Last year my friend bought and launched a new business.

He’s an optimist: so he bought into the ambitious “business potential estimates” with-out doing any home-work.

While he wants to make his short term sales numbers, he forgets that the products and services he’s selling have VERY long purchase cycles.

Each month he has a “sale”: Grand Opening Sale, Spring Sale, Summer Sale, Fall Sale, etc. to teach his prospects and customers that they should shop for the best price; not the best quality or relationship.

The discounts he offers leave him with paper thin margins that are too low to sustain his business with.

He’s open to trying any media that knocks on his door, but is not willing to put some pre and post sales event performance measures in place to help him determine which ads and media are working for him and which are not in the short and long term.

Because these tactics have not been thought through and are not working, my friend is starting to panic. I can’t blame him. I would too if all I did, did not appear to work.

This morning I was walking Charlie through an old apple orchard in my neighborhood and I was reminded of a more sustainable business cycle that goes something like this.

• The smart farmer does homework to see what’s thriving in the area and what’s just barely hanging on in order to determine what the land’s yield potential is & profits might be.
• Current supply and demand for the produce or livestock options are taken into account – as are changes in how his community lives.
• The smart farmer doubles the estimated expenses and reduces the estimated profits by ½ to determine if an option is viable.
• Given the cyclical nature of crop and livestock growth – as well as the barriers to a successful harvest, sorting out a steady short term cash flow is critical to the smart farmer.

The smart farmer develops a sustainable business model that enables the operation to weather the tough times and grow the business over the long term.

• The smart farmer is no different than the smart retailer – she does her homework 1^st.

Some context regarding the old apple orchard:

My guess is that this orchard was planted around 1918 when the land was part of the Scarboro Mission (which was founded to send Catholic Missionaries to China). For the last 30 years this orchard and some adjoining lands have been part of the Metropolitan Toronto Parks Network but continue to bear fruit which is enjoyed by the local residents and wildlife.

Halloween is a unique opportunity to experiment with branding since it appeals to so many different demographics and psychographics. Just Google™ “Halloween Pictures” or “Halloween Events” and I bet you’ll find a wider variety of Halloween ideas and associations than you and your in-house team would have conceived of. There are many obvious ways to capitalize on Halloween: dressing your staff, your places of business as well as your products and services. I trust you and your team can figure that out.

While direct participation may make sense for your brand and give you a fun & profit spike for a few days each year, there is another path that can pay long term dividends.

White box products and services.

For more reasons than you care to read in a blog post, your products and services have appeal limitations because of what your brand has come to represent to prospects in its primary marketplace.

Selling your products or services to other distributors under terms you define and enforce can help you understand what happens:

• When you go local, domestic, ethnic or global.
• When you sell into a premium, typical or discount market.
• When you appeal to one two or more genders.
• When you appeal to different age groups.

I think you get the picture.

Halloween lets you reimage yourself and your brand for fun and profit a few days a year.

White Box strategies let you do it all year long.

On most days Charlie and I go for a long walk with Toby, my neighbor’s poodle, return for a quick breakfast and head off to my office – 15 feet away. What began as an experiment has become my preferred way of life. My days start just before nine and end around six. I support two ad agencies and a few direct clients with a few tools that help me eliminate the distance between myself and those I support. He’s my tool-box for success:

1. A Jabra™ GN2100 headset + USB link that optimizes skype or G-talk fidelity. About $200.00
2. A Panasonic™ KXTCA400 headset (about $40.00) that plugs into my four cordless handsets ( about (about 180.00)
3. A Large format PC laptop + a desktop monitor as well as a Mac with all the popular programs.
4. Black and White as well as Colour printers.
5. A three-way redundant file backup: Hard-drive, thumb-drives and cloud.

I have more productivity tools per square meter in my current (home) office than I would if I worked for the companies I support. And since I spend more time at my desk (and less time walking around) I also invested in top of the line ergonomics including:

• A state-of-the art chair by Ergohuman™
• A 1960’s era Steelcase™ (height and tray-depth adjustable) computer table with new surfaces.
• Gel pads for my Logitech™ K120 keyboard, and Microsoft™ mouse.

I’ve worked with these tools about two years now and they enable me to attend production meetings, direct and manage account and creative teams, direct radio recording sessions, manage multi-location clients meetings. Importantly, I do it all with the confidence that comes from knowing that my 1^st class thinking is being supported with 1^st class communication tools and accessories that help my clients experience my presentations and my recommendations as if I were there.

When my father, a Cabinet Maker by training, taught me to invest in and care for my tools, he was referring to the tools I used to repair my apartment and then later my house. I’ve applied the same lesson to the tools I use in my vocation.

Home alone, there for you, and loving it.

A long time ago we were in Kenora and my son asked to go to the local A&W. That day we started a unique ritual. We’d order their Root-Beer Milkshakes with French Fries. Then we’d grab a booth and watch the world go by while we dipped each fry into the thick root-beer flavoured milkshakes.

That ritual created a bond between Ian and me, A&W and Kenora.

The experience contributed to the intangible brand essence that makes it more durable & desirable.

When traveling alone or with my wife I’d be drawn to A&W – looking for that root-beer milkshake – looking to stoke the flames of my memories and my ritual with Ian.

Last Saturday Ian, Michelle and I dropped in to the A&W in Kenora looking for Root-Beer Milkshakes with French Fries. A cheery little CSR advised us that they didn’t have any milk-shakes. “The machines been broken for a few years now”.

In that moment I lost that loving feeling and A&W lost my loyalty and a bunch of future business.

But I’m just one customer. Right?

Wrong.

Brands build market share one relationship at a time.

Brands lose share one relationship at a time.

I was conditioned to “going back to school” for 17 years. Friends of mine who are certified professionals like doctors and lawyers were conditioned for another ten.

Towards the end of my summers (in Toronto) the Canadian National Exhibition (a.k.a. CNE) would flare up for 10 days and then shut down again.To Torontonians the opening signals the end of summer”.

For all ages and brands “back to school” signals a change of season and a change of reason for positioning your products or services. Here are a few examples to consider:

• If you’re selling summer camps for kids, your season is over. But it’s the perfect time to sell empty nesters like me on a quiet yoga retreat in the now silent (and mosquito free) woods.
• If you’re selling schools supplies of any kind, this is your time. But remember who’s often paying the tab, and who wants to keep up with the younger generation. Speak to students and give the parents some cool tools to play with as well.
• Many businesses return to “regular hours”, and withdraw the sense of freedom that comes with “summer hours”. So help your customers with their transition into Fall with a few fun filled “Lunch ‘n Learn Sessions”.

The challenge for your business is to identify genuine intellectual, emotional or seasonal reasons to reach out to your customer base and ask them for their business.

• REASON: a “Back to School Event” makes sense for stores that sell schools supplies, computer equipment, clothing and dorm furniture.
• SEASON: an “End of Summer Inventory Clear out” makes sense for stores that sell their inventory by season.
• INTELLECT: Can you appeal to your customers’ ego with a “sneak preview” of the fall line of fashionable clothing, cars, or new performance enhancing services? Remember – while this is not a “Fall” event, it does lead into Fall.

 As you all know, I’m not a fan of sales per se because in an inelastic market they simple drive down the value of your product or service, give you tomorrow’s customer’s today (at a higher marketing cost and lower profit margin), and do nothing to increase market demand for your products or services.

I much prefer these techniques:

• Giving loyal customers, not strangers, the 1st chance to buy end of season products or services at a reduced rate justified by their loyalty.
• Giving loyal customers, not strangers, the 1st chance to see, examine, buy, order the new fall products or services.
• Giving additional time with the purchase of your service.
• Giving additional value with purchase of your products.

Remember:

Price is what you talk about when you have nothing else to say. Strong brands have lots of success stories to tell and lots of people that love them and refer them.

Among strong brands “price” is NEVER in the top 5-7 reasons to buy or decline the brand.

Except in Winnipeg.