Price/Quality/Service Equals Value

A friend asked me to lunch on Friday and kept it a secret where we were going right up to the moment we arrived in the parking areas of this industrial mall. Up to this point he spoke of how delicious the food is and how it has become his favorite place. Up to this point I was thinking we were going to a 5 star restaurant given the build up delivered to me on his favorite place. I was not disappointed.

We walked into a hole in the wall industrial space that can not be more than 1000 square feet in total space but the line that went out to the door moved fast with Greek family efficiency. The restaurant is The Pita Grill in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on Maingate and Eglinton. I would love to include a web link but they don't see a need for website at this time.

The efficiency of service was carried out by what appeared as the sons cooking and warming on vertical spits large pieces of roast beef, chicken, and lamb. The father/owner was taking the orders and the daughter, it would seem as they all had a family resemblance, would prepare the order with an abundance of choices for the pita pocket. The pita which is very large and stuffed to perfection and then rolled and toasted for that uniqueness that can only be found in a small out of the way place that the locals are no longer keeping a secret.

When we sat down with our two large chicken pita's and drinks the bill was less than $15.00. Price, Quality, and Service, converged and made the lunch with my friend next to a big screen TV better than my anticipated 5 star lunch. My friend is a Marketing Professional and in his subtle way he demonstrated how simple marketing can be for a small business. Word of mouth advertising is still the number one way to generate business. Of course, I like to think big so just imagine what this Greek family could do if they decided to create a website that furthered growth with delivery to the many offices in their area who can't get away but would like their lunch catered. Ahh, a combination made in Marketing Heaven.

North American Marketers Are Xenophobic

In Japan, consumers have access to data or marketing information at the click of their mobile phone camera. With a picture taking a read of an image found in most places in Japan from billboards to magazines to products the Japanese consumer can get product information and even the company website URL stored into their phone for access later at home or in the office. This image is called the QR Code. The reason I'm writing about this is I just read an article by Lane Michel titled Mobile Advertising: Your Phone Is About To Ring. North American Marketers are looking at our mobile phones as a way to get to us even deeper through our mobile internet accessed and GPS located phones. Don't they get it? WE HATE THIS INTRUSION.

If they took the time and looked at how marketing is done outside their xenophobic bubbles they might see that countries like Japan are light years ahead of us here in North America. The QR Code is not intrusive and has the same desired result including collecting consumer habit information. WAKE UP MARKETERS AND LOOK OUTSIDE OUR WORLD!

Cold Calling B2B May Be A Thing Of The Past

As many of you know, who read my blog, I train on occassion new Internet Consultants who are working with Small and Medium Size Businesses Globally. They are all WSI franchise Owners and as a result I hear many great success stories. I heard one the other day from a WSI consultant last week in Canada which got me to think about the future of Cold Calling in Sales. His story had to do with helping a client not only save her Jewelry Store business but actually made her rethink how she does business.

The cost to set up a store front jewelry store business for her was over $250,000 cdn and her market share was being eroded by the big name stores located in big shopping mall locations. For $35,000 the consultant set her up on the internet with a virtual jewelry store business. His strategy included Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click and within a few months she was selling more product through her online store than she ever sold in a year at her store front business. But here is the real savings, the consultant suggested and worked into the solution that all the product orders would be shipped by all her suppliers. With her set-up costs lowered and her operating costs practically eliminated her profits went through the roof and landing right into her hip pocket.

With a clear online marketing strategy implemented with her WSI Internet Consultant she is now thinking of closing up her storefront and growing her online presence further. The world is changing. More and more, the customer is shopping online for all their product and service needs. I foresee in the not too distant future where we will no longer get cold calls at home because the smart businesses will be marketing if not entirely at least close to 100% over the internet.

What are you doing today to market yourself on the internet to capture this growing customer/buyer base? Let me know your thoughts!