Author Archives: VCoker

How Well Do You Know Your Customer?

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July 28  |  Customer Relations  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

By Van Coker

The most essential ingredient of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise. Every business has one. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, Norton E. Warner, also happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower.

Almost everybody has heard the old saying, “He could sell iceboxes to Eskimos.” And for our friends in the southern hemisphere, they may be more familiar with, “He could sell sand to the Sahara desert.” These adages, of course, refer to a super sales person who can supposedly sell anything to anybody, even if the need doesn’t exist. Continue Reading

Personal Selling: How Strong is Your Merchandising?

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June 30  |  Marketing Bridge  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

The most essential ingredient of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise. Every business has one. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, Norton E. Warner, also happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower.

It has always interested me how many business owners tend to point fingers and cast blame when advertising expectations are not met. It could be the 3-day weekend sale that failed to deliver the anticipated traffic or sales results.   Continue Reading

How to “Play the Percentages” and Win

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June 17  |  Business  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

You’ve heard of the 80-20 rule, right? Ask a business owner what the 80-20 rule is and he or she will tell you 80% of the sales come from 20% of the customers. The opposite side of that equation is also true, 80% of your customers account for only 20% of your sales.

Let’s look at some more 80-20 examples that, for the most part, hold true:

80% of the wealth in this country is held by 20% of the population.
80% of your results are produced by 20% of your efforts.
80% of your time on the phone is spent with 20% of your acquaintances.
80% of the population resides in 20% of the cities. Continue Reading

Personal Selling: It Makes the Difference

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June 1  |  Marketing Bridge  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

The most essential ingredient of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise. Every business has one. Most don’t even realize it. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, Norton E. Warner, also happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower.

I learned long ago as a curious little rug rat that you can’t see electricity, but one quick insertion of a screwdriver into a wall outlet will generate instant pain and probably knock you into next week. That happened to me about 40 years before the invention of the Taser and the now popular phrase, “Don’t tase me, bro,” but I think I have a pretty good idea of what a Taser feels like.   Continue Reading

Advertising and Marketing: What’s the Difference?

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May 18  |  Advertising, Marketing  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

We often hear consumers and business owners alike confuse the terms “advertising” and “marketing.” How would you differentiate the two? I know I mistakenly mixed the terms for some time before learning the difference. It’s really quite simple once you know.

Longtime professor of advertising at Harvard University, Neil H. Borden, defined advertising as, “the chief means by which businesses communicate with the customers about their products or services to bring about an exchange.”

Advertising and Marketing - What's the Difference?

Professor Borden did not define advertising as “building store traffic” or “selling” merchandise or services. The keyword in the definition is “communicate.” Continue Reading

The Importance of “Price” and “Value”

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May 1  |  Business, Marketing, Marketing Bridge  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

One of the most essential ingredients of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise—or any enterprise. Every business has one. Most don’t even realize it. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, also just happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower, Norton E. Warner.

In future articles, we’ll focus on each and every element necessary to build your successful Marketing Bridge. This month, let’s talk about “price” and “value.”

To state the obvious, the “cost” of an item refers only to price. Either the cost you paid to stock the item in your inventory, or the price the customer paid to take it off your shelf. Or, as Warren Buffett once stated, “Cost is what you pay, value is what you get.”   Continue Reading

Are You Going Up…or Coming Down?

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April 24  |  Business  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

If you look at a picture of a big airplane that’s close to the ground, it’s difficult to determine if it’s taking off, or coming down. Landing gear is down. Nose is slightly up. Yet you can’t really tell if it’s landing or taking off. But watching the airplane in motion makes everything obvious.

A similar phenomenon occurs when you look at a business. You may see a well-kept, modern facade, nice parking lot and beautifully lighted at night. But just like the airplane, you have to see the business “in motion” to determine if it’s going up or coming down.

Are You Going Up or Coming Down?

Truth is, nearly everything reveals its true status when you see it in action. What about your business? Are you going up with outstanding service to your customers? Or are you coming down with a bad attitude, bad advertising and lots of other baggage?

Are your shelves clean, well-stocked, and neatly displayed? Is your personal radar constantly scanning the horizon for new opportunities?   Continue Reading

Grow Your Business with a Daily Dose of P-M-A

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April 16  |  Business, Recession  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

No matter how hard you try, you can’t escape hearing, seeing, reading, or talking about the recession…or somehow feeling the results personally. See for yourself today. Nearly every news story involves the economy and how it will shape our lives. Job cuts, plant closings, bankruptcies, investment fraud, higher crime rates, the mortgage crisis, home and business foreclosures, the cost of healthcare, deficit spending, pork spending, lackluster consumer spending, declining stock markets, unemployment, and on and on and on.

Positive Mental Attitude

If you’re not careful, you’ll catch a case of Stinkin’ Thinkin’ yourself. Stinkin’ Thinkin’ is a deadly disease. It hinders clear thinking. Wipes out hope and optimism. Destroys businesses, personal wealth, even your life. Fortunately, there is a proven vaccine. It’s called P-M-A. Continue Reading

None of Us Farm as Well as We Know How

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April 9  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing, Marketing Bridge  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

The other day a restaurant owner and I were discussing the challenges he’s facing in these economic times. His food costs are up…utilities are up…health insurance for employees is always going up…taxes are higher, and on and on and on. Everything is headed up—except his sales volume.

The number of customers visiting his restaurant was down slightly. The average ticket was down, too. More and more moms and dads were splitting dinners to economize. Even sales in the bar were down. I guess that means people can’t even afford to “drown their sorrows.” What to do?

None of Us Farm as Well as We Know How

He did make some modifications to his menu which did, in fact, help. Then he freshened his advertising to reflect the new dinner entrees available for under $10.00. But even with the increase in traffic, receipts were still well short of where they needed to be. He sheepishly admitted that the thought had crossed his mind to cut back on his advertising efforts. Continue Reading

How to Grow Your Business in a Recession

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March 24  |  Advertising, Business, Recession  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

Why is it most business owners do all the wrong things when tough times hit? It’s almost like they have a death wish.

Think about it. What’s the one thing you must have enough of…plenty of…even more of during a recession? I’m not talking about money. I’m not talking about time. The correct answer is—customers. It’s customers that offer their money to spend with you. Customers keep your employees employed. Customers pay your bills and keep your banker happy. Customers help you afford a vacation…find time to relax…and send your kids to college. Customersmore customers—will help you weather the recession.

But what typically happens when times get tough? Usually the first thing that gets cut, or totally eliminated, is that misunderstood, abused, and otherwise dirty word—

How to Grow Your Business in a Recession

Advertising. That’s easy to cut. You know—“We have to cut expenses somewhere.” And since advertising isn’t really doing what we think it should anyway….let’s save some money.

Imagine having a party…better yet, let’s make it really big and have a wedding. A day to share with hundreds of family and friends. Continue Reading