Why Quality Matters: Marketing is More than Advertising

Why Quality Matters
Marketing Is More Than Advertising

A Guide for The Rest of Us

Why Quality Matters: A Guide for The Rest of Us 1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leah Goold-Haws, founder and Creative Director of LGH, started her industry pursuit
as a graphic designer more than 15 years ago. Since then, she has been brought on
to help grow and expand advertising agencies and marketing firms and further de-
fined her creative edge and approach.

After a run as Creative Director of a marketing and advertising firm in Northern Cali-
fornia, Leah seized an opportunity to branch out on her own and, in January 2011,
opened LGH Marketing/Strategy. Having developed a reputation for strong creative
solutions and comprehensive strategies, Leah led LGH to attract city and county
organizations, as well as professional firms and non-profit organizations who are seri-
ous about committing to a solid marketing platform. Her focus is to assist clients in
understanding the need for an overarching strategy, then developing and implement-
ing creative marketing solutions to achieve their goals. She can be reached at leah@
lghmarketstrategy.com

ABOUT LGH MARKETING/STRATEGY

LGH is a boutique marketing strategy and creative advertising firm based in Redding, (far) Northern California. Found-
ed under the guiding principle that Marketing Without Strategy is Meaningless, our goal is to work with individuals,
businesses and organizations who can appreciate the need of a comprehensive strategy for their marketing efforts.
Noting our guiding philosophy, we seek to settle the increasingly common misunderstanding that piecemeal services
like a design on a business card, or a new logo are not alone to be considered “marketing.”

LGH Marketing/Strategy is a full service advertising and marketing firm specializing in both new interactive and social
media, web development, television commercials, print collateral, graphic design and comprehensive marketing strat-
egies. LGH has worked with numerous county and civic organizations to develop county-wide initiatives and outreach
plans. LGH has demonstrated fluency in guiding seemingly disparate groups in achieving a common goal, and devel-
oping partnerships that benefit all parties involved. See examples at www.lghmarketstrategy.com.


! Contents
Part I: What’s your brand story?
Know Yourself

Know Your Customer

Check Yourself

Define Your Gaols

Identify Your Weaknesses

Celebrate Your Strengths

Part II: What Do Your Ads Sell?
Encourage Brand Advocacy

Be a Resource

Be Your Best Experience

Worksheet

Contact


Part I: What’s your brand story?

Know Yourself
You started your business to make a difference,
right? Whether you wanted to provide service
better than the competition, or offer customers
lower prices than they could find elsewhere, or
maybe you wanted to have more control over
your work life - somewhere along the line you To succeed… find
made a decision to do something that people
can respect. something to hold on to,
Many times - especially in the midst of cash
something to motivate you,
flow problems, negative feedback, and wearing something to inspire you.
all the hats necessary to run a business - it’s
easy to lose sight of what those motivations - Tony Dorsett
were. Continually revisit your original reasons
for starting a business. While some of those
ideas evolve and morph over time, staying true
to your intentions will help you craft a remark-
able presence.


Know Your Customers
Research, research, research! As much as you may want to sell
your goods/services to EVERYBODY, the fact is, you are diluting
s
ou’ve heard thi
your efforts. The more you are able to target your ideal primary and
secondary markets, the better off your marketing and promotions If y
n’t
story before, do
campaigns will be.

e I’d
stop me, becaus
Find out the demographics - age, income level, education, gender,
marital status, number of children, etc. And equally important, find
in.
ke to hear it aga
out some psychodemographics - religious afiililation, political sub-
scription, likes, hobbies, interests, etc. li
Know where they hang out - in person and online. Are they Star-
bucks people, or are they local coffee shop patrons? Do they mo-
- Groucho Marx
tor bike or ride mountain bikes? The more information you have,
the better you can make your offer, and the more loyal your clients
will be to you.


Check Yourself
There was once a boy who walked into a store and asked
the proprietor if he could use his phone. “Why certainly,” Quite possibly the best way to make sure you are staying
the store owner replied. true to your brand is by spying on your employees. Step
away from the office, place a call to your business and
The boy dialed a number and said to the person on the disguise your voice. Are your employees being helpful?
other end, “I’m calling you to offer you the services of the Friendly? How do they handle a difficult or misinformed
best yard boy in town.” customer? Doing exercises like this will help you truly
understand what your customers, or potential custom-
“Well, to tell you the truth,” replied the person on the other
end, “we feel we already have the best yard boy in town.”

The little boy then said, “I really called because I want
you to have the most beautiful yard on your street, and
I want you to feel a sense of pride whenever you see it.”

“I must say,” was the response, “we do feel a sense of
pride whenever we look at our lawn.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” said the little boy, “congratu-
lations. I’m really happy for you.” He then hung up the
phone and handed it back to the store owner.

“Young man,” the owner exclaimed. “I couldn’t help but
to overhear your conversation, and I must say, with an
attitude like that, you’ll have no trouble getting a job one
day as a yard boy.”

“Oh, I’m already a yard boy,” the boy proclaimed. “In fact,
I’m the yard boy for the people I just called. I was just
checking up on myself.”

Source: Taken from Guerrilla Marketing Remix


Define Your Goals

Now that you remember your reasons for venturing How to Set Achievable Goals
out, it’s time for you to revisit, or begin composing, your
Unwritten goals are falsities. If you don’t write something down,
core values. Many businesses focus on low prices or
you don’t have to take personal responsibility if it doesn’t get
great customer service as the extent of their values. And
fulfilled. Always put your goals in writing, in multiple places if you
those are great places to start, but it’s not enough to
can (index cards, notebooks, etc.) and make an effort to review
have good prices, or a friendly voice on the phone. Who
your goals every day.
are you as a leader? What do you want your workplace
culture to look like?
Be specific. Never word a goal with vague terms like “some” or “a
little bit”, or “more”. Be specific! How much money do you want
to make this month? How many new customers?

Keep them simple. A goal is not the entire story of your ideal life.
Goals in writing Want to give an awsome presentation? Retire at 50? Simple wins.

are dreams with Make it significant. These are your reasons for being in business.
More money is part of every entrepreneur’s dream, but what else
deadlines. drives, motivates or inspires you? Write it down.

- Brian Tracy Make it measurable. What gets measured, gets done, says the
adage. Define your goals in terms of height, weight, dollars,
inches, or hours. Then measure your progress until you achieve
your desired outcome.

Map it out. After you state your specific desired outcomes, you
will notice the gap between where you are and where you want
to be. And you will also naturally start to piece together how you
can bridge that gap by setting and fulfilling achievable goals.


Identify Your Weaknesses Opportunities

T hough we are often loath to admit, we all have weaknesses - both professionally and personally. And as a sole
proprietor, or one who runs a small business, those identities often overlap, so don’t make too many distinctions.
But the term weakness has tremendously negative connotations, so let’s instead call them areas of pportunity.

This approach may sound a little new-agey, but don’t overthink it. Because as business owners, as the person who
is responsible not only for your own livelihood, but that of your employees, you must abide by a sometimes unnatural
level of optimism. If you aren’t continually looking for new opportunities or ways to improve whatever it is you do, then
you can never expect to achieve your version of success.

How do you handle stress? How can you improve your customer service? What can you streamline to make your
visitors’ experience better? How do you fare in the marketplace? What are you offering that isn’t doing much good, or
what do you not offer that you can capitalize on?

To help you identify your opportunitirees, let’s look at a common model, DRIVE:

DRIVE is an approach to problem solving and analysis that can be used as part of process improvement.

DeFIne the scope of the problem the criteria by which success will be measured and agree the deliverables
and success factors`

Review the current situation, understand the background, identify and collect information, including perfor-
mance, identify problem areas, improvements and “quick wins”

Identify improvements or solutions to the problem, required changes to enable and sustain the improve-
ments

Verify check that the improvements will bring about beneﬁts that meet the deﬁned success criteria, priori-
tise and pilot the improvements

Execute plan the implementation of the solutions and improvements, agree and implement them, plan a
review, gather feedback and review


Celebrate Your Strengths

If you just got a terriffic review or write-up in a newspaper or magazine, do you think it’s okay to promote it amongst
your fans? (Hint: of course it is!)

Many times, business owners will fail to properly promote themselves - maybe out of a sense of austerity or martyr-
dom, and usually to their demise. People don’t want a mediocre, average experience.

They want a great experience.
If your business thrives on being a place where you know your customers by name, then celebrate it. If you have
the most knowledgeable staff, celebrate it. While identifying weaknesses is a good practice, also remember to build
on what you do well.


“The reason you haven’t
felt it is because it doesn’t
exist. What you call love
was invented by guys like
me, to sell nylons.”

Part II: What do your ads sell?

Experience > Product = True

Legendary entrepre- When I asked (Zappos
neur Richard Branson CEO Tony) Hsieh what
was once asked, “What Zappos stands for, he
does Virgin stand for?” never mentioned the
physical products that
He could have an- Zappos sells—shoes
swered “a great mu- and clothes.
sic store” or “a great
airline,” but instead Instead, he answered
he answered with one “happiness.”
word—”fun.”
Source: Quotes taken from a Forbes Article

Encourage Brand Advocacy

Once you start getting some meaningful feedback
(at this point, it should be 99% positive feedback,
right?!), you need to let the world know! But here’s
the kicker - there’s only so much self-promotion
your clients want to hear from you. This is where
testimonials come in.

If your customers truly do love you and do think
you’re amazing and do think your’e so smart, then
let them tell the world. A sales pitch from a busi-
ness is nowhere near as powerful as a word-of-
mouth referral from a satisfied client/customer.

Enchant people with a good experience,
and let them tell the story.


Be a Resource
When it comes down to it, most consumers really you, or you were told it is not in stock, and the sales-
just want a couple things: to feel like they’ve gotten person offered an alternative part, or referred you to
a great deal, and to feel like they’ve been taken care a trusted salesperson at a competing store. This is
of. That’s it. Think about a time when you went to the powerful: when you put the customer first, and place
hardware store looking for a specific tool, and they their needs before your bottom line, you have built a
didn’t have it in stock. You’ve probably experienced level of trust, and you can be sure that customer will
the situation handled one of two ways: either you return.
were told the item is not in stock, and good luck to


Be Your Best Experience
Gandhi said “If we could change ourselves, the tenden-
5 Tips to create an amazing customer experience
cies in the world would also change. As a man changes
his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change
Create a customer service vision. Much like creating a vision
towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do.”
statement to direct the organization, you should also create a
So what does this mean for your business?
clear and compelling “customer service vision” that describes the
level of service your organization aspires to deliver.
It means change starts with you. Right now. Everywhere.
Exceed customer expectations. Show a relentless commitment
Use your own personal experiences, good and bad, for
to exceeding, not just meeting, expectations. Customers can’t tell
crafting the best experience for your customers. Think
you how to exceed their expectations, but they know it when they
about good experiences you’ve had, and understand why
see it, they remember, and they tell their friends.
you felt positive about them. Do the same for negative ex-
periences, and work to make sure that doesn’t happen
Create superior customer value. Focus on creating superior
with you or your company. You must craft the version of
value for your customers, and they will love you. This means know
excellence you wish to have.
your competitors, technologies, and alternatives available. Match
your offerings to your target customers better than anyone else.
Now, get off your hiney and make things happen!
Train every employee to be a customer service champion.
Empower employees with the tools, training, equipment and sup-
port they must have to deliver excellent service consistently. Re-
esn’t
rkable do
ward and praise those who deliver, and deal quickly with any em-
Rema you. ployee who does not embrace the service values.
a rkable to
mean rem arkable to me. Destroy barriers to delivering superior service. Look at all
rem
It means
systems, policies, procedures, reports and rules. Wipe out any-
ke a
ing to ma
thing that creates roadblocks or frustrations in the effort to delight
Am I go it?
and amaze the customer. Remember, it’s about them, not you.

rema rk about
din
- Seth Go


Get Learned Up

What are some of the brands (businesses) you admire? _______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What are some of the brands you currently use already? ____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What would be the benefits of co-branding with another business? ___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why might your customers appreciate co-branding? _________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who are your local competitors? ___________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who are your online competitors? __________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What do you do differently than your competition? _________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What does your business do uniquely to others? _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you have a core (niche) market that supports you? _______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do your customers feel part of a “tribe”? ___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Still looking for some answers?

SBDC at Shasta College LGH Marketing/Strategy
sbdcmarketing@gmail.com leah@lghmarketstrategy.com
www.sbdcsc.org www.lghmarketstrategy.com
530.242.7630 530.410.1182


Why Quality Matters: Marketing is More than Advertising

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