Walmart, McDonald's and many movie multiplexes are among those reporting
fewer visits and lower sales attributed to the high gas prices. To save money,
people are buying less and having less fun. And, when air conditioning comfort
is replaced with winter survival heating, we'll see even more consumer penny
pinching.
So, how can you do more profitable business knowing that folks are growing
more fuel-sensitive? If you have felt the pinch at the pump, or your customers
have, follow my three steps to untie your communications strategies from natural
resources and give yourself a contemporary lift:
Step 1: Spruce up your website. Offer your shopping customers another easy
way to reach you without wasting gas. They're no longer worried about shopping
on-line. Everyone has email and browsers. DSL broadband is now down to $15 per
month. Internet shopping is enjoyable and accessible 24 hours a day. This is
where you should put your marketing time and energy whether you sell to
consumers, or to businesses. The internet doesn't replace face-to-face selling,
but it's a great alternative point of contact.
Step 2: Replace your phone company, so you can talk on the phone as though
time doesn't matter. Don't choose internet phone services like Vonage and Skype.
They're great for calling the kids at school, or the plant in Hong Kong, but not
for marketing, nor are they as cheap as they appear.
A Texas client no longer visits prospects in person to sell insurance. He
pays 1.5 cents a minute for national long distance with the minimum being 6
seconds. 100 really short telemarketing calls (as in "darn, they hung up on me
again") cost a total of 15 cents, versus internet full minute calls which would
cost over $4.00. He has 16 people pounding away on the phones for practically
nothing. When they schmooze with prospects for less than a buck an hour, it's
amazing how friendly they can become and how much sales rapport they can create.
Step 3: Use carrier services like UPS, DHL and FedEx to make a really big
statement for little money by choosing the "ground" alternative instead of
"overnight". DHL ground delivers the next business day within most of my market
area for $3.54, versus the post office which may or may not deliver that quickly
for a few cents more. I can print the label in color off the internet, because
DHL already did Step 1.
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Stan Rosenzweig, president of Office Technology Consulting Inc., Stamford,
CT, can be reached through www.phoneguru.com, or at (203)323-6070, ext.
82409.
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