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Small Business Advancement National Center University of Central Arkansas — Conway Arkansas
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115H, College of Business - University of Central Arkansas - 201 Donaghey Ave. Conway, AR Issue: 812 – April 8th, 2014
Of The Week
“Put the Customer First. Invent. Be Patient.” - Jeff Bezos
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The Small Business Advancement National Center aims at increasing your knowledge of small business and entrepreneurship. All questions and comments are greatly appreciated. The International Economic Development Council will be offering an Economic Development Marketing & Attraction course from June 5-6, 2014 in Baltimore, MD, which qualifies as a professional development elective needed for the Certified Economic Developers Exam.
The Society of Business, Industry, and Economics will be holding their 16th Academic Conference at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Florida from April 8-11, 2014. Case Study Competition & Workshop: The competition is open to any person who is a member of ECSB / ICSB or is attending the ICSB 2014 World Conference. The prize for the competition is â‚Ź250. Deadline is April 30th, 2014.
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Where: Chicago, USA
Making the Most of Your Marketing Efforts Entrepreneurs must be clever guerrilla markets if they are to compete with their larger rivals. The best small companies use their size
Tip
of the Week
and their closeness to their customers to their advantage. The Street-Smart Entrepreneur offers the fol-
“Touch points” are the opportunities for a company to interact with its customers or potential customers…”
lowing tips to entrepreneurs. Capture Customer’s and
owner Kurt Dammeier says that
Potential Customers’ At-
the combination factor/retail
tention
store/restaurant is an important
Effective guerrilla marketers are not like wallflowers at a junior high school dance; they capitalize on every opportunity — and even create opportunities — to promote their businesses, often using their employees’ daily routines as part of a show. At Beechers Handmade Cheese in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, customers watch employees in a glassenclosed factory busily making gourmet cheese. Although the Pike’s Place Market location generates 10%
“
of the company’s sales,
marketing tool for Beecher’s. The cheese making process captures customers’ attention; reinforces the fact that the company’s products include the freshest, finest ingredients; and reminds them that Beecher’s takes an old-fashioned, artisanal approach to producing cheese. There’s just something about the open viewing format and the play -by-play cheese making action that draws you in and makes you want to eat (and buy) cheese,” says one happy customer. Having reached full capacity at its Seattle factory, Beecher’s Handmade cheese is opening a similar factory/store/marketing pro-
ject in New York City. Ensure that All of Your Company’s “Touch Points” are on Target “Touch points” are the opportunities for a company to interact with its customers or potential customers and include everything from a salesperson dealing face-to-face with a customer in a store or a customer shopping on the company’s website to a potential customer reading a company blog or downloading a free white paper on a topic of interest. It is the sum of customers’ interactions with a company through these touch points that either enhances or diminishes the power of a company’s brand. The internet has multi-
plied the number of potential touch points, but do your company’s touch points enhance or harm its customer
“The best guerrilla marketers strive for more than mere customer satisfaction; their goal is to achieve customer astonishment by giving their customers more than they expect.”
relationships? conveniently. For example, if
Offer Customers More than
your company has with
a customer clicks through to
they Expect
its customers and poten-
the company’s Web site after
The best guerrilla marketers
tial customers. Include
receiving an e-mail about a
strive for more than mere cus-
online, digital, and face-
special sale, does the touch
tomer satisfaction; their goal is
to-face.
point take them to the appro-
to achieve customer astonish-
priate landing page where
ment by giving their customers
they can easily make a pur-
more than they expect. Pat &
chase? If not, the touch pint
Oscar’s, a chain of successful
needs to be repaired.
restaurants that provides
List every touch point
Identify what you want customers or potential customers to do at each touch point. This is the call to action. Do you
Make the necessary changes
hearty, homemade, family-style
want them to make a
to improve the quality and
meals, offers customers a 110
purchase? Learn more
customer experience of your
percent guarantee that they will
about the quality of you
company’s touch points. One
be satisfied with the quality of
company's products?
of the best ways to learn how
their meals and their dining ex-
See you and your busi-
to improve you company’s
perience. If a customer is dis-
ness as an expert in the
touch points is to get feed-
satisfied, the restaurant will re-
field.
back from actual customers,
fund the full price of the meal
asking them for advice on
plus 10 percent. The guarantee
how to improve their experi-
not only provides a tangible sig-
ence. By improving the quali-
nal that Pat & Oscar’s stands
ty of your company’s touch
behind its quality and customer
points, you will be able to in-
service, but it also tells them
crease sales, improve cus-
about the confidence the com-
tomer retention, and trans-
pany has in its ability to provide
form customers into active
a stellar dining experience.
Test each touch point for quality, call to action, and customer experience—from the customer’s perspective. Review every touch point to determine whether customers can do what they want to do easily, without
“
confusion, quickly, and
promoters of your business.
Treat Your Customers as Lifetime Investments At Zane’s Cycles in Branford, Connecticut, founder
“The best guerrilla markets recognize that no company can satisfy every customer. When negative word of mouth happens, they deal with it and learn from it.”
Chris Zane sets his company apart from the competi-
over time) is $12,500. Compared
its sales growth rate, a compa-
tion by offering free lifetime
to the lifetime value of his cus-
ny must produce a 6.8 percent
service on every bicycle he
tomers, the cost of the ‘freebies”
increase in its positive word-of-
sells and 90-day price pro-
that Zane offers is negligible.
mouth.
tection. The store also in-
My customers are valuable, and
To achieve that same 1 percent
cludes a cappuccino bar
I treat them they way,” says
increase in in its sales growth
that provides free beverages
Zane. The message is clear:
rate, a company also could re-
for customers. “I’ll give you
“We started with the belief, ‘the
duce its negative word of mouth
lifetime service, guarantee
only difference between us and
by just 2.4 percent. How can
of the lowest price, and fix
our competition is the service
companies reduce negative
you a cappuccino,” says
that we offer,’” he says. “If you
word-of-mouth?
Zane. The company also
don’t feel that we are living up to
charges nothing for any part
our mission, let us know and
that costs less than $1. Be-
we’ll fix it immediately.” One of
fore purchasing a bicycle,
the leading companies in the in-
customers can test it out on
dustry, Zane’s has achieved an
the company’s test course.
amazing average growth rate of
wrong, admit the mistake
25 percent per year since its
and then fix it— fast!
Some people say that Zane’s practices don’t make
founding in 1980!
1. Allow customers to voice their complaints and give feedback. 2. When something goes
3. Incorporate lessons from
sense and suggest that he
Don’t Ignore Negative Word of
your company’s mistakes
is “giving away the store.”
Mouth
into developing new and bet-
the clever guerrilla marketer,
The best guerrilla markets recog-
however, sees the big pic-
nize that no company can satisfy
ture. He has tracked data
every customer. When negative
over the years and knows
word of mouth happens, they
that the lifetime value of the
deal with it and learn from it. A
average Zane customer *
recent study by London School
“
(the gross revenue that a
of Economics reports that to
single customer generates
generate a 1 percent increase in
ter processes and training. Smart companies learn from their mistakes and use them to get better. Copyright 2015
Feature Paper
SBANC Staff
IDEA: A Student-Run Venture Accelerator
Executive Director Dr. Don B. Bradley III
Abstract
Development Intern
This case presents the challenges of a student-run venture accelerator, IDEA, at Northeastern University in Boston. In its first year, IDEA successfully raised $200,000 and funded 5 student ventures. Dan Gregory and Michael Hans, faculty advisor and CEO, respectively, are faced with the decision to expand to serve at least double the number of ventures currently in their portfolio. Complicating the decision is the student-run philosophy and the resulting short-term commitments from student volunteers due to their enrollment schedules. The case situation highlights challenges at the intersection between the deployment of a resourceconstrained business model and human resource management.
James Vire
Read Entire Paper Here
Development Intern Joshua Tucker
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Tip of the Week Source: Effective Small Business Management
UCA Box 5018 201 Donaghey Avenue Conway, AR 72035-0001
Tenth Edition Norman M. Scarborough Prentice Hall Page 272-273
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