Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Hi Sallie,

One idea I have, since your target audience is restaurants is to create a "menu" that list all your services.

Your primary services could be featured under "Main Entrees"... your secondary services under "Side Dishes" and so on...

This "menu" could be printed and mailed rather easily without too much money and you could also create an online version which can be mailed out.

My company, fmi (fmidm.com) can help you for sure.

If you're interested in hearing more ideas, please shoot me an email at solenski@fmidm.com and we can go from there.

Thank you!
Steve

You've set yourself an almost impossible task: become known, generate leads and hit big numbers in a short timeframe with no money.

Your real answers are: fund or delay the effort. Your real challenge is convincing the folks in charge.

I'd use the "take any two triangle" to plead my case. Any initiative has three elements to it: cost, quality and time. You can maximize two of these but not all three (i.e., you can have it fast and good but it will be expensive, good and cheap but it will take a long time, cheap and fast but it won't be good).

Right now, to achieve fast and cheap, your leadership is sacrificing quality. There's nothing wrong with that (the cheap knockoff industry is built on it) but they should understand what they're getting into. In your case, quality means volume of qualified prospects and that's what they give up.

If they nod their heads and marvel at how clever you are, and then tell you to continue as planned, you might want to reframe the challenge like this:

How can I get restaurants to become early reference customers?

You have to make it worth their while, even if they discover you guys are not for them. What can you give them that will have value but won't cost you anything. Look to how other businesses create reference customers for ideas.

(Sometimes, companies do first work for nuttin'.)

Ideas on presenting that to prospects requires more understanding on my part about the market, but initially I'm thinking that you just lay it out: we're new, we're good, we want to build a reference base, we'll do what it takes for you to become part of it. Remember, every restaurant has faced exactly the challenge you face.

The direct mail v email thing is really academic--direct mail costs money so it needs to be email. I'm not as convinced that DM is the right approach in the first place but I know little about restaurant management or the UK business culture in that respect.

Sallie

Like everyone above said and I am sure you know it as well, its a difficult task. Based on my experience in B2B for beverage industry my suggestion would be to get a brochure (I second Steve's idea on this )done hardcopy and soft both. you would need both to spread the word.

Apply the 80-20 rule, where 20% of the clients you target would bring in 80% of potential revenues. Call them book an appointment and go with your brochure and a presentation to pitch about your services.

Frommy experience the best way to spread the word in B2B is through using ONE big and good client to entice others and prove you guys are something to try out. So in the beginning just focus on some key accounts. once you crack those I am sure others would come in 'relatively' easier.

As for DM vs email I think thats something you should think once u have some clients. Initially i think meeting (if possible) would be the best option to crack a deal.

Goodluck and hope you do well :)

Cheers RJ

Find a client or two, and create a video case study of your work. Show before/during/after results, interviews of restaurant owner, patrons, etc. That'll be a strong calling card that can be passed around easily.