Biz Crusader

 

Thinking BIG is hard to do when you own a small business.  There are some who may just concede to the phrase, “It takes money to make money.”  As a small business owner, you don’t have to resign yourself to small marketing budgets that lead to constrained dreams.  Instead, just apply some good old fashioned math to the way you’re allocating marketing and advertising dollars.

 

Having been trained initially at large corporations; gathering, analyzing and acting upon statistics and data was second nature to me.  The very thing that differentiates a successful business and a failing one is the ability of the owner to gather, analyze and act upon marketing, adverting and sales data.  These important numbers are often referred to as business trends in large corporations.  You will never find a mid-level manager meeting with an executive without them.

 

Now, there are a thousand ways to look at business trends.  The bottom line is that there are only a few that matter when you’re trying to determine your ROI (return on investment) for advertising and marketing.

 

 

( The Basics of advertising and marketing ROI - The DATA )

 

1)  COST:  What did you spend on the ad?

2)  LEADS:  How many sales leads did you get as a result of the ad?

3)  SALES:  How many sales did you close as a result of the sales leads from the ad?

4)  COST OF SALE:  What did each sale or closed deal cost you? (COST divided by NUMBER OF SALES)

5)  PROFIT or LOSS:  Are you profitable when considering the cost of the sale?

 

 

( EXAMPLE 1 )

 

Back when I was 21 years old, I learned a valuable marketing lesson from my then CEO.  I was at one of those week long corporate sales trainings—the ones where they make you live at a Courtyard Marriott to initiate you with the corporate colors (brain washing).

 

The training had pretty much wrapped up and I was in an elevator headed back to my room.  The doors opened and the CEO of the company walked in.  Was this an opportunity or just really bad luck?  At the time, I definitely thought it was bad luck.  After a few words of pleasantries, I could see it in his eyes.  He was going to test the young recruit.  He asked the question… “so, tell me what you’ve learned about our products?”

 

That’s when it happened.  I just started spewing out anything and everything I had just learned during the week.  It was just way too much information and none of it was organized.  After a few paragraphs had rolled out of my mouth (without taking a breath), he finally stopped me and said… “Just FAB it John.  It will be much easier.” The elevator door opened.  He smiled and left.

 

I’ll never forget that moment.  FAB was one of the lessons from the week and I didn’t think to apply it.  Ever since then, I have tried to apply FAB as much as I can as the foundation for any marketing or advertising message.  So, what is FAB?

 

It is an acronym for FEATURE, ADVANTAGE and BENEFIT.  The idea is simple.  Whenever you are describing a product or service for advertising or marketing purposes, just FAB it.  It is the core information you need to cover before all else.  Some people will tell you that all else doesn’t even matter.

 

 

 

FEATURE:  What is it?

ADVANTAGE:  What is its advantage?

BENEFIT:  What is the benefit?

 

 

 

F:  It’s a golf club.

A:  It is lighter because it’s made of graphite.

B:  You can drive the ball further and improve your game.

 

 

Try this with your products and services.  It will give you focus and a clear way to communicate the value proposition.  Whether you use FAB in ads or in your other marketing communications, it will always serve as a solid foundation.

 

By the way… I am still in touch with my elevator CEO.  We exchange e-mails now and then.  Despite my disaster in the elevator, I turned out to be a pretty good employee for him.