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Computer-Assisted Marketing: How To Increase Your Productivity
And Make Every Prospect And Customer Feel You're Delivering
Exactly What He Wants



by Dr. Jeffrey Lant



Nobody needs to tell anybody running a small business that doing
so successfully takes a combination of skills and attributes rarely
found outside heroic sagas.  We know that.



We have too much to do, too little time to do it in, and other
interests and responsibilities which occasionally need our attention.



In short, we need help.



Fortunately, that help is now available in the personal computer.



But what bothers me is that the computer, the most significant aid
to small business people ever developed, is not being utilized
effectively by them. Hence this article.



This failure to utilize the computer effectively seems to me to be
due to two major reasons: continuing (and deeply irrational)
computerphobia and an even more serious inability truly to integrate
the computer into each facet of a business, particularly marketing.



As a one-time computerphobe myself, I understand why people
like the lawyer who visited me the other day literally break into a
sweat when they see this electronic cyclops. It seems to be terrifying.
But while understanding this feeling, I can no longer sympathize
with it. We have reached the point where each small business must
be computerized. And that's that. The computer is the least
expensive and most effective way dramatically to increase your
productivity and hence your profitabililty. And if either of these
crucial business objectives interests you, you must become computer
proficient. Your fear and loathing of the machine is a luxury you
simply cannot afford.



Hence, my first piece of advice. If you are still not computerized
and are still failing to profit from this crucial machine, get and use a
simple, inexpensive book: A MOTHER'S GUIDE TO COMPUTERS: A NON-
TECHNICAL, PRACTICAL GUIDE TO COMPUTERS. (See Resource Box for
details.) Despite the unfortunate title of this book by Norma Leone,
computerphobia is not just a problem for mothers and their children;
it's a problem for anyone attempting to run a business without one.



And, now we get to the crux of this article, that includes people
who already have a computer but just don't understand how to
integrate it into their marketing efforts so that they are getting the
maximum benefit from this machine in identifying, contacting, and
keeping prospects and customers.



Towards Routinization



Most marketing tasks in any business are routine. That is to say,
the same things take place day in, day out. The smart business owner
knows this. His objective is, therefore, simple: to identify every
marketing task that needs to be done and to find out how to do it
easier. Thus, he knows that:



. each day new people whom he has never heard from before will
ask for information about his products and services;



. each day people who have been sent information in the past will
fail to respond to this information and so will need follow-up;



. each day people who have been customers of the business in the
past will fail to buy and will, therefore, need reminders on why they
should do so again;



. each day someone will buy from his company and will need to
have this buying decision confirmed as sensible and to be told about
other, related products and services offered by the company which
will also assist him;



. each day media outlets will be contacted which can publicize and
promote products, services and activities of the company;



Each of these marketing tasks should be routinized and can be with
the help of the computer.



Is This What You Do?



Recently, I've been sampling small business owners (including
computer consultants and others particularly skilled about technical
details of the machine) to discover how many have actually
identified routine marketing tasks of their businesses and prepared
detailed responses, the kinds of responses the computer is so good at
delivering. The results are shocking.



For instance, taking this survey at a recent small business
conference I addressed, I discovered that not a single business had
identified its routine marketing tasks and provided for standard yet
personalized, computer-assisted solutions. True, many of these
businesses were utilizing the computer for list management and
accounts receivable functions. But no one was using the computer to
strengthen their day-to-day marketing. This is ridiculous!



In practice what does this mean?



It means that what these businesses are sending out is either
"canned" (and hence not specifically developed for the prospect), or it
is specifically created for the prospect, and is thus time-consuming,
expensive and incapable of being sent to the prospect quickly.



If what is sent is canned, it cannot, by definition, be packed with
benefits that are specific to the individual prospect. At best, these
prospects are getting standardized brochures, flyers, and sales letters
"personalized" by the harrassed entrepreneur with the provoking
letters "FYI" at the top of the page. Let me say it here and clearly:
that technique is not a personalized technique. Rather, it is a sign
that personalization, for whatever reason, was out of the question
and that you were hoping such scattershot marketing, rather than
something personal, would make the sale.



On the other hand, developing a tailored-proposal and materials for
the prospect generally takes too much time and ordinarily means
that you cannot answer the prospect the same day he contacts you.
Yet you know that waiting to send materials is a mistake.



Computer-assisted marketing solves both problems. It enables you
to:



. send detailed, benefit-rich copy to each prospect or customer;



. ensures that this information is sent promptly, so that your
prospect has it fast while his interest is still high.



To be able to achieve these crucial marketing objectives, here's
what you must do:



. Identify each possible customer you'll have for each of your
products or services. Then write down the benefits that each kind of
customer will get from each thing you are selling. Remember:
different people buy for different reasons. Your job is to know who is
buying and why they're buying and to tell them, in no uncertain
terms, that you'll give them the benefits they want.



. Develop the appropriate response vehicle before you ever come
into direct contact (by phone, letter, or in person) with any of your
prospects or customers. In other words, it is your job to know who
will call you, what they'll want, and to have, already completed, the
benefit-rich response vehicle you'll use in connecting with them --
before you come into direct contact with anyone!



The Computer-Assisted Marketing Materials You'll Need



The computer can assist you at each stage of your marketing effort.
And should.



  -- Using The Computer Before You've Closed The Sale



The tasks here are plain:



. develop a list of the different kinds of prospects who'll be buying
what you're selling;



. write down precisely what problems they have and precisely
what benefits they get by using your product or service.



The more benefits you have the better. Remember: different
people respond to different benefits. Personally, I like letters that
are LONG, at least three pages offering single-spaced benefit-rich
copy. Why do I do this? If the person is interested, he wants to know
what I've got for him, and the longer he spends reading the copy (so
rich in benefits for him), the better chance I've got of persuading him
to take action. (Note: by keeping your printer on draft mode, you can
produce such a letter in under a minute.)



Develop a second letter that reprises the benefits originally
presented in the first. This letter should point out:



. the benefits of acting NOW;

. what the prospect is missing by not acting NOW.



You should determine just when to send this benefit-laden follow-
up letter. My suggestion: no more than 10 days following the original
letter. Again, the computer ensures that this letter is complete and
personalized. Hint: make sure every marketing letter concludes with
an order blank that's dated, especially if you have an offer that
expires. The computer ensures that the precise expiration date of
your offer is updated daily.



  -- Using The Computer After You've Closed The Sale



Too many business people make the terrible mistake of simply
selling the prospect exactly what he asks for. There's no talent in
that. Instead, make sure you are trying to upgrade every customer.
Thus, when a buyer acquires my book THE CONSULTANT'S KIT:
ESTABLISHING AND OPERATING YOUR SUCCESSFUL CONSULTING
BUSINESS, I always let him know the benefits he'll get by also using
TRICKS OF THE TRADE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SUCCEEDING IN THE
ADVICE BUSINESS.



But I don't simply insert package-stuffer information with these
benefits or take the time to write a personal letter. No, I have an
already-existing benefit-laden letter which goes to each individual
buyer with all the reasons why he'll find TRICKS OF THE TRADE
useful. And gives him the immediate reasons for taking action now,
including getting a special premium of his choice. This letter, though
standardized, is warm, packed with benefits, and seemingly very,
very personal.



  -- Using The Computer To Retrieve Lapsed Buyers



Too many businesses allow their lapsed buyers to get away, or feel
they are connecting with them sufficiently often if they merely mail
them some standard sales piece. This is a mistake. The more money a
now-lapsed buyer has invested in you through purchases, the more
you must be prepared to romance him back, to get him to buy again.



The computer is perfect for this task.



Start with the realization that some of your buyers will drift away.
It is your job to get them back. Understand that standard mailings
are not always going to be sufficient to get them to buy again. So,
develop a letter packed with benefits for a lapsed buyer and send
this to him personally. The benefits he gets should be timed, so that
if he doesn't take action he'll have a real sense of loss. And, above all
else: make it personal. Say: "Mr. Jones, we haven't heard from you in
a while, and we want you back. Here are the benefits of coming back.
But if you don't act, here's what you'll lose." The computer enables
you to bring home with a sense of urgency and directness the actual
benefits that the non-responding former-buyer will lose. And thus
induce him to do what it takes to get them.



The Computer And The Media: Using Computer-Assisted Marketing
To Get Free Publicity



As you might suspect from someone who wrote a book entitled THE
UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE, I am a fanatic about getting
free publicity to sell my products and services. Sadly, however, while
other business people are willing to recognize the benefits of getting
free publicity over buying paid advertising, they don't have the
slightest idea how to achieve this result. Much less how to achieve it
with the help of the computer.



To begin with, media sources are not in the business of promoting
your products or services. But they will promote your products and
services to the extent that they are perceived as solutions to the
problems of their readers and listeners. Thus, if you want to get free
media attention, you need to:



. keep a list of the problems of your targeted buyers, and

. indicate how you can solve these problems.



Then you need to bring both the problems and an indication of
what you have to say about them (including, of course, the
availability of your own problem-solving products and services) to
the attention of appropriate media who reach the people you can
help. The computer is invaluable for doing this.



You should maintain a stock letter on diskette that can be
immediately sent to a media source. This letter should clearly outline
the problems and anxieties of a particular group of people; this group
should be both the group you are marketing to and the group the
media source is trying to attract. Then you should indicate what
kinds of solutions are available to help these people (that is, what
expert information you have that could solve their problem). This
information can and should include the fact that you have a product
or service available. In return for your specialized information about
how to solve a particular problem, the media source allows you to
provide specific promotional information about your product or
service.



I contact media sources daily as part of my marketing program.
But in very few instances are the letters I send actually personal.
Almost always, they are based on stock media letters which I
maintain on diskette. The fact that these letters exist means I can
contact more media sources, and as a result get more free media
attention. The only truly personal part of the letter is the name and
address of the person I'm writing.



Make Sure You Benefit From Computer-Assisted Marketing



With so many advantages to computer-assisted marketing, why are
so few people using it? Essentially for three reasons:



1) Vast numbers of small businesses are still not computerized.
This is outright folly. Nothing increases your productivity more,
including your marketing productivity, than a fully utilized
computer.



2) Too many people with computers have not studied their
businesses to find out where a computer can help routinize tasks,
including marketing tasks. Unless you know where a computer can
help you, you are clearly not going to be using it sufficiently.



3) And finally, too many of those who are computerized have not
yet attempted to write down the specific benefits for each of their
services and products and each of their different kinds of prospects,
so that they can develop highly-personal, benefit rich copy pertinent
to each kind of buyer. Thus, they are foolishly relying on stock
documents when they need specific benefit documents. And they are
using the computer to do little more than maintain their mailing lists
and handle their accounts receivable instead of profiting from it as
their most powerful marketing tool.

____________________________________________________________
_________________

Resource Box



If you're still a computerphobe, you need A MOTHER'S GUIDE TO
COMPUTERS: THE COMPUTER SURVIVAL MANUAL by Norma Leone.
112 pages. $8.45 postpaid from The Sure-Fire Business Success
Catalog, 50 Follen St., suite 507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or with
MC/Visa from [phone].

____________________________________________________________
__________________



Dr. Jeffrey Lant is one of America's best known business develop
writers. His books include THE CONSULTANT'S KIT: ESTABLISHING
AND OPERATING YOUR SUCCESSFUL CONSULTING BUSINESS; THE
UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE: WHAT EVERY MAN, WOMAN,
CHILD AND ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT
GETTING AHEAD BY EXPLOITING THE MEDIA and, his latest, MONEY
MAKING MARKETING: FINDING THE PEOPLE WHO NEED WHAT YOU'RE
SELLING AND MAKING SURE THEY BUY IT. Each is $32.50 postpaid
from The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., #507,
Cambridge, MA 02138. Don't forget to ask for your FREE copy of this
100-item Business Resources Guide!

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