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29 Replies Last post: Aug 11, 2008 4:09 PM by Worldwide

Where am I going wrong?

Aug 5, 2008 2:29 PM

Archangel 40 posts since
Jun 26, 2008

I've done quite a bit of marketing for my new business and I've spent an awful lot of money. To date the results of that investment have been pricisely zero. I'm hoping someone here can tell me where I'm going wrong. Admititly, my marketing mix isn't as well rounded as it could be, but I can't afford to just continue dumping money into something that isn't working. At this point I'm just not sure where to go from here. Here's what I have so far:

Website: http://www.archangelpcs.com

I've done direct mail postcards offering free analysis and estimate for new computers or refurbishment.

I'm a member of the Chamber of Commerce and go to the monthly shindig and other events and schmooz.

I have an ad in the local business paper, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, which I know is read by 80% of the dicision makers here locally.

I've gone to a number of business events and did the meet and greet bit with a lot of people.

So far I've had no results at all. I guess it's just me. So I put out an ad for a sales rep. I got three good responses, but when I replied to them with information about the company I never heard anything back. Now I'm stuck. My money is all in and I'm not going to be able to get any more without making some sales. I've spent tons of time and money trying to sell and all I've gotten for it is people trying to sell me stuff. I need help. Where can I find someone who can sell? I can do everything else, I'm very good at what I do, in fact I've been told by people who know that I'm the best at what I do, and I've been doing it for a very long time. So how do I sell it?

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JVCruz 47 posts since
Jul 27, 2008

1. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 2:43 PM

This may or may not help. I do know that large companies such as AAA often change out their computers, monitors, etc. Have you tried offering your services to companies such as they? The Southeast AAA offices all changed out their old computers and components to newer IBM systems. I would check with them, if you are able to handle a large account.

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Archangel 40 posts since
Jun 26, 2008

2. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 2:59 PM

in response to: JVCruz

Thank you, that was helpful, but my problem isn't finding who to sell too, it's more a problem of how do I sell it? Sales and marketing have never been my strong point. I think the problem I have right now is trying to sell the sales rep on selling what I'm offering. I don't know how much sense that makes, but that is what the problem is at this point. Sometimes I almost feel like I've been cursed or something. No matter what I do the phone doesn't ring, the email is empty and no one ever seems to visit my website. The only calls I do get are sales calls. I'm begining to feel that after working so hard for so long and spending so much money that it's all been for nothing.

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JVCruz 47 posts since
Jul 27, 2008

3. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 3:13 PM

in response to: Archangel

Note: On the main page of your site, I noticed that the word "built" probably should be "build". You may just want to double check your site for minor errors. It can influence impression someone has about your company.

When you tried to hire a sales rep, what were you offering? Was it based solely on commission? If so, how much was the commission rate? If not, have you thought of adding to the base salary a commission incentive?

If there is no funds available to pay someone a salary or hourly rate, is the commission high enough? Have you thought of seeking a partner in your company or offering a share of the company to someone who is great at sales? If your company hasn't made a penny yet, how long can you go on? By offering a share/stake in the business to someone who has a proven track record in sales, there will be a stronger chance of both persons involved in making money.

As to your site, as well, have you thought of setting an Affiliate program? Having an Affiliate program costs nothing but can reap great sales by having others do referral sales. The Affiliate in turn gets a small percentage of each sale.

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snipperred 147 posts since
Jun 11, 2008

4. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 3:21 PM

in response to: JVCruz

Hey there Archangel, I see you took off the Joombia app. I think the new layout is cleaner. We talked about your business model before and I think you were onto something that could really distinguish you from the competition in your markets. While you are direct in your approach with your new layout/ content, I don't think you are presenting yourself and your features to the best of your potential.

Maybe you should hire a marketing expert like Iwrite to help you.

Another idea might be getting involved in or creating your own online social network. You are welcome to look into mine www.arealight.ning.com Once I get the network going, could be a good place to promote your services. I might even offer some services to help people use the platform for their own interests. I liked talking business with you before. Message me directly from my site and I will offer you some modern management consulting- free of charge. I think I can advise you on how to .... ... and take names. If your ideas are so hot for businesses then they should be presented and delivered in a manner that reflects that. What you're doing now doesn't do that in my opinion. I like the idea though and think it would be fun to see if I am any good as a consultant with that foundation to start with.

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Adducent 338 posts since
May 22, 2008

5. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 4:11 PM

Basically, you are in a highly competitive commodity business that normally is governed by price point but you are not going to be able to compete or get attention on price alone.

And I don't think that you are going to have success selling a major contract to a company of any size. They are going to go with a proven vendor with a track record. A corporate purchasing manager's performance is gauged just as much by vendor performance as it is by cost. Since you are an "unknown", unlike Dell, HP etc., its doubtful you would get a shot for larger, corporate wide, types of contracts since they don't want to get fried if something goes wrong with your performance. Though a commodity ... PC's and systems are too essential to most businesses daily operations to rely on an unknown.

You said that people tell you how great you are at what you do.

I might have missed it but I don't see anything to reference that on your site. No testimonials etc. You should gather all the testimonials you can from past clients/customers and get those on your site and in your sales materials.

You have to give people a reason to use you or buy your products. Frankly most people don't care about details about what goes into their PC's ... they just want them to work without any hassle.

Show consumers and customer prospects what others have had to say about how good you are at what you do or how good your products are. That begins to form the basis for a reason try your services or products. A bit of ‘social approval' goes a long way towards helping in their decision process on whether or not to give you a try. I would take the sidebar on your site where you list out the companies you work with (component suppliers I take it) and replace with testimonials. Check your site for typo's etc. make the copy (writing) on it tight and an 'active' voice instead of a 'passive' tone. A subtle thing but one that makes a big difference when they read about you, your company and its products/services.

In my opinion the only way that you could entice a sales person (whose compensation will probably solely rest on commission since you are low on capital) is if you have the ability to deliver on a big contract should they sell one. At individual system prices you may not have a lot of margin to work with so their commission might not be enough to make it worth their while on single customer/single system sales. That is probably their perception and why you did not hear back from the 3 sales reps you mention.

If necessary you may want to scale back, clamp down on operating expenses and focus on word-of-mouth and direct sales (through your efforts not a sales person) even if only one sale, one customer, one system at a time. Build up your base of satisfied customers - get testimonials and referrals. Target smaller businesses that you can establish a dialog and comfort level with; 3 or 4 PC jobs may lead to 10 PC jobs that may lead to even larger opportunities. Stair-step your way to position your company to bid for and take on larger customers/contracts.

I hope the above feedback helps you in some way. Good luck with your business.

Dennis Lowery

Adducent, Inc.

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Lighthouse24 2,396 posts since
Oct 10, 2007

6. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 4:38 PM

You're in a region that has plenty of IT professionals, and a customer base that is probably more tech-savvy than average. Therefore, for a brand new business in that market to claim that they build the "best computers . . . and back them up with the best service" is just so much fluff unless there's something to prove it. Either your people or your processes (and probably both) have to be superior to anyone else's out there for you to justify that "best" claim -- yet your site doesn't really talk about either one. Who is building your systems and providing service, and what are their backgrounds and expertise? What makes your build, refurbish, and service processes so much higher quality than all of your competitors? What objectives measures or evidence validate that (since, with no sales, you might not have any references or testimonials as yet)? I think those are important questions to answer.

I also think you might need a more "focused" marketing approach. It's like the hunter who points his rifle at the sky and empties it, hoping that something good will fly in front of one of the bullets -- you use up a lot of ammo very fast. It sounds like from your own assessment that you'd like to shoot less and hit more, which means aiming at a more specific (and promising) target. Your competitors are currently focused on students going off to college. If you can build a better system at a better price than the ones that the big box stores are promoting for that purpose, then you can market that one solution to that one audience instead of trying to sell everything to everyone. (I'm not suggesting that a narrow focus be your permanent marketing strategy, just the one you'd use for the next month to get some traction.)

As others have noted, if you are relying on your website as the primary sales/support tool, the assistance of an advertising copywriter might be a good investment (the copy isn't bad, but has a lot of "glitches" that certainly don't help you any). Maybe you can barter an upgrade in exchange for a copywriter's services.

Hope that helps. Best wishes.

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Archangel 40 posts since
Jun 26, 2008

7. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 5:31 PM

in response to: snipperred

JVCruz: I fixed that typo on the font page. It's amazing, I've had three other people look at that, one of them an English major, and none caught it!

Since I posted this a couple of hours ago two things have happened. First, I found out that my company was accepted and I'm set up to offer financing/lease options to my customers. Apparently it's been that way for two weeks but no one bother to tell me about it until just today. Apparently someone went on vacation and just forgot. That's a big plus, and would have been nice if I could have included the fact in the ad that came out yesterday. The second thing is, one of those sales people finally replied to me and I'll be dicussing the situation with him this evening.

I know the copy on my website isn't that great, it's a reflection of my skill level at writing such things. I'm just not that good at it. My problem with that is I don't see what's wrong with it. Everyone else seems to think there is something wrong there, but I just don't see it. That being the case, I'm not the one who should be writing the copy. Hence the push for someone with sales and marketing know-how.

As far as who I'm trying to sell too, it's pretty simple. While I could pump out 100 computers without much trouble, no one is going to buy that, and yes, I do understand the need for the big guys to go with what they know. Right now i'm looking for the guy who wants 1 to 20 computers. I should be able to get that guy without too much trouble if I have the right sales and marketing operation out front. The truth on margins in the computer world is not what you might think it is. I can offer a comperable computer to Dell and HP for at least $100 less than them and still make PLENTY, and that even before I've met the channel requeriments for people like Intel and Microsoft. Some of the requierment are strict, like Microsoft, but some are not. I don't have far to go before I can start buying chips and motherboards straight from Intel and then I can drop my price even more and still expand the margin quite a bit.

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limoman 1 posts since
Aug 5, 2008

8. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 9:16 PM

Direct mailing is a wonderful tool I have found it to be the best for me, but you have to find a company that reach a large nuber fo people or businesses at a fair rate, they have something in the limo business they call shared rides. it is cheaper than private cars and you need to share your mailer with others people save coupons they don't go for the free stuff unless its buy one and get one they like to get something off. They usually won't tell you till the last minute oh by the way I have coupone. Money Mailer, Clippers, Mr. Coupone are the best and cheapest you can buy the entire zip code for under $300.00.

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webmasters 40 posts since
Aug 4, 2008

9. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 5, 2008 11:20 PM

Hello,

You have good info on your website and the deal sounds great. I've paid as much as 9k for a custom turnkey machine with software.
It was a Ecommerce deal and the company provided excellent customer service.
Your business is within a industry of 900 pound gorillas like Dell, Compaq, HP, IBM etc.
You need to have a website that make your company look good. The visible appearance of your website need to say " move over Dell, Compaq, HP, IBM we are here to stay.
A few things you need to consider.

1, a website makeover such as design layout, color scheme, fresh professional photos, good keywords, website content, and something to make the website sticky" have visitors return to the website for things like freebies, discounts, users forums etc".

I have a few more ideas for you.
Feel free to contact us anytime and ask for Maurice.

Warm Regards,

Webmaster

http://www.siteprohosting.com
24/7 Phone Sales and Support Call: 1-858-605-0942
You can also use the Request A Call tool available at our web site.

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snipperred 147 posts since
Jun 11, 2008

10. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 6, 2008 12:13 AM

Just a note on this thread: one of the more concentrated collections of outstanding advice I have seen. You are all welcome to join my community www.arealight.ning.com . The point I find interesting is the bottom line deal comparable to Dell and HP.

I've had some bad experiences with Dell service in particular. I don't mind the international outsourcing for customer service- especially for the price we got for our company's 45 pc's and servers. What I do mind is the automation and not being able to get through to a decision maker who can "do the right thing" when presented with a common sense issue. I have also had the top tier service package for support warranty and parts pertaining to a current version server my last company depended on. They outsource to Dell authorized service rep in the area- really just a local pc guy with his own business. I guess what they pay him must not be great because the service and turnaround was really poor. At best just removal and replacement. For example, I ended up paying thousands to troubleshoot and replace a defective RAID that I could easily attribute to Dell with my own IT consultant walking everything through. The highest level I got to in reconciling was a small business account group who...needless to say was primarily focussed on upselling me.

I glean from Archangel's business model he can serve a market need with better service. Following pretty much all the advice above could be a very profitable business. I still completely disagree with the commission based sales program. A makeover on the presentation and I think all he needs to do then is be able to deliver to expectations. It's the personal touch and underlying logic of dealing with someone who can provide at cost plus the light overhead. I don't see why you'd want to pass this off to a commission based salesperson who cannot possibly represent the value at the point of service and represents an additional overhead.

I think I'll audit my own business model off most of the advice above. Again, thank you very much.

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JVCruz 47 posts since
Jul 27, 2008

11. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 6, 2008 1:27 PM

in response to: snipperred

I mentioned the commission due to ArchangelPCS not having any sales at this time. If he has enough funds to continue operating and to pay for a sales rep salary, it a commission rate may not be necessary -- or can be added as an incentive for the rep to be a good producer.

A note Archangel: As far as the site, I don't see any credentials. It may behoove you to place your company's profile, past projects, skills, experience, and any, if any, awards.

Also, just a personal note, if I were looking at your site for computer services, there would be a trust issue. Although you may be a valid company, there is no indication that you are. Are you registered with the BBB? I would want to investigate you and would want to check the BBB. Most people will. Just a personal note.

The other ideas too about offering something to help keep potential customers on your site or coming back is a great idea. Forming a knowledge base or Forum on computer issues could be advantageous.

Sorry, I can't be of any further assistance.

Best of Luck to you.

JV Cruz

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Archangel 40 posts since
Jun 26, 2008

12. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 6, 2008 2:32 PM

in response to: JVCruz

There is a lot of good information here and I do appreciate it very much. There are a couple of things to consider though. First, this is a brand new company. There is no track record to speak of. There are no examples to point to. Time is what it is, I have to start at the begining. Personally I've been doing this kind of thing for over 20 years, but I spent that time making other people rich, making them look good. That's one reason I offer a money back guarantee. The second thing is the marketing/sales aspect of it. I thought I could muddle through initially and pull in enough business to get things going just by doing it better and cheaper than the competition. That's not working, so now I have to find someone who knows how to sell to help me. It's just one of those things I don't do well, and I'm not going to get better at it any time soon. I have to offer someone a good commission because I can't afford to pay a salary right now.

Also, a lot of the focus here has been on the website. Yes, I did ask about that, and you all did come back with some good information, but that's not really my focus right now. True, people will go to the site to check out my company, but what I need them to do is pick up the phone and call me. Besides, right now no one is looking at my site besides you guys, and they sure aren't calling. Until I can start making that happen everything else is moot.

Snippered: Your experience is exactly what I'm talking about. If you bought your computers from Dell then you payed way too much and got terrible service, just like everyone else. This is exactly my point. I work locally. If a customer calls me they're going to be talking to me. I don't have a fancy call screening system. Just think, if you had bought your 45 computers from me you would have had none of those service problems, spent at least $100 less per computer, and I would be sitting pretty right now with enough money in the bank and a happy customer to quote.

The bottom line is simple, at least for me. If you want the best, call me. Throughout my IT career that's always been the case. I am aware that now I'm going to have to prove that all over again. No problem, all I need is the opportunity. Just one should be enough.

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bizsaver 20 posts since
Jul 11, 2008

13. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 6, 2008 2:48 PM

Sometimes, you have to step back, take a long look at what you are offering, what unique or advanced benefits your service or product represents that would get someone excited about leaving their current resource, spend money or take the time to even follow-up regarding more information. You seem to be doing a lot of the right things in your marketing, but if your message isn't getting through, you're not throwing out the right words. Business is based soley on the benefits you offer your potential customer. If you have the newest, best and most unique service or product available, believe me...your customers will find you. I would suggest you go to my site www.answerguy.info and check out the 14 Step Guide To Maximum Success! I believe the guide will help you reexamine your business and allow you to build the right foundation for recharging your company.

Good luck to you,

Gary Scaife, The Answer Guy

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Iwrite 1,101 posts since
Dec 29, 2007

14. Re: Where am I going wrong? Aug 6, 2008 2:51 PM

in response to: Archangel

You have to give people a reason to come to you.
What is the real benefit to me the consumer if I use your service?
What makes you the business that I should choose?
And what are you offering that I cannot get from any of your competitors?

Don't answer that too quickly.

When you do it might need to be something like this:

Anyone can supply you computers to address your needs. We supply solutions to meet your computer needs.

Whether it is around the clock service or cost efficient equipment - we offer a human touch to your technological needs. We're fluent in both technology and human speak, no cookie cutter solutions here. We build and deliver solutions designed for your specific need at a cost that adds up to a great bargain for you.

What I am trying to do is put it into a benefit for the customer, while establishing your company as something special. This is off the top of my head asa I write some copy for a project so it isn't the best but it should point you in the right direction. I hope this helps. Marketing without a clear and on point message can do more harm than good.

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Aug 5, 2008 2:29 PM

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