Grow Your Business With Low Cost “Rifle” Vehicles (Part two of a two-part series.)
By: T.J. Tedesco
For: The Binding Edge
Published: Fall, 1998

In the last issue of The Binding Edge, we explored low cost “shotgun” vehicles that increase market awareness.  Now, we’ll concentrate on highly effective, yet still low cost, “rifle” vehicles that guide prospects through the interest, and decision stages of the buying cycle.

Although shotgun vehicles reach many people, in our highly service oriented graphic arts industry, rarely do they go beyond creating market awareness.  However, properly crafted rifle vehicles hone in on the needs of specific key business influencers at targeted companies.  The delivered message is personal, informational and speaks to the needs of each recipient.

The AIDAR Curve

The buying cycle progresses through five distinct stages of the AIDAR curve: Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action and Reorder.  Well-established binding and finishing companies that don’t win their fair share of business should focus on elevating key business influencers to the interest, decision and action stages.  How do they do this?  In a word: customization.  Companies will be handsomely rewarded if they target their marketing communications to specific business sectors and employee job functions.

People in different jobs have different informational needs.  For example, owners usually are moved by appeals to the bottom line.  Salespeople want help with their top line.  Harried customer service representatives production people respond to messages showing how business life can be made easier.  Estimators want fast estimates. 

Select a mix of rifle marketing vehicles that communicate the right message to the right people.  In our intensely relationship-oriented business, people respond to a combination of useful information and genuine appreciation.  As simple as it sounds, acknowledgement, genuine care and understanding make people feel appreciated.  Properly designed rifle-marketing vehicles are personal and appeal directly to a key business influencer’s individual needs.  Here are descriptions of some low cost rifle vehicles that work effectively in the graphic arts industry:

     Customer Nurture Program.  Customer nurture programs are marketing systems in which key business influencers at carefully targeted companies receive personalized communication at predetermined intervals.  Nurturing can be simple.  Sending customized letters to a handful of key business influencers – and keeping track of them on 3x5 cards – is nurturing.  Nurturing can be more involved.  Segmenting key business influencers into groups and developing appropriate computerized communication streams for each is also nurturing – only more effective.  For maximum consistency and impact, plan your informational content for the next three months.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Minimal.  Stamps, letterhead, and photocopies.

     Book of Standard Business Letters.  We all know we should write letters in response to common business events, but time is short and we don’t.  Give your employees with regular customer contact a stockpile of at least 25 standard letters appropriate for your company’s common business situations.  Each letter should be easily customizable.  Consider designating one employee to output all letters.  Provide letter templates, a current database and a user-friendly software contact manager like Act, Goldmine or Maximizer for easy letter output.  Then, as you learn of jobs from dormant customers, people’s promotions, referrals, etc., you’ll have a stockpile of personal sounding letters ready to go.  Today, the rarity of simple recognition and courtesy goes a long way toward winning business.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Stamps and letterhead.

     Capabilities Piece.  A capabilities piece is different than an equipment list.  Equipment lists imply maximums, minimums and other equipment specifications that don’t win business for you.  Rather, they often eliminate your company from consideration because of trivial machinery differences.  Don’t include references to specific equipment – unless yours is indisputably the best for all markets – because you may screen yourself out of opportunities.  Put a current date on your capabilities pieces and laser print the text on an as needed basis for maximum flexibility.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Letterhead.

     Job Evaluation Survey Cards.  Some clients won’t pick up the phone and complain, even when they should.  Learn about problems before they fester.  Survey cards makes it easy for customers to communicate without having to pick up the phone.  As unpleasant as it is to get negative feedback, still your customers are doing you a favor when they tell you, “I didn’t like something about my experience with you.”  Ask no more than five non-leading questions with the last one being, “Were you delighted by your experience with us?”  Track your responses in a computer and look for trends.  Respond immediately to any negative or exceptionally positive responses.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $500 for 1,000 jobs.

     Customer Surveys.  Once a year, survey 30 customers.  Ask no more than ten questions and search for trends.  Comments like, “you’ve never given us reason to leave” indicate that your relationship isn’t deep and your competitors have an opportunity.  Responses like, “you’re the best supplier we have,” or “you keep bailing us out of jams,” are the words of loyal customers.  In-person is better than telephone, telephone is better than mail and mail is better than nothing.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

     Customer Advisory Board.  Select six to ten non-competing customers that use a wide range of your services.  Invite them to join your customer advisory board.  Then, invite the top key business influencer from each company to dinner every three to six months.  Ask how your services can be improved and discover what your customers really need.  OUT OF POCKET COST: A few nice evenings out.

     On Site University.  Twice a year, offer a half-day printing seminar to selected customers and prospects.  Some print buyers know surprisingly little about printing and appreciate learning or refresher opportunities.  These inexpensive, but not free, seminar opportunities develop goodwill and create a hidden sales force that says, “at XYZ Bindery, they do it this way.”  Refrain from turning the seminar into a blatant sales pitch, but have plenty of technical handouts and other materials on hand, all with your company’s logo prominently displayed.  Annual cost: $0  (Priced to breakeven.)

     Monthly Lead Generation Lunches.  Even if you are the most informed bindery owner or sales manager in town, you can learn about new relationship opportunities from your people.  Once a month select a team of four or five coworkers from different functions within your company and invite them to a working lunch at a nice restaurant.  Then, brainstorm and come up with the names of at least a dozen new prospects.  Annual cost: One lunch a month.

     Increase Plant Tours.  Take a lesson from a different industry.  In real estate, anytime a prospect says, “the sofa would go here and the bedroom furniture would look great there,” the selling agent knows that a relationship with the house has begun.  The prospect is mentally moving in and the ball is in the agent’s court.  The same is true in our industry.  If a prospect can visualize how jobs will run in your plant, than your first opportunity is nearby.  Videos and interactive CD-ROMs aren’t adequate substitutes for getting prospects on site.  The more key business influencers you can get in your plant, the more business you will write.  Annual cost: $0.

     Increase Association Activity.  Join the associations that your customers belong to.  Then participate!  At a minimum, help the membership committee, but don’t immediately pass out business cards – that will come later.  If you put the organization’s needs first, your industry “stock” will rise.  You will become known as a “doer” and earn valuable respect.  Annual cost: Annual dues and minimal expenses.

     Holiday Gift Program.  Plan your holiday gift program early.  Some companies have rules about acceptable gift parameters.  Giving items that can be shared will benefit you the most.  Avoid alcohol.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Minimal.

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The Final Word ... These low cost rifle vehicles will increase your postpress business.  You can implement them all for less than the cost of an ad campaign or top-notch professionally designed brochure.  And your market impact will be far greater.

T.J. Tedesco is a “hands-on” marketing, sales, coaching and training consultant to the post press industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, and Win Top-of-Mind Positioning, both published by GATFPress and available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com.