This rings true even in recessions.  That’s where the old adage ‘cash is king’ in a recessionary market comes from.  Many companies saw the recession coming and moved into cash.  They were waiting for deals. They’ve been waiting for the market to turn. They’re also waiting to buy from you. Sell to them. They’ve got money – some of it could be yours.

So, how do you get some of that money? A story first…

Years ago, one of my sales teams was working with a large client called Public Storage.  We were doing about $180,000 a year in business with them.  When we asked them how much total spending they did with us and competitors of ours, they said they’d have to check.  The following week they came back and said overall, company wide, they spent about two million dollars.  Wow–and we were only getting nine percent of that! Imagine how the conversation changed at that point to, “How can we get more of your business? What do you need to see from us to spend fifty percent of that figure with us?” We knew they had the money because they told us they were spending it! Now we just needed to work closely with them to have them spend it with us instead of our competitors.

Figure out which of your clients or prospects are doing well. Do your research and really focus on them, and you’ll land them without any problem.  Ask your clients how much of their current business you are currently getting.  Spending time with your top clients to increase revenues is easier than finding new ones.  They’ve got money – some of it could be yours.

Any stories to share ?

WHY, WHY, WHY would you waste money on Yellow Pages advertising when virtually no one keeps their books, and those who keep them virtually never use them, they use Google search instead.

Fridge Magnets used to be popular handouts for service companies like house painters, but now fridges are stainless steel – and magnets don’t stick.

TV Ads were popular ad spends in the 80s and 90s but now people fast forward though them on their DVRs.

What other marketing tactics are going the way of the rotary phone???

This is Marketing 101, but something we often need a reminder of:

When I was 21, I had one of 800 franchises with the world’s largest house painting company, College Pro Painters.  My territory was 90,000 people and I was enthusiastic about marketing my services to all of them!  But in order to hit my target profit, I only needed to paint 150 out of the 35,000 houses in Sudbury.

I learned my first lesson in marketing: it’s less about marketing to everyone and more about marketing to those who will most likely buy from me.

I was taught to describe my clients first so I could figure out how to spot them and know where they lived. I figured out the type of clients I wanted lived on curvy streets, with brass kick plates on their doors.  They had manicured lawns, and drove BMWs and Volvos and their houses needed painting.

I became so focused on marketing to this group that if prospects called from areas outside of my target market, I didn’t take the work. Some might balk at turning away a customer, but I was focused on building my name and brand in my target market, (not to mention keeping my down time costs lower). Rather than be just another painter, I was molding College Pro Painters into the painting company of choice for a very specific market, and counting on the profitability from being so hyper-focused.  I have helped several different companies focus their marketing efforts like this, and it always pays off.

Your target demographics should be so crystal clear that it defines everything you do as an organization.

Taking a client or prospect out to dinner is pretty standard business.  If you want to grow business, you need to wine and dine clients, right?  Nothing radical about that concept.

How could anyone poke holes in this centuries old business practice?  Well, a friend of mine recently challenged me on this and asked me a question that I hadn’t really considered and based upon my experience, most in business haven’t considered either.

His question was simple: Why do most companies take their clients out to expensive dinners or rounds of golf that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars and then when it comes time to send them a gift, those same executives get wigged out over a gift that costs a couple hundred dollars?

He went on to explain that the meal is consumable and gone the same day, and although there is a memory created, most clients have that same experience with dozens of vendors each year and the memory fades quickly. Why is your dining or social experience any better than the next guy? Doesn’t it make sense to instead surprise your best clients with a gift that is best in class, practical, unique and that every time they use it they think of you for decades after?

I was stunned by the simplicity of the concept and it dawned on me that he may be on to something. We as business owners have been programmed to do the same things our competition is doing and think we are making an impact or truly deepening a relationship for the long term. We take people out to a nice three hour dinner with great food and drink or spend hundreds of dollars on a five hour round of golf, only to leave the client without a tangible and physical memory point to be reminded of our relationship.

At best we leave them with some promotional trinket from China. I decided to test his line of thinking and ordered 15 of his best-selling gifts which was from his exclusive Cutco cutlery line. Many of you are likely familiar with the brand as it’s the Rolex and Tiffany of cutlery but what most don’t know is that this friend of mine, John Ruhlin, invented their corporate engraving business and has built a much of his strategic gifting company around this one product. He is also the guy that gave me the unbelievable Brooks Brothers experience that I wrote about last year. Very inspiring and worth a read as well.

John’s team had each of the two piece cutlery gift sets custom engraved into the steel blade my logo and each client’s name (gotta love personalization!) along with a handwritten note to each person. The cost was a couple hundred dollars a gift all in. They were sent in February so the client was not expecting anything and the basic premise was to thank them for “carving out room” for us to work together. The gifts were mailed off and I waited anxiously to see if I would get a response or if people would be too busy to even mention the gesture. It did not take long and the response was beyond my already high expectations!!

My clients loved not just the product (the brand of Cutco carried some nice weight) but went on and on about the handwritten note and the fact that a high end product like Cutco was custom engraved with their name on it. They felt special and their spouses also loved being included for once in an business appreciation experience. Big brownie points for me with the spouse…huge! The cool thing I realized is that unlike the dining experience that wears off in the weeks following, with a special gift like this, for the next 10-20 years my most cherished business relationships will be reminded of me a couple times a week and the fact that I took the time to say thank you in a special way. It will be with them when they host clients and friends at their home for business functions and for holidays for decades to come. While there is nothing wrong with social experiences, that cannot be said for the dinners I have had or the golf rounds I have played. Like most of the powerful concepts in business, giving a special gift like this is not rocket science but most of us are too caught up in email or the next deal to take a few minutes to think strategically about how we are going to leverage and impact our most important relationships.

A great example of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s painted picture in action was when one of our amazing marketing managers Andrea Baxter said, “Can you imagine our company name on Starbucks cups?” I thought she was kinda nuts for suggesting such an idea, but I didn’t say anything.  When she said, “Don’t worry about how it’ll happen. As long as you can see it three years from now, I’ll make it happen,” I knew she was nuts, but I loved her passion and conviction.

A few months later Andrea told us we’d soon be on ten million Starbucks cups across North America–for free–with a quote and the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? name on it.  Nice!

Here’s the cool part:  Starbucks told Andrea that they’d put a quote from our founder on the cups but not the company name. In response, Andrea told Starbucks, “No, you have to put the company name on the cup!  That’s part of our vision.  It says so on our wall!” She sent Starbucks a picture of the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? ‘Can You Imagine?’ wall and convinced them to include the company name. Her belief in the idea helped the company achieve our goal of getting 1-800-GOT-JUNK? on ten million cups of Starbucks coffee.

Brian’s quote on Starbucks cups:  “It’s difficult for people to get rid of junk. They get attached to things and let them define who they are. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business, it’s that you are what you can’t let go of.”  Brian Scudamore, CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

Make your painted picture stick.  An unwavering vision that comes to pass will be celebrated 100 times more than something you’re willing to compromise on.

Laptop at TEDx

Last year, I sold 5 spots for great B2B companies to advertise on my laptop.  We had a waiting list within days.

Now, for 2011, there are three spaces available (2 have already sold for 2011, 1 spot is already taken for 2012).  The 6th space is donated to Kiva.org as I did last year.

Only 3 spots left.

If you want your company name & logo in front of thousands of entrepreneurs and business people throughout North America and occasionally globally this year. Try it.

I’ll be speaking at more EO & YPO chapters than ever before.  I’ll be speaking at dozens of conferences, flying business class, and as usual spending time in airport business lounges.

My MacBook Pro is with me and pretty much always out and being used.  I take it out in all my meetings regardless of who I’m working with.

I will also post about the advertising companies on my Blog and regularly all year on Twitter, FaceBook & LinkedIn.

Why sponsor my Laptop for all of 2011? This will get your logo seen by tens of thousands of influential business people this year.

It’s pretty widely known that my nickname is ‘Connector’ so you know I’ll be telling everyone that your company is sponsoring my laptop too.

Ya – and it’s capped at 5 (2 Sold – Now 3 left) placements…

First come first serve (but I have to like the brands)… i.e. the only chair company I could rave about is Herman Miller with their Aeron, and my favorite headsets are from Headsets.com etc.  I have to be able to say no if the brand doesn’t fit.

I’m auctioning off five (2 Sold – Now 3 left) sticker spaces on my MacBook Pro cover for $2,500 a piece. That comes out to about $200 a month, or $50 a week.

They will stay on my laptop all year, and you’ll “own” that piece of real estate on my laptop case. If anyone asks about your sticker, I’ll send him or her to whatever website/email address you want.

Want in? Email me – Cameron@BackPocketCOO.com

OMG, glad to say that it wasn’t WalMart who did this – it was actually a Greenwich Village gourmet grocery store, Balducci’s, that has become the butt of the Jewish holiday by advertising its boneless hams as “Delicious for Chanukah.”

Doesn’t anyone proof read their marketing anymore ?  Perhaps the wrong target audience on this product…  And good reminder to me as well, to fact check – I’d originally seen this & reported it as Wal-Mart’s mistake

Look at this massive BMW ad right over top of an Audi dealership in Hong Kong

During recessions, consumers are extremely cost and service conscious.  Customers will switch from your competitors right now for the smallest discounts or friendly nod in their direction.

You can’t go so far as predatory pricing, but in a slowdown, virtually everyone is looking to save a buck.  So target your competitors’ customers and start offering them what it takes to get them to move to you.

Cable and phone companies do this ALL the time, so don’t think this is something new.

Go ahead – steal them away.

pic Jalopnik

David Siteman Garland

David Garland from The Rise To The Top just blew me away.

On a 45 min call he was one of the most understated guys I’ve talked to in ages.  Perhaps that’s the St. Louis boy in him.

I now have his blog The Rise To The Top as one of my MUST reads.  When 785 people re-tweet one of his posts, I’m interested in knowing why.

He’s the #1 Non-Boring Resource For Building Your Business Smarter, Faster, Cheaper.

I’m watching him – closely.  He’ll be up there with Seth Godin soon.  His speaking fees will be as high too.

For the last couple of months Robert Graham Designs has been dressing me for all my speaking events, and social engagements where I’m around other CEOs and business people.

Yesterday while attending a charity event in the city filled with Vancouver business elite I was asked 5 times where I got the shirt I was wearing. a) Made me feel great cuz no one asked when I was wearing a boring button down and b) Robert Graham Designs got more word of mouth and buzz being generated.

You’ll see me for the rest of 2010 & 2011 wearing Robert Graham clothing. The brand’s Credo “Knowledge Wisdom Truth” is embroidered on every shirt. As a business coach and mentor, I always want to look my best when I talk to CEO’s all over the world. Who’s dressing you?