Why You Will Always Lose Customers!

[TPSG, LLC 3]

God, I sound like a late night infomercial with my title, but it's true. And if Michael doesn't mind I'm going to talk about something and then sell something.

 

You can call all the people you want, you can write all the letters, you can do everything but you will still be hurting yourself big time by missing out on the most important sales tool for your business, CREDIBILITY! I can hear it already, "but Chris, i just started, I don't have any credibility, nor do I know a thing about marketing!" If you didn't know any different, you'd be right...but I just stepped up to the plate, so things have changed.

 

When you first start out, you have what seems like 10,000 things going against you and nothing for you. This formula works pretty much the same for life sometimes too, but it's the people who have an edge, which really only means "specialized knowledge" that allows them to do one better than you. So what is specialized knowledge? Simple, it's just knowing something that the majority doesn't know. For example, some of you know what voice mail scripts work better than others, and because of doing a little more research and talking to a few more people, you are able to create something on your voice mail that brings in more customers than Joe Schmoo who also has a voice mail system. This is "specialized knowledge" or "inside edge" or "whatever you want to call it" What's important is that you realize that anyone can gain this information, you just have to know how....which usually relates to either know someone or finding out yourself. Well, guess which is easier? Yep...knowing someone.

 

Well, guess what...you all know me...at least you do now, whether you like it or not So what I am going to do is let you in on the biggest and easiest secret in marketing that adds instant credibility and instant fame...yep, fame.

 

Ready? Corporate Identity. Yep, that's it. Now go to it....

 

Kidding.

 

So what is "corporate identity" Chris? Are you going to package it up and sell it to us for $19.95 a month?

 

Yes....I mean no Corporate Identity is simply the way your company presents itself to your customers in written and visual form. It's everything from your logo, to your letterhead, to your business card, to you envelopes, to your website, etc It's every possible form of communication and medium that you will use to convey your message to your customers. So why is this important? Simple, it's the first and last thing that your customer will see and remember about you. Cause guess what, there are 10,000 plus other people out there with "We Buy Houses" signs...so how in the heck are they going to differentiate you from someone else? Guess what, they can't. Your customer will get confused, even discouraged because they don't have one single thing to remember in their head about your company. Bummer huh?

 

If you are planning on doing this for a while, even as a side business, you need to have a logo, business cards, and letterhead....ALL PROFESSIONALLY DONE. Because if you don't have it done by a professional, it will look like crude, it will take you too long and trust me, if you ever try to take your logo or materials to a printer and have them print it, it will look like you did it. So why wouldn't you want that? Again, simple, your customers perception is everything, you need them to think that you are an established company, at least one that has enough resources to have a logo and business cards and letterhead, etc To give you an example, Bob's Used Cars has 20 cars on his lot, but his lot looks like crude, his sign is old, everything is really junk looking, even though the cars are amazingly priced....but across the street, Precision Auto Sales is very clean, his sign and company lettering are all professionally done, his materials match all his colors, his shirt has their logo and tagline...and guess what, he's selling the exact same 20 cars at the same price...who would you go to? That's because in our minds and in your consumers minds, perception is everything. Let me say that again...PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING.

 

If you are going to be in this for the long term, then you need to think in a broad sense. Think "I need a logo, a tagline, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, brochures, website, billboards, radio, TV, magazine, etc" Now some of these you may laugh at, but again, if you are going to think big picture, you need to always plan for what could come, because it will save you money in the long run. To give you another example. Let's say you made your own logo and materials and now you've gotten a little bigger you want to put your name on a billboard and advertise, well guess what, it won't work. Because as soon as you had over your image to the print shop, they will laugh at you, because your image will not blow up that big because it will pixelate (you know when you blow up an image too big and you see tons of squares?). In fact, if you try to put your image on the web, it won't be the right colors, because web colors are different than print colors...what about magazines?...same thing. So in essence you need to be prepared and informed, because the more you are, the better "competitive edge" you will gain.

 

Now I could go on all day about this, but here's what I'm getting at. I have spent years upon years doing this stuff, and as luck would have it, I ran across a company on the web that I found who I actually had do my complete corporate identity and website, etc for me. The developed my logo, my business card, my letterhead, my envelopes, my website (which is finalized soon), my brochures, and everything else I needed. And here's the kicker, I did everything over email....yep, you heard me....I have never spoke with them once, only by email. And here is the other great catch, they charge half of what everyone else charges and their work is UNBELIEVABLE. If you want to see, just ask me to send you stuff and I will, not a problem. But to give you an idea, I was able to spend over two weeks working with them on my logo and identity, changing this or changing that, it was very, very simple. The key though is to give them as much information as possible, even if you think you are being pushy, remember this is your identity and future. Anyway, what I was saying is that when they finished all my corp. identity stuff, they sent me an email which contained all my documents and images in every format I could ever imagine, for every possible scenario; billboards, website, web, html email, logos, magazines, brochures, ads, postcards, flyers, wrapping, packaging, posters... anything you can think of...you name it.

 

Jeez Chris, could you hurry it up, I've got eat soon.....

 

sure..sure. What I did, after going through the process with them and seeing their work was make an agreement and partner with them. In doing this, I am able to offer their services at a discount over their normal price, which are extremely low for the quality, and be able to be a point of contact to anyone who wants ideas and marketing help. Their website is Deluxe Logo and you will need to give them reference code CB8219 or just tell them that "Christian" sent you, they will know. In fact, if you talk to Olga (yes, Olga) over email, tell her Chris says hi.

 

If you have any questions, drop me a line, but all I can tell you is that it's your company, your business, and whatever image you put out there, will create a perception in your customers mind....what do you want it to be? Good luck and always remember, "To achieve the impossible, you must always think the unthinkable."

 

Christian "Rockethead" Beebe

[mamasanta25 0]

Great info and advice Chris. I just happened to find out that I have competition in the next town. I may just be using those marketing services very quickly. Thanks.

[TPSG, LLC 3]

Mama,

 

Noooooo problem...as long as it's not us!

 

Let me know if you need anyhelp talking with them or have any questions, because I have definately gone through it all.

 

Good luck and keep me posted!

 

Best Regards,

 

 

Christian "RocketHead" Beebe

[mark 0]

I really like your logo,TPSG. It looks very professional.

My logo is a gold lions head (Golden lion properties),but yours seem of such higher Quality. mabeye I'll check with the company you've been referring to and give them a shot. Lord nows it cant hurt.

I'd post it here but as you might have seen from my other post in a different area i cant even figure out the signature(ha,ha).

[JerseyJeff 0]

Christian,

 

Are you a newbie to investing or a seasoned veteran? How many deals has your co. closed?

 

JerseyJeff

[TPSG, LLC 3]

Mark and JerseyJeff,

 

I'm going to answer both questions at once, plus answer everyone's else's because cause don't want to use up space with my logo and signature .

 

Mark - First of all, thank you...you're first impression is what we are going for. Second, if you contact that company you will not be disappointed because of the quality and the price......OH the price....it's amazing. But seriously, I'm not here to sell services as much as to prove my point and help people out. It just so happens that I really was blown away by this company and thought that other people could benefit from it too. The really great piece is what I said in the long post...what you receive. My company, now has every possible type of file format we would ever need to use our logo, letterhead, etc in any type of medium without sacrificing quality or paying thousands of dollars. People really do notice the small things and it's those small things, such as the look of professionalism that really will make people choose you over someone else, even if they have more experience...perception is everything sometimes, especially when it comes to trust and leadership. Just let me know if you contact them or need any help, be more than happy to offer any assistance...AND....they will be putting our company under their "our work" category very soon, so you will be able to see everything they did and what we asked for.

 

JerseyJeff - The company has only been around for a year or more and in no way would I call myself a seasoned investor, but well on my way.