Question

Topic: Branding

Small & Medium Business Owners And Their Mentality

Posted by Anonymous on 9/19/2009 at 4:52 PM ET 25 Points
Hi Everyone

I started doing some work with small and medium businesses in terms of branding and general marketing. This mainly consists of tasks like brand/identity, consistency, sales material and collateral and emarketing activities. The one thing I found was that there is a huge emotional connection and protective mindset that these individuals have with their businesses. In most cases the businesses are successful and have grown beyond the control of the owner.

They want to do more and take it to the next level but they just cannot seem to let go of some areas and are very reluctant to change. A typical case would be a monthly e-newsletter where the person is used to do it themselves and it is normally something put together in a word processor or simple page layout application.

The database that this goes to is also normally something that is a mess in all respects and the way the email is being sent is from a desktop mail client to sometimes 10000 people. (Who knows how many it actually reaches as there has not been any list or bounce management in place. They all want to do nice html formats because they see examples from other companies but they want to do what they used to and that is to include random clip art and then I will not even start going into the messages and what is actually covered in terms of content, the lack of good readable messages and calls to action etc. This is just one example of how things are done.

What I would like to know is if anyone has any info to share or good resources that deals with this. Essentially it feels like I need to treat them with kids gloves and I would like to somehow put together information or even a presentation to show them why they need consistency with their branding a proper marketing plan/strategy etc. I seem to be able to sometimes convince them on some parts but I need some help with my approach and some material to backup and justify my advise and reasons.

I just thought some of you must have already dealt with these challenges and could also share some tips from your experience.
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  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 9/19/2009 at 6:10 PM Accepted
    Dear jaqkar,

    A long question to which there is a short answer: Glazer Kennedy.

    www.dankennedy.com/ -
    www.gkicwebstore.com/ -

    If you live in the United States there are regional GK chapters that meet monthly. Dan Kennedy takes a stern, no nonsense, no BS approach to direct response marketing and as much as he is loathed by brand-based ad agencies, he is much admired by other marketing people who take the direct response path.

    On a regular basis I tell business owners (in this forum and elsewhere), whether they like it or not—and many don't—,that they don't matter; that the number of years they've been in business or the quality (they believe) of their widget, product, or service, that NONE of it matters.

    That it is in truth, mostly irrelevant.

    But that what TRULY DOES matter is the quality and significance of their message IN THE WORLD OF THEIR CUSTOMER.

    Likewise, I tell business owners—and again, whether they like it or not is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned—that in order to thrive, they must make sales to bring in customers, NOT find customers to make a sale.

    The first group BUY MORE THINGS OVER TIME. The second group does not.

    Business owners don't have to like me, but in order to make a difference to their bottom line they may want to respect —and from time to time possibly even try and listen to my methods advice, and opinion.

    Does it always work? No.

    Do people always listen? No.

    But I don't expect it to.

    I don't do this to be liked. I do it BECAUSE I KNOW IT WORKS.
    But WHEN a client sees sense and suspends their disbelief (and sometimes, their pigheadedness), the results can be impressive.

    When clients doubt they do so because of fear, stubbornness, and doubt, So the marketers job is to persuade them to at the very least split test things.

    How?

    Well, here's a wacky, off the wall idea: Tell them to do part of a mailing your way (which, you will pay for, thereby removing the fear, doubt, and the BS "excuse" of expense), and part their way and let the results speak for themselves.

    The deal must be that if your way pulls a higher response, that they pick up the tab, thereby eliminating your potential loss. Get things in writing and have it taken care of by a notary so it's all nice and legal (and binding!). When clients see real results from doing it your way they'll be more inclined to listen.

    Again, will this work? Not every time because of message segmentation, message, delivery type, and who you're talking to about what. But when it does work the results can be impressive.

    Again, I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
    Follow me https://twitter.com/GaryBloomer

  • Posted on 9/20/2009 at 1:13 AM Member
    What a GREAT question!
    And equally-great answer. :)

  • Posted on 9/24/2009 at 2:22 AM Author
    Thanks Gary, that was a great post and reply!
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