Lahaina Strikes Again!
May 13, 2009
Most business owners and salespeople seem content to sit back, complain, and rattle off an endless stream of reasons why business is slow…while they continue to work in exactly the same manner they did when the economy was strong – or worse still, sit around and wait for business to come to them.
This second strategy is unreliable even in the best of circumstances, and downright foolish in today’s economy. And yet you see it in use constantly. We certainly do…with one notable and recent exception.
First a quick bit of background. Lorie and I like Asian art. In fact, we like Asian food, Asian culture, and, of course, Asian martial arts. We joke that if there’s such a thing as “previous lives” then we were both certainly Japanese during the samurai period.
One of our favorite artists is Hisashi Otsuka. Lorie bought me a framed poster of one of his pieces as a wedding present nearly 25 years ago. We’ve since bought two prints of his that grace our living room.
So it came as a pleasant surprise when Lorie got a call from Mike Summers last week. Mike works at Lahaina Galleries, the company that represents Otsuka and many other prominent artists. Based in Hawaii, Lahaina Galleries has locations in Maui and on the Big Island, in San Francisco and Newport Beach, California, and in Bend, Oregon.
Mike called to let us know about a new release by Otsuka we might be interested in, and to tell us about an October event they’re having at the San Francisco gallery called “I Found My Art in San Francisco” – a play on words on the classic Tony Bennett Song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
As a bonus, they’re hoping to have Otsuka at the gallery for the event, which would be a real treat since I’ve never met him before.
There are three extremely important things Mr. Summers did, and I’m hoping you’ve already picked up on at least two of them:
1. He contacted previous customers – We’re not big-time art collectors. In fact, the two Otsuka prints and one poster we own make up our entire collection. But we did buy two of them, the most recent one a little over a year ago. So in addition to sending us periodic e-mails and print newsletters (hey, there’s a bonus strategy for you!) he reached out and presented us with an additional opportunity to acquire a third piece from the artist.
When was the last time you got in touch with past customers?
2. He called – The personal touch of reaching out and talking to us personally is something that’s not done quite enough, particularly with people who’ve suddenly and mysteriously stopped buying from you.
Do you call regular or lost customers with special information and updates?
3. He took initiative – I’ve never met Mike Summers. He didn’t sell us the recent print we bought, and he certainly didn’t sell us the first one we bought back in 1995. For all I know, he could have been seven years old back then. What he did do was compile a list of the gallery’s customers, call to introduce himself, and offer something of interest (the October event) to get our attention. This took a lot of time and effort, and was certainly more difficult than sitting on his butt in an empty gallery, complaining about how bad the economy is, while waiting for buyers to walk in off the street.
What creative, innovative, and proactive strategies are you using to get new business?
With no clear end in sight to this economic downturn, you simply can’t rely on previously successful strategies or simple good fortune to see you through – you need to develop a new mindset and a different approach that will seem like a “work of art” to your customers, clients, and members.
Copy Cat!
March 20, 2009
With all the resources at your disposal, it’s easier than ever to create a killer marketing piece. And there’s one method that makes the process almost effortless.
I spoke a few weeks ago for a local business development council, part of a national network of 39 regional groups, delivering a full-day marketing program to a group of small-business owners and key employees of larger companies. This is always a lot of fun for me, because whenever I have a room full of people who are motivated to succeed, they pay attention, they get what I’m talking about, and they start implementing almost immediately.
As we began the part of the program where we start working on the brochures, letters, and other materials they brought with them, I happened to catch a glance of the tri-fold brochure the client had used to get people to register for the event we were all participating in.
At first glance I thought the brochure looked familiar. As soon as I opened it up, I immediately knew why: it was copied from a brochure I had worked on with another group in the network – the one from Florida. And when I say “copied,” I don’t mean “loosely based on,” I mean copied almost verbatim with only the name of the organization and the specific event information changed.
The reason I recognized it so quickly is that I had spent an hour on a private webinar with the first group’s president and marketing director doing an extensive critique and rewrite of their original brochure.
Now, far from getting upset, I got a big smile on my face, held the brochure up high for the group to see, and praised the client hosting the event for being so clever. Why? Two main reasons with direct application to your business:
- Don’t Reinvent the Wheel – The programs I did for both groups were identical, so, naturally, the same brochure would work for both of them. When I agreed to do the second program, they already knew I had worked with their peers in Florida, so a quick phone call got them permission to use the brochure.
- Start With Something That Works – Not only did they get to use a marketing piece that was already finished, they had one that worked really well because of the time I had spent with them designing it. As a result, the original program in Florida beat the precious attendance record by 56%, and actually generated 94% more revenue!
For these two reasons, it would have been downright foolish to try and create a new brochure from scratch.
As you work on your own marketing materials, do everything you can to avoid starting with a blank page or a blank screen. Pay attention to what you see. Maintain a “swipe file” of samples you can use for inspiration. Participate in coaching and mastermind groups where you can get advice from people who know what they’re talking about.
It’s tough enough creating marketing that works – there’s no need to go at it alone.
