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Surefire Way To Never Have To Compete On Price Again!

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Dean Mercado in Marketing Strategy 2 Comments

“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” – Roger Staubach

With an 18 month old daughter… who is now very mobile… and a second child on the way, my wife and I decided it was time to fence in our yard for both their safety and our sanity. So we started to solicit estimates from a few vendors. Much to our dismay the prices for what appeared to be comparable fences varied by over $2000. Unfortunately for the vendors, there was little if any differentiation between them. They asked too few questions and made too few recommendations. They essentially positioned themselves to compete on price… in my opinion, the worst positioning a small business can take!

So as responsible and mindful consumers what did we do? While we didn’t hire the lowest price vendor, we did however ask the one that gave us the best warm and fuzzy feeling to at least come close to the lowest price. We don’t mind paying a few extra dollars for that warm and fuzzy feeling, even amongst the current state of the economy. And my guess is that many other consumers feel the same.

My suggestion… avoid this scenario for your business at all costs! Don’t position yourself for a price war. Stand out!

How? It’s simple… Be willing to do the little things that your competition is either unwilling or too lazy to do.

Why? Because it’s the little things that make all the difference! It’s the little things that show you actually care! It’s the little things that justify your existence and your fees! It’s the little things that get you hired!

We’re not talking about breaking the bank here. If you put just a little creative thought into this, there are literally dozens of little things you could do to out-class the competition. For example:

  • Provide your prospect with a tips sheet on selecting the best vendor and/or solution.
  • Educate your prospect on any unforeseeable hiccups they may experience in the buying process (e.g. special permits and variances they may need to move forward, other expenses, etc.).
  • Provide price quotes from and/or public information about a few of your competitors to show how you clearly are the best choice. I don’t mean bad mouth your competition. Just stick to the facts and point out the differences between the companies that seem to matter to your target market most.

And to keep your existing clients happily paying your fees, you can model…

  • The chiropractor who buys balloons and sings Happy Birthday to his patients.
  • The cleaning company who leaves mints on your pillows and fun animal shapes out of a towel at the foot of your bed when their done cleaning your home.
  • The landscaper that provides you with great time-saving and beautification tips for your yard.

Sounds so simple right? Yet so few small businesses do these little over and above gestures. These little gems are examples of great marketing!

I’d be willing to bet that most customers of these vendors won’t be so concerned if their prices were a few dollars more.

The bottom line… Be remarkable amongst an unremarkable world! Do that and you most certainly won’t be competing on price any longer.

Copyright 2009 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.



Marketing Expert Series: 3 Killer Tips to Trade Show Success

Posted on November 11, 2008 by Dean Mercado in Marketing Strategy Leave a comment

Recently I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with trade show expert and author John A. Hill, Founder and CEO of John A. Hill & Associates, Inc. I have to say John is simply a fountain of incredible information regarding trade shows. This presented a challenge for me as I simply could have spoken to him for hours and hours on the subject however I was able to pull from my conversation with him 3 simple yet incredible tips that in and of themselves could explode your trade show success. So without further adieu, here you go:

Dean: John, in your book “Tips and Tales from the Booth” you break down trade shows into three distinct parts:

  1. the pre-show effort,
  2. the show effort itself, and
  3. the post-show effort.

If you could give only one tip for each one of those, what would they be?

John: Well, as far as the pre-show effort is concerned, I would say, know the show that you are going to. So many people go to a show and they don’t know their audience, they don’t know the profile of the attendees. Therefore, if you’re selling toys, and you go to a show that has people 60 years old and above, I don’t think it’s a good show for you.

In the same way, I think that it’s important that you know the show you are going to. In fact, I recommend to all my clients that they go to the show first before they actually exhibit so that they can see what they are getting into.

Dean: And I agree with that. I see that often myself where, number one, a lot of people don’t even know who their target market really is, let alone match it to a specific show that caters to that target market. Does that seem to be the case?

John: Absolutely, they don’t do enough investigation regarding the trade show to know exactly who is going to be there and the type of clients, the type of attendees that are going to be at the show, and would it be a show that they would invite their clients to.

Dean: Fantastic, that’s a great tip. Now how about the show itself? What would be the one tip there?

John: As far as the show itself, everybody in the booth should tell the same story. So I recommend that they have a script. There’s only so many questions that you are going to be asked at a trade show and if you have a script everybody should be able to say the same thing. And with the script you should have a good qualification form. Those two things go hand in hand. Not just one that will give you your name, your address and your telephone number, but to really qualify you because if you’re at that booth, you’re there for a reason. If an attendee comes to your booth, he or she is there for a reason. They want to do business; they want to find out about your product. So if you have a good qualification form and you answer the right questions from your script and so forth, there’s no reason why they won’t stay with you and want to give you as much information as possible.

Dean: Now that’s fantastic. Whether it’s the marketing process, the sales process we see it all the time. A lot of times we get the same exact questions over and over again. So what you’re suggesting is basically have answers to those, is that correct?

John: Absolutely.

Dean: That’s a huge tip. Now the third element that I wanted to ask was the post-show effort. What would be the one tip there?

John: Follow up; follow up; follow up. You have to continue to follow up because those are qualified leads and if you’re not taking advantage of them and so forth, I think you’re missing out on a major opportunity to close good business for your company.

Dean: Fantastic, fantastic. So in closing, I just want to add onto this, first thank you John for these tips, they were fantastic. And if anyone listening to this or reading this would like to get more information or more tips such as these, John has recently released a fantastic book, a very comprehensive book, but an easy read and a fun read called, “Tips and Tales from the Booth, Avoiding Trade Show Mistakes.” My guest again today was John A. Hill from John A. Hill and Associates and thank you very much.

John: It was a pleasure to be here, thank you.

Copyright 2008 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.

Trade Show


Networking 101: 11 Tips to 1-on-1 Meeting Success (Part II: The Final Six)

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Dean Mercado in Networking 1 Comment

Well I certainly hope you enjoyed part I of this article where I shared with you the first five tips of my “11 Tips to 1?on?1 Meeting Success”. To quickly summarize, they were:

1. Come Prepared To Play

2. Confirm the Appointment at least 24 hours in Advance

3. Dress for Success

4. Make It Easy For Them to Find You

5. Be Respectful of Their Time

If you’d like to review them in detail, you’ll find part I of this conversation on my blog the Motivational Marketer’s Journal at www.MotivationalMarketer.com.

In the meantime, as promised, here are the remainder:

6. Shut-off Your Cell Phone
Unless in dire emergency, nothing screams disrespect more than your cell phone ringing in the middle of a conversation… and you answer it. You say to the person you’re meeting with: “Hold that thought for a second, I’ve got to get this.” Translation to the person you’re meeting with… you’re not important, this call is.

7. Be Clear About Your Intentions
Why do you want to meet with them? Don’t mislead them with false intentions. Is this just a meeting to get to know one another better? Or is this a sales meeting where you’ll be introducing your products and services? They’re likely to be upset if they’re expecting good conversation and it ends up being one long sales pitch.

8. Maintain Proper Eye Contact
Don’t look over their shoulder as if you’re waiting for someone better to enter the room. Don’t check them out as if you were looking for a cheap thrill. This is business networking. You’re not hanging out at some singles club. Give them the respect they deserve.

9. Listen Twice, Speak Once
Translation… let them do most of the talking and really tune in to what they are saying. Lending a true ear is one of the biggest signs of respect.

10. Take Notes
Before proceeding with this one, be sure to ask for permission. For example you might say: “You’re sharing some very important stuff here. Would you mind if I took a few notes to make sure I don’t forget any of it?” This just oozes respect as well as lets the other person know that you believe what they’re saying is important… a major compliment.

11. Identify Next Steps
The meeting’s just about over. What now? Where do you go from here? Does it make sense to take this relationship to the next level? How so? Whatever the outcome of the meeting, communicate whatever next steps you feel makes sense… even if it’s nothing.

So in closing, remember it’s all about respect… it’s all about courtesy… it’s all about making them feel important… it’s all about going deep enough to develop a strong rapport. Why? Because people do business with people they know, like, and trust. And in order to create that possibility, you’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to earn it.

Copyright 2008 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.

Networking Expert, Dean Mercado



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