Thought you couldn't start a company during a recession? These enterprises made it big by doing just that.
It might seem counterintuitive to start a new business when the economy is in the dumps. But a recession can actually be the ideal time for launching a company. In fact, many well-known and successful organizations were born during an economic slump.
Why do these companies succeed? Usually it's because the founders recognized a market need and filled it. Identifying that need — whether it’s related to entertainment, travel or even streamlining how businesses operate — is the key to any thriving enterprise, regardless of the economic climate in which it begins. The following major corporations made it big during recessions by doing just that.
Hyatt Corp. opened its first hotel’s doors at the Los Angeles International Airport during the Eisenhower recession (1957 to 1958). The chain rose to worldwide fame in the following decades and now operates more than 365 hotels in 25 countries with premium services such as wifi hotspots.
Burger King Corp., with its flame-broiled burgers, is another recession startup. The company began in 1954 when James McLamore and David Edgerton opened a Burger King restaurant in Miami, Fla. During another recession in 1957, the company introduced its successful signature burger — the Whopper. Today, the company operates more than 11,100 locations in 65 countries.
IHOP Corp. is another star from the Eisenhower recession. The first restaurant in the now national chain opened its doors July1958 in Toluca Lake, Calif. Owners Al and Jerry Lapin were at the helm of the fast growing company, which began franchising just three years later. Today, there are more than 1,300 locations across the U.S.
The Jim Henson Company was created by famed puppeteer Jim Henson in 1958. Henson's business was responsible for some of the best-known puppet characters of all time including Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Elmo. Today, the privately held company is managed by Henson's children and continues to thrive by creating popular kids-friendly shows and movies.
LexisNexis is a research hub for the law, media and more. The company, originally a government contractor, began its LexisNexis computerized legal research service during the 1973 oil crisis that rocked the country into steep economic slump. The now Web-based service is used in 100 countries by individuals in law, government, education and business.
FedEx Corp. began operations on April 17, 1973 as Federal Express, a nod to the Federal Reserve, with whom founder Frederick W. Smith had hoped to get a contract. He didn't, but the company that delivered 186 packages to 25 cities on its first night of operations now manages more than 7.5 million shipments everyday worldwide.
Microsoft Corp. wasn't always the jaw-dropping enterprise it is today. In 1975, when it was created by Harvard University dropout Bill Gates, Microsoft was just a little company in Albuquerque, N.M. It dealt in rudimentary computing languages and began its climb to business stardom with the success of MS-DOS, which was sold and marketed to IBM Corp. and then-IBM clones. Today, the company is estimated to earn more than $60 billion in revenue per year and is branching into new areas including VoIP and CRM.
CNN might be a news giant now, but in recession-plagued 1980, it was a little-known station called The Cable Network News. It revolutionized how people received information when it premiered as the first 24-hour all-news channel. Today, 1.5 billion people across the globe watch CNN.
MTV Networks brought something new and different to the music scene when it debuted in the economic slump of 1981. Intended to be an all-music-video channel, MTV used VJs (video jockeys) to host programs and facilitate transitions between videos. Today, MTV is a global brand with dozens of shows, music-related and not.
Trader Joe's started as a chain of convenience stores called Pronto Markets in the slow financial times of 1958. In 1967, the company changed its name to Trader Joe's and began to carry unique grocery items under its own brand. The company now operates more than 280 stores in the U.S.
Wikipedia Foundation Inc. was born during the recent post-9/11 recession. Established in January 2001, the online encyclopedia had more than 100,000 entries by 2003. Today it is home to more than 2.5 million articles and continues to grow.
Sports Illustrated magazine was launched on August 16, 1954, at the tail-end of a recession. The magazine benefitted from fortunate timing as a boom in professional sports exploded soon after its founding. Sports Illustrated now sells about 3 million copies in the U.S. each week.
GE (General Electric Co.) was established in 1876 by famed American inventor Thomas Edison. In the middle of the Panic of 1873, a six-year recession, Edison created one of the best-known inventions of all time — the incandescent light bulb. In terms of market capitalization, GE is now the third largest company in the world. The enterprise has evolved from a manufacturing-strong business to an enterprise earning more than 50 percent of its revenue from its financial services division.
HP (Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP) was inauspiciously born in a Palo Alto garage at the end of the Great Depression. The electronic company, initially supported by a mere $538 investment, has grown into the first technology business to exceed $100 billion in revenue, earning $104 billion in 2007. It now operates in nearly every country in the world.
Recessions, however, aren’t advantageous only to start-ups. Pre-existing companies can also make incredible gains in years where the economy is down. Some of the most recent success stories are those of Google, PayPal and Salesforce.com Inc. From 2000 to 2001 each of these companies thrived, leading PayPal to go public in 2002, followed by Google and Salesforce.com in 2004.
(source: sarah caron, insidecrm.com)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
NADA: Dealers Need To Polish Image
Auto dealers need to tell state and national leaders and the public that dealers are an asset, not a liability. That was the central message from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) incoming chairman John McEleney, an Iowa dealer who sells GM, Toyota and Hyundai vehicles.
Association members hunkered down in New Orleans last weekend trying to stay afloat in a flood of bad news: a frozen credit situation, plummeting consumer confidence this month, massive layoffs, and plunging auto sales that caused some 1,000 GM, Ford and Chrysler dealers to go under last year.
McEleney said dealers and NADA's PR and political efforts helped get GM and Chrysler government loans and Treasury backing for GMAC and Chrysler Financial to offer credit. "Their efforts paid off," he said, while counseling dealers to continue the push, by promoting themselves as pillars of their communities and of the state and national economy. And, he said, dealers have to participate in the debate on how to rebuild the economy and how to create national emission standards--particularly in the next two months, in which GM and Chrysler approach their deadlines for showing the efficacy of government bailouts.
Those deadlines--mid-February for GM and Chrysler to submit viability reports on their efforts to boost revenue and mid-March to demonstrate they have cut their debt by two-thirds in order to get an additional $4 billion--were the subtext of Chrysler Vice-Chairman Jim Press' speech to dealers at NADA. Press and Chrysler executives exhorted Chrysler's 3,300 dealers to order 78,000 new vehicles from Chrysler next month--2% less than last year, but far more than they need, given Chrysler's 53% drop in new-vehicle sales last month (and 31% for the year).
At a NADA meeting last week, Press conceded that Chrysler posted zero revenue in the month after Dec. 19, during which it shut factories. Chrysler launched a new round of incentives last week, called "Employee Pricing Plus Plus," offering both 0% deals, and up to $6,000 off MSRP. One former GM marketing executive, who requested not to be named, said that since Chrysler bases revenue on vehicles delivered to dealers (not sold by dealers), the company is essentially asking dealers to create the impression that Chrysler--with an eye to its date with the government--is in fact turning around.
"They are trying to show the government they have revenue; they are asking dealers to take more inventory even if they can't sell it," he says. "It will look like revenue spiked in January. And the car czar won't have any idea of what transpired. They'll say, 'oh, revenue is up--they're back on track!'"
McEleney said dealers, meanwhile, have to battle the opinion that they are a drag on the economy. "Some pundits characterized dealers as a drain on the books of automakers and suggested it was time to do away with the franchise system," he said. "In a $17 million sales year, it may be enough for us to share that we sponsor Little League teams or that we helped to fund the new wing at the local hospital; in a $12 million sales year, we've got to tell how we contribute to our community's bottom line."
He suggested that dealers inform the public about how the dealer franchise business affects local, state and national economies, including sales taxes, and that auto sales account for 20% of all retail spending in the U.S.
McEleney was ultimately sanguine about the future of the business, saying that the downturn won't last forever. "Our job is to protect and strengthen our dealerships so that as the cycle turns upward, we are in a position to thrive," he said.
NADA's chief economist, Paul Taylor, predicts that sales won't pick up until the third quarter, and that the year will finish with 12.7 million vehicles sold, versus last year's 13.2 million.
(source: mediapost.com)
Association members hunkered down in New Orleans last weekend trying to stay afloat in a flood of bad news: a frozen credit situation, plummeting consumer confidence this month, massive layoffs, and plunging auto sales that caused some 1,000 GM, Ford and Chrysler dealers to go under last year.
McEleney said dealers and NADA's PR and political efforts helped get GM and Chrysler government loans and Treasury backing for GMAC and Chrysler Financial to offer credit. "Their efforts paid off," he said, while counseling dealers to continue the push, by promoting themselves as pillars of their communities and of the state and national economy. And, he said, dealers have to participate in the debate on how to rebuild the economy and how to create national emission standards--particularly in the next two months, in which GM and Chrysler approach their deadlines for showing the efficacy of government bailouts.
Those deadlines--mid-February for GM and Chrysler to submit viability reports on their efforts to boost revenue and mid-March to demonstrate they have cut their debt by two-thirds in order to get an additional $4 billion--were the subtext of Chrysler Vice-Chairman Jim Press' speech to dealers at NADA. Press and Chrysler executives exhorted Chrysler's 3,300 dealers to order 78,000 new vehicles from Chrysler next month--2% less than last year, but far more than they need, given Chrysler's 53% drop in new-vehicle sales last month (and 31% for the year).
At a NADA meeting last week, Press conceded that Chrysler posted zero revenue in the month after Dec. 19, during which it shut factories. Chrysler launched a new round of incentives last week, called "Employee Pricing Plus Plus," offering both 0% deals, and up to $6,000 off MSRP. One former GM marketing executive, who requested not to be named, said that since Chrysler bases revenue on vehicles delivered to dealers (not sold by dealers), the company is essentially asking dealers to create the impression that Chrysler--with an eye to its date with the government--is in fact turning around.
"They are trying to show the government they have revenue; they are asking dealers to take more inventory even if they can't sell it," he says. "It will look like revenue spiked in January. And the car czar won't have any idea of what transpired. They'll say, 'oh, revenue is up--they're back on track!'"
McEleney said dealers, meanwhile, have to battle the opinion that they are a drag on the economy. "Some pundits characterized dealers as a drain on the books of automakers and suggested it was time to do away with the franchise system," he said. "In a $17 million sales year, it may be enough for us to share that we sponsor Little League teams or that we helped to fund the new wing at the local hospital; in a $12 million sales year, we've got to tell how we contribute to our community's bottom line."
He suggested that dealers inform the public about how the dealer franchise business affects local, state and national economies, including sales taxes, and that auto sales account for 20% of all retail spending in the U.S.
McEleney was ultimately sanguine about the future of the business, saying that the downturn won't last forever. "Our job is to protect and strengthen our dealerships so that as the cycle turns upward, we are in a position to thrive," he said.
NADA's chief economist, Paul Taylor, predicts that sales won't pick up until the third quarter, and that the year will finish with 12.7 million vehicles sold, versus last year's 13.2 million.
(source: mediapost.com)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Things We're Still Buying
Consumer spending may be at all-time low, but there are plenty of things people can't seem to live without.
Hey, Big Spender, are you out there? You must be, since December 2008 sales amounted to $343.2 billion. What did you buy?
Nothing impulsive or lavish, it would seem. Consumer confidence is at its lowest point in history and, according to a Jan. 14 report released by the Commerce Department, retail sales were down 2.7 percent in December 2008 from November 2008 and 9.8 percent from December 2007.
From Wal-Mart to Saks Fifth Avenue, retailers are so desperate to rid themselves of inventory that they're marking down some merchandise by 90 percent.
However, $343.2 billion is still something, not zero, meaning consumers still deem many items worthy of the original price tag, says Martin Lindstrom, a retail marketing expert and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies about What We Buy.
While retailers suffer from shoppers changing their behaviors during recessions (mainly by abandoning brand loyalty), says Lindstrom, "There are certain things people won't give up."
Keeping up appearances
Personal care is one of them. That vast category includes everything from shaving cream to perfume to hairspray. From November 2007 to November 2008, U.S. sales of shampoo, acne treatments, skin care gift sets and grooming products increased by 18 percent, 14 percent, 11 percent and 15 percent, respectively, according to Karen Grant, senior beauty analyst at Port Washington, N.Y.-based market-research firm The NPD Group.
Consumers are even still spending beyond the necessities in the personal-care category, it seems. At Nelson Bach, a North Andover, Mass.-based natural remedy company, year-over-year sales of its Rescue Pastilles have doubled, according to company president Cynthia Batterman.
She believes that in a tough economy, when 7.2 percent unemployment means an increase in those lacking health insurance, many turn to alternative therapies. Nelson Bach's gummy lozenges, made with flower essence of white chestnut, are said to offer natural stress relief. And at $7 a tin, they're a relatively inexpensive way to feel just a little bit better."
When people put off going to the doctor, they're more likely to try self-treatment," says Batterman.
Seeking an escape
Whether used for keeping up appearances or curing minor ailments, personal care is -- ultimately -- about feeling good. Sometimes, that means buying products to escape the reality of the recession."
Even if we can't afford to escape to Paris, we can still afford to buy perfume with 'Paris' on the label," says Lindstrom.
But it's technology, not perfume, which many would say does the best job of providing a sense of escape. Arguably the most accessible form is the videogame, which has seen a 14 percent sales increase in 2008, according to San Diego, Calif.-based Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group (EEDAR).
In the third quarter of 2008 alone, the two top-selling items -- "Madden NFL '09" and "Wii Fit" -- sold 5 million units combined, according to NPD. And since it was first released in 2005, Guitar Hero has sold 25 million copies, grossing $2 billion.
Smart phones, another way to use videogames and other forms of escapist entertainment -- like podcasts and television shows -- are also in demand. NPD says that from November 2007 to November 2008, the number of smart phones purchased increased from 13 million to 24 million, which resulted in a sales increase of 53 percent, from $2.7 billion to $4.1 billion over the same period.
And while you can't do much more than surf the Internet and write term papers on minute-memory netbooks, the reasonable price -- about $300 -- made mini laptops a winner. Sales in the third quarter of 2008 increased by 160 percent compared with the third quarter of 2007, according to Austin, Texas-based market research firm Display Search.
Keeping fit
Don't let consumers' continued thirst for technology have you thinking everyone will be anchored to the couch through the remainder of the recession, however long it lasts. Gyms, considered by some to be an affordable luxury, aren't completely in the red, as people seem to want to stay healthy in both good and bad times.
In fact, market researchers at St. Louis, Missouri-based firm Stifel Nicolaus say overall gym memberships will increase by 4 percent in 2009. And a nationwide survey conducted by Princeton, N.J.-based Opinion Research Corporation, and sponsored by gym chain Anytime Fitness, found that over 60 percent of the 1,090 (gym-going) participants planned on keeping their current membership plan, while another 23 percent planned on downgrading to a less expensive option.
Aside from bare necessities, the things consumers are still buying have one thing in common: They provide a break from reality. "We want to dream ourselves away," says Lindstrom.
Maybe everything will be fine by the time we wake up.?
(Source: Forbes.com, 01/21/09)
Hey, Big Spender, are you out there? You must be, since December 2008 sales amounted to $343.2 billion. What did you buy?
Nothing impulsive or lavish, it would seem. Consumer confidence is at its lowest point in history and, according to a Jan. 14 report released by the Commerce Department, retail sales were down 2.7 percent in December 2008 from November 2008 and 9.8 percent from December 2007.
From Wal-Mart to Saks Fifth Avenue, retailers are so desperate to rid themselves of inventory that they're marking down some merchandise by 90 percent.
However, $343.2 billion is still something, not zero, meaning consumers still deem many items worthy of the original price tag, says Martin Lindstrom, a retail marketing expert and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies about What We Buy.
While retailers suffer from shoppers changing their behaviors during recessions (mainly by abandoning brand loyalty), says Lindstrom, "There are certain things people won't give up."
Keeping up appearances
Personal care is one of them. That vast category includes everything from shaving cream to perfume to hairspray. From November 2007 to November 2008, U.S. sales of shampoo, acne treatments, skin care gift sets and grooming products increased by 18 percent, 14 percent, 11 percent and 15 percent, respectively, according to Karen Grant, senior beauty analyst at Port Washington, N.Y.-based market-research firm The NPD Group.
Consumers are even still spending beyond the necessities in the personal-care category, it seems. At Nelson Bach, a North Andover, Mass.-based natural remedy company, year-over-year sales of its Rescue Pastilles have doubled, according to company president Cynthia Batterman.
She believes that in a tough economy, when 7.2 percent unemployment means an increase in those lacking health insurance, many turn to alternative therapies. Nelson Bach's gummy lozenges, made with flower essence of white chestnut, are said to offer natural stress relief. And at $7 a tin, they're a relatively inexpensive way to feel just a little bit better."
When people put off going to the doctor, they're more likely to try self-treatment," says Batterman.
Seeking an escape
Whether used for keeping up appearances or curing minor ailments, personal care is -- ultimately -- about feeling good. Sometimes, that means buying products to escape the reality of the recession."
Even if we can't afford to escape to Paris, we can still afford to buy perfume with 'Paris' on the label," says Lindstrom.
But it's technology, not perfume, which many would say does the best job of providing a sense of escape. Arguably the most accessible form is the videogame, which has seen a 14 percent sales increase in 2008, according to San Diego, Calif.-based Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group (EEDAR).
In the third quarter of 2008 alone, the two top-selling items -- "Madden NFL '09" and "Wii Fit" -- sold 5 million units combined, according to NPD. And since it was first released in 2005, Guitar Hero has sold 25 million copies, grossing $2 billion.
Smart phones, another way to use videogames and other forms of escapist entertainment -- like podcasts and television shows -- are also in demand. NPD says that from November 2007 to November 2008, the number of smart phones purchased increased from 13 million to 24 million, which resulted in a sales increase of 53 percent, from $2.7 billion to $4.1 billion over the same period.
And while you can't do much more than surf the Internet and write term papers on minute-memory netbooks, the reasonable price -- about $300 -- made mini laptops a winner. Sales in the third quarter of 2008 increased by 160 percent compared with the third quarter of 2007, according to Austin, Texas-based market research firm Display Search.
Keeping fit
Don't let consumers' continued thirst for technology have you thinking everyone will be anchored to the couch through the remainder of the recession, however long it lasts. Gyms, considered by some to be an affordable luxury, aren't completely in the red, as people seem to want to stay healthy in both good and bad times.
In fact, market researchers at St. Louis, Missouri-based firm Stifel Nicolaus say overall gym memberships will increase by 4 percent in 2009. And a nationwide survey conducted by Princeton, N.J.-based Opinion Research Corporation, and sponsored by gym chain Anytime Fitness, found that over 60 percent of the 1,090 (gym-going) participants planned on keeping their current membership plan, while another 23 percent planned on downgrading to a less expensive option.
Aside from bare necessities, the things consumers are still buying have one thing in common: They provide a break from reality. "We want to dream ourselves away," says Lindstrom.
Maybe everything will be fine by the time we wake up.?
(Source: Forbes.com, 01/21/09)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Back To Basics For Marketers
The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) and Anderson Analytics, in its second annual survey of Top Marketing Trends for 2009, report that marketing executives are going back to basics this year, putting renewed focus on satisfying and retaining customers and investing in research and insights, but are sick of hearing about Web 2.0.
Marketers expressed concern on how a recession would impact priorities moving forward, and half of the executives believe their marketing budgets will decrease in 2009, while 56% indicated their staffing plans will either stay the same or increase.
The Top Five Trends:
I Insight and innovation are viewed as keys to combat down economic and business cycles. 72% of respondents indicated that innovation efforts would stay the same or increase, while 39% say their use of market research will increase in the next year. This is significant given that most marketing experts agree it's imperative to innovate and mine insights during a recession, Anderson Analytics said.
II Customer satisfaction and customer retention remained the top two marketing concepts followed by marketing ROI, brand loyalty and segmentation, which represents a "Back to Core Principles" approach to marketing. Of the 62 identified marketing concepts, faith-based marketing, six sigma, game theory, anti-americanism and immigration were viewed as the least important.
Among the marketing concepts rated as important by more executives, Customer Retention, Marketing ROI, Lead Generation and Alternative Energy showed the largest increases from last year.
III The issue of global warming showed the largest decrease in importance (dropping 14 places in the rankings), while green marketing showed a statistically significant 5% drop.
IV Twice as many marketers are "sick" of hearing about Web 2.0 and related buzzwords such as "blogs" and "social networking" compared to last year's survey; however, marketers still admit they don't know enough about it. This was evident in the results of a social media study MENG released on November 6, 2008 showing 67% of executive marketers consider themselves beginners when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes.
V Despite well-publicized quality issues over the last year, China ranked the number one greatest area of opportunity for 53% of the marketers with international responsibility. India was a distant second with only 17% of respondents.
Offshoring, however, has significantly diminished in favor as more executives this year (58% vs. 49% in 2008) agreed that offshoring ‘is not as profitable as others think, and is fraught with risk'. Marketing executives also still feel Boomers represent the best opportunity for customer targeting, while the perceived importance of Generation X and Generation Y grew significantly compared to 2008.
The main sources of marketing inspiration remained practically the same this year. Good to Great remained the most widely read and most recommended book. However, several new books appeared on the reading list this year including: Groundswell, Hot Flat and Crowded, The Black Swan, Predictably Irrational, Mavericks at Work, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, The Art of the Start, Purple Cow, Go Put Your Strengths to Work, and Our Iceberg is Melting.
Similarly to the books, the number one business Guru last year, Seth Godin, remained the favorite marketing guru for 2009. However, Warren Buffet and Malcolm Gladwell increased significantly in popularity and now occupy second and third place, respectively. Jim Stengel also made the Marketing Guru list for the first time this year. Seth Godin was mentioned by most executives as the most important marketing/business Guru for two years in a row
(source: mediapost.com)
Marketers expressed concern on how a recession would impact priorities moving forward, and half of the executives believe their marketing budgets will decrease in 2009, while 56% indicated their staffing plans will either stay the same or increase.
The Top Five Trends:
I Insight and innovation are viewed as keys to combat down economic and business cycles. 72% of respondents indicated that innovation efforts would stay the same or increase, while 39% say their use of market research will increase in the next year. This is significant given that most marketing experts agree it's imperative to innovate and mine insights during a recession, Anderson Analytics said.
II Customer satisfaction and customer retention remained the top two marketing concepts followed by marketing ROI, brand loyalty and segmentation, which represents a "Back to Core Principles" approach to marketing. Of the 62 identified marketing concepts, faith-based marketing, six sigma, game theory, anti-americanism and immigration were viewed as the least important.
Among the marketing concepts rated as important by more executives, Customer Retention, Marketing ROI, Lead Generation and Alternative Energy showed the largest increases from last year.
III The issue of global warming showed the largest decrease in importance (dropping 14 places in the rankings), while green marketing showed a statistically significant 5% drop.
IV Twice as many marketers are "sick" of hearing about Web 2.0 and related buzzwords such as "blogs" and "social networking" compared to last year's survey; however, marketers still admit they don't know enough about it. This was evident in the results of a social media study MENG released on November 6, 2008 showing 67% of executive marketers consider themselves beginners when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes.
V Despite well-publicized quality issues over the last year, China ranked the number one greatest area of opportunity for 53% of the marketers with international responsibility. India was a distant second with only 17% of respondents.
Offshoring, however, has significantly diminished in favor as more executives this year (58% vs. 49% in 2008) agreed that offshoring ‘is not as profitable as others think, and is fraught with risk'. Marketing executives also still feel Boomers represent the best opportunity for customer targeting, while the perceived importance of Generation X and Generation Y grew significantly compared to 2008.
The main sources of marketing inspiration remained practically the same this year. Good to Great remained the most widely read and most recommended book. However, several new books appeared on the reading list this year including: Groundswell, Hot Flat and Crowded, The Black Swan, Predictably Irrational, Mavericks at Work, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, The Art of the Start, Purple Cow, Go Put Your Strengths to Work, and Our Iceberg is Melting.
Similarly to the books, the number one business Guru last year, Seth Godin, remained the favorite marketing guru for 2009. However, Warren Buffet and Malcolm Gladwell increased significantly in popularity and now occupy second and third place, respectively. Jim Stengel also made the Marketing Guru list for the first time this year. Seth Godin was mentioned by most executives as the most important marketing/business Guru for two years in a row
(source: mediapost.com)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
What Are Your Top 3 Fundamentals?
If you and your team could focus on being sure that only three fundamental issues were applied to your sales days this year, what would they be?
This is a continual debate at JustSell.com.
Here are our thoughts...
1. Establish a relentless focus on talking with prospects and customers at every moment of each sales day. Sales requires contact. Make contact your first priority.
2. Be prepared with one to three absolutely solid statements that communicate the reasons someone should buy from you now – buy from you... now. These should be powerful statements that create a sense of urgency and make it clear why you and your offering are the solution to their situation at this very moment – scripted and rehearsed to a point where you can deliver these benefits with appropriate voice intonation, literally, in your sleep. (please remember: being the biggest, oldest, or "premier" provider is rarely a reason someone should buy from you... in fact, sometimes it could be the reason not to)
3. Be ready with an approachable, non-defensive method of responding to the top three objections you and your team hear each sales day. Again, these should be scripted and rehearsed to be delivered without hesitation.
That's it. This is where it begins. Pure sales discipline for 2009.
(source: justsell.com)
This is a continual debate at JustSell.com.
Here are our thoughts...
1. Establish a relentless focus on talking with prospects and customers at every moment of each sales day. Sales requires contact. Make contact your first priority.
2. Be prepared with one to three absolutely solid statements that communicate the reasons someone should buy from you now – buy from you... now. These should be powerful statements that create a sense of urgency and make it clear why you and your offering are the solution to their situation at this very moment – scripted and rehearsed to a point where you can deliver these benefits with appropriate voice intonation, literally, in your sleep. (please remember: being the biggest, oldest, or "premier" provider is rarely a reason someone should buy from you... in fact, sometimes it could be the reason not to)
3. Be ready with an approachable, non-defensive method of responding to the top three objections you and your team hear each sales day. Again, these should be scripted and rehearsed to be delivered without hesitation.
That's it. This is where it begins. Pure sales discipline for 2009.
(source: justsell.com)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Restaurants Share Survival Strategies for 2009
Earlier this week, restaurant operators large and small provided their outlooks for the year ahead -- and most of them were not pretty.
At the seventh annual Cowen & Co. consumer investment conference in New York, which took place Monday and Tuesday, about 20 restaurant firms presented their strategies for 2009, most of which included cutting costs, slashing development plans, retooling menus and tweaking marketing messages.
High-end operator Stephen Hanson, founder and president of B.R. Guest Restaurants, a multiunit operator with concepts in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, said consumer traffic just about died at the end of the 2008, and he worried that it may not return for some time.
"For 2008, we're going to be like, 'That was a good year,'" he said. "I think the consumer will just shut down, and even when they do go out, they will be thinking differently about how they spend their money É 2009 will be a very, very tough year."
Hanson, whose company boasts brands like Ruby Foo's, Fiamma and Dos Caminos, said chain operators should focus less on the cost side of running the business during these tough times, and more on the customer.
"In general, chains need CRM [customer relationship management]," he said. "Today you need volume; you need to hug the customer."
A laser-like focus on generating customer traffic -- through discounting, improved marketing or retooled menu items -- was an obvious theme throughout the conference.
Domino's Pizza chief executive David Brandon said the pizza delivery chain had neglected consumers who were looking for more value, as individual operators let menu prices increase too much to fight off inflation. The lack of traffic that resulted could have led to the nine Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings by Domino's franchisees in 2008. Domino's new oven-baked sandwiches, priced at $4.99 each, are an answer to customers seeking value, Brandon said.
Sonic Corp. executives said the drive-in chain's new permanent value menu, with items priced at $1, will attract more customers. The company also said it would ramp up its media spending by about 5 percent from a year ago to about $200 million.
Buffalo Wild Wings is promoting its Big Jack Daddy Burger, a burger topped with pulled pork, fried onion rings, cheddar-jack cheese and honey barbeque sauce, while Papa John's Pizza is looking to introduce "non-pizza items," which it would not disclose.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., the operator of the burrito chain that has struggled of late, said it is completely revamping its marketing efforts. A new chief marketing officer and a new advertising agency will bring a more sophisticated advertising approach to the fast-casual chain, said founder and chief executive Steve Ells. The chain just finished in December a systemwide menu price hike of as high as 6 percent in some locations.
Almost all companies said they would slow development in 2009. Bob Evans Farms Inc., for example, said it would open just one location of its namesake family-dining brand this year, and Morton's Restaurants Inc. said it would open only two or three restaurants in 2009. Not only are financing and site selection for new developments not favorable, but returns for new units just won't hit targets with the consumer staying at home, many companies said.
To help cut costs in the face of slowed sales, most restaurant operators said they are looking at labor scheduling that highlights sales per shift or even per hour so that efficiencies are gained. At BJ's Restaurants Inc., for example, executives said new technology will help the casual-dining chain monitor shift progress in real time so that labor decisions can be made immediately.
At Ruby Tuesday Inc., about $60 million in cost saving during the past 12 months has come from labor cutbacks, including field management, corporate staff and executive positions, the company said.
"It's the toughest I've seen out there," said chairman and chief executive Sandy Beall. "It's a good cleansing process, though, and it will benefit us in the long term."
(Source: Nation's Restaurant News, 1/13/09)
At the seventh annual Cowen & Co. consumer investment conference in New York, which took place Monday and Tuesday, about 20 restaurant firms presented their strategies for 2009, most of which included cutting costs, slashing development plans, retooling menus and tweaking marketing messages.
High-end operator Stephen Hanson, founder and president of B.R. Guest Restaurants, a multiunit operator with concepts in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, said consumer traffic just about died at the end of the 2008, and he worried that it may not return for some time.
"For 2008, we're going to be like, 'That was a good year,'" he said. "I think the consumer will just shut down, and even when they do go out, they will be thinking differently about how they spend their money É 2009 will be a very, very tough year."
Hanson, whose company boasts brands like Ruby Foo's, Fiamma and Dos Caminos, said chain operators should focus less on the cost side of running the business during these tough times, and more on the customer.
"In general, chains need CRM [customer relationship management]," he said. "Today you need volume; you need to hug the customer."
A laser-like focus on generating customer traffic -- through discounting, improved marketing or retooled menu items -- was an obvious theme throughout the conference.
Domino's Pizza chief executive David Brandon said the pizza delivery chain had neglected consumers who were looking for more value, as individual operators let menu prices increase too much to fight off inflation. The lack of traffic that resulted could have led to the nine Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings by Domino's franchisees in 2008. Domino's new oven-baked sandwiches, priced at $4.99 each, are an answer to customers seeking value, Brandon said.
Sonic Corp. executives said the drive-in chain's new permanent value menu, with items priced at $1, will attract more customers. The company also said it would ramp up its media spending by about 5 percent from a year ago to about $200 million.
Buffalo Wild Wings is promoting its Big Jack Daddy Burger, a burger topped with pulled pork, fried onion rings, cheddar-jack cheese and honey barbeque sauce, while Papa John's Pizza is looking to introduce "non-pizza items," which it would not disclose.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., the operator of the burrito chain that has struggled of late, said it is completely revamping its marketing efforts. A new chief marketing officer and a new advertising agency will bring a more sophisticated advertising approach to the fast-casual chain, said founder and chief executive Steve Ells. The chain just finished in December a systemwide menu price hike of as high as 6 percent in some locations.
Almost all companies said they would slow development in 2009. Bob Evans Farms Inc., for example, said it would open just one location of its namesake family-dining brand this year, and Morton's Restaurants Inc. said it would open only two or three restaurants in 2009. Not only are financing and site selection for new developments not favorable, but returns for new units just won't hit targets with the consumer staying at home, many companies said.
To help cut costs in the face of slowed sales, most restaurant operators said they are looking at labor scheduling that highlights sales per shift or even per hour so that efficiencies are gained. At BJ's Restaurants Inc., for example, executives said new technology will help the casual-dining chain monitor shift progress in real time so that labor decisions can be made immediately.
At Ruby Tuesday Inc., about $60 million in cost saving during the past 12 months has come from labor cutbacks, including field management, corporate staff and executive positions, the company said.
"It's the toughest I've seen out there," said chairman and chief executive Sandy Beall. "It's a good cleansing process, though, and it will benefit us in the long term."
(Source: Nation's Restaurant News, 1/13/09)
Friday, January 16, 2009
Does Your Message Pass The "So What!" Test?
As you are writing your marketing message, it is critical to make sure your message passes the "So What!" test. If you ask it enough, you will get down to the real reason your potential customer should do business with you.
Many marketing messages miss the mark on what is really important to their customer. Digging deeper into some of the stated features will help you really tap into the emotions and need of person hearing your message.
A few things to say "So What!" to:
Many marketing messages miss the mark on what is really important to their customer. Digging deeper into some of the stated features will help you really tap into the emotions and need of person hearing your message.
A few things to say "So What!" to:
- Locally owned & operated
- In business since ____
- We are / have the largest
- We are #1 in ______
- Lowest prices, guaranteed
- Just off the freeway
You get the picture. Digging deeper into the the "So What!" statements will help you get to the real story of what makes your business special. You may need to ask "So What!" a couple of times, but when you get down to the real story of your business you will truly see what sets you apart. At that point, you will begin to see stronger results from your marketing efforts.
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