News & Observer
Published Sun, Nov 22, 2009 02:00 AM
Modified Sun, Nov 29, 2009 04:41 AM
Modified Sun, Nov 29, 2009 04:41 AM
Grace Ueng is founder and CEO of Savvy Marketing Group in Cary. She advises several local companies and has taught "Entrepreneurial Marketing" at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Over the next few weeks in Work&Money, Ueng will offer her 12-step guide to marketing new and existing businesses. Last week, she discussed strategic marketing and developing a plan (to catch up, go to www.newsobserver.com/business ).
Step 4: Optimize resources.
In a tough economy, getting the most for your marketing dollars is particularly important. If your company can't add to its staff by hiring an entire marketing department, consider outsourcing to get the talent that you need.
At Hosted Solutions in Raleigh, CEO Rich Lee saw an opportunity to attract customers in outlying markets so he created a position, vice president of marketing, and hired Noreen Allen for the job.
Allen, in turn, has gone outside the company to find the right partners, including a PR professional, to help get out Hosted Solution's message. In doing this, Allen has access to senior level talent, but Hosted Solutions' payroll has not taken as large a hit.
Allen also believes that employees are a company's most important marketers. "By exuding passion for the brand, they become a walking billboard for your company," she says. "They talk to their friends and network. If employees feel good, they will become your brand champions."
Building a strong culture within a company can take time, Allen acknowledges. One of her first initiatives after being hired at the start of this year was to refine Hosted Solution's mission, vision and value statement. Then, she created programs around regular communications with the company, including quarterly meetings to share goals and progress, roundtables with CEO Rich Lee, and "plug ins" where the company's seven offices connect for conversations, recognition and fun.
Allen, who created similar programs at SpectraSite, a Cary telecommunications company, said that creating a strong culture drives high customer satisfaction, which in turn yields strong operating results.
Step 5: Conduct actionable market research. Use qualitative and quantitative research tools, including customer advisory boards and satisfaction surveys, to validate your company's market potential, to test name, positioning or messaging, and to get regular feedback.
Sean Murphy of NeoNova Networks said that his company tested a qualitative customer survey and then rolled what it had learned into a quantitative customer satisfaction survey to calculate a "net promoter score."
Companies obtain their "net promoter score" by asking customers: "How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" Based on their response, a customer can be categorized into one of three groups: promoters, passives and detractors. The percentage of detractors is then subtracted from the percentage of promoters to obtain a "net promoter score."
From this, the Morrisville company found many areas worthy of further exploration, including what products to emphasize and what products could be pruned. NeoNova then created an in-depth discussion guide and assigned and trained several team members to interview a dozen affiliates across the nation to truly understand "the voice of the customer."
Instead of conducting annual customer surveys, Cary-based SciQuest conducts research with one quarter of its customer base every three months. Jeff Woody, director of customer support, and Jamie Duke, chief operating officer, put together action plans based on the research to optimize its product releases each year.
SciQuest also has online community forums where users can vote on future features as well as an "open mic" night for customers at its annual user conference.
Such research has contributed to strong business results. SciQuest has seen more than 230 percent revenue growth over the last four years.
BlueStripe Software develops its products in part by having customers come into its Morrisville offices on a regular basis to test the latest versions. BlueStripe's employees then observe their behavior and get feedback that incorporated into the product's design.
Randy Carter, whose title is user interaction designer, also gets a detailed study of the company's customers, their needs and challenges and a detailed list of the tasks they need to perform with the product.
Step 6: Develop your elevator pitch. What and to whom are you selling? What is your unique selling proposition?
The importance of being able to concisely state your pitch cannot be overestimated. How sticky and memorable are you to your customers and prospects?
Dan Clem is director of marketing at AlertNow, a Raleigh company that provides a rapid notification service focused on the education market. The company targets its pitch to the district superintendent and his or her staff. Knowing that their product is not the cheapest option, Clem says, his message is reliability and customer service that answers phones 24/7.
"Make your customers happy," Clem says. "Then they become your sales force."
Of course, once you make your pitch, you have to make good on it. Clem tells a story about one customer who called asking for help in killing three scorpions in a vacation rental cabin. His team did their best to help.
Next week: Stay tuned for the next three steps to becoming a savvy entrepreneurial marketer.
Step 4: Optimize resources.
In a tough economy, getting the most for your marketing dollars is particularly important. If your company can't add to its staff by hiring an entire marketing department, consider outsourcing to get the talent that you need.
At Hosted Solutions in Raleigh, CEO Rich Lee saw an opportunity to attract customers in outlying markets so he created a position, vice president of marketing, and hired Noreen Allen for the job.
Allen, in turn, has gone outside the company to find the right partners, including a PR professional, to help get out Hosted Solution's message. In doing this, Allen has access to senior level talent, but Hosted Solutions' payroll has not taken as large a hit.
Allen also believes that employees are a company's most important marketers. "By exuding passion for the brand, they become a walking billboard for your company," she says. "They talk to their friends and network. If employees feel good, they will become your brand champions."
Building a strong culture within a company can take time, Allen acknowledges. One of her first initiatives after being hired at the start of this year was to refine Hosted Solution's mission, vision and value statement. Then, she created programs around regular communications with the company, including quarterly meetings to share goals and progress, roundtables with CEO Rich Lee, and "plug ins" where the company's seven offices connect for conversations, recognition and fun.
Allen, who created similar programs at SpectraSite, a Cary telecommunications company, said that creating a strong culture drives high customer satisfaction, which in turn yields strong operating results.
Step 5: Conduct actionable market research. Use qualitative and quantitative research tools, including customer advisory boards and satisfaction surveys, to validate your company's market potential, to test name, positioning or messaging, and to get regular feedback.
Sean Murphy of NeoNova Networks said that his company tested a qualitative customer survey and then rolled what it had learned into a quantitative customer satisfaction survey to calculate a "net promoter score."
Companies obtain their "net promoter score" by asking customers: "How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" Based on their response, a customer can be categorized into one of three groups: promoters, passives and detractors. The percentage of detractors is then subtracted from the percentage of promoters to obtain a "net promoter score."
From this, the Morrisville company found many areas worthy of further exploration, including what products to emphasize and what products could be pruned. NeoNova then created an in-depth discussion guide and assigned and trained several team members to interview a dozen affiliates across the nation to truly understand "the voice of the customer."
Instead of conducting annual customer surveys, Cary-based SciQuest conducts research with one quarter of its customer base every three months. Jeff Woody, director of customer support, and Jamie Duke, chief operating officer, put together action plans based on the research to optimize its product releases each year.
SciQuest also has online community forums where users can vote on future features as well as an "open mic" night for customers at its annual user conference.
Such research has contributed to strong business results. SciQuest has seen more than 230 percent revenue growth over the last four years.
BlueStripe Software develops its products in part by having customers come into its Morrisville offices on a regular basis to test the latest versions. BlueStripe's employees then observe their behavior and get feedback that incorporated into the product's design.
Randy Carter, whose title is user interaction designer, also gets a detailed study of the company's customers, their needs and challenges and a detailed list of the tasks they need to perform with the product.
Step 6: Develop your elevator pitch. What and to whom are you selling? What is your unique selling proposition?
The importance of being able to concisely state your pitch cannot be overestimated. How sticky and memorable are you to your customers and prospects?
Dan Clem is director of marketing at AlertNow, a Raleigh company that provides a rapid notification service focused on the education market. The company targets its pitch to the district superintendent and his or her staff. Knowing that their product is not the cheapest option, Clem says, his message is reliability and customer service that answers phones 24/7.
"Make your customers happy," Clem says. "Then they become your sales force."
Of course, once you make your pitch, you have to make good on it. Clem tells a story about one customer who called asking for help in killing three scorpions in a vacation rental cabin. His team did their best to help.
Next week: Stay tuned for the next three steps to becoming a savvy entrepreneurial marketer.
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