PDA

View Full Version : The story of Duncan from New Zealand



handprop
11-20-2009, 12:18 AM
Part 1

The story starts out with me and my 1928 WACO biplane.
Like everything in life hobbies have groups of people that have the same interest and my biplane is no different. With only a couple existing biplanes in the world parts are impossible to find and have to be hand made from blueprints, if you can find them. It took me 3 years to scour the world and assemble a set of factory prints from the twenties and I had everything to start my project except 2 pages out of a couple hundred. In aircraft circles we all know each other and everyone looks out for each others interest so a fella that found out I was building a rare biplane from scratch knew a guy that knew a guy that lived in New Zealand that was building the same airplane. One thing led to another and I contacted this guy named Duncan because it’s nice to know one other person on this planet is dumb enough like me to take on a twenty year voyage of building something this crazy.

Anyhow, we became email buddies and still talk once in a while about each others progress on our similar airplanes. Duncans marketing story began about three months after we first made contact.

The ironic part about this story is I’m the type of person that hates connecting my professional life with my hobbies so when Duncan first asked me for help I kept changing subjects until I started noticing he was becoming depressed about his business and I hate to see that happen to anybody.

Duncan owns a hardware store and it’s a little different than we are used to in the United States but for the most part is pretty similar. From what he explained he once had a great business but was unhappy and burnt out. Duncan is similar to many business owners I have met over the years and I have a soft spot for people like this because life is too darn short for this. Owning a business is not supposed to be punishment it’s supposed to be fun and exciting right?

Anyhow, the more we talked the more I learned about him and his attitude. As it turned out he was a really smart and dedicated business owner that was really proud of his ability to help and solve his customers problems. Once I started to discover the person I also began to discover what was really happening to his business and why it became stagnant.

I’m sure you can all relate but trying to get a business owner to see things your way can be a tough problem so my solution is to just take it slow and be a good listener. Between emails and phone calls I started to teach him a few things and he listened but didn’t put it into practice.

Finally I determined he just couldn’t get past his ego and I told him that I can’t keep spending time trying to help him if he wasn’t going to be proactive in taking his business to the next level. After that things got a little quiet between us and we just kept our conversations about our projects. This went on for about three months.

One day he called me and apologized for not taking the initiative to follow through on what we talked about. I’m a softy so I asked him if he was ready to get past himself and put into practice sound marketing principles. His answer was funny because he said absolutely but informed me he just had one condition……no using the local newspaper.

This seemed a little odd so the first thing on my agenda was to find out why. He told me that he has tried everything under the sun in the newspaper and was convinced people just don’t read the local paper anymore. Duncan had spent thousands but every time he advertised sales never changed.

Part 2 coming right up

vangogh
11-20-2009, 12:42 AM
You're not typing fast enough. I read part I and now need part II. :)

handprop
11-20-2009, 01:04 AM
Sorry, I'm dealing with a few things right now.

I explained everything I could to Duncan considering it was just emailing and a few phone calls once in a while he actually began to understand it and was slowly integrating his business with all new marketing based policies, you know, just the little simple stuff we all do.

The first thing on the agenda was to untrain his employees. What I mean by that is the employees had learned to replicate the same attitude as Duncan and as we all know attitudes are contagious and can spell disaster when dealing with customers.

All I can say is it worked……and worked well. It was nothing I did to create the change, all I did was pound into Duncans head that his employees and customers are the lifeblood of a business and negative attitudes will kill a business faster than a flame thrower. Duncan really opened his eyes and grabbed the bull by the horns and created a fun retraining program and the employees loved it…..and the new attitude of the owner.

The ultimate question……Did sales go up? NO, well they did a little but not much to make any sort of difference. As we all know marketing is an organic evolution and takes time to develop and find the right mix of methods.

The next process was to find out the best message, best offer, and best marketing delivery vehicles. Duncan had warned me that he never wanted to use the local paper ever again but after talking to him and learning about the local area it seemed perfect and I convinced him to trust me and use the local newspaper,

Duncan was a good listener but still wanted to give advice and come up with ideas and that’s great but the problem was just not that simple. His advertising has always been to just advertise the store and once in a while some sales on certain products. His ideas were all a bit different but he kept on wanting to advertise the store itself. I was getting frustrated so I asked him to email me some of his past newspaper advertising layouts and it was the same as the rest of the world. I came to the conclusion (guess) that after 50 years the locals all know about the store, you don’t need to tell them your in business so why waste the time and money reinforcing it, besides the “SALE” advertisements all had weak offers and I told him right away that his offers were so weak that between a weak offer and a history of poor attitudes the customer had no reason to show up besides getting something out of pure convenience.

This is where I lost him, he freaked out about the offer and said I’m not giving any more money or discounts away. I’m a poor teacher and always do a poor job of explaining to people what an offer really means so Duncan assumed he had to give the store away to develop new customers and move more products. I felt like I was back to square one so I decided to do an experiment. Duncan had a problem because he had way too many Bosch dishwashers in stock and really needed to sell them. He explained that he had run advertisements in the newspaper advertising a sale price of close to a 20% discount and didn’t manage to sell only a few and now the rest are sitting in the back, obviously he was frustrated.

So this was my mission, sell the remaining dishwashers and teach Duncan a little about what a strong offer can do to a business. I brainstormed for a week and I came up with what I felt was an irresistible offer. Part 3 is the solution and conclusion……coming right up.

handprop
11-20-2009, 02:28 AM
The process I use to develop solutions is probable much different than most people but it’s a method I have become quite comfortable with. What I do is grab a piece of 3’ x 2’ tag board and a number 2 Dixon Ticonderoga pencil (The world’s greatest pencil). I then set it on a table with a glass of wine and just think through the process from start to finish. The process is nothing more than what a customer goes through in his head when buying a product or service. The difference is I work backwards, what I mean is instead of starting with a customers first thought about a purchase I start at the end, a happy customer that is all done shopping. I know it’s weird but it was a trick shown to me many years ago and it just stuck.

Anyhow, I began to imagine a customer that had bought a new dishwasher and had it installed and was sitting in the kitchen watching it run, then I work backwards imagining each and every thought process that could possible enter his head. Each step is a square and I start to draw the square in the far right corner of the board. Inside the square is the thought process I write down. Then I draw a line to the left and have another square with another thought process. I continue this until I have a chain all connected that represents the whole.

At this point I just stop and study it looking for errors in my thinking.

What I came up with was a big error and a big opportunity as well. I realized that a customer that wanted to buy a new dishwasher had to also think about installation by a plumber and maybe an electrician. So a dishwasher that appears to cost $500 dollars to Duncan really costs the customer around $900 because they would have to call a plumber to deal with it. I also came to the conclusion that the plumber also supplies parts that Duncan could be selling as well.

I went back to my tag board and kept drawing new process chains and came up with what I felt was a good idea. Now came the hard part, getting Duncan to buy into the idea.

It actually went much better than I had thought, Duncan loved the idea. I told him that I found a way to make more money than he ever has selling a dishwasher and he can save his customers around $400, that’s one hell of a strong offer.

Here is my proposal

I told Duncan that he needs to hold a class that teaches people how to install a dishwasher from start to finish, and he needs to sell all the parts to hook it up in a complete package ready to go. He liked the idea and said he knows exactly how to go about teaching someone because he does it all the time. I explained to him he only sees the people who ask when visiting the hardware store and might be missing out on folks who feel they don’t have the knowledge to even think of hooking it up by themselves. I also explained that you think it costs $500 but to a customer the actual cost is double because they have to call a plumber. At this point we began to think together as one unit and it was exciting to see how much fun he was having thinking about something in a whole new light. I assured him it wasn’t going to be easy and the first time he does this will probable produce mediocre results but over time he can keep improving the process and working towards a winning program that can be crossed over in to things like water heaters or garage door openers etc.

The hard part was how we teach people. At this point he was totally sold on the idea and I once again pulled out the tag board, pencil, and wine. I began to work on the best teaching process I could come up with, and here is what I came up with.

I decided that we should first try to do it on a Saturday morning and we need an actual class that we can advertise. It had to be a big deal with stuff for the children to do, balloons and the whole package is a fun type atmosphere. The teacher had to be Duncan because the owner of a business makes people feel better than a young kid teaching that has no real connection to the customer. I thought the best thing would be a class that the customer receives a diploma of certification from “DISHWASHING COLLEGE”.

He wanted to push the Bosch dishwashers so I asked him to see if a Bosch rep. is available to explain the operation and features about the units and if he could come to the dishwashing college event. Duncan called and said it would work out just fine.

The next thing I needed to do is have him develop a package that includes hose, clamps, air gap, water line, threaded elbow, and all the parts that should be replaced when putting in a new dishwasher.

Tracking people is crucial so we set up a system of handling the customer that included filling out a contact sheet that also had a 12 question survey about the experience at dishwashing college to be filled out and mailed after the customer installed the unit. If the customer mailed it back within 7 days he would give them a $20 in-store gift card. We were now able to track customer experience with the education seminar, customer experience with perceived value, customer experience with the installation, and total customer satisfaction with a grade of 1-10. As a bonus we now have contact information to a happy customer we can market other products or services to.

Now comes the marketing.

What I did was run an advertisement for two weeks running it 3 days a week. The advertisement was simple. “DISHWASHING COLLEGE”……..”SAVE $400”………”ONE DAY ONLY”…….”FREE EXPERT INSTALLATION TRAINING PROGRAM” I had one short paragraph under it all that explained the whole program. The trick is to have a strong offer inside a strong headline, this pulls people in like a magnet and they want to read further. The fact that it was a family event was an added bonus because kids got free balloons filled up by an employee dressed as a clown, who doesn’t like that?

I have to finish this later because it’s 1:20 am and I’m falling asleep at my laptop. Sorry about that, but between typing and buddies going to return back from the bar soon I need to claim my bunk and the warm blankets before they do.

When I finish I’ll tell you about the sales results, and what Duncan is up to these days.

Spider
11-20-2009, 09:47 AM
I'm here - waiting for the next installment!

cbscreative
11-20-2009, 10:47 AM
Great stuff, Mike, your captive audience is building.

Spider
11-20-2009, 11:53 AM
It just occurred to me - Is this one of your marketing techniques, Mike? Sucking people in by hinting at a story you will tell them, then go on vacation. Then telling them half the story and disappearing before you reach the end?

This is worse than waiting to see what happens between Elizabeth and Lucky on General Hospital!!!!

lav
11-22-2009, 05:33 AM
I know why handprop hasnt written the next installment...... he is on the run.........

You see only one person turned up to the class, Duncan made no sales and was out of pocket thousands for the ads and he was that furious he jumped in his biplane and flew out to the US to hunt handprop down and bomb him. Handprop then had to jump in HIS biplane which he has only just finished rebuilding but has yet to test it...... Handprop is now on the run.... the great biplane chase is on

Will handprops biplane hold out to outrun Duncans biplane.....?

Will Duncan win the barron dogfight and shoot down handprop because his marketing advice didnt sell hundreds of dishwashers.......?

Will Duncans biplane crash into the Pacific ocean because he used second hand dishwasher parts in the planes engine.....?

Stay tuned and find out what happens in the next installment of......DISHWASHER DIARIES

Spider
11-22-2009, 08:20 AM
The last installment was Thursday night (well, very early Friday morning) and now it's Sunday morning.

Shoot! The man must be enjoying his holiday!

KristineS
11-23-2009, 10:11 AM
I know why handprop hasnt written the next installment...... he is on the run.........

You see only one person turned up to the class, Duncan made no sales and was out of pocket thousands for the ads and he was that furious he jumped in his biplane and flew out to the US to hunt handprop down and bomb him. Handprop then had to jump in HIS biplane which he has only just finished rebuilding but has yet to test it...... Handprop is now on the run.... the great biplane chase is on

Will handprops biplane hold out to outrun Duncans biplane.....?

Will Duncan win the barron dogfight and shoot down handprop because his marketing advice didnt sell hundreds of dishwashers.......?

Will Duncans biplane crash into the Pacific ocean because he used second hand dishwasher parts in the planes engine.....?

Stay tuned and find out what happens in the next installment of......DISHWASHER DIARIES

Lav, this is brilliant. Given the state of television these days, I'd watch this if it were a television show!

vangogh
11-23-2009, 07:58 PM
Funny lav. Now we're all going to be looking into the sky for two biplanes dogfighting. :)

Frederick I'm sure you've heard the saying leave them wanting more. It's classic storytelling and it works in marketing too.

Mike I'm looking forward to the final installment. Great story so far with lots of great lessons for people. I often do the same thing with the thinking backwards. I try to think of everything that will lead up to a sale and think through where there might be opportunities to reach the customer at every step along the chain.

Now what happened to Duncan? What was the graduation rate at dishawasher college? How many dishwashers were sold? Tune in next week to Duncan and the dishwasher for the answers to these and other questions.

handprop
11-24-2009, 07:51 AM
Hey!

I was just checking over emails etc. and saw a couple posts here. I'm headed back home tonight after a long hunt and if i'm not to tired I'll post something this evening.

We did make a couple mistakes in the process and i'll talk about that as well.

Duncan himself had a couple great ideas to add to the mix and i'll discuss that as well.

Mike

PS: Both biplanes are not done yet, we both are about half way through the projects and suspect in another 5-10 years we will be completed.

vangogh
12-04-2009, 06:47 PM
Any update on Duncan? I feel like I just watched an end of the season cliffhanger and now summer is over and I need resolution on the story :)

handprop
12-04-2009, 07:38 PM
Oops, forgot all about this post, i'll finish it.

Mike

vangogh
12-04-2009, 07:43 PM
No worries. I had lost track of the post myself and then rediscovered it and thought I'd give you a nudge. You're a great storyteller. No rush. Just curious how the story ends.

Paul Elliott
12-06-2009, 08:14 PM
Well, I hung on every episode and all the intervening comments ... only to suddenly realize NO final installment! <arrrgh> :mad:

How will I be able to wait? <big sigh> THIS is why I don't watch daytime TV.

Better hurry up, Handprop, or we'll come looking for you!

Paul

Paul Elliott
12-06-2009, 08:15 PM
Will handprops biplane hold out to outrun Duncans biplane.....?

Will Duncan win the barron dogfight and shoot down handprop because his marketing advice didnt sell hundreds of dishwashers.......?

Will Duncans biplane crash into the Pacific ocean because he used second hand dishwasher parts in the planes engine.....?

Stay tuned and find out what happens in the next installment of......DISHWASHER DIARIES

I LOVE it, Lav!

Paul

handprop
12-06-2009, 08:59 PM
I'm bouncing around a few tasks tonight, i'll see if i can finish it. Sorry about that, I get busy and forget where I left off.

Mike

Paul Elliott
12-06-2009, 09:09 PM
I'm bouncing around a few tasks tonight, i'll see if i can finish it. Sorry about that, I get busy and forget where I left off.

Mike

You're forgiven, Mike, ... but only if you hurry back! We story junkies are drooling into our keyboards in anticipation! ... BIG mess! ;)

Paul

handprop
12-06-2009, 09:25 PM
The ending isn't that exciting but it is a story of success. What I find the most interesting is why.

Mike