Can you answer this question? Your customers can.

At a casual business gathering this week, I overheard the CEO of a Fortune 1000 company being asked what his company did. He appeared to intentionally bite a cracker just at that moment, to buy time and think about his response. “Well, it’s complicated,” he finally replied.

This smart, educated Chief Executive Officer was elbow deep in company operations yet hadn’t an (uncomplicated) response to that 'simple' question - not because he was oblivious, of course, but because he had spent the last several years buried in finance, production runs, board meetings and other demands. Demands that took him farther and farther away from his customer, farther and farther from a good response. So when he was asked “What does your company do?”, he could only respond to the question by explaining details about the company’s software.

The ability to describe your product is a start, but it’s an answer to an altogether different question, that is, “How do you do it?”.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, the question “What do you do?”, whether asked about you or your company, isn’t actually about what you do, it’s about the value you offer. “What does your company do?” is a question that summarizes several others, such as, “Who do you sell to?” “Why do customers buy from you?” and “What’s next?"

“What do you do? …to provide value to your customers?” It's not a question that only the CEO needs to know. Everyone in the company from the receptionist to the CEO should be able to articulate the company's value, because it should be the motivating factor for going to work every day. If you’ve spent the last several years being pulled farther and farther away from your customers, it is possible that you yourself may find this question harder and harder to answer.

But your customers know. It might be time to ask them.

Build a marketing plan using old school journalistic style

There are as many ways to write a marketing plan as there are marketers in the business. Ultimately, each has to answer six fundamental journalistic questions, that is, akin to the 5 Ws (and one H) taught in any undergrad journalism school:  WHO am I selling to? WHAT am I selling? WHERE will I sell it? WHEN will I sell it? WHY will they buy it? HOW will I reach my customer?

WHO you are selling to is your demographic and psychographic, who they are and what makes them tick. “Everyone” isn’t helpful. Even products that have nearly 100% saturation identify their customers and those customers’ unique reasons for buying.

WHAT you are selling is less obvious than simply naming the product. It encompasses the reason the product was created, the problem it was meant to solve.

WHERE you sell it is key to reaching the correct demographic, above. You can’t reach the middle class at Tiffany’s, you can’t reach the super-rich at Target. And you can’t reach anyone if the display and packaging fails to engage the shopper.

WHEN you sell a product is more than seasonality, it can also, and more often does, involve identifying the ‘compelling event’ that triggers a desire for the product. Experience, such as a burglary that precipitates a security system sale; information,  such as a health alert on the news the encourages a purchase of a supplement are important to understand.

WHY will customers buy it? What alternative do they have? What are the competitive, ‘substitution’ products? What do people do without your product? What benefit does only your product offer? This is oversimplifying a critical part of the plan, so take some time to really study current and desired consumer behavior.

HOW will you reach them? This is the last part of the puzzle – the tactics. The ads, the media, social outlets, PR, events. The marketing mix that makes customers aware of and interested in your product or service.

The format and style of the marketing plan is not important. As long as it addresses and honestly answers these critical questions, it will improve your chances for success exponentially. 

Avoiding a 'Nightmare': Small business lessons from Gordon Ramsey

I’ve noticed, from watching too many episodes of Kitchen Nightmares (a DVR is a curse), that all small business can learn something from Gordon Ramsey's formulaic approach to restaurant turnarounds.  The show is eminently predictable  but entertaining nonetheless. It's formula, and it's lessons, are applicable to many small businesses. First, the typical revelations for featured restaurateurs on Kitchen Nightmares, followed by the truism for all small businesses:

·         KN: Your issues are grounded in the fact that you have no prior restaurant experience.

o   A track record and case studies are important tools in selling. Know what it is you are offering your customers

·         KN: You think Gordon will love your food and you just don’t know why business is poor.

o   You can’t be so close to your business you miss the bigger picture.

·         KN:  You will be surprised and angry when Gordon doesn’t like your food.

o   Your business is your baby, but you have to be realistic about how good and how unique what you are providing actually is and be prepared to change. A lack of complaints is not a series of endorsements. Regularly poll customers to identify areas of improvement.

·          KN:  Gordon will not like that you use a microwave and use canned and frozen ingredients.

o   Your offering must be unique to you. What is your vision, mission, your unique value proposition? You cannot simply do the same thing faster or cheaper

·          KN:  You will yell at Gordon and ask him who he thinks he is.

o   Invite criticism. Criticism and failure are difficult but necessary to success. Do not create an atmosphere where employees fear complaining or offering suggestions.

·          KN:      Gordon will find icky things in your kitchen.

o   Stay organized and responsive to your customers.

·          KN:     Gordon may close your restaurant for a good scrubbing if it is extra icky.

o   Remain ethical and fair in all your business dealings.

·         KN; Gordon finally makes you realize some things about yourself.

o   Take time to think, strategize, and redirect.

·         KN: You will agree to start acting an owner.

o   Know your goals, your priorities, and create plan to move forward.

·         KN: Gordon will simplify your menu and feature fresh, simple ingredients from local merchants.

o   Keep it simple, stupid. Always worked, always will.

·         KN: Gordon will update your drab, 80s décor.

o   Thought leadership is critical to your brand. Stay on top of changes in your industry. Better yet, create them.

·         KN: Your service will initially be poor on re-launch night.

o   Change is painful. Change takes time.

·         KN: Suddenly your staff will get it together.

o   Hire good people and trust them to get the job done.

·         KN: Gordon will meet with you and your staff afterward and tell you how far you’ve come.

o   Reward and recognize small wins along the way.

·         KN:  You will hug Gordon.

o   Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

...and there will be cursing. Lots and lots of cursing.

I Will Not Be Ignored!

I'm your customer. But I’m a person first. And...

I feel ignored when you tell me that my call is important to you as I wait for you to answer my call.

I feel ignored when you tell me how friendly you are but no one greets me when I enter your store.

I feel ignored when you call me by my first name the first time we speak.

I feel ignored when you interrupt me at home and mispronounce my name.

I feel ignored when you ask me how I am and launch into the script before I've answered.

I feel ignored when I give you identifying information more than once in the same call.

I feel taken for granted if you say your name is 'Pat' but you sound more like a 'Vishalakshi'. Don't make your first statement to me a lie.

I feel ignored when you say you value me as a customer but you give the free offer to 'new customers only'.

I feel ignored if your 'convenient hours' don't include the one time I need you.

So now I’m right here, in front of you, in person, on the phone, in a chat queue.

I can’t be a more cooperative prospective customer. There is no bigger buying signal. You attracted me with your great strategy, compelling ads, responsive community, and attentive automated lead nurturing.

And so here I am! I did what you wanted.

Why are you ignoring me?

Product placement as a White Collar crime

I am a proponent of product placement - the 'placement' of 'product' into popular entertainment - movies and television shows mostly. To have characters use real products in the programs can make it more realistic (no one drinks a 'cola' beverage) is less disruptive to the viewer, and is arguably an effective marketing tool.

However, not since the 1950s, when soap operas had housewives offering one another a cup of Folgers, instead of coffee, has product placement been so irritatingly obvious and disruptive. Recently I had to ask myself if Ford so desperate - and show producers so greedy - as to kill the golden goose with far less than subtle product references?

The USA Network basic cable buddy cop show White Collar aired an episode this week that was so overtly pandering as to nearly change my attitude on product placement. It used to be that cop shows would accept a fleet of Fords to chase bad guys. A billboard at the end of the program and a passing glimpse of a logo during a chase scene was all that was required. However, imagine the suspension of belief required to accept this exchange, during a climactic chase scene when a kidnapped FBI agent's life is in danger and a murderer is about to escape:

Good Guy 1, glancing at dashboard as driver (GG2) weaves in and out of midtown traffic: "You have a tree on your dashboard."
Good Guy (Girl) 2: "Yeah, its a hybrid. (ed. note: Really, the FBI in hybrids?) Those leaves tell me how economically I'm driving."
GG1: "Yeah, well, you're dropping a lot of leaves. You sure aren't driving very economically."

Seriously, Jeff Eastin? Racing through traffic after kidnapped FBI agents and a murderer and this is the banal script Ford forces on you? That kind of writing and overt product placement should be a crime. A White Collar crime.

Related articles

• Apple reigns supreme in product placement (news.cnet.com)