770-3228

Good Selling
Ron

Advertising Fail

Every department is involved with the customers experience....even marketing.

Material Handling Products

I am proud to announce that G21 Business Services is now acting as the business development partner for Mighty Lift Inc. Mighty Lift has fully staffed offices and more importantly, large inventories in Portland, OR and Houston, TX. They also maintain inventories in other strategically located cities. Business to business sellers like material handling houses, forklift houses and commercial door dealers will be interested in the lines offered by Mighty Lift. After all; offering the industrial customers in your market area the finest, most affordable products and then being around to make sure they get ROI is your mission.

Mighty Lift currently has a new website under construction as does G21. Until then most of the product line can be viewed at www.mightylift.com.

G21 will continue to represent Visual App to the same demographic; web services such as website design, SEO, PPC (pay per click)management as well as print design and production services. Visit their site at www.visualapp.com.

Obviously, both of these companies I hold in the highest regard and gladly stake my reputation on their actions. I look forward to working with you. Call me (214)770-3228 or contact me by email RonGilleland@gmail.com. You can also contact either of the above companies directly. Whatever works best for you.....after all....you are the customer.

I Love Southwest Airline

Many of you know me and know that I am a wheelchair user. A T-10 paraplegic. Thru the years I have bowled, played wheelchair basketball, bass fished at the national level, hunted and lately flown private planes. I have no idea how many commercial flights I have been on but over the last 40 plus years (in the material handling business)....many. The first was to Jonesboro for the very first Hytrol sales school conducted by Sam Leone.

I say all of this to shine a spotlight on a level of customer service we should all aspire to...that of Southwest Airlines. I am actually ranting against American Airlines but always try to spin things to the positive. Every good thing I can say about Southwest you can rest assured that American does it the exact opposite. I will spare you the details but I am writing this from Dunn, NC where I am visiting my daughter and her family.

Lee (my wife) and I got here on the flight from Hell with....wait for it.......American Airlines. We purchased the flight three months in advance and checked into the flight two hours before the flight. I am capable of moving from seat to seat with a little help, but spent the pre-flight time listening to the ground crew fight with the customer service crew about who's fault it was that there was no aisle chair at the gate. They argued about it so long that the plane was boarded and they had to put me on at the very end to keep the flight from departing late. They put Lee and I in 32 A & B. For those of you unfamiliar with a MD-80 that is the last two seats...looking out the window on the engine cowling.

The thing that most infuriated Lee was the suggestion by the lady on the DFW based ground crew. If we (the customer) had booked the flight correctly, none of this would have happened.

A pox on your house American Airline. You deserve the losses you suffer and until we (the customer) become your focus you will never make money. I will continue to arrange my travel around the schedule of Southwest...they get it. Their employees will do anything to make my travel enjoyable. I will only fly AA when I cannot get there any other way.

Free to Succeed Means Free to Fail

In thinking about the Fourth of July and our unique freedom I thought...........

We are created by a God that gives us freedom to choose how to live. We live in a country that allows us the freedom to decide how we conduct our lives. That leads to the title of this very short post. If we do not choose to succeed we are choosing to fail. If we stop trying, stop learning, stop dreaming our lives will become hollow, no matter how much money we have.

Happy Fourth and God Bless America

Don't Confuse Tools With Strategy

From one of my LinkedIn discussions...........


B-to-b marketers still looking for return on tweets

By Paul Gillin

BtoB's survey of nearly 400 U.S. marketers found uneven satisfaction with Twitter's ROI as a marketing channel. Nearly half the respondents to the “Twitter in B2B Marketing” survey, which was conducted late last month, said they are dissatisfied with their return on tweets. That's despite the fact that nearly 70% said they spend less than 30 minutes per day managing their Twitter stream. Four of five marketers also said they could not directly attribute revenue to micro-blogging.

“Twitter has proven to be an effective communications tool, but in all likelihood its relevance will fade over time,” said Mike Neumeier, principal at Arketi Group. “Twitter is not a marketing strategy, but rather a single communications channel.”

For the rest of the article, view http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100614/FREE/306149964/1445/FREE#seenit

Life Before Google

School's Out for the Summer - NOT REALLY

"How's it going?"

"Oh, quoting more than a few months ago, but not writing many orders."

The above is a conversation I have had many times lately, even this morning. What does it mean? How do we interpret the data that comes to us from all sides? Sometimes it depends on if you are a "half full" or "half empty" person. There is a lot of uncertainty in this market and there has been now for a very long time. It is very hard to stay on a course when it is not met with early success. Maybe there are things you could do (should do) to capitalize on this time.

1. Invest in yourself. Are you an expert on the product or services (all of them) that your company offers? Ask your manufacturers or reps if there are resources you could utilize to make yourself more relevant. It is hard for your customer to value your participation in his or her business if you don't bring anything to the table.

2. Invest in others in your company. If there are new employees, other salespeople representing your company; share your knowledge with them. Make them better. A rising tide floats all boats.

3. Study your customers. With Google, Bing & Yahoo you will find just about anything there is to know about your customers. Learn if they are expanding or consolidating. The best single year I had with Texas Instruments was a year they were closing down some of their operations. I became their partner in that effort. Learn what they value as a company. Initiatives such as Green or Lean can add points to your offering if you know it in advance.

4. Make calls. In person, on the phone, via email or any other method, just do it

5. Make no enemies. You will sometimes be at odds with people or companies, you will disagree on answers or value, but only support your position. Never personalize or ridicule your competitors. If there is a divide between you let it come from them.

I offer goods and services to the material handling dealer community. As you reach out to your customer base perhaps I can be of help. Web development, SEO services, online or print catalogs and many other services tailored specifically for our industry. Call or email me for a conversation about your needs. I would love to talk to you.

Customer Service Fail

Everyone in your organization is involved in customer service...good or bad.

Good Customer Service - Says Who?

One of the old tools in marketing and advertising is getting a new lease on life. That is the reference or recommendation. In the electronic world anybody can look like a Fortune 500 company. Anybody can, and does, claim the best service..the lowest prices..the most satisfied customers.

I just did a very broad search on "material handling customer service". In the two lines of text that Google extracts, a type of abstract, almost every listing claimed great or the best customer service. Many times as you drive into the site that will be the only mention of customer service...no back up. I managed a company once and put a banner over our CPU area with the logos of our customers. The banner read..."Our Customers are the Greatest Companies in the World". It gave all who saw it a confidence in our abilities. The owner made me take it down because he didn't want anyone to know about who we were selling to. The fact that there were 25 to 30 vehicles a day visiting, each with logos on the side apparently didn't compromise our stelth mode. I wasn't there long.

A real live customer saying good things about you has impact. You beating your own drum does little. After all the Chairman of General Motors says they have paid off the loan. You believe that?

The Good News is .........

They Have a Delete Button

One of the regular readers reminded me that I hadn't done anything new and told me to "get to it". Regular writing is more difficult than one would think. Knowing the intelligence level of this crowd - anything I write needs to be interesting but also useful. That is really the trick in a lot of what we are all asked to do in selling.

Selling in the B to B world, you first have to gain the attention of your prospect. It seems like the amount of time a customer will give you to gain his or her interest is getting shorter. I think that trend started with the invention of the delete button. You know it hasn't always been around. There was a time when your words or offer or proposal would linger for days or weeks; maybe months. But now; NO ........ NEXT. How do we get our prospect to be interested.....fast.

I maintain...it's got to be about them. Everything starts with the customer and their problem. Therefore, that is the way you lead off so you avoid the delete button long enough to argue your point.

I remember a day in my office when a young salesman cold-calling found himself sitting in front of me. After thanking me for seeing him he started with two of the worst mistakes a salesperson can make. He said "I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to come by and tell you how my company does business."

You can guess that I stopped him there. "You never want to tell me that you interrupted my day...just because you were in the neighborhood." I waited for a reaction...it came in the form of panic. I decided to pile on. "Also, I don't care how your company does business, I only care about how my company does business." More panic. "I have to fax this document to someone who is waiting on it. When I come back we will start over. OK?" He nodded.

I took a little extra time out of the office and when I returned I waited and he said. "I am out today to tell the companies in my territory about a new product that might be of use to them in their business. It is new and I wanted to be the one to introduce it to you in the hope that you will become my customer." I applauded.

Somewhere today is a middle-age salesman who has told this story from the other side of the desk. About the crusty old fart that taught him a valuable lesson. It is always about the customer. Study their business, figure out how your product or service will benefit them....lead with that. Remember the delete button.

That covers the interesting part, next time we will talk about useful.

This Week's Winner is Chick-Fil-A

I don't know what the statistics are but I'll bet they are extremely high that "winners in the marketplace" are focused on their customer's experience as the primary component of operations and marketing. Statistics are collections of individual experiences and everyone knows that 87.4% of all statistics are just made up.

Here is an actually experience from today. I went out to bring back lunch for Lee & I. When I got to Chick-Fil-A I saw 20 plus cars in line in front of me. I started to pull out of line (which was all the way into the street) when I noticed a couple of the employees moving thru the cars in line taking orders. They were sharply dressed including a bright yellow traffic vest and outfitted with headsets. Before I could act on my decision to leave they had my order and had given me a total. They had to do this while walking along beside my car as the line never really stopped. About halfway thru the wait another employee emerged with a tray of bite sized breakfast sandwiches giving each car one for each passenger. Within minutes I was at the pay window; they had my order (correct, including napkins and condiment packs) and wished me a great day. Beginning to end 5 mins.

You wonder if good service works. I am writing about it here and will remember the experience for a long time.

Is your business set up around the people you are trying to serve? Do you know what they value? Is your company culture one of serving the customer? If not you are doomed to mediocrity or failure. I know this....and I am right 99.9% of the time.

Doing What Makes Sense

No...I can't be talking about our government with a headline like that. Although if you allow yourself to believe that it is possible for our leaders to suddenly come to their senses, it is comforting. I actually think the new Johnny Depp movie, "Alice in Wonderland" is a play on Washington's culture.

No I am talking about your business. If that is just you as a salesperson, or if your responsibility is a larger endeavor....do what makes sense. After a while, there is no low hanging fruit. What I mean is there are enough competitors in your market area to make gaining new business difficult. I know it sounds corny to say, but you just have to work hard and be smart. Duhhhh

The working hard part is in touching your customer. What I mean by "touch" is a visit, a phone call, an e-mail or something in the mail. Each is a point of contact that can enhance your image or detract from it. That is where the "smart" part comes in.

You wouldn't think of hand writing your name on a business card to save money. Nor would you X-out words in a proposal. Yet many of you expect a customer to be impressed by the website your brother-in-law did in trade for five sections of shelving for his garage.

Visual Applications is a professional company with a staff of some of the smartest people you will ever meet. They build websites, enhance existing sites, maximize pay-for-click programs....assist in local web. They also do catalog design, e-marketing assets and mail programs. It is all done in-house so the quality and continuity is assured.

Call and talk....conversation is free.
Ron - 214-770-3228
Steve - 972-235-5353

What Customers Expect - Mine & Yours

Visual Applications (my web development company) told me that their research says that people searching on the Internet for a new vendor look for;

• Product information in searchable format
• Service information
• Technical specs (details)
• Contact information
• Performance data
• Company information

Current customers will use your website for phone numbers, hours of operation, credit cards honored or even directions.

Knowing this, it makes sense to use this interaction (a customer or potential customer...on your website) to showcase new products or deep content for even better customer service. Also this is a perfect time to instill confidence and credibility in your company.

How can we know .....we track....

We use Yahoo Analytics Developer edition which we have branded “CatStat” which is Catalog Statistics for short. Used appropriately it gives us great data that we use to assist our clients.


This extensive tracking gives us useful information to further expand the products and deep content that our clients demand. Our catalog application “Catalog Explorer” populates this deep content with rich attribute selection capabilities.

It all starts with the goal of adding value for your new prospective clients and your existing client base. The design pulls them deeper into the site.

New sites with the Catalog Explorer application.

http://www.promor.com/

http://www.mattestusa.com/

And last but not least our Catalog Explorer with CASTERS.
demo.catalogexplorer.com





As mentioned we do have the populated Generic Caster Catalog Content available as well.

http://proofs.visualapp.com/casters/catalog/Catalog.aspx






A selection on any product here would drill down to a specific product. That product would have all the information (including multiple photos) the customer would need to make a decision. A couple of clicks and they have a printed page of specs to turn in for a PO, or a couple of different clicks and they send an email to you with questions or quote request.



Follow the links on this blog or contact me or any of the folks over at Visual Applications. We can go over the catalog or any other web service you might be interested in.



Good selling.

Social Media

To add to the already confusing landscape of advertising and marketing we now have social media. Wikipedia defines in part " Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). Literally, it was a speech and now it is a conversation.

Should we spend money in this arena on material handling, forklift sales and other B to B industrial type businesses. Lets first look at some recent data;

Business Week states that while the trend is still growing it is slowing considerably. MySpace, the largest reached a peak of 72 million users in October but was down to 68.9 million by December. The total number of people using social networking websites is still growing at around 11.5% but that is down considerably from past growth rates.

Last year the ad spend was up 155% to $1.2 billion according to E Marketer and is expected to grow 75% to $2.1 billion in 2010. On January 31 Google announced that they did not generate as much on social networking sites as they had expected. Google has a $900 million deal with MySpace to place ads on their site but many "in the know" say G is loosing money on the deal. One reason given is that users pay little attention to the ads as they interact with "friends". As a matter of statistics only 4 out of 10,000 MySpace users respond to the ads. This compares with 20 out of 10,000 on general web traffic.

OK, back to us. Should we chase business in this arena. I have a difficult time believing that the purchasing manager of a local distributor of pet supplies is going to be motivated by my "pay per click" ad that happens to be on the same page as the exploits of his high school buddies. You might say...."if they do not click, I do not pay". There is a cost involved with the process of chasing the click. I believe that money should be spent, but in another area. Remember this the next time a salesperson is trying to convince you to mount a "TWITTER" campaign ...when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

There are several areas to spend money where the viewer is motivated and pre-qualified. Spend it there. You knew that didn't you?

How Are Things?

Just talked with a friend who sells industrial goods in the Florida, Georgia area. He said his quote files are fat but no purchase orders being cut. There are many large jobs that have been just hanging there for some time now.

In the past after a period of recession there has always been the "re-entry" to normalcy. In that re-entry time some of the quotes that had been on hold had to be re-bid before they could be bought. That makes those of us who watch quotes, as indicators of things to come, get excited.

The experts are divided on what to expect for the remainder of 2010. Some say a slow start, while others say slower than that. What they do agree on is that we will not rebound to the folly that came before. That is a good thing but it sure is a hard thing. As business people (owners, managers, territory salespeople) we have to work hard...but we always have. We have to work smart to compete with the world because they all seem to be making calls in our territory.

The best advice I can give is to know who your customer is and what they need and want. Don't guess......ask them...and then respond. If I can help let me know.

How to Use Search for Your Business - Part II

The best chance of a regional business to win customers comes from the population within driving distance of their business. That can be a city, an area or a state. But it is geographical. The marketing and advertising tools are entirely different for national markets. Yet I find so many of you spending money trying to capture business outside the area where you add value. That is not a bad strategy if you have done the necessary work to be number one in your home market.



Consider this; Google has one customer....you. When you search, the product they deliver is the search result and they do everything in their power to give you what you ask for. They attempt to discern your "intent"....what you are really looking for. About a year and a half ago Google started really developing tools to localize search. Here are some statistics that are pretty fresh;

When people (companies) qualify or search for a vendor 97% use search. 80% use Google. 50% regionalize their search. That means that almost half of all searches done have geography as part of the string. So a search for "casters" becomes "casters Detroit".



Think about that for a minute. Most of you have brick and mortar businesses. This is good news. Google assumes that an interaction between their searcher and your company is of more value than if you were located elsewhere. It starts to take back some of the ground lost to the Internet phenomena.



When Google started....Yahoo and MSN (now Bing) followed with "Local" search results...see below.....

This is what you see for this string. It is high on the screen and commands attention. It is not perceived by the customer to be a paid listing and in fact it is not.

If you have not registered your company with the major search engines you have not done the easiest, cheapest thing you can do to promote your business. We can help you get listed and manage this interaction with the customers in your market for a very modest amount. Hopefully, that would be so successful for you you will ask........ "what else you got?"

How to Use Search for Your Business - Part I

In the earlier post I ranted against the "yellow pages". That comes from many years of paying thru the nose, as a business owner, for listing in their book. They would then go across town and drop the hint of my plans to my competitor. That would cause the market for material handling listing to really grow. They did...because they could. I don't forgive easily and I never forget.

Now there is a version of the same advertising using the vertical market search directories. I won't call them by name but look at your checkbooks and I'll bet you can call out a couple. Here is what happens....they offer you a program to list your company in their directory. Programs range from a few hundred a month (on annual contract) to tens of thousands per year. You get a listing or a page or many pages in their book. The book is searchable so the many thousands of visitors to their site can find you easily and according to their logic the phone should just start ringing.

It is quite impressive. They show up in lots of searches. You reason; they must dominate and so you pay. What happens next should sound familiar.....you ramp up your program and your competitor does his as well. Wonder how that happens.

The larger problem is this; the phone never really starts ringing. Oh, they will furnish you with reports that show thousands of impressions. An impression is when a page is displayed on a computer screen somewhere in the world that has your company's name on it (somewhere). Their report will also show that x number of people looked at your profile (read about your company). The important thing there is all that happened on their servers ...not on your website. It does not indicate anything other than curiosity although that couriosity might be cultivated to interest.....but that would happen better on your website.

The next injustice is that ...with you paying the bill....they buy more adwords and get more hits. The traffic on their website (including the people reading about your company) generates hits (clicks) on their site (not yours) and the price of your program grows because of their success.

There is help coming ....actually it's already here but not widely known. A little company named Google is changing the rules "one more time" and it can be exciting for the local businessman trying to create and market value in his or her market area.

Come back tomorrow and I will tell you about it.

Distribution & the Internet

There is a discussion on the MHEDA Journal Blog and below is a comment I left .....if you are in the distribution chain this is an important discussion. There are 43 comments as of this writing.....I believe it has hit a nerve. Read the full article and comments........

I think this gets to the heart of the largest problem we have faced as an industry since our response to the imported products. If you think back on how much the material handling landscape changed as the imports were introduced and got better (quality). So much so that they are now part of the fabric of our daily business and personal lives.

Many companies were dramatically changed by imports and I think an equal or greater number will be changed in the “channel challenge” that will play out over the next few years. I think there can be good days ahead for dealers who make good decisions. There has to be a reason for them to be there, and it is up to them to develop their worth…..they will not become irrelevant unless they allow it.

Things are going to change…the secret is to manage the change and come out on top.

Same to You AT & T

Back in October on http://www.industrialbridges.com/ I wrote a rant. Today when I came home a 4" thick Yellow Pages is in a orange plastic bag on my porch. I am speechless ...so I will just reprint that October article here..........


I Don’t Want Your Phonebook Verizon
October 2nd, 2009 by Ron Gilleland

Well I took the summer off and have been thinking about what I should post for my first topic back. I wanted it to be something profound so as you read it you would think….it was worth the wait. Well hold that thought for my next post.

I came home to a mailbox full of junk mail. I’m talking about 5″ of advertising that went directly thru my house into the garage and into the recycling bin without being open. I was sitting at the table calculating the cost of producing all that and sending it to my address and what a waste it was…with people starving in Africa when I heard a thud on my front porch.

A plastic bag containing a plastic wrapping containing a 568 page full book size phone book has been dropped on my walk. I speak to the young man as he walks away…no response. I speak louder…still no response and then I see the earphones hanging from his neck and realize I can’t match his volume. I pick up the 3 to 4 lb bundle and go back inside and start to calculate cost. At this time I am only mildly irritated, but as I read the advertising on the plastic bag it hits a nerve….and I start to connect the dots.

There are small business owners that are being “held up” by the advertising salesmen for the phone company. “Be in our book or “miss the boat”. Your competitor is here and he is increasing his spend over last year…so you better double yours.” I know the drill because for years these guys brutalized me in my business.

But back to my calculations……..after extracting much needed capitol from small business they then produce this bloated dinosaur and spend money on distribution…we are talking warehousing, transportation, more warehousing, more transportation…ending with the less than minimum wage youth walking across my lawn. The cost is enormous and then it is delivered to someone who doesn’t want it …will not use it. It is obscene.

The thing that tipped me over the edge as I walked (rolled) it thru the house to the recycle bin was what was written on the bag. “To order any directory visit our website directorystore.com”. They know how to do this the right way but they are going to hold on to old way until the marketplace punishes them. If there are people who rely on paper directories, and I am sure there are customers for this (although their numbers are diminishing rapidly) why not send a postcard with the message that is on the bag. Write here or go to for your free phone book.

I know why………because next year when they go in to pressure the small business owner about his program they want to quote how many books they published last year and tell them about the price increase for this year.

I can get any phone number I want with a couple of clicks. I can spend my advertising money in ways that target a customer base that is interested in what I have and what I am doing. Verizon…and all you others….the clock is ticking on you.

Just as I pitch this mess into the recycle bin I notice something else written on the bag……”To avoid danger of suffocation, please keep this bag away from babies and children.”……WELL HELL!

Pay for Play

This is an excerpt from an article in current Manufacturing & Technology e-Journal. It is dead on and against many current trends. Individual performance must be rewarded (in keeping with actual results) or you take the heart from your people. I suggest that not only the sales force should be compensated according to their results but your customer service team as well. It is so do-able. Write me and I will explain.

Enjoy reading Not everybody gets a Trophy:

Ken Blanchard once wrote: “There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequal’s.” It holds true in your Sales organization as well. Yes, you are a team, and yes, you need to be acting in the organization’s best interest. But the second you start to water down somebody’s earning potential is the second you lose their best effort. Let’s face it, with a few noble exceptions; most of us are out to take care of ourselves and our families first and foremost – we want to believe our future is brighter than our past. Fourth Quarter 2009 statistics show that 1 out of 4 people have updated resumes or are networking to find the next best thing. Most will continue to work hard because unemployment numbers remain above 10 percent. But you will never realize their full potential. Push them to perform - and reward them for it.

You need to be in the business of rewarding results, not effort.

Read the rest of the article

The Secret to Winning Back Customers

This artilcle was written by
Chris Lytle, Monster Contributing Writer

I thought it worth reprinting here;

There's a difference between lost customers and dead customers. Most sales managers and salespeople don't make that distinction, but Jill Griffin does in her book Customer Winback: How to Recapture Lost Customers -- and Keep Them Loyal.

In the rush to get new business, we ignore lost business. Marketing Metrics, a Paramus, New Jersey-based consulting firm, estimates that the closing ratio for new prospects is 5 percent to 20 percent. The potential for winning back lost customers is 20 percent to 40 percent. Here are five ideas for creating your own customer win-back program:

1. Sales Management Must Drive the Win-Back Program

It's unacceptable to give the lost causes and hopeless cases to the new salesperson. Sales managers have to identify the lost list and get out of the office and visit them with their sales reps. During those meetings, sales management's job is to listen, take notes and summarize the lost customers' comments to demonstrate they are understood.

2. Establish the Measurement System for Tracking Losses and Win Backs

Sales management needs a system for identifying lost and recovered business. If you're not measuring lost customers month to month, you're not managing churn. Identifying which customers who did business with you last month are not doing business with you now is vital for beginning your win-back program. Request a free copy of a Churn Calculation Worksheet.

3. Create a Strategy for Revisiting the Lost

Your win-back strategy might include a meeting with top management, a letter from the CEO and a new needs analysis meeting. This all flows from the first face-to-face meeting where you discover the problem and refine your approach.

4. Celebrate Your Win Backs

Make sure the salesperson who wins a customer back gets recognition for that sale. What gets rewarded gets done.

5. Document Your Successes

Winning back customers is a process, and it should be a repeatable one. It may take seven steps instead of the previous four, but once you've won back several customers, you'll begin to see patterns. The last thing you should do is document the steps that work and make them part of your training program going forward.

As you can probably tell, prevention is easier than the cure. Manage customer expectations at the beginning of the relationship, not the end. Ask, "What result are you looking for in the next quarter (or appropriate time period) that will make you continue to do business with us?" Knowing the expectations at the beginning makes your life as a salesperson much easier and increases your chances of renewing a client.

It's not easy to win back lost customers. There may be some confrontation, and you will undoubtedly hear things you don't want to hear. However, it's hard to correct a problem you're not willing to discuss. According to George Walther in his book Upside Down Marketing, the easiest sources of new business are customers who got frustrated, aggravated or annoyed and can be seduced away by the competition.

So why are you sitting there reading this? Go talk to a lost customer.

The Current Opportunity

The Bible says "to he that is faithful in little, much will be given". That is a truth that is universal. When we hold ourselves and our services out to the people we are targeting - the opportunity and our services sometimes do not match.

Have you ever had a potential customer call and ask for something you don't really do? If you just say "we don't deal in that" you are missing an opportunity to partner with your customer. Do a little research and find someone to direct them to. A call back to the buyer saying..."I checked around and everyone seems to like XYZ....here is their number." will be remembered when your email blitz or your phone campaign is forgotten.

Help anytime you can....not just when you have nothing else to do and maybe "much" will be on the way.

Earning Customer Loyalty

This is a reprint of an article I wrote for the "MHEDA Edge"

In the late 1960s, I stormed into the office of Ed Quintana, then the owner of Cisco Material Handling in Dallas, Texas. Ed was my boss and I was venting to him. I had drawn a layout for a warehouse operation where I had saved a considerable amount of space for a customer only to have them push out my ideas to everyone for competitive bids. I told Ed I was going to start charging for my layout work. He replied, “Good luck with that.”

That part of the business has not changed. Material handling dealer salespeople study their customers’ operations and make suggestions only to see others sell the products that bring those suggestions to life. It is not right, but it is not going to change.

At the heart of the problem is that the enduser does not see or understand your stake in their business. They aren’t loyal to you, because you haven’t sufficiently shown them why they should be. Through the years, I have had a lot of good customers and a few great customers and I wondered what made the great ones so great? Why couldn’t I earn their loyalty back then? Why can I now?

To find the answer, I started by looking back at how I started off as a salesman. In the beginning: I was not an expert at what I talked about to them. Many times I was just a brochure delivery boy. Too many times in my early career, I had nothing to add to the conversation once I handed over the literature.

Many times I realized (too late) that the product I proposed didn’t really fit the application. I just wanted to sell something and move on to the next deal. I really did not understand the customer’s problem. I had an idea, but not a true understanding. I hadn’t studied it. I wasn’t able to think outside the box because I hadn’t examined the box closely enough. I worried too much about the competition.What were they bidding? Was their solution cheaper than mine? How much can I cut? I should’ve been focusing on what I could bring to the table.

5 Keys to Earning Customer Loyalty

I wish that I could say that overnight I changed my thinking and started cashing big checks. The truth is, that didn’t happen right away. However, with the help of some good teachers and a willingness to learn on my part, I was able to develop a high-quality, loyal customer base. The following are five lessons that enabled me to do so:

1. Study problems before you develop solutions. Sometimes, the customer calls and says, “I need a particular product; get me a price.” It is hard to be expert there, but it can be done. Listen to what your customer wants, but also use your own expertise to determine if what they want is what is best for them.

2. Study products. Knowledge is paramount. Read everything you can find about the products that you sell. Talk to your customers’ employees. Find out what has worked for them and what hasn’t. Many times the customer thinks he needs to come up with the solution rather than rely on you. That shouldn’t be the case. You need to have a broad knowledge of your inventory before you can truly be a collaborative partner.

3. Make suggestions about process or safety before you are asked. Send a written outline of a problem or a potential danger you see in their operation. Offer a solution complete with a cost. Just because someone doesn’t ask you for a quote doesn’t mean they will not consider one.

4. Operate the way your customer asks of you. Technology has us communicating many different ways, but the customer gets to pick which one to use. If they prefer e-mail, but you’re a face-to-face guy, you’re going to have to type away.

5. Look at the seams. In any operation, a great deal of time and money is spent on systems and process. Many, if not most, of those are package deals and work the way they are designed. It is where one process intersects another that there is opportunity for a smart salesperson. Sometimes the gains are in fewer rejected parts or safety issues or wear on equipment. Most of the time, it is a problem the customer has decided he just has to live with. If you can fix that, you open yourself up to a world of possibilities.

If you can turn yourself into a worthy partner in your customer’s business, if he thinks that you are truly interested in his success, you will find that he roots for you. He finds ways for you to win because that is what you have done for him.

Sales & Customer Service in the BtoB World

Two separate things or just different ends of a process? I have been selling in the industrial market since the "sixties" (yes, I remember them). Material handling mostly with a couple of years retail back in the "seventies". I maintain that sales and customer service is a circle...a flywheel that develops a momentum when done properly.

My perspective has come from being;

• part-time invoice clerk
• full-time office worker
• office manager
• inside sales person
• outside sales person
• start-up business owner
• general manager
• managing partner in a merged business
• sales and marketing manager of a manufacturing company
• member of the management team of a US manufacturer

I have watched my sales and the sales of those around me rise and fall for many different reasons. Among them;

• good and poor economies
• good and bad business plans
• brilliant and stupid business plans
• changes in markets and channels
• changes in technologies, products and processes

In the posts to come on this site I hope to outline good practices and explain how the "fly-wheel" effect works for a lifetime. The purpose is to improve, to become better. To become excellent.