Marketing Lesson #109 From The Newspaper Guy

 Over the past several weeks I have received little notes, slipped under my front door, from the newspaper delivery person, the postman, the gardener type person and a few others whose names I do not know.  No doubt, many of you have had this same experience.

All of them were happy to wish me a merry Christmas, happy holiday and happy new year and SIGN THEIR NAME to a card that encouraged me to say thank you for “their service” this holiday season.  Translation: “give me money because I serve you all year”

In this “content marketing effort”, all of these service providers delivered a non commercial message with the intention of strengthening our relationship which they hoped would lead to a value exchange (send a check for Christmas).

The problem comes down to this; these guys missed the whole relationship building process.  I mean the whole thing!! There’s no introduction, cultivation or progression of a relationship with content moving things along.  None, just “give me money.”

Maybe if these guys would have sent me some information every couple of months or sent me jokes or inspirational quotes, I would have had a feeling that they were at least TRYING to build a relationship.  Maybe if they would have done that, I would send them more than I am planning to send.

Maybe you do the same thing.  Take this holiday season for instance.  Did you start your big “ASK” in October or so – having not communicated with these corporate types since last October?  This eleventh hour effort is easy to spot.  It’s a BIG ASK out of the blue – not built upon a series of communications LEADING UP to the BIG ASK.  Maybe that's why you didn't get as many sales as you could have IF you had worked on that relationship all year.

So the next time you need a sale, think about these three elements. Heck, cut this out and put it over your desk.  

1.     Start sharing information well before you need the sale  to happen; if you need the sales in December, start talking to the prospect in May or June.

2.  Repeat your effort multiple times. 

• One Contact Does Not = One Sale. 
• One Contact Does Not Even = One Awareness!!!”

3.    Stay with the program. Never stop communicating. Never stop building and nurturing relationships.

As the Beatles used to say about relationships, “It Don’t Come Easy.”  If it did, it wouldn't be worth much and neither party would get much out of it.

Job # 1

There comes a time, at least once a day, when you have to make a decision about growing your business -yes every day you need to be thinking about growing your business –hey that’s YOUR job#1 – and when you need to, you make a decision based upon some set of logic that you have been practicing over the years.

But what I have found, in my travels, is that many people make a decision because the core premise and solution they thought of APPEALS DIRECTLY TO THEM. They can identify with it; relate to it, like it and therefore they buy into it

Makes sense, right?  NOT!!

What make sense is: “Does it resonate with the target audience you are trying to get to buy your product or to buy your product again?

The next time you need to make a big decision or even a less important decision, try this methodology; it’s called the scientific method and stated very simply it tests your hypothesis; that is the solution you think will fix your problem.

With social media, it’s easy to do that. 

You can send different offers to your target audience. For example, one part of your 18 to 34 audience could get an offer like “free pizza offer when you bring 4 people with you to cosmic bowl this Saturday night only.”  To another group of  your 18 to 34’s, they would get an offer like “bring 5 people  to Cosmic bowl and pay for four people; this Saturday night only.  

Now whichever offer brings in the most coupons; that’s the hypothesis that worked and therefore you have a valid conclusion.

Now all you have to do is think of another hypothesis to test against the one that won.

Hey, that’s your job # 1…building the business, growing the asset, making more dollars and giving something back to your community, right?

Moral of the story:  "To be the best- Always do  the test"

Internet Speak

Don't you hate it when you send someone a really long message, like maybe two paragraphs and they respond with "K?"


Aren't you sick and tired of Internet speak? When did before become "b4." I thought we speak English,  not bingo!!  And twitter is the worst offender.

Sometimes I read tweets from athletes, movie stars, and other so called famous types. Good God, where did they learn this shorthand?

When did "Imwitcha" become shorthand for "I am with you?"

Finally, why is the world so crazy that losing your phone is more traumatic than losing your virginity?  Because in today's world it is.  Last time I lost my phone I felt totally vulnerable, naked and afraid.  It was a terrible feeling.

Yes, the world has changed and so has the way we communicate.  Perhaps we have to learn a whole new Internet language, or worse learn how, to communicate like a 15 year old in order to be heard. Well if that is the case, then so be it!

Recently, a client in the southern part of the USA asked me to develop some emails for him. Writing is pretty easy for me; it's a small talent I possess and since I couldn't make it in the NBA, I thought to develop this skill, instead of my post move.

Instead of writing just a quick email blast answering what, who when and how much, I took the approach of telling stories about the holiday season, about the history of the holiday, when it started and what the symbols mean. I also threw in some funny stories as well as some dramatic stories.

The client wasn't expecting this but as he began reading them I saw that "I got him". He was REALLY interested to read it to the end and to the bowling offer.  More importantly, his wife loved them as did his staff and a few bowlers he showed them to.

Two actions resulted from this approach. 
1. More people came in with the coupon for the offer
2. He got a lot more activity to his site an d had people responding and telling stories as well

So here's my message tonight:
If you don't want people to turn off your emails or face book messages; tell a brief story that provides relevant information to emphasize your message.  Then invite comments and stories back.  You will be amazed how many people have something they want to tell the world.

And remember, you never really know how sharp your teeth are until you bite your tongue.

P.S.  I may not blog for a few days since I have a medical procedure to deal with, but hopefully will be back to it by Saturday and by then I should have lots of good stuff that my wired brain has picked up.

As we say in the new  world "CU"

Satisfying Customer 101

The Dali Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity answered:

“Man.”Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.

Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. 

And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future. 

He lives as if he is never going to die.  And then dies having never lived.”

How you deliver the bowling experience and to the extent you can make your customer more satisfied about the present and less anxious about the future will correlate with your success.

'Cause the business is not about you. 

It's always about continually satisfying customers.

88% of Web Searches Made From Mobile Phone

This article was sent to me by Greg Olson, Washington State Executive Director and I just had to share it with you

As a Washington state BOWLING CENTER owner you've probably noticed how attached your customers are to their mobile phones.

From texting at the dinner table to surfing the Internet, mobile phones are en-grained into our daily lives.

And the rise in mobile usage is projected to continue. With mobile web traffic set to increase 2600 percent in four years, BOWLING CENTER owners need to consider how a mobile world affects their business.

Consider this: 88 percent of all web searches related to entertainment and dining are made from a mobile phone. Put simply, if you’re not adjusting to a mobile world, you’re behind.

This is especially true for BOWLING CENTERS and restaurant owners, as your customers – more than any other industry – turn to their smart phones to connect with you. Customers use their mobile phones to read your offerings, find store hours and call you with a click of a button.

So, can your mobile customers view your webpage on a small screen?

Customers today expect websites to be mobile friendly and easy to navigate with their fingertips, without having to pinch and zoom. And with mobile browsing speeds getting faster, the desktop computer is no longer the access point to the Internet. Mobile websites are the new digital storefront.

When you make the move to go mobile, consider the following tips to make your site interactive for your potential customers:

• What’s going on? Pricing, lane availability and menus should be accessible on a mobile phone. It should be a web page that is easy to scroll through rather than a downloadable PDF or a menu that requires specific software to preview.

• X marks the spot. Your website should sync with mapping features such as Google Maps so that a user can find you in a search and get directions from their current location. Ninety-five percent of searches are for local businesses.

• Make a reservation. If you offer an online reservation system, make sure it’s easy to use and find on a mobile phone. Your customers will appreciate the ease and convenience of using their mobile phones to make reservations.

• Call with one click. It’s important to make it easy for mobile users to contact you. The goal is to turn a search into a reservation. And the simplest way to do this is to enable a “click to call” function on the mobile site. With just one click, patrons can call you from their mobile phones.

• The lanes are open. Make sure customers can find your hours of operation so they can plan accordingly.

Building a mobile presence will help your BOWLING CENTER get more customers into your business.

Once your mobile site is up and running, in no time, your customers will be scrolling through your menu, call with one click and reserve a lane or seat in your restaurant from the palm of their hands.

It’s a mobile world, which is an advantage to restaurant owners (and bowling center owners) who see the opportunity to keep connected.

The Fickle Finger of Fate

I was driving my wonderful SAAB the other day, tooling down the Sawmill Parkway in hilly Westchester County NY, accelerating into turns and just having a blast carving up the roads. As I looked in my rear-view mirror I noticed a car approaching at a rapid rate of speed. 

He slowed enough to get on my a*s. 

Gently tapping the brakes and  thinking that this signal would give him an idea that he was following too closely and hoping he would back off, instead he became enraged, started flashing his lights and honking his horn. He was a maniac. Traffic in the left lane prevented him from passing me, so he just decided that his best effort would be to tailgate. So I did what I could to stop him from his dangerous driving and slowed down. He just stayed on my tail, honking and flashing his lights.

I was getting angry, but at the exact same time that I was about ready to "go nuts", I got a great new product idea that I probably would not have gotten had it not been for the present chaotic situation in which I found myself.

I don’t know where it came from or why: “What if I had an invisible strip on my bumper that was programmed with sign like, “you are too close, please keep your distance” that I could flash at him?

My very next thought was a series of questions such as: “Is there a market for this; how much would it cost to make; who would buy it, how could I sell it, and many other questions that marketing dudes ask.

I became so involved in this mental exercise that I completely ignored the jackass behind me who now, after several miles, decided to pass me, give me the one finger salute and speed off. “Yeah, same to you fella!”

So what’s the point of this story?

Here's what I realized, and was able to articulate; “ Perhaps out of chaos, some anxiety and irrational circumstances, there may be a good idea that is fermenting and then rises to the top of your consciousness."  And all we have to do is be aware of it.

Don’t discount the ideas you get when your business is flat or down, when it seems like the things you have tried just aren't working; when your banker is stopping in more frequently and when the roof starts to leak in a new place.  That’s the place where the breakthrough idea can start. Necessity being the mother of invention.

And maybe, just maybe, there’s an idea there, inside of you, just waiting for the chaos to birth it. 

League Bowling Rant

One of my financial buddies sent me an article about AMF’s recent bankruptcy. 

The article, really a blog by Randy Hutchinson, CEO of White Hutchinson Leisure and Learning Group talks about the implications of AMF’s bankruptcy and its causes.

http://www.whitehutchinson.com/blog/2012/11/is-amc-bowlings-bankruptcy-the-harbinger-of-the-death-of-bowling/?goback=.gde_1841652_member_189846333

While the article made mention of AMF’s financial troubles, it specifically alluded to AMF’s problems with league bowling.  In effect the article stated that AMF’s problems were the result of “league bowling dying; the result of an old product that once catered to “the bored blue collar and factory worker with amusement” in the evening.  

Sure the demographics have changed, the economy has changed and sure there are less blue collar factory workers out there, but does that automatically mean that bowling has less appeal because people work in cubicles, rather than work "on the line?"

I don't think so.

To paraphrase, the article further continued to say …”and since the demographics of America have drastically changed, the league bowling aspect of the business is no longer viable. Bowling centers that have not modernized to appeal to the new open play customer will also eventually die.”

Further, efforts to bring in people to “bowl in shorter league seasons have also met with resistance and, yes, the league product is dead or if not dead yet, will soon be.”

Like Mark Twain who heard of his death, said, “The report of my demise is much too premature.”

And so is league bowling.

If Randy White’s analysis is right, then why do we replace about 20% of our league bowlers every year with NEW people, but somehow still manage to lose $23% to 25% of our existing customers?

Why we are able to interest people in 8 week have a ball programs and have thousands of new people across the country join these programs? Why indeed?

And finally, why do we see, regardless of what Randy White may say, more growth in short season leagues than in the past?

And why, as Randy White says upfront, do 71 million people still go bowling; about 1 out of 4 people age 5 and older?  What other pay for play activity has that kind of following?

C'mon Man!

Maybe we are getting smarter in learning how to utilize social media.  Maybe our skills at inside and outside selling are getting sharper.  Maybe our centers are getting better looking.  Maybe we are hiring better people.  Maybe because league bowling, like many products, is an evolving product?

Maybe because we have no choice but to get better.

Really.