A member of one of our CEO Focus groups in Maryland, Sam, was building a new home generator repair business. A “consultant” told him he should do radio ads to bring new customers. Off Sam went and spent $60,000 on radio ads! Did they work? Nobody knows, because they had not set up a way to track which new customers, if any, came from those ads…
This consultant was supposed to be a marketing expert. Further research showed that, not only did she charge Sam a hefty fee, but she got a commission from the radio stations! Highway robbery, you might say – and I’d be inclined to agree with you. By the time Sam brought this problem to me, he was kind of sour on “marketing.” He mentioned, “I don’t think we have the budget for marketing anymore…”
THE SOLUTION
I asked him if he’d targeted his prospects. Sam said, “I don’t know, but I don’t think so.” Further discussion revealed that the consultant had not, in fact, helped Sam target his prospects. I suggested to Sam that he should develop a simple marketing plan using the classic formula of:
Segment Your Market —> Set Your Target —> Clarify Your Strategy(s) —> Implement Your Tactics
I began to support Sam to create a simple marketing plan using this formula. We clarified that Sam’s segment of the huge electrical generator market was home generators. His target was single family homeowners.
Further specified, his target was single family homeowners within a 40 mile radius of his office that might purchase a home generator within the next year. Finally, this target was to be a homeowner that had experienced at least one power outage during the past year.
What should the strategy be? We determined that to reach a narrow target like this, we would best use some type of marketing that would reach only those people who fit his target description exactly. Certainly, the scatter-shot approach of radio advertising was out!
We determined that direct mail, the Internet and possibly niche magazine advertising would work best. Now it was time to look at tactics. What type of magazines would we use, and what type of direct mail? If we used the Web, how would we find those specified prospects and how would we communicate with them?
Rather than spell out what Sam ended up doing, let’s have some fun – what specific marketing tactics would you have suggest that Sam use to reach his target? Let me and our readers know what you think, below, in a comment. And, as always, if you know a small business owner that might enjoy this, could you send it along to them?
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Henri Schauffler is the CEO Focus Facilitator in Washington, DC and suburban Maryland. He has dedicated the last 20 years to helping small businesses like yours to “Outmanage, Outhire, Outsell and Outprofit All the Competition.” For a FREE business assessment and tune up to see exactly how you are doing in all Eight Essential Areas for Business Success, go to:
