Craig Rentmeester's Blog

3SP Success Factors for Small Businesses

The most common success factors for a small business are:

• Speed
• Smart
• Service
• Promises

Speed - Act quickly. It's simple, but powerful. 

You can't win the resource game. But, you can win by making decisions faster, adapting to changing markets quicker, and deploying your resources faster.

Big companies have momentum -- brand, customer base, assets, etc. Use momentum against them as things change. 

Smart - Solve business problems with creative solutions.

A neat way to do this,  create diverse teams. Another way is to think about problem solving as a skill on its own rather than an added bonus.

If you're customers see you as providing smart solutions, they'll view you as a trusted advisor.

Service - If you're not getting thank you e-mails or fan mail you're not doing a good enough job at service to make it a competitive advantage.

Non-retail related tip: If your employees don't know the answer to a question, teach them to say "I'll look into it and will get back to you in 30 minutes."

Then, teach them to drop everything, and solve the problem.

Wait, what if we can't solve the problem in 30 minutes? No problem. Keep your promise. Get back to the customer with a more informed time frame, and let them know that you'll keep them updated as you know more information.

Promises - Make a promise to each and every customer, and keep it. Keeping promises builds trust. 

The idea of promises -- weather it be promotions, warranties or satisfaction guarantees, to name a few -- is powerful, and simple. Leverage it.

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Follow ProjectLOO, Craig Rentmeester's way of helping small businesses compete online.

Being Available is Half the Battle

37Signals, developers of popular SaaS tools for small businesses and project teams, like Basecamp and Highrise, makes its CEO available for calls with customers for 4 hours each week.

Play to your strengths, and do something your larger competitors "can't do".

SMBs should take note.

Announcing Project LOO for Locally Owned and Operated Businesses

I wanted to let everyone know that I have created Project LOO, in conjunction with the launch of  Relevante Marketing, my newly formed internet marketing agency for SMBs.

What is Project LOO?

The goal of Project LOO is pretty straightforward. Build out Web sites and creating internet marketing systems for locally owned and operated businesses throughout the United States to make them more competitive.

Side note: LOO stands for Locally Owned and Operated.

Why is this Important?

While the recession may be over from a technical standpoint, independent businesses are still feeling the effects of high unemployment, translating into less sales than in year's past. 

Local search presents a huge opportunity for small businesses to grow their customer bases profitably, and be able to compete with national chains and franchises that have millions of dollars to spend on these services. In addition, studies have shown the decline of print directories and local newspaper as business information starting points, and the continued increase in local search.

Project LOO combines these data points into a call to action for locally owned and operated businesses; Your customers are acting differently, and you need to adapt your marketing to compete.

Project LOO by the Numbers

I want to work with 40 locally owned and operated businesses in 2010, in 40 different cities, to build 40 custom internet marketing systems. I plan to spend up to 40 weeks on-site (1 week per client).

Helping out the Local Community

I am willing to sacrifice my free time by traveling on site to each business to get each system off the ground. As such, I'll be spending money at local restaurants, coffee shops, bars, hotels, gas stations, etc.

I will hire local web designers, as needed, in each city to help me with each project.

The Offer

By working with 40 different businesses, I will be able to keep the price affordable for small businesses.

The cost for a primarily non-e-commerce related Web site will cost $4,000. This package will fit services-based businesses looking to increase leads, and retailers and restaurants looking to increase in-person traffic. The fee includes everything, including my time, freelance designers pay, travel, living, technology, 1 year of hosting, and 1 year of Web site maintenance.

The cost for a relatively small (~ 75 products) e-commerce site is $8,000. The higher fee is in place because I will need to hire more developers, at a higher rate, and there will be more prep work involved.There will also be more maintenance involved.

In addition, all 40 businesses will be promoted on the Project LOO web site, in any press releases, and via Project LOO's twitter account -- @ProjectLOO. 

Kickoff Contest

To kickoff Project LOO, I am giving away one Internet Marketing Package. All applications received by December 15, 2009, will be eligible.

I Need Your Help

With any new project or business, it's tough to get the word out. I have never asked for anything in return from my readers, but now I am. 

Think of your favorite local restaurants, dry cleaners, mechanics, etc. Do them a favor, tell them about Project LOO.

Tell a Small Business Owner

If you know of a small business in your city that doesn't have a presence online, tell them about Project LOO. It's an affordable and easy way for them to become competitive online. 

Promote Project LOO on Your Blog, Tweet about Project LOO, Post a Link, etc.

Visit the Support Page at ProjectLOO.com to learn more about what you can do to help me out. 

Sponsorship Opportunities

If you know of someone in charge of sponsorships at an airline, hotel or rental car company that might like to sponsor Project LOO, I can lower the costs  for each local business by partnering with these types of companies. I'd be willing to promote them on the Project LOO Web site, via Twitter and via any press releases or interviews related to Project LOO.

Thanks for reading, and helping me out. I truly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Craig Rentmeester

5 Business Titles for the Future

In today's world of time-strapped employees, it's important to keep the focus on customers -- not on internal rules, processes and bull shit that gets in the way of productive interactions.

CSO - Common Sense Officer - The go-to person to act rationally, solve problems and work without regard for company policy. Isn't assigned to one department and knows the business better than anyone.  She may be a semi-retired industry veteran with a hatred for corporate policy and love for the industry and efficiency.

ICA - Important Customer Advisor - The person assigned to your most influential accounts that advises them on which products to purchase, how to purchase (finance, lease, purchase) and how to implement the products? This person gets paid handsomely, not on commission, to make sure these customers keep doing business with you.

Director of Customer Experience - A person who proactively seeks out areas where customers get screwed -- hidden fees, fine print, non-transparency, poor design, etc. This person is judged by how many complaints vs. how many positive reviews the company receives. NetPromoter score also a key performance metric. Has a healthy budget and never-ending list of approvements.

VP of Next Generation Customers - The person responsible for person who has a ridiculous budget to gain favor for the company and its products amongst students and children. Donations, Volunteering, Partnerships, Workshops, Giveaways and Sponsorships are order of the day.

Frontline Reporter - The person responsible for collecting and relaying information about bad business practices to the CSO, CEO, COO and Director of Customer Experience. Similar to the CSO, but with less authority.


The next time you're frustrated about how things are handled at your company, just think if you could turn to someone in one these roles and trust that something would get done to fix it. Customers, employees and suppliers would be lined up around the corner to work with this company. 

Do you know anyone in these types of roles? Are they awesome to work with and turn to with issues?

Personal Branding Lessons from an Experienced Brand Builder

Personal Branding Magazine issue 3 is now available. For issue 3, I interviewed John Purdy of the Kendall Purdy Group.

The article tells his story of leaving the Ad Agency he'd worked at for over 20 years to become a one-man consulting firm.

My article, featured on PDF page 25/magazine page 19, is below.

Enjoy.

Personal Branding Advice from an Experienced Brand Builder

By Craig Rentmeester

Freelance consulting is considered to be the ultimate reward in personal branding by many professionals. It signifies you’ve reached a point in your career where people recognize your brand and value your opinions.

To gain perspective on consulting and personal branding I caught up with John Purdy. With over 30 years of marketing experience on both the agency and corporate side, Purdy is a thought leader when it comes to brand building. For the past nine years he has helped his clients grow their brands on a freelance basis through his consultancy, the Kendall Purdy Group.

Striking Out (on His Own)
The decision to go into freelance consulting brings both freedom and uncertainty. It allows professionals a chance to take on projects they’ll enjoy while setting their own work pace. However, it also brings an unstable income and less job security. When asked about the decision to go into this line of work Purdy responded,

“I started consulting when my agency client fired the agency in favor of an agency with a more extensive international network. As (it) often happens in the (advertising) agency world, my job was eliminated when the income from that large client ceased. The client who left the agency still valued my counsel in their business and contracted for a portion of my time if I chose to consult. That was sufficient incentive to establish a consultancy, with that client as a base.”

 
Choosing a Brand
The Kendall Purdy Group is a unique choice for a freelance consultant’s brand. When asked why he decided on that Purdy said, “…I developed a list of possible names that had probably 20 options to choose from. There were logical and descriptive names, benefit-focused names, fanciful names and others. I reviewed the list of names with friends and the clear winner was the Kendall Purdy Group. “

Purdy said it was the clear choice because, “It sounded as though I wasn't all by myself, which I was. It sounded dignified and professional, which it wasn’t particularly…and it was vague enough not to pigeonhole me in any one discipline or area of consulting.”

John Purdy had two things at this point; a client to stabilize his business, and a brand to manage and grow. But, the key to running to a successful business is a consistent customer base.

Getting Customers
When asked about how he normally gains business, Purdy said, “Ninety-five percent of my business comes from referrals -- from people I know in the business who either hire me themselves or recommend me to others…My network has been the only dependable source of business over the nine years of consulting.”

Tricky Situations
Purdy also went on to mention how he is put into peculiar situations. He mentioned how he sometimes competes against advertising agency’s he consulted for and consulting for two businesses that directly compete with one another.

“I always try to be upfront about the organizations I have worked with and (let clients know) that I cannot disclose anything that is considered proprietary information,“ says Purdy.

“Honesty is the best policy in consulting,” says Purdy.

 

Yoonew - A Game Changing Company

I recently heard about Yoonew, a company that essentially runs an open market for sporting event tickets. 

How Yoonew Works
At Yoonew, fans can bet that their team will make it to the championship game.  (i.e. the Super Bowl, Final Four, World Series, etc.).

If the team that the fan bets on make it to the championship, the fan receives a ticket (or many tickets, depending on the bet) to that sporting event for the price that they locked in earlier in the season. If the team doesn't make it, the fan loses the initial amount.

Yoonew uses the losers' money to purchase tickets for winning bidders --and brings in revenue through transaction fees.

The company claims they've never failed to deliver a ticket to a winning bidder.

Why Yoonew is interesting
Yoonew allows fanatics with extra cash (and a knack for gambling) the opportunity to get tickets for well under face value.

With Super Bowl XLII this week, and tickets reselling for $4,300 on average,  Yoonew seems to have found a niche that will certainly be around for a while.

More on Yoonew
Read more about Yoonew at TechCrunch, The Boston Herald and Fast Company.

Black Friday - A penny saved is a penny earned

Black Friday is one of the strangest days of the year. Millions of people flock to stores, leaving somewhat disappointed (the items are sold out, need to get a rain check, have to wait in line for hours, etc.)

Overall though, most customers are satisfied. 

After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

My Story
At Kohl's today, there were people lined up around the entire store waiting to check out. I left. 50 percent is only 10 dollars after all. However, most people stayed.

Rather than acting like me, most people plan ahead. They bring friends and family -- which does two things.

1. For Shoppers
It allows shoppers to put someone in line to hold their spot.

2. For Retailers
It allows more eyes to gander at the savings, allowing for more additional purchases.

Could retailers open more lines? Yes.

However, waiting is part of the game. It's an experience. A story.

To some, it's ridiculous. To others, Black Friday is a holiday in itself; a journey to find the right gifts at the lowest prices.

The equation that retailers continually try to satisfy is the right balance between allowed annoyance and delivering the advertised specials. How much of a discount is the right incentive to gain visitors and cause some "incidental", yet expected pain?

Take money to the bank, not percents

A former boss once told me, "You can't take percentages to the bank. You take dollars and cents to the bank."

This is a great saying.

Rather than having to rationalize each purchase as a percentage of the yearly budget, it allows for gray area, discussion and creativity.

With this statement in mind, I was able to think about relationships with customers rather than having to protect margins on individual sales. It also allowed me to take more risks, make more mistakes and learn more about our customers.

In business, many people measure things using percentages. It's done for many reasons -- simplicity, comparison, protection of profits, etc.  However, percentages usually come with assumptions. I am not saying to avoid percentages at all costs, just realize any assumptions that are built into the percentages.

I remember this saying and think about it when someone mentions things like budgets, pricing, promotions and margins. 

Celebrities and Personal Branding

One key element to personal branding is knowing your own personal traits, skills and accomplishments. Once you've done that self assessment, you need to leverage that package into something that can create opportunities and revenue for yourself.

Celebrities do this extremely well.

Here is a small list of celebrities that have leveraged their traits, skills and accomplishments (lets not forgot fame) into something of monetary value to themselves.

Peyton Manning. He's a record holder (most TD passes in a season, passer rating, passes completed, etc.), a winner (Superbowl XLI), and a man with strong character (no suspensions or arrests and strong community involvement).

He's leveraged this into many endorsement deals including Reebok, Gatorade, DirecTV, Sprint, etc.

Tiger Woods. He's a winner (13 majors), he's humble (doesn't talk trash), and has a great story (Dad was a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant, of mixed descent, began playing golf extremely young, etc.).

He's leveraged this into many endorsement deals including Nike, Buick, American Express, Accenture, etc.

What if you aren't naturally gifted like these athletes?

Kathy Griffin ("My Life on the D List" won an Emmy Award)
She's not the funniest person, nor the prettiest, but she faced the facts and grew her personal brand in spite of those obstacles that many celebrities face.

There are plenty of other celebrities that understand personal branding and playing to their own strengths.

The question is not, how can I become like Kathy Griffin?

Society already has a Kathy Griffin. She fills that niche and plays to her audience well. 

The question is, how can I learn from these examples to further my brand?

If you can, you'll be rewarded with better opportunities and wealth from doing so.

Employee relations gone public; part two

In case you haven't seen a U.S. news site today, GM has a crisis on its hands. Not only does General Motors have to deal with over 73,000 disgruntled employees, but it has to deal with countless media inquiries.

In case you're wondering what caused the strike was caused by, here is an excerpt from the story filed by CNN.

Gettelfinger said the union was ready to discuss the company's key bargaining goal of shifting an estimated $51 billion in healthcare expenses for retirees and their family members to union-controlled trust funds. But he said that other issues had derailed hopes of an agreement.

The union president said he was looking for assurances from the company about the job security of UAW members. He said he wanted guarantees about how much GM would invest in U.S. plants and about how many new vehicles would be built in the United States.

It'll be interesting to see how GM handles this with both the media and its employees, and how long it stays in the news.

Sometimes you have to Ask

Yesterday, I had a plumber (Bob's Sewer Service Inc.) come to my house to unclog a drain. My landlord explicitly said that he'd like it to cost under $100, and if was going to cost more to call him. Understandable.

When the plumber came, it took him less than thirty minutes to determine the problem, figure out a solution and be on his way. I was impressed. The cost -- $75.

All was well -- It was quick, relatively cheap, and a minor inconvenience.

After the plumber cleaned up his tools, we chatted for a little about ourselves to one another and developed a meaningless relationship -- for me. To be honest, I didn't really care how long he'd been a plumber, if he had plans for the weekend, or what he thought about the Vikings this season. My only objective in the whole interaction was to get the drain fixed and be on my way as fast possible.

However, he could have leveraged my situation (recent graduate, renter, my network of other current students/recent graduates that are renting, soon to be homeowner) to build referrals for his business.

However, he left without leaving behind any marketing collateral.

You may be wandering, what is the point?

The Big Deal: Referrals. They are a large part of marketing. Businesses incur extra customer service costs to keep customers happy so they'll use their service and tell their friends to do so as well. Talk and conversation play a very important role in deciding which businesses get called and which ones don't. The next time you're in a situation where you've met the customer's expectations (trial and error detection), ask them to tell their friends, or leave them information to make it easier to tell their friends.

Solving Problems or Diffusing Problems

Businesses make mistakes. Whether it is a cable installer not showing up for their appointment or a construction company that doesn’t meet the deadline they promised, it’s not how a company arrives at a problem that determines their brand, it’s how the organization deals with it.

As with many things, the value placed on customer service varies from person to person. However, people know about companies with bad customer service.

This (reputation) happens because a business problem that turns into a customer service failure leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. It doesn’t live up to expectations, thereby deflating trust in the relationship.

So my question to customer service managers is are you diffusing problems, a.k.a. getting the person to go away, or are you solving problems, a.k.a. finding a workable solution that both parties agree upon?

Customer service issues are opportunities to strengthen brand loyalty, if they’re dealt with correctly in the eyes of the customer.

Customer Service in action; Print Place shines

Late Friday afternoon (3:30 - 4:00pm) I was ordering brochures. I placed the order online and then submitted my artwork to the Web site by uploading the files.

Then comes the curveball.

Rather than being able to view my proofs online, both front and back, I was only able to see one side. So, I called a customer service representative. I actually spoke with this same representative beforehand, to ask about the ordering and artwork submission process. During my second call, she mentioned that they were having problems with the electronic proofs.

She assured me that the problem would be resolved, but she didn't know when. Since I could wait until Monday, I stopped worrying about the problem, trusting that it would be corrected by then. It turns out, not only did the problem get corrected, but the same customer service representative followed up via e-mail on Saturday afternoon. So, if I did need the brochures soon, I could have quickly reviewed the proofs and sent them to press.

I'd like to give a tip of my hat to the customer service team at PrintPlace.

Many companies would have sent out a mass e-mail to everyone that had ordered after a certain time. Not this employee, nor this company. She took it upon herself to follow through, with a personalized e-mail, to a customer with whom she'd work with earlier. As a display of gratitude, I sent her a personal e-mail saying thanks.

Now, I have a relationship with her and her company. The next time I need printing done, there is no choice. It's already made.

If you need printing done, I'd recommend PrintPlace. There prices are the lowest I have seen, they don't gauge you on shipping and they have, in my eyes, great customer service. If you're worried about quality, request a sample pack. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

B2B sales. What are you selling? Features or Benefits

In most situations, you have a limited window of time to make a first impression. It may be grabbing an audience's attention, representing a brand through personal appearance, or displaying confidence with good, firm handshake at an interview. Once this initial moment has passed, it's time to sell. Whether it's a product, service or yourself, you need to be selling. The approach may change, but the goal stays the same, for the most part.

When doing sales or marketing B2B, the sales approach is slightly different than with consumer products. Most consumer products to gain distribution, do creative, reach people willing to hear the message and repeat. (obviously there is more to it than that, but  I didn't want to drag on).   

When dealing with other businesses, using general business benefits (lower costs, more stability, faster time to market) to sell a product or service is a good start. However, it can be even more effective when catered to a particular business' needs. It shows an understanding of their business, thereby building credibility and trust.

My suggestion is to target your best customers and cater presentations, sales literature and leave behinds specifically for those companies. It may be time consuming, but the business will likely take you more seriously and feel comfortable working with you, even though your price isn't the lowest and your customer service isn't as good as it could be. 

Using the same sales brochures for every customer shows that your fiscally responsible and consider every potential customer to be on the same playing field. That is not the case. Large contracts, purchases and agreements, take large effort.

The Fine Line of Self Promotion and Personal Branding

The ability, and need, for personal branding has taken off more than ever, because of the Internet. This has happened because it's free. Start a blog, make a LinkedIn profile, etc. The cost to promote yourself has reached a price that everyone can afford.

With personal branding comes the question of personal ethics. Do you exaggerate accomplishments by a group that you were part of, when you didn't play a role in the actual forming or executing of the idea? Do you say expert in Microsoft Excel when you don't know how to do anything except enter numbers into a spreadsheet?

In terms of getting exposure, how far do you or an organization you work for go to get exposure, build links and increase page rankings? Do you go as far as to create a Wikipedia page about yourself? Do you start a journal (blog) that is written to be read by you, just to help out the "googlability" of your name?

My Take
I think personal branding is important, in limited ways. Overextending yourself can be harmful, especially if the information posted about you is incorrect. Plus, the more exposure you get online, the more work it is to keep up to date.

If you like reading blogs, I would suggest starting one yourself. It's a great experiment. You'll learn about widgets, googlability, and the power of linking, among many other things.

In terms of blogging, I would recommend focusing on something you enjoy reading and writing about, but necessarily a passion of yours. If you really enjoy skiing, it may not be wise to start a blog about it, because it may start to feel like a job. For me, the last thing I would want to do is have a hobby that I love start to feel like work.

Tip: If you're looking to get hired in the near future, I'd recommend starting a blog with your name in the URL. I had multiple employers search my name during my job search and comment about this blog.

By the way, you shouldn't even list the group if you didn't play a role, and you're not an Excel expert.