New Year, New Beginnings...

Don't you love a story of redemption?

That's what made the YouTube viral video of Ted Williams, the homeless "Man With The Golden Voice," the first and biggest feel-good story of the New Year.

Chicago-based Kraft Foods capitalized on that vibe by asking Williams to be the new voice of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

Listen to his mellow baritone voice in the last 10 seconds of this new Kraft spot that debuted Jan 9th on ESPN:



It was a brilliant PR maneuver that gained the brand and the company a lot of goodwill and tons free media coverage.

But Kraft had to move quickly to make it work. They had to be able to act without wasting days of decision making, focus groups, and analysis. If they had waited a few hours or even minutes longer the story would have been over. Or Ted might have been the voice of another brand.

Did Kraft have anything to lose?

Sure. Maybe. Williams could have been a creep or had a violent criminal past. A quick background check likely minimized that risk upfront.

Otherwise, it was a risk worth taking. It wasn't a long term contract. It was a few hours of recording and 10 seconds of airtime. Even if Ted fell back to his old lifestyle, who could fault the company for helping someone who had fallen on hard times?

I'd love to shake hands with the PR person who saw the opportunity and congratulate the executive who greenlighted the decision.

The whole story makes me hungry for some Kraft Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese. You?

Takeaway: Are you ready to act quickly when a great marketing opportunity approaches you? Are you aggressively looking for opportunities? And are you more focused on making money or making a difference?

Peddler....

Sorry, I haven't published my blog since my neighbor, Uncle Tony passed away at the end of November. He was my Great Uncle and a great guy.

This tip, based on an except from my June 2009 column in Professional Distributor, is dedicated to and about him. (He was a creative, generous, and funny man and is sorely missed...) 

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My Great Uncle Tony first helped his dad as a fruit and vegetable peddler during the Great Depression when he was only nine years old. He remembers setting up stock, running orders and cleaning-up. Sometimes, he even drove the truck! 

More than once, my Great Grandfather, Pa, would use him to cross-sell items that he’d overbought.

“A lady would shout down for a bag of oranges,” my uncle said. “The old man would have too many apples, so he’d send me upstairs with a bag of apples.The lady would see the bag, and yell at me. She wanted oranges. So, I’d go back down and tell Pa. He would send me back up with the oranges — and the apples again. The women would usually buy both.”

Although I’m not a fan of sneaky sales tactics, I must admit it’s a funny story and a fairly innocent technique. The point is you need to make cross-selling, upselling and add-on sales an integrated part of your sales and marketing strategy. You can even use these techniques to blow-out your old or excess inventory. Bottom line, if each customer buys just a little bit more, the incremental sales can make a big difference in your bottom line -- with little or no extra cost.

Takeaway:  In good times or bad, asking for a bigger order can generate a bigger sale.

Last Things First...

I've been at the AAEX / SEMA tradeshows this week. Attendance this year seemed strong. Hope if you exhibited that you had a great show.

After these shows every year I share the same basic tip. Hope it serves as a good reminder to not let all the hard work go to waste by leaving the job unfinished...

Returning from exhibiting at or attending a tradeshow or special event?

Use your first day back like it's your last day at the event.

Remember: It's easy to get swept away catching up and put off following up.

But what's more important? The day-to-day grind -- or reminding that hot prospect that you're one of the hundreds of exhibitors they saw last week at that big tradeshow?

CEIR studies show that the biggest mistake trade show exhibitors make is dropping the ball on follow-up.

Take a moment to jot a quick "thank you" note, send a catalog, or ship that sample you promised. Don't let your follow-up get fouled up by competing priorities. Set your priority on contacting the hottest prospects first and working your way down the list.

How do you know who's hottest? You should use a lead sheet that asks questions that will help you, like: When do you plan to buy? How many do you plan to buy? What other brands are you considering? (If you didn't use one at this event, make a note to use on at your next event.)

But try to avoid calling anyone you met at the trade show today. After all, they'll probably be as swamped catching up today, as you'll be -- tomorrow.

(This means please don't be offended if I don't take call you today -- be inspired.)

Tech-No Two....

Last week I was pointing out the dependence today's sales & marketing has on technology and lamenting some technical issues I faced.

Almost as if a divine joke, this week it got worse.

On Monday, when I walked into the office I found that the server that houses a third of the websites we manage was hacked. On Wednesday our phone service went down. The week before was nothing compared to this week.

All the problems were out of my control, but things that very much control our business -- and our client's businesses.

We have two choices in business: allow outside influences to control us or do all we can with what we have to work with. Keeping your head in the sand isn't a choice.

Being reactive is good. Being proactive is better. Anticipating your competitor's next step can help you avoid being blind sided. Knowing what we ought to do and making the time to do it are two different things.

You could spend all your time fighting fires or you could set aside some time for preventing fires. Having a strong strategy is the best approach. As I like to say: "Strategic thinking is more productive than wishful thinking."

Today, I'm still dealing with the repercussions of this week's technology failures. But at least I feel I've got my head above water. You?

Takeaway: Who is in charge of your sales & marketing? You? Your customers? Your competition? Your technology? No one?