Honda TV ads however, are a long way from the ‘Swiss Tony’ stereotypical style of car selling I recall from walking in to a car dealership many years ago to buy a car. Thankfully most car brand dealerships have evolved somewhat. Although now that it’s mentioned, I was slightly taken aback recently when I went into a BMW dealership only to find that I couldn’t actually look at the cars until I had ‘reported to reception’ and been ‘announced’ to my very own personal Swiss Tony. But that’s another story for another day. For Honda at least, there seems to be the recognition that even if the ad works, it can only take prospective customers as far as the doors of the showroom. There’s still plenty of work to do to ensure a vehicle is sold. Honda doesn’t seem to be leaving anything to chance.

The car brand has been undertaking extensive testing of both sales people and prospective customers within dealerships to monitor the physiological changes they go through during the process of buying a car. The research shows that our immediate ‘gut instinct’ is the primary response mechanism that people use when going through the car buying process. The ‘facts’ (car performance statistics for example) are outweighed by how we ‘feel’ about the purchase.

Honda has discovered that customers are most relaxed when dealing with a sales person who delivers exactly the customer experience they say they’re going to – not one that over promises then under delivers, and not even one that under promises then over delivers. The sales people and customers are most relaxed when they’re telling and being told the ‘truth’.

There’s an excitement attached to buying a new car too. The smell of the leather, the clunk of the door, the rev of the engine. The sales person and the customer both feel exhilaration when a car is being bought.

Unfortunately, not at the same time.

Honda’s research shows that the customer is most excited about their potential purchase about 10 minutes before the sales person. That’s when they’ve made the decision that they’re going to buy the car and want to complete the deal and part with the cash. The sales person, however, doesn’t recognise the physiological changes in the customer (because they’re pretty hard things to see…) and continues selling for another 10 minutes longer than the customer wants. The sales person only gets excited when the contract is on the table and the customer is about to sign it. The danger of course is that during the 10 minute period of unnecessary selling, the customer becomes disappointed, annoyed and leaves without buying the car. The impossible dream just becomes the impossible.

In a B2B context, the analogy needs almost no further development. Whatever business market we’re in, the potential to oversell, undersell, or worst of all, not sell at all, is pretty clear. Brand guardians of every B2B market sector would do well to ensure their brand promise is properly aligned to the customer expectation and that the message is delivered to the customer in the way and in the time it is required. Not too much, not too little, just right. We should all make some changes…

Scot McKee
Managing Director
Birddog Ltd.
+44 (0)20 7323 6666

I was visibly upset. At the time of the effrontery, I was accused of not responding quickly enough to the client request to kick-start the inaugural project. That ‘first project’ is always an important one. Its success or failure is likely to shape the ongoing relationship with the client, so to hear that I’d been inflexible at this early stage was a concern. Getting that initial project started was my responsibility. I was ‘inflexible’. And devastated.

So I delved a bit deeper. How had I been inflexible? “Well…” the client began, “…you refused to start the project before we had issued you with a Purchase Order.” Right. But where was I inflexible? – I pressed. That, it transpired, was the full extent of my inflexibility.

“All of our other agencies just get on with it”, the client continued, “we don’t have time for Purchase Orders – if we had to wait for Purchasing for every requirement, we’d never get anything done.”

Gosh I was angry. But I didn’t let it show. Well, apart from using the, ‘With the greatest respect’, line which everyone knows really means, ‘You twat.’

“With the greatest respect”, I said, calling into play everything I had gleaned from my government subsidised distance learning NVQ in Anger Management, “I submitted a Proposal that I would have been happy to action with a handshake until you insisted that I would have to ‘go through Purchasing’. This I duly did – the consequences of which were protracted negotiations and the terms of which required me specifically, in writing, NOT to undertake any work without a signed Purchase Order. Those were your terms. Not mine. It then took you three weeks to sign the Purchase Order causing a project delay of, unsurprisingly, three weeks. So I did exactly and precisely what you asked me to do… and that makes me ‘inflexible’?”

“Yeah, but you know what I mean”, he replied. Emm, nope, I’m afraid I skipped the Telepathy class at Hogwarts. “We just needed to get on with it”, he said. “Well, you should have thought of that before invoking the Purchasing Protocol”, I replied. “These other agencies that ‘just get on with it’”, I continued, “do they ever actually get paid?” “Now that you mention it, that’s a bit of a problem actually – it’s those people in Purchasing – they’re a nightmare”, he said. “Or maybe they just need everyone to quote a Purchase Order Number?” I offered, helpfully. “Just like I did. Just as you asked me to. Just as I should.” “Mmmmm…”

At that point, I felt the flexibility returning to my inexplicably tense shoulders and I particularly noticed the dexterity of my index finger as I poked the client firmly in the eye.

But even as he sat there, wiping the tears from his streaming eye, I had the impression that he still didn’t get it. I’m no big fan of the Purchasing or Procurement Department, but I also recognise that, particularly in larger companies, they facilitate the business of business. Long before the initial engagement and long after the excitement of the creative presentation or the final client approval, the Purchasing Team in all its many guises keeps the wheels turning. And that means if they exist and they need a Purchase Order Number – I’m happy to build that into the project requirement and I’m happy to wait three weeks for a number to be provided because however important my direct client contact is, he’s not cutting the cheques.

We all want to ‘just get on with it’, and keeping the client happy is clearly a priority, but, ‘with the greatest respect’, so is the mortgage.

Scot McKee
Managing Director
Birddog Ltd.

Harnessing The Power of Post

SMEs often feel less able to afford expert help for DM campaigns. B2B Marketing has collected the advice of a number of industry experts on best practice DM for these organisations.

‘Get inside their heads’ – by Scot McKee, MD, Birddog

“The single most effective way to improve the response from direct marketing to the SME sector is to get inside the heads of the particular audience from which you’re trying to elicit a response. Few companies succeed – not because it’s difficult, but because they haven’t tried.

“The term ‘SME’ is part of the problem – it’s a catchall that covers a multitude of sins. Up to 250 employees, £50m turnover – those are the standard classifications. But there’s a world of difference between what’s going on inside the decision making heads of a 5-person company and those of a 250-employee team. Truly small companies expect instant response.  They have with no ‘budget’, but have the ability to spend on anything they believe to be important right now. Larger companies have reporting lines, management structures, procurement processes, planning cycles – with significant budgets for those able to engage with the process and stay the distance.

“So the data has to work hard here – a generic SME list isn’t sufficient. Segmentation is vital in identifying smaller more targeted groups that are likely to deliver a better response level. Spend time breaking the list down and looking closely at how you can squeeze value out of the individual sectors.  Don’t be afraid to exclude the ones less likely to deliver that improvement – you’re never going to be able to sell to everyone effectively. The place to start is your existing customer base. You’re far more likely to sell to new prospects that closely resemble existing customers. Have the ambition to grow the market by all means, but focus the message on those most likely to spend.

“To do that you don’t have to look much further than the last few customer contacts. The way your existing customers engage with your brand should influence the DM communication with prospects. The tone of those conversations, the queries being raised in the emails, the willingness of the customer to take your calls – all of the ‘real-world’ experiences should affect the concept, content and message for your DM campaign(s).

“Knowing your audience isn’t difficult, but it’s usually forgotten. All too often the communication focuses on the product functionality: ‘Our widget does this that and the other’. So what? So do any number of other widgets from other competitors. ‘We understand that you have a specific problem, so we’ve come up with a widget to make your life easier’, is a far more compelling proposition. It not only allows considerably more creative and conceptual expression, but understanding and help are things that people want. Widgets they can take or leave.

“Start thinking of your audience as people and not as an audience or a segment or a job title or an SME. Use the classifications, yes. Then leave them behind and look at how those people get through the day. What makes them smile, what makes them happy, what makes life easier, what makes life difficult.  Then shape your communications around the things your customers need to hear rather than simply what you want to tell them. Most companies never look beyond the initial classifications. Most direct marketing never reaches the audience.”