Outsourcing marketing/sales

We are very small the usual yada-yada: too busy to do proper marketing and
too poor to hire a dedicated staff. Recently a magazine article suggested
outsourcing. What are your thoughts? Particularly concerning a fee
structure/performance metrics?

Thanks, Steve

Knowing what type of business would help us provide a more accurate
response. Is it a service or product, or both? Is it a necessity or a
luxury? Here are some basics.

If you can't afford even a part-time staffer dedicated to marketing, then
you will probably find the services of someone "affordable" and most likely
underqualified to do the job. Not to mention they will be dividing their
attention between clients. another problem is making sure they don't market
to existing customers, unless that's what your target is. Either way, you
must hand them a list of current customers, which is dangerous.

Find someone with sound marketing expereince that needs part-time
employment. This could be a parent able to work while kids are in school, or
a retiree wanting to suppliment their income or simply stay active in
marketing. They will be well qualified, dedicated to only you, and will
still be affordable. The bottom line is, you can't afford NOT to market. I
find it humorous that the first thing businesses cut back on when times are
lean is marketing and advertising. How many "going out of business" ads have
I heard on the radio for companies I never heard of before. Companies I
probably would have done business with! If they spent a little money earlier
in the game, they probably wouldn't be going out of business. After I bought
my new home, I bought new furniture throughout. I went to the store I
thought offered the best value. The next week, there was continuous
advertising for a "going out of business sale" at a furniture store I didn't
even know existed, in a town 10 miles south. I checked it out and found that
I could have had better quality for less money (at their regular prices) and
would have gladly purchased from them if I had only known they were there.

Again, specifics would be helpful. Are you marketing to your existing
customers too? It's much cheaper to gain business from current customers
than to build new customers. (Assuming you have the product or service line
to build repeat business.)

Every business reaches that "hump", but it is important to divert money from
every possible source into marketing if you are to get over that hump.

You're never too busy to do proper marketing yourself, regardless of whether
you have a staffer! You should be marketng every possible moment! Let me ask
you some very simple questions. How many business cards do you order at a
time for one person? How many have you ordered in the past year for one
person? If it's less than 1000 at a time, or 6000 for the year, you haven't
been marketing. They do no good sitting in a box! The first box of business
cards should be gone within an hour. Put them everywhere! In the pocket of
every coat and suit you have. In the glovebox of every vehicle, golf bag,
briefcase, gym bag, etc. Then, USE THEM! Leave them everywhere. Put them on
bulletin boards. Actually hand them to the people you meet. You get the
picture. Marketing doesn't have to cost a fortune to be effective.

Now, continue that thought. How may Rolodex cards? How many brochures? Do
you have a website? How do people find it? Do you have promotional products?
I'm not talking the cheap pens you get offers for in the mail. Quality items
that people will hold on to. Good quality pens that won't run out of ink or
break. Desk clocks, calendars, mouse pads, coffee mugs, key fobs. Products
that will be seen by others: Sports bottles, refrigerator magnets, flying
discs (like frizbee), can or bottle wraps, stadium cups, wall clocks, wall
calendars, T-shirts, caps, beach towels, napkins. Get your name, logo, phone
number, and website in front of everyone possible in any way possible.
I market a local music related website by providing clubs in the area with
free cocktail napkins imprinted with the website address. It works great!

Be creative. Do it. Keep at it. Marketing is a long-term investment.

Greg


"StuTheDog" <stuthedog@EarthNOSPAMlink.com> wrote in message
news:corl6502h1s@enews3.newsguy.com...
>
> We are very small the usual yada-yada: too busy to do proper marketing and
> too poor to hire a dedicated staff. Recently a magazine article suggested
> outsourcing. What are your thoughts? Particularly concerning a fee
> structure/performance metrics?
>
> Thanks, Steve
>
>
>

>Recently a magazine article suggested
>outsourcing. What are your thoughts? Particularly concerning a fee
>structure/performance metrics?

It is really hard to comment on your question without knowing a bit more. What
are you selling and to whom are you planning to sell it?

JR

JR Rodrigues
JohnR999@aol.com

I thought I posted a response last night- sorry in advance for a long one...

We are a specialty coffee roaster. We control the farms/beneficio where the
majority of our beans come from, import the entire crop so have a unigue
high quality product. The company is 12 years old however my wife and I
have owned it for just the past 11 months (I'm unpaid, wife's the bread
winner with another job). The previous owners treated it as a hobby so
sales have been flat for years, the only S/M has been occasional trade
shows, magazine ads and outbound calls to customers asking for a reorder.

The past year has been spent getting our arms around the business- new
computer/accounting system, new website under development, dropping a bunch
of unprofitable fluff products, etc. Operationally wise I think we're
there, we have 2 years raw inventory in the warehouse and production
capability for 4x our current volume w/o going to shifts. So on to growing
this puppy!

Given that we have a higher-end product we wish to avoid retail and
competing on price, so we are not agressively pursuing traditional venues
such as coffee shops, restaurants (where roasters have to provide free
equipment and low margins). Our preference are higher quality B2B customers
such as resorts, upscale restaurants/caterers and a couple other verticals
that I'd rather not mention.

Trouble is I have no idea how to discover names and decision-makers, nor how
to initiate the call. I've looked at some of the list/lead providers but
don't have confidence that they can deliver the person we need to talk to.
Which is why the idea of outsourcing seems appealing, presumeably the
marketing company would know?!

BTW I'm really happy I stumbled across this site, have been reading past
posts and suggestions, great stuff!

Aaahhh, now we have something! Your outsourcing question has whole new
meaning and is quite relevant. Totally different approach needed here. You
will definitely need outsourced channels. Most of those establishments work
through food service companies and independent reps (food brokers). They get
there basic supplies from the food service company, and specialty products
through the reps. They simply don't have time to deal with a bunch of sales
reps from individual companies. Instead they deal with a few reps that
represent complementary products from many companies. The rep. takes a
commission on everything he writes, but this is not bad because your not
paying for "marketing" unless your actually selling product.

Do a web search for, or consult a B2B directory for Specialty Food Brokers,
and check out various food/coffee trade associations.

Don't ignore coffeee shops. Not sure where you're located, but around here a
coffee shop IS an upscale establishment. Quite snobbish in fact. I'm not
talking Starbucks either. Personally, I think their coffee sucks. There is
an independent chain of coffee shops in my region, and they actually get
their coffees through a local health food store. I won't name them because
I'm not supposed to know that little bit of information. I don't know of any
coffee shops around here that are receiving equipment either. Now basic
restaurants and convenience stores are different. They get their coffee
through food service companies and those companies provide the equipment.




"StuTheDog" <stuthedog@Earthlink.com> wrote in message
news:covp9p02snp@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
> I thought I posted a response last night- sorry in advance for a long
> one...
>
> We are a specialty coffee roaster. We control the farms/beneficio where
> the
> majority of our beans come from, import the entire crop so have a unigue
> high quality product. The company is 12 years old however my wife and I
> have owned it for just the past 11 months (I'm unpaid, wife's the bread
> winner with another job).