No, we don’t mean re-tooling the barrel or switching
to slugs (there are enough of those already in advertising
and marketing). What we plan to do is improve the gun,
bullet, target, and marksman all at the same time. Then,
even if you do use “slugs”, they will be more
effective coming out of the barrel.
For you non-shooters,
a shotgun is great when you have a target that’s
too difficult to hit or there are too many targets for
one round; but when you can see the
target real well, and you know how to handle a rifle -
correcting for windage and elevation, knowing the distance
to the target, knowing the range of your weapon - you can
squeeze off a round and score a 10X every time. That’s
what we are going to learn, how to hit the target with
as much efficiency as possible. Afterall, a shotgun needs
a lot of power behind all those little pellets to have
any impact. It’s the same thing with advertising.
Bet you never thought about it quite like that, did you?
The
last chapter told you how to figure out where your customers
were (the pins in the map?), now we are going
to figure out how to get more people like those people
into your business.
First, stay away from shotguns (broadcast and other mass
media) unless you have plenty of ammunition (M-O-N-E-Y),
or you just like to hear a big noise. We will talk more
about that later.
Second, try and figure out how many of
those people who are like your customers there really are
in the market
and where they are; then how many of those are really going
to want what you have to sell; where you are selling it;
for the price you are selling it at.
The target starts getting sort of small, doesn’t
it?
Now, tell them what it is you have to sell; where you
sell it; and for what price. Simple. And keep it simple.
In
fact, remember the KISS concept (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
You don’t need to try any trick shots until you have
mastered the basics of hitting the first target first -
trick shots develop later.
Last, remember that the people
you are talking to are like the people who are already
buying from you. So, talk to
them like you talk to your customers. Use a rifle: in
this case, maybe direct mail or flyers or neighborhood
papers.
In the right hands, a .22 can be more effective at hitting
the target than a cannon loaded with grapeshot.
Wait a
minute, before you go off half cocked, your pinned map
might show that you have two totally different targets
- at least geographically: one local; and, if you happen
to be located where a lot of convention and tourism
takes place, an out-of-town target.
Well, guess what?
The same kind of neighborhood patterns
are going to appear because people who travel happen to
have similar habits
and patterns. They have a tendency to buy the same types
of products. You might even find that some of these people
are fairly regular customers - stopping in and buying from
you whenever they are in town. It that’s the case,
start planning on sending out sales information and brochures
to these people, and their neighbors, on a regular basis.
You might be surprised how many mail order sales you can
generate and, in the process, begin a whole new profit
center.
Either way, whether you target locally or beyond,
once you know “who” and “what” you
can find more and more of then. Just generate your list
using
geodemographics (remember that one?).
Oh, one other thing,
an expert shot doesn’t need
a lot of expensive equipment to be good, he just needs
to know how to use what he’s got. Good hunting.
