Value. Creating it in a retail environment ...

Many years ago, I worked for a man I consider a master marketer. We often discussed ideas of seemingly great importance as we drove long distances together late at night. I was always amazed at how philosophical we were after midnight. Some of the ideas even held up in the light of day.

One of those midnight discussions focused on an important marketing truth -- that in the marketing world – “perception is reality”.  And its corollary – “value is based on perception”.

When selling products and services – you must create in the mind of the potential customer, a perception of the product that will encourage them to spend the amount of money you want to receive.

If the perceived value in the customer’s mind is higher than the price marked on the item, the customer believes it to be a good value. “Wow!” You want your customer to say. “I am pleasantly surprised. I would have thought it would cost a lot more. This is a great value!”

Yet if the asking price is higher than the perceived value, the customer thinks: “I’m getting ripped off. This is highway robbery!”

So in marketing, the key is to control the perception of value – so that the customer thinks the price is a good deal.

How do you do that?

Well, you can elevate the price of the item or service if the product has an outstanding reputation, strong testimonials from satisfied customers, beautiful presentation … and in a retail environment – the store’s interior lighting and décor will affect the perception of value.

People expect things to cost more in prettier stores.

If you went to a restaurant with soft candlelight and were served by a waiter, you would expect to pay more than at a KFC where you grab your own plastic sporks.

You get the picture, right?

Now advertising can help create the perception of reality. It can help build a reputation. It can effectively present favorable testimonials. It can help in the presentation of the product or services.

But, it’s up to you to develop your lighting and décor.

The same principle can be applied to your website, brochures, direct marketing materials … virtually everything you use to market and sell your product.

Good Selling!

Dana

Mr. Dana Kehr

Pro Marketing Northwest
PO BOX 731413
Puyallup, WA  98373
 
(253)579-4040 – text and direct
getmedana@gmail.com

Why are you shouting at me?

I think it started with announcers for car ads … or maybe with Circus barkers … or maybe with the high-octane drag race announcer pitching the top fuelers at SIR on local radio.

I’m not certain of the origins … but I know this: it hasn’t stopped. And, it still happens all too often, I think.

My complaint?

The advertising pitchman who is shouting to get attention.

Oh, sometimes the loud, fast-talking huckster is replaced with bright colors, loud noises, exclamation marks or crazy stunts. You see and hear it every day as you are bombarded with advertising messages.

But such tactics are a bit like sneaking up behind someone at a supermarket and yelling: “Watch Out!” It is always jarring, unnecessary, and rude.

So why do advertisers do it that way?

Chances are, their ad rep or ad agency has told them that’s how it’s done.

They forget that the customer is seldom paying attention to them. We have way too many things to think about, to be concerned about – to be paying attention every time an advertiser wants to give us a pitch.

When exposed to an ad, we know it is there. We just really aren’t thinking about it or concentrating on it.

So, instead of shouting to get our attention, how about if the advertiser skillfully uses words to entice us with a thought more interesting than the thought we are thinking?  I believe words have power. And artfully used, can produce changes in emotion, logic, and attitude.

You see -- our minds are very interesting places. Each day, every waking moment – our mind is scanning the horizon looking for things of interest. It tends to ignore the common, the mundane, the average, the predictable. Instead, it examines immediately those things that are unusual, intriguing, and fascinating.

So if your goal as an advertiser is to move customers away from their routine, daily concerns and to focus on your ad message, you must offer a thought more compelling – more interesting – than the one that is currently in their minds.

And please remember -- this does not require shouting.

Good Selling!

J  Dana

Mr. Dana Kehr

Pro Marketing Northwest
PO Box 731413
Puyallup, WA  98373

(253)579-4040
getmedana@gmail.com

P.S. If you’d like some help creating artful ads with words that entice, please contact me. It’s what I do.

You Gotta Leave a Little Something on the Table ...

I worked with a business consultant once who always pressed for the advantage … always for himself. He had great pride in his tough negotiating stance. He never wanted to leave anything on the table. And, he never did.

His scorched earth negotiating tactics left few if any survivors. Those who did engage in battle with him and who managed somehow to survive vowed to never do business with him again.   

He never learned the most important negotiating concept of all. You see, you gotta leave a little something on the table.

Ever been involved with a negotiator like this?

The hard-nosed guy pushes and pushes and in the end says something like, “Well, you can’t blame me for asking for the moon. It’s just business. I had to try and take it all.”

But the fact is, you do blame him. And although the deal is done – you vow to never again do business with him. You’ve learned by sad experience now that you can never trust him. You can never turn your back with him around. You can never rest when he is near. He is a snake and you best be wary of him.

To build your business, I think you gotta leave a little something on the table.

When you want to do business with someone in the future, you leave a little on the table. When you want them to say nice things about you to others, you leave a little on the table.  When you want superior service and value, you leave a little more on the table. When you want to sleep well at night, you leave a little on the table. When you want to build a relationship, you leave a little on the table.

You get the picture, right?!

If you are like the business consultant I worked with from time to time, who was so very proud of his negotiating skills and always eager to prove himself as a hard-nose businessman able to squeeze the last drop out of every transaction – then ignore my previous advice.

Go ahead. It’s easy to do. Just demand the very most for the very least in return. Grab and squeeze. Be hard. Always maintain an adversarial posture. Keep fighting and clawing and scratching. Scorch the earth. Take advantage. Take it all.  

But if you prefer to build a lasting business, leave a little on the table. Match what you can do with what the other person wants. Give it up … don’t withhold it as a negotiating ploy. Then you may ask for what you want to make the deal work. If it is a match, then you’ve both won. If it is not a match, then you may walk away and still maintain the relationship for the future.

And that I think is even easier.

Good Selling!

J  Dana

Mr. Dana Kehr

Pro Marketing Northwest
PO Box 731413
Puyallup, WA  98373

(253)579-4040
getmedana@gmail.com

P.S.  Need help putting together deals that work for all involved? Contact me. That’s what I do!

Do You Believe the Ads You See and Hear?

Chances are – you believe very little of it.

So, where did we become jaded?

Probably about the time we got our first multi-level marketing pitch … or perhaps when we started seeing and hearing commercials shouting at us about SALES of 60% Off, 70% Off, and More! Or perhaps it happened when we received a letter from a time share company promising that after listening to a pleasant sales pitch we will be given one of the following prizes: a Cadillac Eldorado, or a sport boat, or a $10,000 savings bond, or a Harley, or a new Rolex watch. “Golly gee whiz, I can hardly wait to pick up one of these wonderful FREE gifts.” Right (we respond sarcastically)!

Loud music, brightly colored balloons and exploding fireworks, fast-talking pitchmen reciting worn-out clichés doesn’t work well any more -- although many advertisers haven’t figured that out yet.

To be successful, I think your ad messages need to offer products or services that are demonstratively better. It is no longer enough to simply tell bigger and bigger lies in a louder voice than the other guys.

If you want your advertising to be productive, you must have a story to tell and tell it persuasively. No hype. No spin. No fireworks.

We must realize the consumers’ reluctance to believe in trite and unsubstantiated claims.

Instead, we must volunteer the proof they need. It needs to be convincing. It needs to be overwhelming. It needs to be consistent. It needs to be sure.

Failure to do this will result in diminishing returns as consumer skepticism increases. America is no longer naïve. Don’t believe it? Check the approval ratings of Congress and you’ll get a good feel how the public feels about liars, cheaters and thieves.

Good Selling!

J  Dana

Mr. Dana Kehr

Pro Marketing Northwest
PO Box 731413
Puyallup, WA  98373
(253)579-4040
getmedana@gmail.com

P.S. Need ads that honestly tell your story? Give me a call! It’s what I do!

Is Your Advertising a Joke?

If you listen to your ad rep or your advertising agency, chances are they will come up with ads that they think are funny. You see, they want to be seen as creatively funny. It’s a main goal for them. Why? Well, those types of ads may win them a new job or an industry award for being clever.

There was a local Jeweler in Tacoma who was not having a good go of it with customers or profitability – but, his ad agency told a reporter, “At least our ads are funny.”

Is that really the purpose of an ad campaign?

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I think that any ad that doesn’t make your cash register ring – frequently and loudly – should be abandoned. If you spend money on advertising, you need return on your investment. Anything else, isn’t advertising that helps you.

Oh I know – your agency and sales reps will tell you that at least you are creating good will and you’ll have “good word of mouth” in the community and you are “branding” your product. But the truth is, they are really just wasting your money.

Most ad agency and media copywriters produce an ad the same way they tell a joke. They open with an obscure reference to what’s coming, then add data little by little, working their way up to the punch line.

But this may be the worst possible way to write an ad. Those listening to a joke are committed to listening. But those listening to an ad are not.

The lead on these ads is a setup, where the writer wants to set the stage for the argument he is about to make. Usually, the copywriter takes about 15 seconds to get to the point. And worse yet, when he finally does, his ad is answering a question that no one is really asking.

But the customer wants him to get to the point quickly. He wants an answer to: “What’s in it for me?” If that question isn’t answered soon – the ad message falls on deaf ears. In less than seven seconds, the customer’s mind has tuned it out and he has stopped listening entirely.

Your ads should begin by delivering the punch line directly to an emotional need – and then substantiating the claims made during the opening statement. Your listeners expect you to prove what you say.

A good ad should be a satisfying experience – not a joke.

Good selling!

J  Dana

Mr. Dana Kehr

Pro Marketing Northwest
PO Box 731413
Puyallup, WA

Email:  getmedana@gmail.com
(253)579-4040 text and direct

P.S.  Want to create ads that aren’t a joke? Call me. It’s what I do!

It's a Crowded Room ...

Inside your mind are stacked – and usually not all that neatly – memories of smell, color, taste, touch, sight and sound. There are half-remembered words and phrases along with buried emotions piled higher and higher with each passing year.

In this room, you’ll find glimpses of a familiar face, a special place, a bit of a song, a distinctive smell. They are all there among the stacks and they help bring some order to the chaos, reminding us of why we do the things we do.

These sensory memories are like old friends and each encounter with them brings our self-image into sharper focus.

And yet – businesses create ads that pound on the door of this room, wanting entrance to the overcrowded mind. The gatekeeper to this room – our subconscious mind asks: “Who do you know. Name any friends you have in this room.”

If the ad can associate itself with any of the stored memories and emotions, it can immediately gain access.

But the ad that does not associate itself with items already in storage is quickly dismissed. The subconscious mind says, “Go away. It’s too crowded in here for you.”   

Most ads are written under the assumption that the prospective customer is asking: “Who are you?”  “What is your product?” “When are you open for business?” “Where are you located?”

Unfortunately, those are not the right questions to gain access to our minds.

Yet, your media sales reps and your ad agency write ads that answer those things and fail to get to the crucial question that must be answered in order to gain entrance to your mind.

The real question that must be answered is this: “Why should I care?”

You must tell a story that tells the prospective customer what’s in it for them. It is NOT a story about you. Can you save them time, make them money, reduce their stress, cause others to think more highly of them?

If not, your gatekeeper will quickly show them the door, saying: “Go away. You are wasting my time.”

Locally, most ads are about the product or the company that makes it.

But the best ads are about the customer and how the product will change his life.

So, what are your ads all about?

Good Selling!

J  Dana

 
Mr. Dana Kehr
Pro Marketing Northwest
PO Box 731413
Puyallup, WA  98373
 
getmedana@gmail.com
253-579-4040 text and direct

P.S.  Need help writing ads that will have the gatekeeper welcoming you in? Call me. It’s what I do!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice ... Or ...

I’ve been in the advertising, sales and marketing game a LONG time … and I’ve learned a few things along the way. Maybe even a few that could help you grow your business.

Over the years, I have found this to be true …

Many business owners claim they want advertising that works – but when push comes to shove, they back off and quickly say … “Can’t we just do a ‘nice’ advertisement? You know, like everyone else does.”

It seems they want Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice … and then they can’t figure out why their advertising isn’t working. When their cash registers aren’t ringing, they just can’t figure it out. Instead of scrapping the bland, mindless ads similar to what the other businesses are running – they decide to run more of the same. (Doh! I’m slapping my forehead here!)

What I’ve seen frequently is that a spouse, girlfriend, partner, next-door neighbor, or some other "friend of the business" complains about a word or phrase that they don’t like – and often what they object to are the words that lead to sales. They encourage the business owner to remove the words that were the most powerful. And then the owner can’t figure out why he isn't getting positive results.

The ad agencies often like it this way too. "Let’s create a cute, funny ad that will win us awards," they say – but they don't really care much if the ads sell products, goods, or services. After all -- they worry quietly behind the scenes -- if business owners start measuring our ads for efficiency, we could be in trouble. Better to have bland, don’t rock the boat ads that people like – even if they don’t buy. More Sugar please!

Yet, my success as a marketing consultant has happened when a business owner hears the negative bombs tossed by well-meaning but misguided friends – and decides, even with the sounds of warfare blasting all around them, to say: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

Unfortunately, there is no ad campaign so brilliant that it cannot be made utterly ineffective through compromise. I remember one local business that brought in a high-priced consultant who wanted to use committees to determine which words should be in the ads – even though the people on the committee had no background, training, education or experience in writing copy that sells. It was a disaster. The high-priced consultant got to stick around and make money tryting to clean up the mess -- until finally the business owner realised the real problem and fired the consultant. Unfortunately, he crippled the business while he was there.

So the question for today is this: What do you stand for? Do you want to increase business and your profitability … or do you want Sugar and Spice? Are you willing to stand firm when the action starts?

Your answers to these questions may very well determine your success in battle.

Good Selling!

Dana

Mr. Dana Kehr
Pro Marketing Northwest
PO Box 731413
Puyallup, WA

253-579-4040 unlimited text and direct
getmedana@gmail.com

P.S. If you’d like an ad campaign with words that sell, call me. It’s what I do!