Texting For Dollars

Truth is, there are more text transmissions sent daily than there are people on the planet. While this continues to add billions of dollars to the profits of telephone companies, what can it do for a local business wanting to tap into the flow. As in every case when it comes to marketing, it is always about balancing the effectiveness of the message with the efficiency of delivery. So, can text advertising, for all of its efficiency, be effective in motivating people to buy?

The strongest argument to be made is based upon the idea that the population of consumers likes the less-intrusive and less time-consuming aspects of text. On some imaginary scale showing the "degree of engagement", text messaging might be on one end of that scale while a lunch meeting would be on the other. In between these two would be, email, e-letters , written letters, and phone conversations.

A text message that can get the point across without requiring more of the recipient than a glance at their cell phone might be ideal if the content of the message is instrumental in nature. For example, one of our clients uses our TextMarket service to regularly send texts to his restaurant customers informing them of daily specials. "99 cent tacos, 4p to 11p dine-in only" might be the entire message. He has declared repeatedly how effective this strategy has been for his sales. "We get 30 per cent response rates, when our old printed coupons might bring 1 or 2 per cent for the same offer." And why does this work so well?

Think about the fact that this simple text message is being sent to an individual who has chosen to opt in to this special group of customers. They are a fan and this message reinforces that fact while rewarding them for their loyalty. And more so, it is immediate, simple, (and perhaps this is the most significant point) it fits into the time-flow of a person's daily activity without requiring unwanted engagement. No web site to visit, no print out required, no coupon to clip, and no response required other than showing up at the right time and showing the text message to the server. Pretty simple. Very effective. Brilliantly efficient.   

Over the next hill

All of us are faced with a down market and an up supply no matter what we're selling. The last two decades of expansion, mobilization, radical technologies, the personalization of merchandising and a more sophisticated buying culture have brought us to an unprecedented level of product and service provision.
We offer one another more choices, faster delivery, more flexible terms and a depth of options unparalleled in our history. Look within your own industry. From law to consumer goods, have you ever witnessed the proliferation of specialization and innovation?
With our shelves, and warehouses full of consumer choices, consumers find themselves unable to buy. Restricted credit, limited cash, diminished equities, and the agony of a terribly uncertain future add up to consumer frustration. Just as the abundance of innovation has arrived, we are kept from acquiring it.
Sales professionals are trained to help buyers get pasted their objections by directing them to the ultimate core benefit of the product or service they are offering. But how do we satisfy an objection that is the size and nature of the culture within which we all live. The answer is, we have to redefine the problem.
We must see that our problem is not our problem. Our problem is that we think our problem is our problem and we must change that thought. We must focus on what is ahead; where our buyers will be within the next three to five years. Like being at the bottom of a big hill we are about to climb, we must focus on what we imagine is waiting for us just beyond.
As an example, our company now offers SMS text messaging to our clients who want to create a special relationship channel with their customers. One of these clients is a realtor who looks at those people now between twenty-five and thirty years old and knows that they are the next first-time home buyers. He also knows that they rely on text messaging, Facebook and web sites to stay connected and make buying decisions. He is looking beyond the current down market. We are helping capture these new buyers and prepare for what lies ahead.
Yes, we have a mountain of opportunity in front of us. As you adjust costs and inventories to maintain balance in the current culture, select marketing tools like these that will position you to make that climb

The Sales Profession: a few points for sellers and buyers

“Everyone lives by selling something.”
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1895 Essayist, Poet, Novelist


When I was seven years old, I made my first sales call. My mother had sent me to the neighbor’s house two doors down to sell radishes she had grown. She grew a lot of things in that backyard garden; radishes, strawberries, pumpkins, peas, beans. Whenever she had more than we needed, she would sell the surplus around the neighborhood to help pay for gardening supplies. For me, it was a lesson in capitalism at its finest.

It was a quieter, safer time. Like all the kids in the neighborhood, I knew I would be alright walking to a neighbor’s house by myself. Honestly, my biggest fear was that I might drop this huge basket of radishes along the way. I kept a steady grip and made my way to their front door. This was it. I was ready to make my pitch. I pushed the doorbell and waited.

Mrs. Hill was a soft-spoken woman, rather plain, yet pretty. She looked at me with a bit of surprise, but after a moment she seemed to understand my mission and greeted me in her usual warm manner. “What do you have here?” she chimed. I looked at the many bunches of radishes in my basket, each neatly tied with white cotton string and laid bulb-side-up so that they showed off their bright-red freshness. (My mother was a savvy marketer). “Radishes”, I said with excitement. “Yes, and are you selling these radishes?” “Yes”, I squeaked. “Uh-huh, and how much are your radishes?” Like most buyers, Mrs. Hill liked to know the price before I had a chance to sell her the benefits.

Selling is a profession, no less than law, engineering, or medicine. Like every profession, it is governed by a set of applied practices, rules, technical procedures, and in general a methodology that is carefully maintained and passed on by those within the field. Unfortunately, most sales people are never given that sort of training. Most often, they are given a list of prospects, loaded up with sales material and sent out. Such was my situation at seven.

I could feel my hands trembling and my lip quivering as I struggled to give an answer to Mrs. Hill’s simple question: “How much are your radishes?” Unfortunately, I could not remember the price. It had a five in it. Was that five dollars, five cents, or maybe fifty cents. Red-faced and fumbling, I stammered a bit. Mrs. Hill was kind enough not to drag me through any further embarrassment and offered to call my mother.

Turned out, the radishes were five cents a bunch, not five dollars. Mrs. Hill bought two and I put the dime in my pocket. And while the lessons to be learned from such an early introduction are abundant, let me point to a couple of things that I want to emphasize:
$ Being fully prepared with the facts; knowing one’s product inside and out; paying attention to all of the details involved with the use, the consumption, the application of one’s product or service: these are fundamental. But, even more so, knowing what to do when the unexpected happens. This is professional.
$ Be prepared. Study your profession, not just your product or service. If management is not doing this for you, do it for yourself. Libraries and bookstores are good for this.
$ Know the answers. At least have the basic information in your head so that you can respond with more than a glazed stare. At seven this is understandable. As a professional it’s unforgivable.
$ Be honest. If you don’t know the answer to a question you have just been asked, just say: “I don’t know, but I can find out”. Can I tell you how often sales people will try to make up an answer for me in an attempt to cover their shortage of information?
$ Never follow-up a previous sales call unless you have something more to add to the dialogue, a price adjustment, additional value, a clarification of a benefit. Don’t be like the kid in the back seat droning “are we there yet.”

Now, for those who are on the buying side: remember Mrs. Hill. Be gracious enough to assume that the sales professional you are dealing with has something worthwhile to tell you. Here are few other ideas:
$ Treat the sales professional like a professional not your antagonist. Expect that she or he is well-prepared to answer all of your questions and willing to respond to your requests.
$ Return calls, even if this is delegated. Not to do so betrays your professionalism.
$ If you are not “sold” on the purchase being proposed, don’t say “I’m not interested”. Of course you’re not. That’s why the sales rep called you. Rather, ask a question or two, like: “What benefit will this bring my business?” Why should I buy it from you, and not your competitor?”






Brien R. Sörne
brien@alcommarketing.com
850.385.7762
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