Page 92 - Duct Tape Marketing

76 Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus

Most of the time, your marketing communications make your business
impressions for you. Ask yourself the following questions as you assess
whether your materials are representing you well:

ߜ When people receive multiple impressions of your business, do they see
evidence of a consistent, reliable, well-managed, successful enterprise?

ߜ Do your communications look like they all represent the same company?

ߜ Does your logo always look the same? What about your use of type
styles and color selections?

ߜ If you use a tag line or slogan, is it always the same, or does it change
from one presentation to the next?

Ads, publicity, direct mailings, personal contacts, referrals from mutual
friends, building signage — these are all make-it-or-break-it impression
points.

To evaluate what kinds of messages you’re sending — and what kinds of
impressions you’re making — begin by tracking the ways that customers
approach your business. Then work backward to determine what marketing
efforts led to their arrivals. And work forward to determine what kinds of
impressions they form once they actually “meet” your business, whether that
first contact is made in person, over the phone, by an ad, or online.

Arriving by telephone

Often, with no prompting at all, callers will tell you how they found your
number. “John Jones suggested I call” or “I’m curious about the new
whatchamacallits I see in your ad” or “I was on your Web site, but I couldn’t
tell whether your business is open Sundays.” If the conversation doesn’t
naturally uncover how the person obtained your phone number, take a few
seconds (but only a few seconds) to ask something like, “I’m glad you called
us. We’re always working to improve our communications and I’d love to note
how you got our phone number.”

The responses help you see what is and isn’t working to generate phone
calls. They also help you determine which first impression points are bring-
ing you qualified prospects who are likely to become customers, and which
ones are reeling in people who are “just looking.” In the latter case, realize
that the problem isn’t with the caller; the problem is with the impression
point.

A real estate brokerage specializing in high-end residential properties contin-
uously fielded calls from shoppers trying to buy homes in a much lower price
tier than those listed by the realty company. Upon questioning, the real
estate agents learned that most of the dissatisfied callers found the phone
number in the Yellow Pages, where the company’s ad read, “We have your