Everything everywhere is FREE! Is this just a marketing gimmick?
As my father would say: “Free but who pays?”In the old world of physical product, if something is free then someone will pay in the end. Most FREE offers are actually the old ‘bait and switch’ strategy.
One way or another it is you that will pay for the free product.
In the new world there is a real free – the marginal cost of storing and distributing digital 'product' is negligible so it can be given away for free with no-one paying for it.
My kids can use computers given to them with a phone contract… they use free mobiles (so the operator makes money on minutes sold) and use Google (free) and Skype (free), Wikipedia (free), Flicker (free) and FaceBook (free) to find out about everything they need.
There is an unwritten assumption that you should give things away for free ("because the competition do..."). Is that right for you? A free healthcheck... a free test drive... a free audit...
For some businesses the "giving it away for free" approach may send out the wrong message.
On the other hand the consumer loves the TBYB (Try Before You Buy) philosophy. Some consumers will feel more likely to buy because of the moral contract created. Some will be free-loaders. It all depends on what you think is the best way to capture the best clients for your business.
Should you be giving anything away at all?
Or should you be giving more away than you are doing at the moment?
Are you clear about what you should be giving away and why?
A brief story.Two delegates approach the presenter and say:"We've now seen you four times over the past year or so. Each time you've done a different topic (More Profit, Bright Marketing, Credit Crunch, a keynote) but really you keep covering the same kind of topics. And you always end up saying 'take action'.
We hear what you are saying and its all good stuff.
When we're ready we'll start to apply it all but meanwhile we're still looking for something new and different instead of listening to you banging on about the same old stuff... taking action, asking for the business, being able to demonstrate how and why you are different, getting closer to the customer blah, blah. And all the books and magazines are no better.
It is time you came up with something new or else we will stop coming to these workshops."I think they missed the point.
Or rather they forgot where the exit was; you don't have to stay to the end.1) My 'job' is not to be a presenter/entertainer. (I use whatever methods necessary to get my message across - one method is that I present so that others can listen and take action. Other methods include writing articles/books/blogs, recording webinars/interviews, working one-to-one, doing masterclasses/workshops - any method that seems appropriate to help people to run better businesses.)
2) It was time for them to actually listen to the message and get on and do it. Instead of attending another course they should apply what they have learnt. They just don't need to attend another workshop.'Training junkies'!!!It reminds of the Woody Allen story from the Annie Hall movie:Patient's Brother: "Doctor, Doctor, my brother thinks he is a chicken."Doctor: "Well, let's get him to a psychiatrist."Patient's Brother: "No, we can't do that!"Doctor: "Why not?"Patient's Brother: "Because we need the eggs!"
Thought Bubble
Are you avoiding taking action over something because you are too committed to maintaining the status quo and are frightened of what the new world might look like?
At a recent presentation I was asked, "Have you got it in for the Business Link?". Actually the answer is "No I have not got it in for the BLs - I want them to do really well, to blow people away with legendary value-adding service". In principle I think that anything that helps people run better businesses is a good thing. My concern is that1) no-one seems to care and2) there are numerous examples of BL under-delivering in the customer's eyes (and if you even have to think about who the customer is then 'I rest my case'!)So a quick visit on my recent postings on the subject: ONE-MIN VIDEO: My Solution for Business Support BLOG POSTs: Business Support - The BS/BIS Industry Simplifying Business Support - a humbug/cynic's view Doug Richards Rips into Business Link The Truth Is... No-One Seems To Care About Business LinkI admit to playing Devil's Advocate and no, this is not BL-bashing, but actually quite the reverse. I have recently been involved in some really first-class and excellent BL projects so I know that BLs can deliver in every sense of the word. Our businesses deserve the best, most appropriate, most relevant business support that is available ('free' or 'subsidised' or' paid for' is not the point).Tax payers' money is used to deliver a service that should be blisteringly powerful for individual businesses and the business community. It is a great challenge.
There is no difficulty pointing out who is lousy at marketing to small, growing businesses but who is really good at it? Which corporates understand how to talk to people who run their own businesses?
I'd love to know who you think is great at talking our language.
I have been reflecting on some recent clients we've been working with and some basic themes keep recurring: - What is your 'Vision' for the business? - Where the heck are we going? What will success look like?
- Make the Tough Decisions - What are we going to decide to do (and when)? What are the quick wins? What are the slow burns?
- Take Massive Action - Who is going to do what (and when)? Just do it!
- Monitor/Evaluate the Results - What will we achieve? How will we know we have got there?
That's it. All else is commentary.
Here’s my list of thought bubbles I would like to send to the big corporate who claims to have had a Damascus moment and now wants to work with the small business community:-- I am not an “SME”. I am a small, or owner-managed, or independent, or growing, or self-employed, or new, or young, or boutique business. But I am not an SME (pronounced S.M.E.)
Only corporate people have the smug arrogance and ignorance to use such a phrase. When I go to a party I do not say "Hi, I am an S.M.E.” And as for the “Smeeee” word – what is that all about? I never ever call myself a “smeeee”. Excuse me!!
- I am not part of a homogenous mass of some four million similar sales prospects.
- I am not an immature/undeveloped/under-developed big business.
- I am not a second-class citizen who you see as a market opportunity only after you have exhausted the blue chip big ticket spenders, to maximise your investment.
- I want you to sell to me with an entirely fresh approach, not merely a scaled-down version of the methods used with big corporates.
- I do not want to be patronised.
- All marketers are liars; salesmen are worse. Your research is meaningless sophistry. You don’t need focus groups if you are close to your customer. Think about it!
- I know you don’t really care (in words or in actions). If people talked to you the way that corporates spoke to small business people you would punch them on the nose.
- I am not another target towards your year-end sales goals.
- I have a less formal, faster buying cycle than a corporate so create faster systems to match how I buy and not the other way around. I am not interested in your processes; they are for your benefit only.
- I want my supplier to understand me.
- I want my supplier to understand business.
- I want my supplier to understand my business.
- I want my supplier to understand me. (Yes, I have repeated myself)
- I want swift action.
- I want to know what I am paying for and how and when I am paying.
- I do not want to be bamboozled with science: keep it simple stupid.
- I am the customer; remember who I am… I am the customer.
- I don’t want my time wasted; be short and sweet.
- I want you to make it easy for me to order and to buy from you; win my trust ‘cos I don’t have to buy from you today or ever.
- I beg you to make sure your service delights me; show me how you can help, show me the benefits.
- I ask that you customise your products and service for me.
- I would be happiest if you could be more of a trusted adviser and not a numbers jockey.
- I am not a number.
The days of Interruption Marketing are over. You just don’t get it.
You corporates can’t talk my language.A quick summary:- Small businesses are a real business opportunity. They buy lotsa stuff
- Small and big businesses are very different
- Big businesses are (still?) in control so they think, and are totally, hopelessly, clueless about small businesses
- Not enough ’stuff’ is designed for small businesses or communicated in a way that appeals to them
- Most marketing to small businesses is, to be frank, pretty patronising.
This is not a small business/big business thing but a straight-down-the-line business/commercial argument. The small business market is not a niche, a speciality group or a minority – they have wallets, and for many corporates, small businesses with their specific needs hold the key to future success.The field is wide open.
Big blue chip corporates think they're marketing to the small or owner-managed businesses but they're not. They're not talking to these business people.
Corporates don't know how to talk to small businesses... They don't even realise that small businesses have a separate language and a separate way of being from the world that the corporates live in.
It would be a mistake to smugly picture all those small businesses as proverbial low-hanging fruit, ripe for the plucking by even the laziest corporate sales team (after they've exhausted making the big sales to the big blue chips).
All my qualitative research shows that owners of small and medium-sized businesses feel ignored and sold to in an insulting manner.
Small businesses are not the same as big businesses and they do not make purchasing decisions in the same way (frogs are not the same as small crocodiles). Yet most corporates assume that a small business is just a little, big business. Wrong.
They do not have the same mindset. Small businesses are small by choice because they hate everything that goes with the big business (energy-sapping politics, systems, processes, controls, hypocrisy, shallowness...).
Most advertisements focusing on the small business market (banks, IT, software, HR services) are not really trying to communicate with small businesses – they are not creating (or even attempting to create) a relationship, or demonstrating values important to their target customers.
Most ads aimed at the small business are relatively ineffective because the ad agency fails to understand the needs and wants of their target.
Slick, glossy ads are being produced because that’s how it has always been done in the industry. And do these adverts work? I don’t think so. 76% of people think that big businesses lie in their adverts; 78% are more likely to buy on the recommendations of others; and still the corporates think that the route to market is about advertising spend.
Marketers who want to sell to small businesses need to recognise that:- Small businesses need to be treated differently at different stages of their life cycle
- One of the best times to communicate may be in a life-stage transition (start-up, growing, consolidating, merging, selling)
- Being patronising, smug or insincere will not get you sales
- Trying to get people to aspire to unrealistic role models is futile
- Small businesses will pay more and spend more with a brand that acknowledges their lifestyle and treats them well
To be continued...
Everything everywhere is FREE! Is this just a marketing gimmick?
