A Tale of Three Woes

Using an email address other than your domain name, or one that promotes your brand, makes completing the sales cycle tricky.

In this day and age of independent contractors and sales agents, it can be bothersome trying to figure out who is who selling what on behalf of who. Poor branding efforts dilute a clear sales channel, and that’s not good for the consumer. If it’s not good for the consumer, it’s not good for your company, plain and simple.

Let me explain why:

Parent Company X owns subsidiary, Company Y.

Company Y produces items to sell, but for the time being doesn’t have their own in-house sales staff.

Company Y decides to outsource sales to Company Z.

The employee at Company Z doesn’t use a branded company email address such as j.smith@CompanyZ.com so all of the ‘official’ correspondence conducted on behalf of Company Y is sent to potential and existing customers using a personal email like john.s@hotmail.com.

Unless a customer is keenly aware of who this individual is, it’s unlikely they’ll be recognized as a viable business contact. It’s so important that your branding rings clearly in one’s mind so customers know what company is making contact and what product is being presented. Can you see a trust issue here?

Company X wanted Company Y to be the brand behind the products, but they failed to capitalize on that investment by not providing guidance and the necessary resources to Company Z. Company Z is at a serious disadvantage, but it impacts each company. These types of things actually impact commerce in general. It’s a big food chain.

When a potential customer is confused from the start, chances are they won’t go beyond the first contact. That is unless they have prior knowledge of the situation and know who’s contacting them. But not everyone being contacted by this representative from Company Z will have such knowledge, nor care to find out the details. They just discard the email, a sales opportunity lost.

Are you making sure your brand is being given the proper amount of respect and representation while working through third party contractors that are marketing your products? If you aren’t, you need to be. Providing the necessary training and branded email tools isn’t difficult. Doing so will only boost your ROI!

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Business Email Marketing

Routinely I have conversations with others in my industry about the status and impact the economy is having on their businesses. We’ve decided that the success or failure of a business stems from several factors. Where there’s visual evidence that others in an industry you belong to are working, you can reasonably assume there’s enough work for you.  

A quick way to determine if your business is competitive within your industry is to see what your competition is doing. A quick stop at the local supply distributor(s) is an easy way to find out. If your competition is in regularly purchasing materials necessary for their job sites, then you can assume they are working.

If you don’t see anyone from the competition and the salesman climbs over the counter to greet you, then you can also assume no one has been in purchasing from them. Such indicates that consumer demand is down and the economy is equally affecting everyone.

So you discover that several of your competitors trucks are at the distributor all stocking up on parts. This should tell you that you have a problem. Time to investigate, but where to start?

The source of the problem could be in how you market your business. Time to compare what your competition is doing with what you are doing to attract and retain customers.

Maybe that’s not what’s happening. Let’s set aside the external marketing for moment. Are you getting referrals from existing or previous customers? If not, why? Were these customers satisfied with the work performed? Are your employees representing the professional image, performing quality workmanship and showing customer appreciation that you, as the owner, would?

Your employees should be your best marketing resource. If they extol excellence and value, then your customers will become your best advertisers. If they don’t, those employees are destroying not only their reputation but the owner’s as well.

Train for the task as well as the marketplace. Teach your employees how to do the job right as well as how to present themselves and your company. Marketing starts inside the company walls, not outside. That comes second, because if your staff isn’t in the same mindset and invested towards success as you are, then you’re stalled at the starting line.

No matter how much time, energy and money you spend marketing you and your business it will all be offset with catastrophic effect if your employees only care about getting a paycheck.

Things a little slow? Are your employees out advertising your business by attending trade shows, calling on perspective clients, open houses, community meetings or knocking on doors handing out literature? If not, maybe they should be.

As cities strive to improve, many are looking at the heart of their community. Towns, villages and cities were built on a core, the center of the community – their downtown. As the need for faster transit between points became necessary, downtown America was bypassed. Businesses who didn’t want to be forgotten moved from the core of the community to its fringes. For a time the core literally and physically shifted out to the expressway’s edge.

The old downtown seemingly died, and with it, many communities lost part of their soul. But now there has been a resurgence of redevelopment in downtowns across this country – partly because the center is being moved back to its original location. The heritage of the past is being given new birth with construction projects that bring the once forgotten back into vogue.   

Right now in cities across America, the city center is being revitalized. Businesses are being encouraged to open there, and foot traffic is welcome. Greener thinking is affecting the way we look at commerce. We want locally grown produce, we want to purchase from our local retailers, and we want to enjoy local treats from local restaurants that have a unique flavor and method of operation than the chains that occupy suburbia.

Is this an opportunity for your business?

As the plans are being drawn, if you, as a business owner, are looking for a new location, consider the new downtown. As part of the core of your community, you’ll receive greater exposure and can establish or reaffirm your business as one that keeps the community’s heritage alive and prosperous. What’s the adage? … location, location, location!

If you’re changing your business locale, then you’ll need updated media to let your customers know where you’ve gone.

If you are one of the many subscribers reading this post, you’re definitely connected. However, there are still many small businesses that are not. Believe it or not, in this modern digital age there are some who refuse to use email. The old line “Didn’t you get the memo?” still holds so true these days.  

Why is this? Email is a simple, easily and  efficiently used medium to share information about special promotions, sales, meetings, new product information … and so much more! Your message can touch hundreds, if not thousands of customers in one click, versus the vast amount of man hours trying to reach the same audience by phone.

Whether you’re in need of one or several branded email addresses (as in, your-name@your-domain.com), or a full-blown email marketing campaign, we can help.

For email marketing campaigns, we use and recommend AWeber. Be sure to visit our Business Email Marketing page for more information.

Why be left out? Don’t miss getting the memo, it could save you time and create a profitable opportunity.