Marketing is everything you do

Marketing is about sending messages. Think of all the ways you might be sending messages – whether you intend to or not. What could be critical is the unintended messages that you might be sending.


The way you look
Your dress, manner and character say the most about you and your business. It is not so much how you look and sound but more importantly how people feel about how you look and sound.


Phone
What message do you want your phones to say about you and your business? Now go check to see what it really says.


Your staff
Your staff is a reflection of you. So if you think that you have ignorant, lazy and sloppy staff – look in the mirror.


Your material
You are not your business card. But if that is all we have – you are that business card – at least in our mind. And what could be more important than the image in the mind your prospects and contacts?


Website
How do people check you out? The Internet. They use their favorite search engine. They might wonder why you are so hard to find. The might wonder why your site is so difficult to navigate. They might wonder why it is so cold.


Check out the messages you might be sending.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Power Marketing on Facebook

Richelieu Hardware: Dissatisfaction Review

Sometimes using a product can be frustrating. We report our complaint to the seller. It's reassuring when the seller actually acknowledges our complaint and responds. I'm pleased to report that Richelieu Hardware responded quickly and pleasantly to my complaint.

Below is a copy of my complaint submitted via their website and below that is their response. I don't expect the world to be made perfect. Sometimes an acknowledgement is all we frustrated customers want.

George


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To Richelieu Hardware:



Today I bought a set of Shelf Sides for a kitchen drawer. Your product number :TP10250030

The product appears to be good. After a lot of work, the drawer is opening and closing smoothly.

However there were some problems.

You might want to change the things that annoyed me with this purchase. They are detailed below for your understanding.


1. Screws were not included with the hardware.

This is the first time I have run into this problem. Imagine selling hardware without screws! Ridiculous. Of course there was no way I could have known about the missing screws. So you can imagine my frustration when I opened the package at home and discovered that the screws were missing.

Upon returning to the store (Home Depot) to exchange for a package with screws I was informed that this particular hardware from Richelieu did not come with screws.

Annoyed I purchased your brand of screws to ensure the correct installation of your product.

The packaging mentioned that "installation instructions" were on your website. The packaging did not say "Screws not included".


2. So I went to your web site and look for a tab or link that said "Installation" or "Instructions". I checked all the menus and could find no such link.

If you are sending people to your site to find instructions - perhaps you could show them a link that says that.

Then I put the product code in the search box and found the product page.


3. No sign of installation or instructions there. There were two tabs at the bottom of the page - Overview and Technical Documents.

If figured that Overview would have what I was looking for. When that didn't work in ongoing frustration I figured "well let's see what the technical documents are". I wasn't looking for technical specs but who knows what I might discover.

Surprise - here are the instructions under technical documents.


4. The instructions didn't help me much. More frustration.

They refer to Slide A and Slide B but did not show which was which. They referred to "the screws" but did not mention that the screws were not included or what type of screws should be used.

There are three different types of holes in the slides. There were no comments about the purpose of each type or suggested use.

I first attached the slides to the drawer by fastening the screws on the side. Then when I tested the drawer I discover that the screws interfered with the movement of the drawer. So I needed to remove those screws and fasten them on the bottom. If you told me this - I would have saved time and additional frustration.


What should have been a simple and quick DIY repair turned into a frustrating and very long job. What I thought was going to be a 30 minute task stole more than half my day.

I look forward to your reply.


George Torok

PS: In full disclosure, I will be posting this email and your reply on my Marketing Blog.

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Thank you for your email, I am are sorry about the delay of my answer, but I tried to call you a few times to give you the information and got no answer, I did not leave a message as I thought that it would be best to talk to you directly.

Richelieu hardware distributes hardware according to our distributor’s specifications. In this case part TP10250030 is not supply with screws as it is virtually impossible for us to know which material the slide will be installed in. As you might know, there are various screw types and lengths used to install drawer slides.

The types of holes in the drawer slides also have to do with the type of screw used for installation. The larger holes are used for “Euro screws”. These are mainly used by kitchen cabinet and furniture makers that pre drill the drawers before installation.

Your recommendations concerning item packaging, instructions and specifications have been forwarded to the product manager; we will keep them in mind for further web and product development.

Have a nice day

Regards

Vanessa Bureau

Richelieu Hardware
Services Web / Web Services

toll free CANADA : 1-866-832-4040
toll free USA: 1-800-619-5446

Google Your Key Words and Phrases

Google is King of search on the Internet. If you want to be found you better be found in Google. That includes both pay for click and search engine optimization.

At least once a year and perhaps every quarter you should Google all the words and phrases that might be important to your business.

For example those words might include:

Your name (person and business)
Your product names
The generic name for your product
The pain or problem that your product fixes
Your trade marks
Your slogan
Your competitors’ names
Your competitor’s product names
Your competitors’ trade marks
Misspellings of the above
Your industry + the word “expert”
Your industry + the name of your city or geographic area of business
The names of your best clients
The names of your key suppliers

Study the results and look for patterns, insights and opportunities.

Google is the King of Internet Search – but Google is also a servant King. Ask the right questions and it will answer. But you need to ask and listen.



George Torok

Marketing Expert

Marketing Speaker

Canadian Business Speaker

Sell to the Greedy – not the Needy

Business Lessons for New Entrepreneurs

I spoke to a business class at Mohawk College recently and gave them several lessons about marketing, business and life.

This point might have been unpleasant to hear.

Sell to the Greedy – not the Needy

That was the advice that I heard from my mentor and co-author, Peter Urs Bender. It might sound mean spirited at first. When you think about it you might see the wisdom. As a business owner you can save yourself a lot of grief if you follow that advice.

You will waste much time and money trying to convince the people who need your product to buy. The reality is those who need you the most are too stupid to buy. That’s why they are so needy. They are looking for a magic pill to cure all their problems.

I have talked to many business owners who need help with their marketing. I know that I can help them tremendously. But they can’t see the value and they only see hiring me as expenditure. They can’t see their marketing as an investment for which they can increase their return. They really need what I’m offering but aren’t willing to invest.

Instead the business owners who hire me are already leaders in their field. They’re looking for incremental improvements and they are willing to invest in that.

Sell to the greedy – those who want what you are selling. They recognize that they only need to gain a few inches or seconds to beat the competition and are willing to pay for that competitive advantage.

If you want to help the needy, make a good profit and donate generously to chairity.

Don’t waste your time and money trying to convince people that they should buy your product. Instead find the educated souls who already want it, appreciate the value and are willing to pay.

Your marketing then becomes a process of search, qualify and sell.


George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Canadian Business Speaker

The Purpose of Marketing is not to Build a Brand video

The purpose of marketing is to sell. Yet, when the marketing fails to product results some marketers claim that is was good branding. Who cares?

If you are small business you should not be wasting your money on branding. Instead you are better off investing your marketing in building more profitable relationships. You are not Coke or Nike. You are "insert your name here".







George Torok

Marketing Speaker

Canadian Business Speaker

Cheeky TV ad from First Bank

I like this TV ad from First Bank. It's cheeky, funny and memorable.

It also pokes fun at self annointed experts and motivational speakers. Those are easy targets that very few people will get upset about. I'm called a marketing expert because of my bestselling book and satisfied clients. And I've been described as a motivational speaker so many times that I finally just accepted the label. Yet I wasn't offended by this ad because I recognize the truth in it. The lesson for marketers: It's effective to take a position and be cheeky. And stating the obvious can be a refreshing marketing approach.

Notice that this ad didn't say anything about the features and benefits of working with First Bank. It simply implied that they have a sence of humor, are down to earth and easy to deal with. Hmm, pretty distinctive for a bank. Two thumbs up for this advertisement and the First Bank.

Stop Branding and start marketing - video tip