Customer Perception — Grow Your Business in Dayton (Gybindayton.com)

Why is it important to monitor your business name on the internet? or Is your name MUD?

June 14, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

I had a couple tiny mistakes bring to light some big problems for a company yesterday.

We put together an ad for a company and the phone number provided for the ad was incorrect. Two numbers were inverted in the middle of the phone number and it was something that was easy to overlook. I went back to the paperwork and did not see the mistake, so when I was calling to have the ad approved the phone rang and rang and rang with no answer or even voice mail.

His company was listed in several on-line business directories with the correct address, but with a disconnected phone number listed…ooops!

At that point, this was an out-of-town company, I did a search for the company on the internet to see if I could find a working phone number. There were two or three business directories that listed what I thought was the company name. I’m not sure on all this because of the client reaction later on in this story. When I called the listed phone numbers (same ph0ne number in several listings), not only was there no answer, but the phone lines were disconnected.

In the mean time, I had remembered that I had the client’s email address. We were deadline for our JULY edition so I sent out a frantic email explaining that his phone number was not working and that I looked him on the internet and the phone numbers there were not working either. Now comes the strange reaction. Apparently the client called “the number” and it worked and then emailed me with the number. Shortly after that he sent another email saying that his 800 number was also working fine and that he had been using it for ten years. The client emailed me and said something about me being insulting and canceled his ad.

Although I did not appreciate losing the sale, in retrospect, perhaps it was a good thing. The yard sign that the client gave me to build the ad with had the wrong number on it. The company was from out of town and was promoting for work in the parts of town with hail damage. Anyone doing any internet research would have found the same phone numbers that I did when they were looking around for more information about this company.

I still sent him an email explaining that his phone number was wrong on the yard signs

Perhaps he got my message that the signs he made had the wrong phone number on them, but perhaps not since he cut off communications. It is clear to me that he was a little “sensitive” about the storm chaser label from his reaction to my concerns about phone numbers. Perhaps others have tried to contact him and found defunct phone numbers as well magnifying their concerns about his company. However, he is completely oblivious to the problem because he has no web site and he does not realize that even without a web site he is on the internet, but with wrong information which cause people to distrust him more.

Do a Google search of your business name NOW!

There are MANY business directories in every city. It is important that the information listed is correct because more and more, people are doing additional research on the internet before choosing to work with a company. Do a search on your company name and find out where it takes you. Log-in to directories that have your company listed and claim the listings that are your company. Correct bad information and add your web site and other information that would be helpful to prospective clients. Don’t let outdated information on business directory listings taint your customers’ perception of your company.

Google Alerts

Someone on Linked In mentioned that you can set up Google Alerts with key words about your business, your name, your business name and whatever else might be important to monitor. This is a great idea. When ever those words or names show up on the internet, a link is sent to your prescribed email notifying you, alerting you about the use of the word or name.

IS YOUR NAME MUD?

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine • Dayton Ohio • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

June REACH Magazine is headed for your home packed with consumer value

May 27, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

What makes REACH Magazine different than some other coupon magazines?

For advertisers in REACH magazine we feel that it is more important to connect with consumers than to blast them with coupons on the front cover. Some other coupon magazines in the Dayton market place one or several advertisers on their cover with coupons, but we have found from consumers that they LOVE REACH Magazine because the cover is about them. They also tend to throw away magazines that have their cover cut up, so if the coupon on the cover works well, then all the advertisers inside the magazine will suffer.

Connecting with consumers right from the start

I think our JUNE REACH magazine cover is exceptional. Seldom does a photograph have so much positive interaction as this one and it is all about dad and the kids too. Don’t forget father’s day just around the corner. I’d love to know what you think of the JUNE cover of REACH magazine. Please click on the comment button and tell me what you think if you have the time. Covers like this are one reason that some many people in the Miami Valley LOVE REACH Magazine.

Another thing that consumers like about REACH Magazine – Variety of content

I am currently looking for the following types of business to add to Dayton’s REACH magazine. I have ads for these business categories that are working great in REACH magazines in our other markets. If you know someone in these categories please give me a call or email.

• Plumber

• Painter

• Asphalt and/or concrete driveway company

• Jewelry store / high end

• Garden center

Just to name a few.

Now it is your turn.

Is there a category of business that you would like to see in REACH magazine? Or perhaps you would like to know if your business might do well in Dayton’s favorite direct mail coupon magazine. Give me a call and we can talk about it.

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine • Dayton Ohio Direct Mail advertising that works • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Growing your business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Centerville, Coupons, Dayton, Dayton's favorite coupon magazine, Direct mail, Grow your business, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Tools for business

Is it time to revamp your business plan? Article from Entrepreneur Online

May 4, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

A Better Business Plan Can Lead to New Customers

It is interesting to see how some small businesses review their business plans when the market changes and others just hope that things will change or get better and they will get busy again. I liked this article because it made some very useful suggestions. Many times I am very surprised at how little businesses know about their customers so this one suggestion stood out to me. Take a good customer out to lunch and find and identify changes you may not have noticed.

“While you were busy building your business, your market may have changed, even slightly, or your customers may have changed.”

This article on Entrepreneur Magazine online talks about the importance of knowing your market and making changes when needed to reach consumers in new ways.

Today, more and more businesses that would never have considered offering coupons are now trying out Groupon and other Half off deal programs to generate new customers. It is interesting to me as a REACH magazine sales executive to see this when I know that we can generate significant new customer counts without such drastic discounts. We also have the ability to focus your marketing on people that are geographically within areas that are more likely to become regular repeating customers.

Enough from me though, here is the article: A Better Business Plan can lead to MORE CUSTOMERS

Paragraph headlines

• Sell more to existing customers

• Review your pricing

• Review your marketing message

• Expand your nearby markets

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine Dayton & Cincinnati • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com

A REACH consultation if free of course and it will provide you with thought provoking information about direct mail incentive advertising including ads from other markets in your category of business. Find out more today so that you can make an informed choice about the power of direct mail coupon advertising in REACH Magazine. Call today.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Dayton, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Another Groupon disaster in Dayton Ohio

March 23, 2011 By Peter DeMott 1 Comment

Some of these situations irk me because I am an advertising sales executive. The Groupon sales person should be helping people to create offers that are both effective in terms of consumer perception and purchases AND which will be beneficial to the business.

I posted this situation on my photography web site because it was a local photographer who ran the Groupon disaster (in my opinion). I am not optimistic about the results for the business or for the consumers who purchased the services. Click on the link below to read more:

http://www.photosbypdemott.com/2011/03/groupon-deals-that-leave-you-wonderingwhat-is-this-photographer-thinking/

Here is an interesting article in Inc. Magazine online about Groupon. Seems that Restaurants don’t fair that well according to a national survey. http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/10/groupon-unprofitable-for-a-third-of-businesses.html

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Customer Service

Wow, is this how advertising is supposed to work?

March 10, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Yesterday I called Kelly BeLow the owner of Aussie Mobile Pet Grooming here in Dayton, Ohio. Her REACH magazine ad had come out the end of last week and since she is a new client, I wanted to see how things were going. I left a voice mail and she called me back as I was driving home from work.

What a fun conversation. The first thing out of her mouth was that she would definitely give me a testimonial letter/video/or audio. As we talked I was laughing out loud. “As the phone calls were coming in, I thought to myself, is this how advertising is supposed to work?” She explained that she has spent money on all kinds of different advertising and that during the consultation for REACH magazine I had explained how important it would be to be able to answer her phone as much as possible during the first several weeks when the calls started coming in. She almost thought it was odd that I was talking about results. So much of the advertising she had done before, they just wanted to know what she wanted in her ad. She would spend her money and nothing much would happen. She had gotten in the habit of expecting little or nothing from advertising.

“I wish I had started off with REACH when I started the business, this is working great and the customers it is bringing me are delighted with my service”

This, however was new experience for her. REACH cost more than some of the other things she had done, but she thought she should give it a try. Now, she explained, I wish I had done REACH a long time ago when I first started the business.

Quality of service and customer care make a big difference too

Kelly BeLow struck me as someone who wants to impress her customers with outstanding customer service. When I met her at the business after hours at Club 51 Fitness in Centerville, she stood out that way to me. After explaining that I thought REACH could help grow her business here in Dayton we scheduled a consultation appointment. She told me all about her business model and plans and I showed her similar businesses that were having good results in REACH magazine. She had to send her ad through the corporate franchisor and I explained that was okay, but that I wanted to be able to give her input on the ad. When the ad come back I listed 4 or 5 important changes that needed to be made and she sent it back for corrections. Even when the final ad arrived, I had my graphic artist make just one more minor change.

Here is Kelly’s ad

As we continued our conversation on the phone, Kelly explained that one of her new “REACH” customers had already put her up on Angi’s List with a glowing testimonial. The new customer had never heard of a service like Kelly’s and was so delighted that she had to get the word out to everyone. Having good customer care can magnify the results from REACH magazine as people trying out a new service tell their friends, share on facebook or tweet something to their friends on twitter. One caveat to this rule of thumb which I also explain to my new clients is that if they have poor customer care or product, then REACH can put them out of business faster as people share with their friends their bad experiences. Although I am not a member of Angie’s list here is the link: http://www.angieslist.com/companylist/us/oh/dayton/aussie-pet-mobile-reviews-6192316.aspx

Time to grow

Kelly’s next problem is getting some more help so that she can keep up with all the new clients she is getting. We talked about a few more changes to her ad to improve results even more and I am sure that she will be back in REACH as soon as she can figure out how to expand and grow her ability to offer the same great service and customer care to more people. She is looking at hiring someone to help and in the future purchasing another van or setting up additional shifts.

No matter what kind of business you have, you can trust me to give you the straight scoop on REACH magazine. My goal is to have a long and profitable relationship with my clients, not a flash in the pan and gone experience. Perhaps you will say like Kelly, “I wish I had used REACH from the beginning, this is how advertising is supposed to work.”

I will be posting more from Kelly as it becomes available. For now she is too busy for me to interrupt her day with a video or audio testimonial, but perhaps we can work that out in the coming weeks. I also, think there are some things that she can do to vastly improve he visibility on the web so we will have to discuss those ideas as well.

http://yourlocal.aussiepetmobile.com/Dayton,-OH

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine • Dayton, OHIO • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Customer Service, Growing your business, more customers, Networking Opportunity

Groupon and other half off promotions can be expensive learning experiences

March 9, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Here is an article in Entrepeneur online magazine about the very expensive experience of a small business that used Groupon to promote their business. It explains that the quantity of response and the attitude of the buyers became a major negative experience for this young business owner.

Sometimes when I am dealing with a new REACH client we spend more time discussing the significance of the incentive offer being presented. If a client explains to me that their coupon is a lost leader I back things up and explain that my goal is to have every coupon redemption MAKE YOU MONEY. My goal is to have more response benefit your business rather than cost you money. So at that point we spend more time discussing incentives that will do two things, they have to have a perceived value among consumers and each time a coupon is redeemed it makes you more money not less. This can be a tricky thing as a weak offer will underperform at which time the cost of the advertising becomes an expense rather than an investment. Since I have been putting together promotional offers for almost 20 years, I can many times come up with incentives that both pay for the ad and provide incremental profit dollars for the businesses that I work with.

With the correct chemistry of good customer service and a great product even an ad that breaks even can have a long time positive on a business. When we hit a home run, then my clients are excited to grow their businesses with REACH Magazine. Because getting the offer right can be so important it is very important that you work with someone who has the experience to know how things work. Time and time again I run across advertising that has been sold to businesses with a “here’s the space and here is how much it costs, what would you like to do?”

With incentive marketing, bringing some knowledge to the table is very important. Frequently with newer clients I have to back up and explain, “that just won’t work and here is why —prospective customer perceived value is missing.” Then I show them ads from other markets that are having good success using REACH magazine and we then look at the offers, coupons and incentives presented in those ads to come up with something that will have similar perceived value among consumers in greater Dayton area. Sometimes if I do not have examples from other markets, then we spend a great deal of time discussing what customers buy the most of, what they want most and how we can build an incentive offer around that which will have consumer perceived value. In some cases, if we come out of the box with base hit type response, some tweaking of the incentive offer comes back with a home run type response.

If every response costs you, hurts your bottom line, then having a great response or overwhelming results can be a major problem. If every response brings profitable dollars then a home run response is good, good, and more good.

Peter DeMott • REACH magazine • Dayton, Ohio • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222 • references provided

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Growing your business, more customers, More profits

Timing is everything when it comes to lawn services in Dayton, Ohio

February 22, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

As you’ve likely noticed, I sprinkle something in about Dayton’s favorite coupon magazine every couple of posts. Hopefully, the things that I share in between are of good value to you and your business. We are currently putting together the April edition of REACH magazine.

The first week of April is usually when the grass is suddenly green, maybe patchy and this is when most of the Dayton area procrastinators try to get their lawn mowers started. With all the junk that big government puts into gasoline now-a-days, in many cases starting the lawn mower with stale gasoline can be a daunting task. This is a good opportunity for lawn care companies to come to the rescue with the convenience of a lawn care and lawn mowing service. This is the best issue for a lawn mowing service to be in REACH magazine in Dayton, Ohio. The timing is usually just perfect. Most consumers don’t think about lawn care until the grass turns green and starts growing.

Since REACH stays in the home for many weeks, it doesn’t matter if that perfect timing is the first week, the second week, or even the third week of April.

For landscapers that offer small jobs like installing mulch and spring clean-ups I recommend April, May and June as the key months when people are looking for a company that services their area and when they are typically calling for estimates on big and small jobs alike.

REACH can generate calls for $200 clean-ups and for $20,000.00 major landscape projects with paver stone installation and features like ponds and decks. The way that we design your ad and your offers is what will determine the types of calls you get.

I have found one thing to be critical to the success of any add in REACH magazine. The people are calling because they may have seen your trucks, but it is not the same as a call from a referral. Consumers calling because of an ad in REACH magazine are busy people who want answers now. If they get an answering machine or voice mail they will likely hang up and go to the next place they want to call. Clients that answer their phones get more business, PERIOD! If you must have voice mail for when you are with other clients I recommend that you message goes something like this, “Hi, this is John Smith of _______ services, If you got this message I am currently with another customer. If you leave your name and phone number I should be able to call you back within the next 10 to 20 minutes, Thanks.”

Everything that I share can be helpful to many businesses. If your phone frequently goes to an answering machine or voice mail and someone who DOES NOT KNOW YOU YET calls, what do you think their impression will be. Might they wonder if this is some snook working out of the trunk of an old Chevy Vega? You cannot control what goes through the mind of a consumer when they call and get an answering matchine.

If you know someone who wants to promote their lawn care business this spring. There is not much time. I will need to meet with them by March 9th.

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine • Dayton, Ohio • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Customer Service, Growing your business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

What is call tracking and how can it give me effective savings on advertising investments?

February 5, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

How can a business figure out which advertising is working for them?

When I go to a business that is interested in advertising with incentive marketing such as REACH Magazine, many times I find that they do not have an effective way of determining which advertising investments are performing for them. I find that if “they only knew what was working” they could reduce investments in areas that are under performing and reinvest in better lead source generators for their business.

So many times I have heard the saying about the 80/20 rule used with advertising expenditures. It is applied to things like sales too. 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers or 80% of your sales come from the top 20% of your sales team. Or in advertising it might be used like this….80% or my results come from 20% of my advertising investment and I would be a rich man if I only knew which 20% it was that was working.

Well with modern technology, now you can. In this blog I have shared that CALL TRACKING has helped businesses understand that investing in cheaper coupon magazines is not always the most effective use of your advertising dollars. Over the last several years, again and again, my customers have “fired” other magazines that they had erroneously thought were less costly than REACH magazine. The price tag was slightly less so they thought they were saving money by investing in the lower cost product only to find using CALL TRACKING that their COST PER LEAD was less using REACH magazine.

How did these companies get accurate CALL TRACKING?

They used a company like Call Source which can assign a different phone number to each advertising media or in my case, each magazine they advertise in. Call Source then provides a computer analysis which includes the actual calls recorded for you possible review, sorted by source, along with caller ID information, duration of calls and other data that can be used to improve your sales team results.

Not only can they determine which magazine is performing best per dollar spent, but they can determine if their other advertising is providing profitable sales as well. If radio is working, but TV is not or if TV is working, but Yellow Pages are not, or if Internet pay per click is generating viable leads, but newspaper is not, then the company can allocate their advertising dollars where they are most effectively used. If REACH magazine is in the mix and is outperforming many of these other forms of advertising investments, then dollars that are being used ineffectively can be redirected to where they can be more effective, by perhaps buying a larger ad or increasing the frequency of advertising in the programs that work best.

Many advertisers offer a CALL TRACKING phone number to their clients. They provide one call tracking phone number to measure the number of incoming calls generated by their advertising venue only. By doing this they can prove in many cases that their program is producing profitable numbers for their client. However, this will not help you find out which call sources are better than others. When we discuss call tracking with our clients we encourage them to arrange for a bank of phone numbers equal to the number of programs they are using for advertising so that each source can have an assigned phone number. Then Call Source can help them accurately determine which sources they can cut back on and which sources they should invest more in.

So which IS more expensive?

Is it better for you to spend $50 per week on, let’s say the local weekly newspaper or perhaps a very “low cost” coupon magazine with poor results. Or is it better to spend a larger lump sum on something that actually results in calls and sales for your company. Here is what I mean:

$50 seems like an inexpensive ad cost, but if it generates no sales it cost you 100%

$50 —no calls—no results—-Zero dollars revenue for your company and 100% lost investment. That, to me is VERY EXPENSIVE advertising.

Now lets say you spend $1300 on an ad that produces incoming calls (leads) or increased store traffic. Of course depending on the product you sell (for examples a hamburger vs. a major home improvement), let’s just say that the results were very profitable. Now you have this picture:

$1300—calls produced–good results—many dollars revenue for your company and low cost per sale. That to me if a much less expensive purchase than spending $50 over and over again on something that produces no results.

Take a look at the short video clips here at Call Source and see it presented even more clearly. You can go direct to them and set up CALL TRACKING for your company or if you like, with your investment in REACH magazine we can provide you with a set of phone CALL TRACKING numbers for a small fee for each of your advertising investments so that you can determine where to invest more and where to invest less.

Whatever you do, when someone says, “We are just like REACH Magazine only cheaper” red flashing lights should go off in your head, because it is probably not true. Before you believe them give me a call so that I can show you why consumers LOVE REACH MAGAZINE and why in most cases REACH can be a better investment for your advertising dollars. Using CALL TRACKING has lead several of my clients to “fire” the magazines that claim they cost less so that they can reinvest those dollars were they will be more effective. With today’s technology you no longer have to say, ” I know that 20% of my advertising works, but I just don’t know which 20% it is.”

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine • Dayton, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and more • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Call tracking, Customer Perception, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Dayton, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, smart choices in advertising, Target marketing, Tools for business

Another call tracking victory for REACH magazine

January 19, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

PHone 01 Another call tracking victory for REACH magazine

Another call tracking victory for REACH Magazine in Dayton, Ohio:

I stopped in on a client today about their agreement for 2011. The office manager was preparing stats for the business owner to review. They have call tracking which means that for each media they use, they assign a phone number which has call tracking. They can then track each call that originates from that media source. In fact they can see how each call was handled and gain other important information as well.

The details and the REAL TEST…dollars generated in contracts:

In this case the office manager was tabulating all the call tracking reports from the year AND matching them up with the actual contracts associated with those calls. So, it was not just counting calls, but counting the dollars generated from each media. I asked her how things were looking for REACH and her comment was that REACH was right up there. One of our competitors, another coupon magazine, however, definitely lost money last year. This will be the second contracting company that will be keeping REACH and firing one of our competitors. Goes to show that when a coupon magazine in the Dayton market says, “we’re like REACH only cheeper”, a red light should be flashing in your mind. I won’t name names here.

Find out what makes REACH different:

A short presentation about REACH magazine includes a brief description of the factors that make REACH magazine so much more popular with consumers. We will discuss your company or business and whether you need to to target by geography or by demographics and a discussion of ad sizes and rate options based on frequency of advertising. As I mentioned in my prior post, you will only know what REACH can do if you give it a fair test which includes mailing with the right sized ad in the right market area with an incentive that has consumer appeal. I hope you will give me a call so you can be an informed advertising consumer. You can trust me to give you the straight scoop on REACH because I have the experience to know that I am looking for long term clients, not flash in the pan customers who do not match well with our program.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Peter DeMott • Senior account executive • REACH Magazine • Dayton, Ohio • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Why is it important to monitor your business name on the internet? or Is your name MUD?

I had a couple tiny mistakes bring to light some big problems for a company yesterday.

His company was listed in several on-line business directories with the correct address, but with a disconnected phone number listed…ooops!

I still sent him an email explaining that his phone number was wrong on the yard signs