Corrections or additions?
These articles by Melinda Sherwood were published in U.S. 1
Newspaper on August 25, 1999. All rights reserved.
On Line Strategies: How to Catch Up
Be prepared for an onslaught of ads and commercials
this fall touting Internet companies, says the Wall Street Journal,
attributing the image-building to a pent-up supply of companies
seeking
funds in initial public offerings.
But if all the hype makes you think that your company has missed the
Internet bandwagon, think again, Tom Knight, principal at the
global management firm Sibson & Company, which has an office at 504
Carnegie Center (609-520-2700). “Faced with an ever-growing list
of questions about how to leverage the Internet, many managers are
increasingly reluctant, or at the very least perplexed, about how
to sell over the Internet,” says Knight.
But, he adds, the key to transition is well within reach. Businesses
need to reacquaint themselves with their customers, learn what they
want, and re-deploy sales resources in a way that creates more value
to the company. To break into E-Commerce, Knight urges management
to take the following steps:
Choose the ideal product to sell via E-channels. “Oneof the biggest initial challenges of E-commerce is determining whichproducts to offer and which customers to serve over the Web,”says Knight. First, understand customer purchasing preferences. Thencome up with the cost to serve each segment via current channels,and compare that to an estimate for serving this segment viaE-commerce.Re-define sales roles and re-size the sales force. “Alot of companies miss this opportunity,” says Knight.”E-commerceaffords most sales forces with significant freedom from transactionprocessing and customer service-related follow-up.” Decide whichservices would provide additional value to the customer, and thendecide what skills your sellers need.New roles mean you may not need as many sales people as before.Determinehow many accounts each seller can cover, and which offer the mostgrowth.Provide incentives for sales efforts and strategicmarketingusing E-commerce applications.Use the Web to provide customers with an “experience,”not just a product .”As Web surfers know, all good Internetsites create a `reason to return’,” says Knight.”Unfortunatelyin the world of E-commerce, the equation is not so simple; not onlymust the site be enjoyable, but it also must allow customers to dobusiness the way they want to do it.” Websites therefore needto be integrated and “customer-facing.”Prepare your production department to be ready for warp speeddemand .”Many managers start E-channels because they allowcompanies to get into business fast, but they fail to realize thatfaster order capture also means geometrically faster delivery,”says Knight. Information and production systems should be preparedfor the demand, or you stand to lose interested customers.Research the Web to see how your prices comparebecausethat’s exactly what your customers are doing. Set up a pricemonitoringsystem and decide if discounts should be offered on certain products.Exploit new opportunitiesthat the Web enables, listento customers, monitor your profit margins, and move quickly. “Ifyou wait too long,” he says, “you’ll be passed up by anup-start.”Top Of PageSprucing Up For a Trade ShowBringing your mildewed exhibition booth out of storageis a good way to kick off the trade show season, but JohnPunyko,an independent sales and marketing consultant (215-757-5644) withPre-Paid Legal Services, says that companies should not stop there.”All too often trade shows are a total waste of time for theexhibitors,”he says. “Companies send in their registration form, grab somefreebees to give away, select a trinket for their fish bowl, draftsome booth staff, get the tired old booth out of storage, and showup 30 minutes before the show opens. After the show they are surprisedand often complain that they didn’t get any business.”A handful of business cards, in other words, is not worthy of yourtime. This year, come back with solid contacts. It takes carefulplanning,diligence, and a touch of style, says Punyko, but here are some tricksof the trade show — possibly useful for the nearly 80 companiessigned up to exhibit at the Princeton Chamber and U.S. 1 businessshowcase next Thursday, September 2, at the Doral Forrestal:Develop a concrete objective that takes into account thedemographics and resources of the company. More business is notan objective. “Three new clients, $5,000 in new sales, and fiveappointments with qualified people is,” says Punyko.Create a time line that states the firm’s objectivesrelativeto trade show appearances . The time line should include benchmarksand objectives for dates leading up to the show.Personally invite those companies or individuals you mostwant to attend . “Don’t expect the show’s advertising to bringthe right people to your booth,” says Punyko. “Alladvertising,including newspapers, magazines, and direct mail should tell peopleto visit you at the show.”Practice.Try role playing with staff, or attend a salesseminar.Choose the staff to man the booth carefully. Onlyemployeesshould work the booth, says Punyko, and never leave it unattended.Leave behind the promotional trinkets, like pens and othertoys . Instead “give deep discounts on something directlyrelatedto your product or service,” says Punyko. Keep the literatureslim and don’t use the television set medium unless you are in theappliance or TV distributor business.Have follow-up material ready in advance so hot leadsdon’t get cold. “If you have a staff back at your office, listscan be telephoned, faxed, or E-mailed several times each day,”he says. The sad truth: “Most business cards collected at theshow will never be contacted.”Never underestimate the value of a fresh-looking booth.”Determine what image you wish to project, and make sure yourbooth is consistent,” says Punyko. “Great trade show resultsare not an accident; they require hard work.”Top Of PageMining the SBDCGourmet Junkfood: contradiction or marketing strategy?For Loretta Kaminsky, owner of Lou-retta’s Custom ChocolatesInc. in Buffalo, this clever oxymoron meant selling herchocolate-lacedpopcorn and gold-dusted pretzels at Saks rather than Sam’s. Shecreditsthe Small Business Development Center for helping her do it. “Fora person starting a business to be able to sit down with knowledgeablepeople who can help you get a loan, get a marketing plan, find thereal estate, that’s amazing,” she says.Fifteen years later, Kaminsky is on the SBDC’s national advisory boardand a member of New York State SBA. She tells her tale at”MillenniumManagement: Practical Advice to Grow Your Business,” ateleconferencesponsored by the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners,on Monday, August 30, at 7:30 p.m. The teleconference is beingbroadcastat the Edward Jones office at 301 North Harrison Street. Call609-497-4533or 800-441-1384 to reserve a seat. For more information on a nearbySmall Business Development Center, call 800-8-ASK-SBA.”I tell these women how to do it the right way, because I didit the wrong way,” says Kaminsky, who has a BA in education fromUniversity of Buffalo, Class of 1958. Kaminsky taught kindergartenfor 20 years before a diagnosis of breast cancer in 1972, andsubsequentdouble mastectomy, got her business up and running. “That wasmy wake-up call to life,” she says. “It may sound hokey, butonce you’ve had a life altering experience like that you say `I’mnot going out of here until everyone knows that I was here.’ I’m a25-year survivor.”She started from her home by making desserts and unique chocolates,like a three-dimensional stemmed rose, and sold them to grocery storesand beauty salons. Then the SBDC stepped in. “We were making `oneof a kind’ chocolate with a melter and selling it out in front,”she recalls, “and of course what these consultants taught us isno wonder I wasn’t making any money.” The SBDC helped Kaminskyput together a business plan, marketing strategy, and get financialbacking at time when banks were hesitant to lend to women. “Theobstacles for a woman in business are always 20 times greater thanfor a man in business,” says Kaminsky who, as it happens, nowsupervises a factory that is run entirely by women.Then came the tasty offers from big chain stores. “I am approachedconstantly by mass markets,” she says, “and believe me it’svery appealing when they say I’ll take two truck loads. It’s so easyto be wooed in other directions and that’s how people go under. Theytry to be too many things to too many people.”Lou-retta’s Custom Chocolates (which also sells corporate and holidaygifts like gourmet popcorn, $24, and pretzels, $5, with personalizedlabels, https://www.louretta.com) has also survived the transitionto the E-commerce era, Y2K compliance, and, earlier, this year acollapsedroof in her factory. The secret to her business’s longevity:First walk and then exhibit at trade shows. “A lotof people have called me and I tell them just to walk trade showsbefore they even consider opening a business,” she says. “Onceyou see what’s there you go back to the drawing board and say: `Whatcan I do that can make me unique?’ Once you have a handle on onelittleniche that can make you different, you put together your businessplan and marketing plan and go after it.”For small businesses, the trade show has an extra advantage: “Youcan be in a booth that’s 10 by 10 and you are on an equal playingfield with the Godivas of the world. That is a wonderful way for asmall business to be seen in every market.”Resist being everything to everyone. “You have tomake the decision: who do I want to sell to,” she says. “Priceclubs came to us and wanted to sell our product at a very discountedprices but they were not willing to take my product in a differentpackaging. My daughter and I decided not to do it.”Stick to the business plan and be true to the product.”This is what we want to do, this is how we see ourselves,”she says. Even if it takes time, stick to it. “So maybe we didn’tgrow as fast as we wanted to grow, but I’m still here 15 yearslater,”she says.Build mouthwatering web pages. “Get them hungry,”is Kaminsky’s motto.That’s the key for any business, certainly, but for peopledealingspecifically in food goods, Kaminsky offers a few extra words ofadvice:fat/sugar free (an exploding market) and tasting samples. “Anyonewho tastes it buys,” she says.”Organization is the number one thing,” she adds. “It’snot a 9 to 5 job. It could be 14 hours a day. But there’s nothingmore rewarding in the world than to be your own boss. It’s very muchlike, for a woman, having a baby. You watch this baby grow.”– Melinda SherwoodNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
