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| Subject: Small Business Innovation – Setting The Foundation For B2C Success Part 2 A | |
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Author: Dennis S. Vogel |
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Date Posted: 21:30:31 10/28/05 Fri In reply to: Dennis S. Vogel 's message, "Small Business Innovation, Part 1" on 23:40:11 07/31/05 Sun Whether it's conscious or not, people may associate high prices with sales people & low prices with little or no sales effort. They might not realize the necessity for employees who specialize in a product category & are trained specifically to explain the benefits. Consumers think of somebody trying to sell something. Businesses should focus on supplying information to people, so they can get maximum benefits. The target market & product/service category affects expectations too. People selling farm implements (costing over $100,000 USA) aren’t apt to wear suits costing about $1,000. Dressing like that doesn’t fit farmers work environments & would decrease credibility. Zig Ziglar said, though he wears expensive suits, he doesn’t want people to think about his clothes. He figures, correctly, if he wears something people don’t expect for the situation, they’ll notice his clothes & that would be a distraction. In retail, it’s best to find a balance between what customers wear when they come to a store & being conspicuous enough for customers to easily identify store staff. If the Montgomery Ward store, I worked in, still existed when Wal-Mart came to town, some customers would've shopped more, or maybe exclusively, at Wal-Mart, except for most grocery products. Now with the W-M store being a super center, with a full-range food department, it’s more likely to be exclusive. But it’s far from hopeless for local retailers. The differences are more than dress code, customer service & prices. The products are different quality & the merchandise selection is different. What was written about Sears, in my opinion, also applied to Montgomery Ward. The product selection was too "middle-of-the-road." It seemed there wasn't enough variety. But bigger (wider &/or deeper) selection means more products to stock, which can increase profits, if people buy enough. It can also increase costs, especially if the retailer has to borrow money to buy the products. I wrote an explanation of this in Part 6b - What Is Your Business' Target? As an answer to “Help” by Anonymous. If the number of product categories is high, the store owner & staff have more products to learn about. So, training costs will probably be higher. Without the right selection, a business won't attract enough customers. Without enough customers (sales & profits), businesses can't afford a wide selection. Occasionally, Montgomery Ward brought in different product lines, but it may have been too late. When consumers have been “trained” (actually when they choose to generalize & not change perceptions) to think of a business as offering certain things, it’s hard to persuade consumers to change their minds. So, it’s important to challenge consumers’ assumptions with various, but related, offers. This should be done as soon as possible so consumers won’t think they’ve seen & heard all a business has to offer. Some business owners may use this as an excuse to not differentiate their businesses. They feel if they lock their businesses into a category or subcategory, they’ll be stuck in it. But many businesses have changed categories, locations &/or names, then thrived. Many stores had weekly sales (low prices) on some things. The hope was people would buy regularly priced items too. But many consumers just waited for sale prices & bought those on-sale items. People were also upset when they bought products at full-price, then found the same products were marked down (in the same store) later in the month. That caused them to be even more suspicious & hesitant about buying things at full-price. They don’t want to feel cheated or foolish when they find others bought equivalent products/services for less money. Unless products are bought at low wholesale prices because of temporary conditions -- large quantities, liquidation, close-outs, special buys, etc. -- the general public doesn’t understand why the same low prices aren’t always offered. Plus, the reasons for lower than normal prices should be explained, so it’s easier for people to accept. When Kmart & Wal-Mart became popular, many stores with weekly sales events were in trouble. Some switched to everyday low prices & had even more trouble. Their customers were used to the old way, even if those same customers shopped at Wal-Mart or Kmart also. Unless something powerful is done to change them, people tend to act consistently when they’re in the same situation with the same stimuli. So, they expect consistent results. They know they’ll get lower (discount) prices on all products in discount stores. So, they buy if they can find what seems to be the same product but at a lower price. They don’t expect low prices in non-discount stores, so they don’t check those stores’ prices. They just assume they’ll always pay less when they shop in discount stores. They also realize they won’t find everything in discount stores. Since they can be attracted by non-discount stores, resetting their buying criteria is critical. I wrote about that in Step 4a- Show You Have What They Want Even If They Don’t Know They Want It Yet. By switching back to weekly sales, those stores confused some people (those who noticed the difference) even more. Jack Trout & Al Ries warn people not to try to worm their way in consumers’ minds. It’s necessary to blast their way. Unless something is noticed, it won’t cause a significant change in behavior. Unless a business is known to offer value & its marketing messages tap into people’s goals, a blast is necessary to grab attention. A blast is 1) something people don’t expect in a particular situation; 2) something people don’t expect in any situation; &/or 3) a big effort to get a lot of public exposure. Now here’s a contradiction - But that surprise & effort should fit the target market’s ideals. A contradiction is a surprise. You might have to test variations of the same basic approach. Sometimes, one element can make a big difference. For an example of adapting an effort to the target market’s ideals, please read “Bobby Vinton’s Clue.” What will surprise your target market & still be fully accepted? Dennis S. Vogel thrivingbusiness@email.com When will your marketing efforts will be successful? When you get the right people’s attention in the right situations & in ways they accept. You can use these links to learn ways to do it. http://web1.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ http://www.voy.com/31049 [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Bobby Vinton’s Clue | Dennis S. Vogel | 21:32:43 10/28/05 Fri |
| Sub-post- The Employee Clothing Issue -- Including Dress Code | Dennis S. Vogel | 21:14:36 11/12/05 Sat |
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| Setting The Foundation For B2C Success Part 2 B | Dennis S. Vogel | 21:18:07 11/12/05 Sat |
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