continued from yesterday’s YOU SUCK AT SALES if… Part 1 article.
…your use someone elses website as your marketing tool.
Ok, to catch you up from yesterday, we got contacted by a magazine that tried to sell us on advertising in their magazine by using spam tactics. This magazine, that spammed our website with a “222 word, form sales letter”, was promoting their magazine and advertising opportunities. This is how we came to the solution that they suck at sales, but how do we also know THEY ARE CHEAP BASTARDS?
Here is the answer:
- They are a Print Publication using digital only promotions.
Instead of spending a few dollars to build a relationship with me and actually have me review their magazine, they sent me a spam form letter. I always say, lead by example and show how valuable your product is– BY USING IT. So they cut costs by not using print even though it would have been 1000 times more appealing and successful. - Qualify your prospects.
The magazine probably did a google search for local agencies and spammed everyone they found. The problem with that is they did not qualify us. Although we do advertising for our clients, this is a very small focus for us. You may be asking, how would the magazine know this about us?Well over the last two weeks we have written 5 articles. Of those 5 articles, 3 were focused on advertising and our recommendation against doing it for small businesses. They were titled: Don’t break the bank with expensive Advertising!, Are you confused about Advertising on a shoestring budget?, and Getting noticed on a Shoestring Budget (comments continued). The point is this. They took 5 minutes to research my company (roughly the time spent on my site, which I know from the analytics tools we use) and then sent me a spam sales message.
- Quantity over quality.
Their goal is a numbers game, not to building a lasting relationship with anyone. They are hoping that 1 out of every 500(000) people will take them up on their offer and give them cash for advertising in their great magazine. Again, this is not the best sales approach. - You got to spend money to make money.
Since their qualifying effort took less than one-half hour, they may have spent $25 on winning me as a client. Now how much do you think they are hoping– I will spend, or get a client to spend on advertising? Do you think they charge $50 per ad in a glossy magazine? I would bet most ads in their magazine cost several hundred dollars for a single ad. That is if they are a great as they say they are.That being said we do not do advertising for anyone that wants only a single ad placed, because this is not effective. We recommend it takes 13 to 15 times to break through the clutter and start to get noticed.
Awareness is only one step in the buying process so advertisers are going to need a lot more ads to move prospects into being interested, building desire and then getting the prospect to take action and call or buy.
So, how many ads will this take? A lot. How much money is it going to cost? A LOT! So if you don’t have A LOT of money (tens of thousands) to spend, don’t look at advertising. If someone sells you a single ad, run! Because they obviously know nothing about advertising, but just want your cash.
The funny thing is the magazine is only willing to spend, maybe $25 on me, but will certainly expect me and my clients to spend thousands of dollars to keep their company afloat. I say– step it up guys. Spend some cash on me. Mail me a magazine. Heck, send it to me for free for the first year. In the grand scheme of things this is pretty cheap. However you would have made a much better impression on me and I would have gotten to know your magazine.
I ask this of the readers of this article:
Does that sound realistic?
Do you trust form letters sent to you in your contact form?
NO?
Ok, then here is the solution.
If you want to be successful in business, do not be a CHEAP BASTARD and don’t SUCK AT SALES!
If you need help developing a strong marketing effort with qualified leads, reach out to us and we can help. We can even help you generate leads for your weak sales staff, but it is going to cost you.
Kudos on standing your ground and not accepting a client who only wants to do one ad. It is a policy that I am trying to implement as well for the print pub advertising I sell. If I get a one-timer inquiry, I give it the appropriate level of service.
And when they start out being a one-timer, they never graduate into being a 13-15 timer either.
Another excellent post, Dale!
Kudos on standing your ground and not accepting a client who only wants to do one ad. It is a policy that I am trying to implement as well for the print pub advertising I sell. If I get a one-timer inquiry, I give it the appropriate level of service.
And when they start out being a one-timer, they never graduate into being a 13-15 timer either.
Another excellent post, Dale!
Thanks for your input Heidi. Yeah, although it is tough turning away business sometimes, I really do not want clients that are not committed to long-term success. It is better we take on clients we can truly help instead of clients that are going to be frustrated with us since their one ad didn’t bring them the riches they were hoping for. As with any form of marketing, being short-sighted, and looking for the silver bullet to save the day, are never methodologies that produce success.
You are a perfect example of this. How long have you been tweeting and how often do you tweet? Quite a bit and that makes you an expert at twitter and I am sure you have had some great success with everything you have done. I noticed you are now doing social media presentations. Congratulations and good for you! You are now considered and expert and cutting edge. This would never happen by doing a single ad. It would have taken you years to create this kind of buzz in advertising. I am not saying we should all quite advertising, but I am saying we should never start advertising unless we are able and willing to commit to advertising on a regular basis for years or the lifetime of the company.
For all you one-timers out there, think about the first time you learned to drive a standard (manual) transmission vehicle. Could you have passed a driving test that first day? Chances are unlikely. It is the same thing with advertising, it takes a long time to get good and to be able to compete on the level of Mario Andretti. Stick with it, practice, try new things and test often. Also, work failure into the process. This will bring you a lot of success over time. Persistence really is the key. Good luck!
Thanks for your input Heidi. Yeah, although it is tough turning away business sometimes, I really do not want clients that are not committed to long-term success. It is better we take on clients we can truly help instead of clients that are going to be frustrated with us since their one ad didn’t bring them the riches they were hoping for. As with any form of marketing, being short-sighted, and looking for the silver bullet to save the day, are never methodologies that produce success.
You are a perfect example of this. How long have you been tweeting and how often do you tweet? Quite a bit and that makes you an expert at twitter and I am sure you have had some great success with everything you have done. I noticed you are now doing social media presentations. Congratulations and good for you! You are now considered and expert and cutting edge. This would never happen by doing a single ad. It would have taken you years to create this kind of buzz in advertising. I am not saying we should all quite advertising, but I am saying we should never start advertising unless we are able and willing to commit to advertising on a regular basis for years or the lifetime of the company.
For all you one-timers out there, think about the first time you learned to drive a standard (manual) transmission vehicle. Could you have passed a driving test that first day? Chances are unlikely. It is the same thing with advertising, it takes a long time to get good and to be able to compete on the level of Mario Andretti. Stick with it, practice, try new things and test often. Also, work failure into the process. This will bring you a lot of success over time. Persistence really is the key. Good luck!
Yep, advertising is just like learning to drive. Most people also don’t “work failure into the process.” Can’t tell you — or should I say don’t want to tell you — how many things I’ve tried and failed at.
Twitter and social media is the same as advertising. Yes, I am a rabid tweeter. Just closed second piece of business from a Twitter contact and have had several legit inquiries over the past year. BTW, I tweet at least 20 times a day, even on slow days. But that’s a whole ‘nother subject.
Thanks for continuing the discussion!
Yep, advertising is just like learning to drive. Most people also don’t “work failure into the process.” Can’t tell you — or should I say don’t want to tell you — how many things I’ve tried and failed at.
Twitter and social media is the same as advertising. Yes, I am a rabid tweeter. Just closed second piece of business from a Twitter contact and have had several legit inquiries over the past year. BTW, I tweet at least 20 times a day, even on slow days. But that’s a whole ‘nother subject.
Thanks for continuing the discussion!