One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the stupidity of Real Estate sales people – and the people who let these idiots take control of selling their property. First, I should state that I am not referring to ALL Real Estate agents, although it does seem to be an ever increasing number of agents.

Why would you list a property for sale with the price being “price by negotiation”?

There are pages and pages of properties listed on TradeMe (by Real Estate agents) with no price.  If I want to find out the price I have to “negotiate” with them to get the price. This is just plain stupid.

One of the things that a good sales person will learn is that you should make it as easy as possible for a person to buy from you. Any extra step or hurdle that a person has to go through to complete a sale is one more excuse for them not to buy. This is especially true with online sales.

Is my “negotiating” for a price of a property likely to make me spend more? Is it raising my level of desire for that property?

If I am looking for a house within a particular price bracket I want to see all the houses within that range in the area I am looking at so I can begin to weigh up the other pros and cons of each property. I may extend my search to houses just outside my desired price range, but there is no point looking at houses $100k outside my range.

Why then should I have to “negotiate” for the price of dozens of houses just to see if they fit within my range? The fact is I do not.  I scroll through pages of houses with no price listed until I get to properties where the price is listed.  If your property that you are trying to sell was in those pages (and priced in my range) then you just lost a potential sale.

If for some reason your price unlisted property catches my eye and I make the effort to “negotiate” for a price I am now in the mindset that any price I am given is also “negotiable” and I will not expect to pay the price that I have negotiated to get.

Perhaps if you have a property priced in the tens of millions of dollars, or is in some way highly exclusive, and the only people who can afford your property are the kind of people who don’t need to know price tags then maybe you have a case for advertising like this. For the majority of people trying to sell an ordinary property I would say your Real Estate agent is doing you a grave disservice advertising in this manner. Unless, of course, you are the type of person who suggests a price for your property and when someone accepts you decide it must be too cheap so you put the price up – then this is the method is for you.

For me it is a joke – and annoying as a potential purchaser.

The newspaper – once a dynasty and now a dinosaur.

I find it fascinating that despite the downward spiral of the mighty newspaper that they have seemingly learned nothing along the way. At least that was the impression I got talking to a lady in the newspaper office today.

The story goes a little like this: I plan to run a competition in the local area as part of my marketing promotions for local businesses. This promotion will have some nice prizes for the participants (total prize pool in the thousands of dollars), it will also supply the businesses several forms of marketing material for the competition, and it was scheduled to have a center page spread in a local community newspaper.

To me that all seemed pretty logical. I provide a significant amount of effort organizing and supply the necessary material and prizes in return for payment from each of the businesses.  As part of the deal I would also design the entry forms/advertising to go in the local paper and pay the paper to run it.

……. SCCCRRREEEEETTTTTCCCCCHHHHHHHH ……..   STOP THE PRESS

According to at least one lady from one of the local papers, what I am doing is “ad farming.”

“I am sorry … what do you mean?” I reply.

Well … she goes … you are making money from our services.

So here is a newspaper telling me I am not allowed to advertise in their paper if I am making money from their services? Yes it is true. They are worried that I might steal their customers by buying in bulk and on-selling at a cheaper rate.

First of all, that is not the main intent of what I am trying to achieve.  Second of all – SO WHAT?

No wonder newspapers all around the world are going broke if they are all so anal that someone might be making money from selling their ad space. Ad space, which I hasten to add, that they are incapable of selling themselves.

Seriously, that is the way business works. Someone manufactures something, they sell it to wholesalers who make a profit by selling it to distributors, who make a profit by selling to retailers, who make a profit by selling to consumers.  But not in the newspaper game. No sir.

In the newspaper world (land of the dinosaurs) the only person allowed to make a profit is the newspaper, which is why they are not obviously.

The lady I was talking to said she wouldn’t be allowed to profit from my services.  I said why not? As long as I am making my money why should I care who else is making money? Which of course was not something she was able to comprehend.

I just can not believe that businesses in this day and age are so backwards in their thinking.

Hopefully my negotiations with the local competition newspaper do not also hit such an obstinate road block.

I guess if they do then at least I have found a way I can enter the local newspaper trade and run the others out of business.

**Wandering off shaking head in disbelief … muttering not very polite things about the small minded stupidity of newspaper publishers**

Mercury Marine Advertising Fail Unleashed.

Mercury Marine are the latest in advertising fails with their new television ad campaign.

This ad which is nothing special, but is nothing tragic either, simply encourages people to look at buying a new motor before the New Zealand Government slaps a GST (Goods Service Tax) price increase on everyone next month.

They even direct people from the ad to a website. Which is a good tactical move as it will give them some idea if their advertising expenditure is having any effect at all.

THE FAIL

At the end of the advert the viewing audience is encouraged to visit MercuryMarine.co.nz to check out the deals and find a local dealer.

Whoever designed this ad needs to be looking for a new job – along with the person in charge of their website.

The ad creator needs a new job because they never checked the website, and the website manager needs a new job because he is rubbish. Sure the site looks pretty enough – but the majority of people who follow the instructions given in the advert are going to get this message:

Mercury Marine Fail

Many of their expensive leads are going to be put off by such a message I am sure.

They could have corrected this error by telling people to go to “www.” MercuryMarine.co.nz which is actually where their site is indexed. Or they could set up their website correctly in the first place and people would be able to enter either version and still arrive at the website – all it takes is 2 small lines of code correctly inserted!

Not happy with this gaff Mercury Marine make another one.

My initial reaction when I discovered this error was to contact the person in charge of promotions and inform them of their error – as they may well not notice for weeks, if ever, and their campaign could suffer extensively.

However, upon finding the site I discover that Mercury Marine are so interested in their customers input that there is no way of contacting them. Sure you can find the local dealer’s information – but they are not Mercury Marine. And to be honest, I would not waste my breath dealing with the local dealers after past experience.

The closest thing I found to a contact for Mercury Marine was the job application email address – to which I sent an email asking to be put through to the promotions department. As yet no reply.

So in the mean time – congratulations on your advertising FAIL MERCURY MARINE.

Today I went to two hardware stores. They are both large stores and they are next door to each other.

One store has a greeter at the door (a pretty young lady today) the other does not. I went into the store without a greeter at the door and wandered up and down the isles for 5 minutes  looking for an item. I was only approached by a member of the store staff because they wanted to walk past me and I was blocking the isle.

The store with the greeter was holding workshops for children during the school holidays. Today they got to decorate a small flower pot with paint, then a small candle was given to them to put in it. They were also given a blow-up tool with the company logo and were able to choose a cardboard box to put their treasures in. Total cost to children = $0.00.

Of course I went shopping while the children were busy being entertained. I was approached by several staff during the course of my browsing. The experience was entirely different from the other store. Guess which one is the most popular store with the general public?

There were a few staff members that I noticed even in the user friendly store that were more interested in personal conversations than making sales. So they could use some kind of monitoring system to ensure everyone is pulling their weight.

Amazingly there are many stores that do not train their staff in how to spend their time. Perhaps equally amazing is the attitude of the staff. In a time of recession you would think they would be doing everything can to ensure they have a job next week. This would include proving that you are a valuable member of the team, and making sales to ensure the profitability of the business.

You can tell those who go to work with an employee mentality. They believe the company owes them, is probably screwing them, and they are always looking for a way to get something for nothing. Entrepreneurs, even when working for other people, will be looking for ways to improve productivity and increase sales. A smart company will make sure they invest in these staff to retain them. A company that looses staff members with this aptitude will not only loose the benefits that these staff members generate, they will be giving their competitors a boost in productivity or may even be creating new competitors if the entrepreneur starts up their own business.

Tip for employees:

No matter your role in the company you have the ability to make yourself indispensable to the company.

Tip for employers:

Train and monitor the performance of your staff – then provide good staff an incentive to stay.

Irrational is probably not what you would care to be labelled as, and yet that is exactly what you are. Dan Ariely shows not only are you irrational, but you are predictably irrational.

How can this be so?

Well, many of the illogical decisions you make can be predicted in advance. For example, one of the illustrations in the book involves two samples of chocolate. One is a world famous exotic chocolate and the other is the recycled waste sold as chocolate in convenience stores.

The experiment began by selling the two chocolates side by side in small one bite sized samples. The price of the authentic chocolate experience was 15 cents and the price of the imitation chocolate was only 1 cent. An overwhelming majority of people confronted with this decision concluded that the exotic chocolate was a better buy.

However, once the price of both chocolate samples was dropped by 1 cent something strange happened. You could say it was entirely irrational. The price difference between the chocolates was exactly the same, but now the majority of people took the low quality chocolate.

What caused this switch when the price differential was exactly the same?

The low end chocolate had dropped from 1 cent to free. That magic word free had altered the equation, tipping the value balance away from the quality chocolate.

This is just one of the many cases where our irrational behaviour can be totally predictable. Advertisers are taking advantage of this knowledge all the time. Even when you think you know what the advertiser is doing, you may be surprised to find that he is doing something entirely different on your subconscious level.

This is a great book for anyone who markets anything, or even sets prices on supermarket stock. It is also a must have for anyone considering making a shopping excursion.

If you would like to help support this blog please purchase through this link.

A quick look at the latest television commercial from Telecom advertising their XT Network.

This is an interesting marketing exercise. For those that don’t know, Telecom the once Government owned monopoly in phone services here in NZ launched a new network system recently. Since the phone networks have been opened up to competition (to some extent) Telecom has struggled to get ahead of the technology curve and the XT network was supposed to be the answer.

After spending a lot of money promoting the launch and signing up many customers with the launch specials the new network crashed. Not once, not twice, but numerous times (I lost count). Much of the country suddenly and without notice found they had no cellphone coverage for days at a time in some cases.

This leaves a lot of very unhappy customers and one Paul Reynolds CEO with egg on his face – especially when you consider the advertising that heralded his appointment to the company.

Originally I had an image here of the CEO Paul Reynolds on his appointment boasting a promise Telecom could not keep. Telecom have since decided that it is too embarrassing to have their archives online and no doubt hope that by removing them we will forget they used misleading (at best, I would assert false) advertising.

In an effort to regain the trust of a country Telecom runs another marketing campaign to announce the XT network is in fact now working. They chose none other than the CEO to front the marketing campaign.

The new ad shows Paul Reynolds, the charming Scotsman, trout fishing in a remote location. He praises New Zealanders for their “pick yourself up by the bootstrap” attitude, and suggest we should give Telecom another go. His phone then rings and he tries to answer it when “Buggar …” it appears to have dropped out again .. “only kiddin [cheeky grin].”

What they did right.

The used the CEO to front the campaign. He is after all a well known figure now.

What they got wrong.

It is all very well to admire our resilient attitude as Kiwis, but just because you kicked us in the guts with your swanky sales pitch and faulty system (not once, not twice, but several times) don’t expect us to give you another chance. Even if your handsome CEO smiles into the camera dressed in the latest in trout fishing attire.

As for the funny joke about the phone not working… now that was a serious flaw. They say good advertising should be controversial, but the person who scripted that ad should be looking for a new job.

There are many Kiwis who suffered direct hardship (custom lost, emergency calls unable to be connected) because Telecom’s state of the art network let them down. Now the CEO is on TV making a joke of the situation??!!

Ok.. one can see their intent. To appear personable and admit they screwed up “ha ha jokes on us.” But now they want to be taken serious again.

The perspective of one jaded Kiwi is that here is one overpaid Scotsman (making more just in bonuses than most people make in a lifetime) telling us he admires how he can kick us in the guts repeatedly and we keep getting up. Then he makes light of a situation caused a lot of stress and frustration in many people’s lives (and may even have cost the life of some) trying to be cute. The apology ends up being an insult.

Not the best marketing decision I have seen.

What do you think? Does it work for you?

Have you noticed a lot of crap gets sold on the internet?

The less value there is in the product the more flashing shiny things are used to promote it – generally to keep your attention away from the product itself.

Michel Fortin makes the following comment:

But today, I have come to the conclusion that most (not all, but most) Internet marketers who still use long copy, especially long copy that screams like a Monster Truck Rally announcer, is for a product that sucks. Period.

He goes on to suggest that you shouldn’t be proud that you can sell useless junk to anyone. Where is the honor in that? What kind of legacy is that to leave knowing that you sold more junk than anyone before you?

Just a short message today, as there is little more to add.

It is great to have positive things to say – this week seems to have had its share of positive experiences so I will share another one with you.

This one is about building a reputation and establishing oneself in a niche.

Joyce Penner, a member of the BetterNetworker forum created a name for self this week within the forum.

How did she create a name for herself?

Well she created a thread on the forum asking for some input as to why people be interested in her if she went around telling everyone about this great advice she had – got from XYZ guru.

She wanted to know why people wouldn’t just go and look up XYZ guru for themselves leaving her out of the loop.

Anyway, the thread attracted a few replies, some thoughtful and some witty (honestly, the same sentiments were expressed if you look behind the witt ).

Well that is as maybe. But then Joyce created a bit of a stir because she offered a free backlink to everyone that made the effort to comment. What Joyce Penner did was create the linked article detailing her blog thread. And in it she highlighted the people who had come to her party.

Now, I wonder if there will be any extra interest in commenting on her next thread?

The point being that she has now made a name for herself in the forum as someone who rewards the efforts of others.

It is a forum about “attraction marketing” but very few people there lead by example. Most just run off at the mouth telling you why you should be following them.

See the difference when someone actually practices what they preach! Well done Joyce.

Recently I had good pleasure of meeting someone over internet who turned out to be very genuine (a rare commodity these days) and a great help.

This person understands the principles of attraction marketing very well.

In the first instance they have created an extremely good plugin for WordPress Blogs. The plugin makes it very simple to secure your blog from hackers. A problem that I was needing to solve at the time. So immediately they are giving value to people upfront – no strings attached.

In the second instance they provide support for their software. Remember this software costs nothing to install and now they are charging nothing to advise you on how to make sure it is working properly on your system.

If you have spent much time online you will know that service of this kind is very rare indeed. I was so appreciative of the value I had received that I sent a virtual cup of coffee (or a beer depending your drink of choice) by way of saying thank you.

It would seem that either I am the only person who has ever had a problem (which given my track record with computers is not unlikely) or I am the only person who has ever thought to say thank you. Because my actions stood out enough that the man behind the product took the time to contact me and offer an extra bonus.

So here I am once again in the debt of Edward Alexander the man behind Bullet Proof Website Security

I highly recommend the product, the person behind the product, and the business model that Edward exemplifies. If you think you are generous I challenge you to try and out-give this man!

While you are on his site check out the Flash Design header – I already have my heart set one!

Is A Website Essential To My Business?

We live in a country where the people love new technology.  New Zealand was world leaders when it came to EFT POS – Electronic Funds Transfer @ Point Of Sale. Many other new gadgets and gizmos are readily taken up by the Kiwi population.

Broadband is something the majority of New Zealanders are screaming out for. We want it available and we want it faster. It is such a big deal that even the Government has felt compelled to step in and try to sort it out.

What does this tell you?

It tells me that as a population most of us are actively online. Ok, no surprises there. But the staggering thing to me is the lack of recognition of this fact that local businesses seem to have.

I look at the number of businesses listed in the local Yellow Pages and then I do a search for these services online, and in some cases I am drawing a total blank. Even the businesses I do find often only have a listing in an online directory, they do not have a website of their own.

Who is to blame for this seemingly head-in-the-sand approach that NZ businesses are taking?  The Universities that produce all these managers? Business owners that hire staff to take care of computer stuff and have no idea how use one?

All I can say is that if you have a business and it isn’t online you are missing out on a lot of customers.  And if your competition beats you to having an online presence you will be left playing catch-up. It is always harder to outrank someone that already has a web presence for your target keywords.

If you need a little help getting online try NZMarketingSystems.com

A post for those of us who market on the internet.

There are a lot of people panicking and complaining about the F.T.C. (Federal Trade Commission) and the heavy handed actions they are taking with online marketers.

The interesting thing is that they are only enforcing rules that were always in existence but have not been enforced on the internet as strictly as they have been in other forms of media.

I always find it interesting that people get all upset when good business practices and consumer rights are enforced upon them.   I would not run a business that makes it standard practice to screw people, lie to to people, or generally provide substandard value, so this has never really been a concern to me.

Just today I got an email by a well known online marketer that stated this about his product:

... received rave reviews (which unfortunately
we can't print due to the damn new FTC regulations!).

You might think that he has cause for complaint – although I am not sure which rules his reviews were breaking.   However, the interesting thing is that I went the sales page for his product and after reading the page I was greeted with an exit popup when I tried to leave.

Exit popups are fairly common these days.  This particular one offered me an extra $20 discount if I changed my mind and decided to buy after all. It was a ONE TIME ONLY offer that I would never see again if I closed the window.

Here is my problem.  I would be seriously annoyed had I bought at the price first offered, because they were more than happy to sell it $20 cheaper.  But even more annoying is the blatent ONE TIME ONLY offer LIE.  Because I re-entered the site to check (several times), and was offered exactly the same ONE TIME ONLY offer each time.

My point is, here is a classic example of an online marketer complaining about the F.T.C. regulations, while at the same time blatantly trying to rip off his customers.

I say “shame on you Dan Raine.”

Just watched the heavy weight boxing fight between David “The Tuaminator” Tua verses Friday “The Thirteenth” Ahunanya. After the full 12 rounds a unanimous decision was given to Tua.

While the fight was perhaps not as spectacular as one ending in a K.O. it had some great lessons.

Both fighters went into the fight with a good game plan and pretty much stuck to it. Ahunanya was determined to keep moving and upset the Tuaminator’s rhythm. A strategy he used to good effect.  Tua prepared to go the full 12 rounds and looked like he was fit enough to go another 5 or 6 at the end of the match.

Tua worked the body of Ahunanya and tried to wear him down to allow for the big punch finish that is his signature.  Unfortunately for Tua, Ahunanya was up to the punishment.

The lessons to learn are that good preparation is unbeatable.  Doing your homework is also essential.  Both fighters knew the weaknesses of their opponent. Fighting to the plan, even when things aren’t going the way you anticipated is the only way to succeed.

Keep a cool head and fight your own game. Do not let circumstances rattle you.

We All Like To Be Recognized

I was talking to a friend tonight. She said she found it hard making the transition into a new industry. As a successful business woman, and widely respected in one market, to transition into another market where she was an unknown was proving a challenge.

People do not give us the same respect when they do not know of our achievements.  Perhaps rightly so.  After all, without good evidence to back up our claims we may be just another of the many con artists that seem to be all too prevalent in today’s society.

This does not make it any easier to bare of course.  If we have achieved success we like to have that achievement recognised. We like to be treated with respect even if we have not achieved great success.

One of the most important things you can do for your customers is show them some recognition. With out customers you do not have a business.  The cost of acquiring new customers can be very high depending on the advertising medium that you choose to use.  So it is essential that you increase the life-time of your existing customers as much as possible.  And this may mean spending a few dollars in showing your appreciation and recognising their value.

Do not send your customers emails like the following (and I quote it in its entirety)

Prompt payment as per agreement terms would be appreciated

No “Dear Sir,”  no “please pay the money you owe us,” no “lots of luv ourbusiness.”

Given that it was their accounting systems that were at fault, not my lack of payment, I found this quite an offensive way of communicating. I responded with a request for a refund, and would have followed through with that request had it not been for the commission based sales agent working over-time to retrieve their lost sale.

I may not be a major player to this company but without the support of the many little people like myself they would not have a business.

A little more thought needed in showing some recognition.

Do Telemarketers Make Any Money?

I only ask this because the company that called late last night made the unfortunate mistake of calling again – this time at a more respectable hour.

The lady was from India, although now living in Australia apparently, and had a very strong accent.  The phone line was terrible.  She was losing her voice from shouting into the poor phone-line and trying to be heard over the background noise of a room full of other people doing the same.

Any way I could barely understand a word she said.  And she couldn’t understand a word I said – the word I said was NO. Well I am generally up to play the game, so I would say “no” and she would keep talking.  I did work out that she was much happier and stopped repeating the same spiel when I said “yes.”  So after a number of “no”s I began to say “yes” to see where this would take us.

Well as luck would have it, she did eventually come to the end of her pitch and seemed quite satisfied.  Then I had to write down the company name and details (again I tried saying “no thanks really” but this was not understood, so I carried on with the “yes” every time she paused, as it made her much happier.

After supposedly writing the company details down, I was then passed off to a superior.  This lady, also with an Indian accent, but much more understandable, was on a better line with less background noise.

We continued the game much the same as before.  She ignored my “no” and was much happier when I said “yes.”  After almost half an hour on the phone the second lady finally conceded to let me go.

Lessons Learned

I did learn some lessons in this exercise.  I learned that telemarketing ladies like it more when you say “yes.”

I learned the name of the first lady.  And every time she said her name I would say “hello (her name).”  This didn’t fit into the script and she had to keep starting again.  After several interruptions I figured I wasn’t allowed to say hello and let it drop.

I discovered that the second lady was also from India but was a student in Australia and this was a part time job.  I found that out by suggesting that they didn’t sound very Australian even though the company was located in Australia.

I asked if she was well paid in this job.  She didn’t understand the question even after I repeated it several times.  But she had been in the job 2 years so I deduced she probably was paid reasonably well.

She was quite well trained in her job, and used all the good sales techniques like subliminally dropping the line “this product which you are about to buy” into the conversation repeatedly.   And she had all the answers to standard objections down pat.  She even made a reasonable effort at finding my main objection so she could provide the solution.

I did learn however, that she was not at all prepared for questions that were entirely unrelated to the topic at hand.  Such questions as how well paid she was.  Where did she think would be a good holiday destination.

I think maybe she was smiling a little by the end of the conversation – her voice cracked ever so slightly.  But she refused to break from the script.

The first lady did mention that I wouldn’t need to sign any contract in her list of benefits.  I tried to question the second lady about this – as it seemed to me that this could also be a significant disadvantage as well.  But that question wasn’t on the script apparently.

Things They Could Do To Improve Their Marketing Strategy.

I realise telemarketing is a numbers game, but their conversion rate must be fairly low.  Many people would have hung up on the first lady because she really was not understandable.

They do not stop to ask me if I have any need for a holiday package (they were selling discount hotel passes).  They were not at all interested in my needs.

Instead of launching into a sales pitch as soon as I say hello, I am guessing they could double their conversions by striking up a conversation first. Ask people how often they travel, when was the time they travelled.  Do they wish hotels were cheaper, or would they stay in a better quality hotel if they could afford it.

Until they know what needs I have they are pitching blind.  And if they have not established a rapport they have no trust.  No reason for me to pull out my credit card.

Well that is my take on telemarketing.

When Did Politeness Become Redundant?

I must have missed the memo that said we no longer need to use our please and thank you vocabulary in today’s society.

My recent altercation with a property developer would never have eventuated if he had originally asked me to please sign this contract instead of sign this contract or else ….

I had an emergency phone call from a neighbour needing some help to get his hay in because it was raining.  I took my truck down and gave him a hand at a moments notice.   Perhaps a follow up phone call to say thank you is too much too ask?

I guess things are done differently today. People are too busy to be bothering with all that polite stuff.  Maybe I am expecting too much.

Or maybe … just maybe … if you make it a habit in your business to treat people with respect, to ask politely, and to follow up with a thank-you you will stand out from the crowd.

I think that is so unexpected these days that any business who really makes an effort to use good manners will be well rewarded with loyal clientèle.   Make it a part of your marketing campaign and brand yourself as a 21st century business with 19th century morality, where we treat you with the respect and dignity you deserve.   Or something to that effect.

Free marketing tip for the day.

Marketing Guru Over Delivers

I have experienced doing business with a number of internet marketing “gurus” and so called online education companies.  The one thing that most of them have in common is … an inane ability to underwhelm.

I have been less than impressed with most of these people and companies.   They promise the moon and fail to deliver more than a mud cake.

When I sign up to these courses and products all I am looking for is that they deliver what they say they will.

In a sea of false promises and exaggerated claims, one man has hoisted the flag of a different standard.  He has not only determined to deliver his very best stuff as promised, but he has shown a personal interest in the development of his students.

Who sends hard copy books as unannounced bonuses across the other side of the world (without even asking for postage)?  Who is this man that dares to walk a different path to his peers?

Doberman Dan is that man.

As a member of his protege training course, I am learning as much by his actions as I am by his teaching.  Imagine a teacher that actually lives the methods he is teaching – unheard of in the internet world.

I hear a lot of talk about things like “moving the free line” and to “over-deliver” but these people are saying you do that to gain trust.  Once your customer sees the value you give away, they will be happy to spend money with you: even if you have given your best value up front and the rest of what you have to offer gives little more.  Most customers feel obliged to refrain from seeking a refund if the paid product underwhelms because of the great value you gave them upfront.

Doberman Dan hasn’t short changed his members on the inside.  Even though he already has the money, he is constantly looking for ways to over deliver.  To give the more value than he promised, and more value than any of his protegee expected.

Why make this post?

Strangely enough, it is not to promote my affiliate link to Dan’s program.  The program is full so you can’t join if you want to. I don’t have an affiliate link even if you could join (which you can’t).

I am just saying most of what the “gurus” are preaching is yesterday’s strategies.  Short changing clients on the inside because you “over deliver” up front is no longer acceptable (was it ever?).  Over selling your product now warrants investigation by the FTC.  Fake testimonials, failing to disclose your relationship with products, and promoting abnormal results no longer flies.

If you are going to build a business, develop a relationship, or market a product you are going to have to connect with your customer like in the olden days.  With respect and integrity.  If you want to survive in tomorrows world.

NZ Apprentices Make Mistakes

I have been watching the NZ version of The Apprentice and I am guessing the potential apprentices have all been through classical business training schools.

Two of the first three challenges have been selling challenges.  The first was hot-dogs and the third was ice-creams.  On each occasion the two teams were running around the streets trying to make the most sales.

Both times the teams showed some innovation about how they could up-sell the products, or add value to the products to entice a sale.  But I think they were making a basic mistake.

Have you seen comedy shows like “Whose Line Is It Anyway” where actors/comedians are put in a situation, or given a prop, and asked to improvise a scene?

In these situations it is never about the “prop” it is about the improvisation around the object.  The prop becomes almost immaterial as the comedian creates a new world around the object.  A toilet roll may become a telescope, a wheel, a hair roller – it doesn’t really matter.

I believe that Mr Terry Serepisos is looking for an apprentice who can create a business no matter what the “prop” is that they given.  Selling hot-dogs, or selling ice-creams is not creating a business.  It is being distracted by the prop.

So what would I do?

Instead of running around the street trying to sell the props, I would concentrate on what I really have that can generate money and make the props fit.

How would I do that?

In their situation what do they have that is most valuable?  Hint: it isn’t ice-creams.

They have a potential 5 minutes of prime time television time that they could sell.  This is the about the live time each team gets when selling their products.

So I would be ringing businesses and asking if they would like 5 minutes on air and a box of ice-cream for five times the expected return of selling ice-creams on the street.  I am sure it would be possible to work out a deal with plenty of “product placement” and talk about the product of the successful business.

This kind of outside of the box thinking would entirely transform the game and show some real entrepreneurship amongst the potential apprentices – sadly lacking to-date.

For more understanding about how to think beyond the props I highly recommend  What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World by Tina Seelig

“Any Customer Tries To Escape I Shoot!”

What lengths would you go to keep a customer?

Being in business myself I work on the philosophy that if a customer wants out the best action for me is to open the door.

I am astounded at people who think their best course of action is to hold a customer against their will – perhaps using a legal contract rather than a shotgun, but to the same effect.

Why would you want someone forced to remain connected to you when they are obviously going to be doing everything they can to cause damage to you and your business?

Isn’t the statistic something like for every negative report about your company it takes 10 good ones to compensate?  And that is just an average Joe negative report, imagine an entire media campaign of negativity …

Know when to hold’em and when to fold’em is all I am saying.