Author Archive for Bill Doerr

Strategy Before Tactics — Always!

By Bill Doerr · Comments (0)
Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

Duct Tape Marketing Founder John Jantsch has shared a number of words of wisdom.

One of them is that effective marketing results from a coordinated, strategic approach rather than what might be called chasing the marketing tactic of the week.  This is very common.  You hear about what a fellow business owner did that got their phone to ring, their ‘likes’ to increase, etc. and you think, “Hey, that sounds like a good thing to do . . .”.  So you do it.

But you’re playing ‘Follow The Leader’, marketing-wise, and . . . it’s not a wise thing to do.

The Problem with Playing Follow-The-Leader
In a business growth consultation I do with clients (The Profit Project™) I share a simple story.

eagle“Assume you’re a bird.  In a long line of birds.  And the line leads to a very high cliff.  As each bird moves up to the edge of the cliff, they step off and fly away.  Now assume you realize that, while you’re a bird, you’re not an eagle like all the other birds.  In fact, you’re a penguin.  So if you attempt to fly off the cliff, you’ll fall like a rock and be killed or seriously hurt at best.”

Then I share a slightly different scenario  . . .

“Assume you’re a bird.  In a long line of birds.  And the line leads to a very high cliff.  But here’s the difference.  The ‘cliff’ is made of snow and ice.  You’re in Antarctica.  And yes, you’re still a penguin.  This time, you’re likely to survive your cliff jump and the other birds, presumably still eagles, are going to freeze to death.” 

Even if another firm’s marketing tactic is productive, it’s likely due to a proper alignment between the marketing tactic/s they chose and the nature of their specific business.  Your business is different.  You’re unique.  And, you may not be so successful — even if you employ the very same tactic as a ‘similar’ business.

KEY POINT:
Choose your marketing tactics based on who YOU are, not on what the business owner next to you is doing. 

Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Marketing Strategy
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Cut The GAP — Survey Your Clients!

By Bill Doerr · Comments (0)
Friday, November 16th, 2012

Being refer-able means being remark-able.  Remark-ability depends on delivering what your Ideal Client wants from a firm or provider in your field.

Learning to ‘DO’ better — as your prospects perceive things — begins by learning how you’re doing now and taking action to reduce or eliminate any GAPS between your prospects’ EXPECTATIONS and your PERFORMANCE.

The Basis of Remark-Ability . . . “No GAPS!”
To be referable, you must be remarkable.  In a positive way.  By your prospects, clients and centers-of-influence.

A business that delivers a less-than-desired experience to a client or customer is neither remark-able nor refer-able.

All that does is confirm there’s a GAP between what someone wants and you’re doing.

If there are too many GAPS . . . or, they remain unaddressed for too long.  You’ll lose your customers, their revenues, referrals and your reputation in your field.  (For lack of a nail . . . we lost the war — remember?).

Finding Your GAPS
The best way to know where (not if) you have GAPS is to ask your clients and staff.  They are an untapped resource of money-making insight for your business . . . if you’ll only ASK them for their perceptions and suggestions.

Conducting an Experience Survey
This takes guts.  No sugar-coating this.  But only the brave in business get ahead!

And you don’t have to ask a lot of questions, either.  In fact, you only need about seven (7) questions to identify the GAPS in your operation so you can focus on fixing them and making your competitors nervous!

GAP Question #1:  ”Why did you choose our firm to work with?”
On a macro level people may need what your type of business offers.  But this is a ‘micro’ level question.  It’s more about why you ‘stand out’ than anything else.

What isn’t immediately clear is why, after looking at all the alternatives, did someone choose your firm over all others.  ”Why . . . when the ‘beauty contest’ was over . . . was your firm wearing the tiara and carrying the roses down the runway?”

Understanding why your firm stands out to qualified prospects who are voting on your value proposition with their hard-earned cash is a powerful insight!  It’s also the basis for helping you to establish and maintain an ‘edge’ over your competitors.

GAP Question #2:  ”Who Else?”
Take your firm out the picture. Who’s left?  You know that when a prospect considers doing business with your firm, they’re also thinking, ‘Who else . . . might I use?”  It’s natural.  It’s how the world works.

For any category, we each have a ‘Mental Shelf‘ — a simple way of carrying around our ‘preferred provider’ list for practically anything.  If I asked, “Name 10 dentists in your town” I bet you’d be hard pressed to do it.  But I guarantee you could name at least one — your dentist.  Like Jello, there’s always room for someone or some firm we think enough of . . . to think of . . . when the category is relevant.

That’s why you want to be in the mind / on the Mental Shelf of prospects for your business, product or service.

Here’s the ‘Good News’ — when you ask, “What other firms would you consider using if ours was not available?”, you’ll learn who your ‘real’ competition is — and often, it’s not who you might think!

After Asking “WHO” . . . Ask, “WHY?”
After you ask, “Assume for some reason we didn’t exist . . . WHO ELSE comes to mind that you might consider using?”  you want to ask, “WHY?”.  That’s going to give you an insight into what makes your competitor ‘stand out’ to your prospects.  Knowing that, you can better position your value so you remain ‘in front’ of your competitors.  Afterall, “The only dog on a dog-sled team with a change of scenery . . . is the LEAD DOG” — right?  ’-)

Next time, I’ll reveal five (5) more ‘killer questions’ that will help you ‘close the GAP’ between your performance and your clients’ expectations.

Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Marketing Strategy, Public Relations
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The Power of Handwritten Notes

By Bill Doerr · Comments (0)
Friday, October 12th, 2012

Are you in a profession or field where selling WHO you are is just as important (if not more so) as WHAT you do for your clients?

I like to say, “If you focus on building transactions, you’ll fail to build relationships.  But if you focus on building relationships, you’ll build transactions, too”.  It’s a truth that will help take you to the bank . . . if you practice it in your business or practice!

And here’s a simple, powerful and highly effective way to do this . . .

Write One (1) Personal Note / Day
While there is value in doing more than this, let’s not overwhelm you before you even get started.  So I’m deliberately suggesting you ‘start small’ with this idea.  Once you get to the point where you’re consistently and conscientiously getting ONE personal note written (and, sent!) each day, you can ramp it up a bit.  But remember . . . ‘walk before you run’ . . . just doing ‘one note’ a day is far better than doing ‘no note’ a day.

By the way you don’t need to say a lot!  Something as simple as, “Dear Chris,   I just had a moment and wanted to say how much I admire how you never let the economy get you down.  You’re an inspiration to me.  Thank you, Dana” will work just fine!  In fact, you could even print up a nice ‘notecard’ for yourself as the gifted author (and prolific note-writer!) Bob Burg has done here:
Who and Why?
Your network is your business lifeline . . . so it’s important to keep it working –– for you!  And there’s nothing like any act of recognition to demonstrate how important and valued they are to you.  That breeds tons of GOODWILL and BRAND PREFERENCE for you.  And, while that may not be a tangible asset on your balance sheet, it’s a critical factor that drives value to show up there!

Your network, if we break it down, consists of many people who fall into three (3) main categories:

  1. Prospects
  2. Clients, and
  3. Centers-of-Influence

Each ‘group’ above are people who are in a position to do one (ideally, both) of the following things:

  1. BUY . . . what you’re selling or doing, and/or
  2. REFER . . . others to you / you to others . . . who can

But here’s the problem:  “HOW . . . do you stay on the ‘Mental Shelf’ of your prospects, clients or centers-of-influence in a way that makes you both memorable to and appreciated by these people?”

And,  “HOW . . . do you get them to think of  you FIRST and FAVORABLY???” whenever they (or, someone they know — a friend, family member, client, co-worker, etc.) — develop a ‘need-to-know’ about something YOU can do.

The Solution:  Writing Personal Notes
In these days when no one ever seems to have enough time to do everything we want to do, the mere act of setting aside the time to write a personal note of appreciation . . . of recognition . . . of (well, you get the idea) . . . is a behavioral statement that, “Dang it, You Matter To Me!”.

Now I can’t speak for you, but most people are a little ‘stroke deprived’.  We get all kinds of you-know-what but never, so it seems, enough ‘love and affection’ from others.  In basic human terms, we don’t get recognized as having value — in an unconditional way!  So . . . by sending a note to someone in any of your three groups, you’re effectively validating that, at least to you, they matter!  And that, is what marks you as a person of interest and value to them.  That builds goodwill and . . . sooner or later . . . revenues for you.

The Method . . . Ya Gotta Have a Method!
Here’s what I suggest you do . . . to get started.  Once you’re doing this for a few weeks, you’ll be ‘hooked’ on the practice because of all the positive and wonderful feedback (not to mention goodwill and business opportunities!) that will be coming your way.

Again, let’s keep this simple.  Make an appointment with yourself on a either Saturday or Sunday for just 30 minutes. During your appointment with yourself, here’s what you want to do:

  1. IDENTIFY . . . five (5) people you’d like to build (or, continue to build) a relationship with
  2. CHOOSE . . . something about them worthy of noting — in a note, of course!
  3. WRITE . . . a brief note to each person recognizing them for that quality or action you admire
  4. PUT . . . the note in an envelope, address it to the person and add a stamp (remember those?)
  5. SCHEDULE . . . to send out one note each day . . . for each day of the week

That’s it.  Kind of like working out at the gym.  Don’t overdo it.  But do get started.  The benefits you’ll enjoy will be amazing.  People will call you to say, “Thank You”.  Sometimes they’ll even say, “Funny how, after your note arrived, a friend called me looking for some help with . . . and I thought maybe you could help . . . here’s her number . . . why not give her a call and mention my name when you do . . . ”  Yes.  It WILL happen.  And yes, it is all good!

KEY POINT:
In a world where the simple act of recognition has become increasingly elusive, taking action to honor the relationships you have with your key people — by writing them a personal, handwritten note — is huge.  Hugely appreciated by your key people and hugely productive and profitable for you, as well.

Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Public Relations, Social Media
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What’s Behind Your Brand?

By Bill Doerr · Comments (0)
Friday, July 13th, 2012

Branding Lessons:  Moments of Truth
Last evening I attended a meeting where the topic of discussion turned to ‘branding’.  

While many of us are, in varying degrees, familiar with the topic, the viewpoint of those present focused on: 1) the means of ‘sharing’ the brand or identify of a firm and 2) the basis of its reality.

You Don’t Tell People What Your Brand Is — They Tell You 
One of the points we discussed was that, what with social media being what it is, the branding of your business is more in the hands of your customers and clients than yourself or your own marketing people.

Of course, we all want to have a ‘brand’ that elicits the feelings and generates the associations we’d like people to have of us. But the reality is that your firm’s brand is what the people who come into contact with your business believe about it.

True, or not.  Desirable, or not.  Perception is reality.  And whatever people believe is true about your business is what is ‘true’ and real about it.  For them.  For example, you may believe your ____ don’t stink.  But if your prospects and clients think it stinks, then it stinks!

If You Can’t Control The Distribution, Control What’s Being Distributed!
OK.  So you know that the word-of-mouth process is not under your control, right?  But, what IS under your control is the kind of experience people have when they come into contact with your company.  This is a far more significant truth to embrace.  After all, if you create a ‘Wow’ Experience for your customers or clients or patients, they will talk about you.  And, what they say will help to establish a positive (and, competitive!) perception about your business.

KEY POINT:
Your brand differentiates your business from others to prospective clients.  While you may have little or no control over how people may share your brand with other people, you have 100% control over how they’ll experience your business / understand your brand.

Therefore, seek to create an experience with your business that makes people say, “Wow!”. 

Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Advertising, Public Relations
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Cultivate The Relationship!

By Bill Doerr · Comments (0)
Monday, June 18th, 2012

Seen your doctor lately?  You probably get more ‘face time’ at a speed-networking event than you get with your doctor!

It’s not the doctor’s fault.  Today’s M.D. sees, on average, 40 -60 patients a day.  Do the math.

In an eight hour working day, that means the average patient gets an average of about 8  minutes with their doctor.  Some get more.  Many get less.  Not much time to ‘build the physician-patient bond’, is it?

Relationships Matter
In a world where most of us have more to do than time to do it, it’s easy to give clients less time and attention than they’d like.  Easy but also deadly.

Because if you do, you do so at our own peril.

A Quality Experience Is a Great Differentiator
To your client, a sincere, authentic, and heart-felt connection with you is . . . priceless.  It doesn’t take much.  But, it does take time.  Time to listen to what is troubling them.  Time to communicate you care about them.  Time to let them know you care about what they care about.

I like to say, “Treat your clients like prospects” . . . because they can be stolen away if you neglect them.  But I also like to say, ‘Treat your prospects like clients” . . . so they will know what it’s like to be your client.

Take Time to Make a Difference!
Either way, take the time you need to make your prospects, clients and centers-of-influence feel important.  It doesn’t take that much time.  But it does require a commitment to help people see you differently because you make them feel better about their issues after sharing time with you . . . better than any alleged competitor who’s too ‘time-starved’ to care to act better.

KEY POINT:
People want to feel SPECIAL . . . take the time to make them feel that way and they’ll love you for it! 

Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Consulting, Public Relations, Referral Marketing
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What’s The Secret for Business GROWTH?

By Bill Doerr · Comments (0)
Friday, April 27th, 2012

If you’re a business owner in 2012, you’re an exceptional individual.  You’ve survived one of the most challenging economic periods in history.  Congratulations.  You’re amazing.

At the same time, I bet that merely ‘surviving’ financially is not why you want to be in business.  Business is (and, I’ll reveal my own bias here) about growth!

There’s a Secret for Growing Revenues?
YES!  Years ago, as a management consultant at a large international trade association, I was mentored by a Gordon A. Kratz, CLU.  Gordon developed a process, delivered by myself and other consultants, that significantly increased the rate of growth for companies who used our process — relative to their peers that did not use our process.

Leverage Strengths by Reducing Limitations
No company is perfect.  You have factors going for you (strengths) and factors going against you (limitations).  The secret is to leverage your strengths by reducing your limitations.

For example, if you have a great product but an ineffective distribution system, you want to work on your distribution system.  Improving your product, while easier, will not do as much to help you increase your revenues or growth.

Assume you’re able to generate leads, but your people aren’t servicing your customers.  In this case, training your people to create an ‘exquisite customer experience’ will get people coming back –– with the higher margins for profit and growth their sales suggest.  Make sense?

Knowing What To Address Is Just The Beginning
Once you’ve isolated the addressable (key word!) ‘limitations’ in your business, you want to set goals to eliminate them. For each goal, you want to build an action plan to make it real. That gives you what every business owner wants — control –– of your future.

KEY POINT:
Growth reflects a process that is best implemented with advice from a consultant outside of the management team that is engaged in the daily operation of your business.

Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Consulting
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Can You Differentiate, REALLY?

By Bill Doerr · Comments (0)
Friday, April 13th, 2012

Four (4) things prospects like to know:

WHAT . . . do you do for your clients?

WHO . . . you do that for?

HOW . . . you do that?

WHY . . .  are you better than other firms?

Your TALKING LOGO addresses most of these questions.

But what’s the REAL basis for ‘standing out’ from your competitors?  It’s NOT (darn it!) as easy as crafting a great message you can use when you meet someone for the first time.

How Do You STAND OUT . . . to a Prospective Client?
Years ago a famous marketing professor at Harvard Business School (Ted Leavitt) was asked to help a major accounting firm ‘differentiate’ their audit services.  A major corporation’s audit business is worth a LOT of money to the accounting firm that “wins the audit” away from other competitors.Leavitt told his client that two qualities are needed to ‘differentiate’ anything:
1)  Beneficial . . . it must offer a meaningful benefit, and
2)  Unique . . . it can’t be like anything else

Then, he explained the challenge . . . “If something is truly beneficial, it won’t be ‘unique’ for long — competitors will follow suit and if something is truly unique, maybe what you’re offering isn’t all that beneficial”.

Everything this firm offered in an audit was also being offered by their competitors.  So where was the opportunity to differentiate?  It didn’t (seem to) exist!

The Challenge of Differentiating Your Business and Services
But Leavitt had an idea.  He asked to interview their best audit clients to learn, “WHY . . . did they choose your firm to get an audit?”. The client agreed.
A large number of clients later told him, “We just liked them better than any other firm”.
“Perception IS Reality”
In marketing, being ‘liked’ isn’t about being ‘nice’ (even if you are!).  It’s about being seen as a Preferred Provider relative to your competitors.

The clients suggested a number of PERCEPTIONS about Leavitt’s client and told him that it was how they behaved during their meetings that convinced them his client was the ‘best firm’ to use to get that audit.  Basically, it was what they SAID and DID that convinced these prospects to go with Leavitt’s client.

The Big Lesson Here
Ask your ‘best clients’ the question, “Why did you choose OUR firm?”.  Follow that up with, “What did we SAY or DO to make you believe we were ‘the best’ firm to use?

You’ll learn what you need to say and do in front of prospects . . . to ‘Stand Out’ from the crowd of your (alleged!) competitors.
Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Marketing Strategy
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Seek Introductions, Not Referrals

By Bill Doerr · Comments (1)
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

In an earlier career as a financial advisor (CLU, ChFC), I learned to appreciate the power and value of referrals.

Today, I find it sad that many service professionals aren’t getting as many as they’d like from the very people who’ve come to know, like and trust them.  Why is that?

They’re not asking for introductions!  Unless you do that, your prospecting will be more difficult and frustrating than you’ll like.

Why Introductions Are Easier To Get Than Referrals

Reason #1:  Introductions Don’t Require Psychic Ability
Typically, asking someone, “Who do you know who could use my services?” will get you the old ‘deer-caught-in-the-headlights’ look more often than not.

Prospects for professional services usually don’t present ‘symptoms’ of need the way medical patients do.  If someone ‘needs’ a will or buy-sell agreement, more tax deductions, better investments, etc. absent a public statement to that effect, it’s not easy to know who ‘needs’ or might even ‘want’ those benefits –– much less the services that can produce them.

Reason #2:  Introductions Don’t Require Judgment of Others
Ask for a referral to a good restaurant and you’ll likely get it.  So why is referring YOU more difficult?  Because you’re a problem-solving professional!  And the problems you can address may be humiliating to admit having and . . . extremely difficult to let others know about.

If a financial planner asks, “Who do you know might benefit from my services?” it’s easily interpreted as, “Who do you know who’s screwed up financially and needs professional help to ‘make them right’?”.  We’d prefer to assume our friends have their finances in order, right?

Even if we suspect someone is messed-up financially they’re probably NOT going to tell you.  Why?  Because if they do, they ‘own’ the responsibility for making a subjective value judgment of that friend that, somehow, he or she is ‘not right’ financially. And THAT . . . is not an easy thing to do!

Ask for Introductions Not Referrals
Asking for an introduction to someone who possesses a visible characteristic that correlates highly with your ‘best clients’ (e.g. ‘Do you know anyone who owns a 42′ or bigger cabin cruiser?’) makes it easy for someone who knows, likes and trusts you to help you access their network of influence –– about as easily as a request to find a good Italian restaurant!

Most people WILL INTRODUCE YOU to people in their network if you don’t ask them to be psychic or judge the ‘neediness’ of other people.

In fact, presume the person you want to meet does NOT have a need for you. Today. That removes the ‘neediness’ issue and increases the odds you’ll receive the introductions you want to people you’ll love . . . as your clients and centers-of-influence.

KEY POINT:
Seek introductions.  They’re easier to get and keep your ‘Marketing Hourglass’ pipeline full!

Bill Doerr

About Bill Doerr

I'm a Markitect -- I help clients design the marketing plans for their dream business and find highly qualified contractors to build them out so my clients can 'enjoy the view'. As a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I believe marketing is more about creating and maintaining a key relationship -- 'Client' -- than anything else. In fact, once you do that, all else tends to fall into place, doesn't it? '-)

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Categories : Lead Generation, Referral Marketing
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