For all those who have wondered where creative juices come from.

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Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer conducted an experiment where researchers approached people waiting in line to use a photocopier in a busy library. The researchers asked the people waiting in line to jump ahead in line.  They used several types of excuses.  Here are the results:

Some of the researchers asked this:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I am in a rush?” 

They were allowed to jump ahead in line 94% of the time. Alternatively, other researchers asked this:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” 

Only 60% of these researchers were allowed to jump ahead in line. Based on these first two versions, you might presume that the researchers weren’t allowed to jump ahead because they didn’t have an excuse for doing so.  That proved incorrect, based upon a third group of researchers, who asked this:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” 

As you can see, this “excuse” was not really an excuse at all.  Incredibly, though, 93% of these researchers were allowed to jump ahead in line.  In this third condition, no excuse was actually given, although the form of an excuse was used.  Langer focused on the power of the word “because,” which triggered the same content as would a real excuse.  The form of an argument or excuse was itself persuasive in the absence of any persuasive content. 

Now, I’m not suggesting that you use this research to try and trick people, but if you are not giving any reasons why a potential client should use you then you are missing some opportunities.

Tell people why… because it makes a difference.

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” - Stephen Covey

Small Business Marketing Lessons By Harvey Cramb (Aged 3 ½)

The Scene: I was asking Harvey about his day at Kindy.
Me: And did you have a rest at Kindy?
Harvey: Yes but I couldn’t get to sleep because there was too many girls hanging around looking at me.
Marketing Lesson: Don’t be paralysed into in-action because you’re worried what some people around you might think.

Although I informed Harvey that, from my experience, he had better get used to a lot of attention from all the girls, it did seem like a rather poor excuse for not sleeping. Often our excuses are just as weak. Whether it be the accountant who is reluctant to run seminars because the other partners will think he’s too entrepreneurial or the tradesman who needs a new logo and branding but is afraid what the other tradies will think of his new look, it is amazing how many of us worry about the feedback from the wrong people.

Since one of the key principles of good marketing is to be unique, then it stands to reason that there will be people who wouldn’t market their business in the way that you are. The opinions that really matter are those of your target audience not your competitors or conservative colleagues.

Leaders aren’t afraid of what the by-standers are thinking. So don’t be paralysed into in-action worrying about their opinion. Remember that an average marketing idea that gets actioned is always better than a brilliant plan that never happens.

One good way to predict if your marketing materials such as website, advertisements, brochures etc, will be effective, is to replace your business’ name with that of a competitor.

If it still makes sense and is plausible then your marketing message needs some work.

Small Business Marketing Lessons By Harvey Cramb Jordan Ziarno (Aged 3 ½)

I’m giving Harvey a break this week and handing today’s lesson over to another youngster. Thanks to Mel from National Grower Register for supplying the story about her daughter, Jordan and also for the fantastic marketing lesson.

The Scene: Just returned from a sleepover at Uncle Micks’ house, consumed by the notion that we should invest in a pony - Thanks Mick!. The work safe, home safe ad was playing (see blog May 29), and thankfully I hadn’t heard the word Pony for a few hours.
Jordan: Oh, the boy is very sad waiting for his Dad. Where is his Dad?
Me (Mel): I don’t know, maybe he had to work late?
Jordan: I know! His Dad stopped at the servo and then… (with a dramatic pause, grabbing me by the face and pulling me near for a nose-to-nose chat) he stopped to buy a pony! That is why he is late and that is why the boy is happy now.
Marketing Lesson: Use uncommon platforms to add impact to your message.

While I thought my three year old was processing the deeper implications of the Work safe campaign, I was caught unawares and slapped fair in the face with her latest strategy to sell me on pony concept.

Her message delivery was unexpected, extremely well executed and just a little unnerving. Effectively delivering a message to your prospective clients is not just a matter of repetition or noise or even emotional appeal – take a look at placement.

Muffin Break deliver a warm and fuzzy message on the bottom of each mug and each time I finish my coffee I am pleasantly surprised (short term memory problem, just call me Dory) and I am compelled to smile back. It’s curious and unexpected.

For the budget conscience business this approach is gold – use your creativity instead of an extravagant advertising budget to make your business memorable. That little jolt of surprise - the “Ohh” factor – can make your marketing message stand-out from the expected.

My dad recently bought some navigation software for his phone. Finding a supplier in Sydney that was more than 30% cheaper than anywhere else, he was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in only two days with a Mars bars and boxed pen included as gifts. It certainly seemed like he had struck a customer focused business that valued word of mouth.

But when he tried to use the software he encountered a major problem and wanted to return it. When he phoned them, he was told that he couldn’t return the product for a variety of reasons. Just when things were about to get ugly they agreed to send him a higher priced program for no additional cost. Problem solved.

So, if you include free gifts for your customers then don’t assume that that is enough for good word of mouth. The after taste of this experience for my dad wasn’t the Mars bar, it was how his complaint was treated.

And, if you’re not currently including free gifts, then, why not? Imagine my dad’s experience if they had handled his complaint well - great price, fast delivery, free mars bar & pen, immediate offer of free upgrade when he encountered his problem. Now that would create a raving fan every day of the week!

When you’re developing a marketing campaign spend quality time considering your offer. Particularly, think about whether you should include a ‘hard’ or ’soft’ offer. What’s the difference?

A hard offer rewards the prospect if, and only if, they purchase the product eg 20% off, Buy one get one free.
A soft offer rewards the prospect simply for responding eg free whitepaper or article, complimentary movie tickets for responding.

A hard offer assumes:

1. that the prospect has an immediate plan to purchase (and you’ve timed your campaign perfectly)
2. that the purchase of your product or service requires little or no further information
3. that price (or free installation or whatever your offer is) is a significant factor in someone deciding to do business with you.

These assumptions are rarely true. So next time you’re developing a direct campaign try using a soft offer. You’ll receive a much higher response rate because people are more likely to respond regardless of where they are in the sales cycle even if they don’t have an immediate need and you (or your sales team) can then enter a dialog with these prospects.

A battle was never won according to plan… and a battle was never won without a plan - Napoleon

Small Business Marketing Lessons By Harvey Cramb (Aged 3 ½)

The Scene: Harvey has recently been learning that people from other countries look and dress differently from us. As we were watching the news, a story showed a political leader being welcomed by a group of traditional African dancers.
Harvey: Dad, are those people from a country?
Me: Yep.
Harvey: I love country people.
Marketing Lesson: Who do you love? The answer is a great indicator to who your target market should be.

You must be in love! Not with yourself or your business or your staff but in love with your clients. If you genuinely want the very best for your clients it will show through in the way you run and market your business. An essential step towards loving your clients is to accept that you cannot love everybody.

There will naturally be certain types or groups of people that you prefer to work with. There’s not really any right or wrong answers here. Who are you in love with? For example, let’s say that you own a recruitment agency, rather than saying that you can recruit for any business, you can decide that working with professional service providers such as accountants, law firms etc is your thing, or you may feel more at home working with manufacturers.

Remember, the people you feel most comfortable dealing with are probably the people who feel most comfortable working with you.