customer

The Hour of the Underdog

Robert Borneff Marketing April 18, 2017business, buying, customer, strategy 0 Comment

Successful, well-managed companies are excellent at developing and improving their products and services, so that they perform exactly according to the customers’ needs. These companies listen carefully to their customers and everything that may not please the customer is rejected.

Professional market research, good business planning and proper execution of the plan are cornerstones of good management.

Successful companies grow continually to maintain their share prices and to create new opportunities for their employees. To maintain that growth the focus is on large markets that promise a maximum of revenue.

Sounds good! Doesn’t it? There is only one problem. Large and well-managed companies are often good in developing and improving products that already exist. This can be for example a recliner with even more motion functionality or a softer rug or faster closing window shades.

But what about products that are new on the market or not even invented yet. What about products that are currently only sold in niche markets? What about products that provide a lower margin than the mainstream products? For example a recliner with integrated butler to operate the TV remote and provide drinks; a self-cleaning carpet or grocery bags that dissolve into air after 48 hours of use.

It turns out that big companies are often only good with sustaining technologies, meaning already existing products. Regarding new or different products these companies often fail. The reason for that is, that the same management practices that made these companies to industry leaders also make it extremely difficult for them to work with disruptive technologies. This is the conclusion of Professor Clayton Christensen in his book The Innovator’s Dilemma.

So, What’s the Big Deal?

Sailing Blue Oceans

Robert Borneff Marketing March 21, 2017March 21, 2017buying, customer, retail, strategy 0 Comment

Business is tough! When you start a business, you should find out what the competition is doing! To gain market-share you have to beat the competition! To be successful you have to offer a better product at a lower price offering better service! – Sounds familiar? We all know this. Business books are full of it. But is this really the way for a company to be successful, in a time when everything seems to be upside down? Can it not even be dangerous to do what competitors are doing, just trying to do it better?

Markets, products and customers are changing today faster than ever before. Who still thinks that phone calls overseas have to be expensive? How much do we have to pay for social media? Can you publish a book yourself today? Hasn’t Amazon opened a store where you can leave with the product without payment?

One way to be successful in today’s marketplace is to not to fit in or stick out of the competition, but to be different. Instead of butting heads with other companies, eliminate the competition by doing what nobody else does. Create new demand for products and services that only you offer. Sounds difficult? It is, but wait, there is help.

W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne developed a strategy to maneuver around the competition and sail in untapped ocean of new markets. Whereas other companies fight in cutthroat competition that turns the ocean bloody red, companies following this strategy may find calm blue oceans to sail in. That’s why it’s called Blue Ocean strategy

How does this work?

Transparent Marketing

Robert Borneff Marketing January 31, 2017January 31, 2017buying, customer, happiness, lifestyle 0 Comment

In their book “Don’t Think Pink” the authors Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned call for the need of Transparent Marketing to attract female customers. Over the last years women became the key- customer especially in the home furnishing business.

Transparent Marketing supports credibility. Credibility translates into trust; trust translates into relationship, and relationship can translate into sustained sales. The trick about this approach is to focus on the need of women without directly pointing to it. Here are some areas to emphasize on:

1. Focus on key customers

Instead of trying to be there for everybody, the focus should be on a specific customer group. This small group of customers will later on attract a larger audience. Choose niche marketing over mass marketing.

2. Know your customer

Find out as much as possible about your customer. Find out how they act and react. Communicate online and offline as much as you can and listen carefully. Make sure that the message you are sending online through your website and social media is consistent with your real life activities. What are the challenges of your customer? What is their motivation? What are they afraid of? What are their dreams?

3. Be present

Women are always thinking about their family, friends and neighbors. Make sure your customers can use the relationship with you to improve their social connections. Take advantage of the power of word-of-mouth-networks. Be at the right places at the right time, so that your customers always keep you in mind. Work together with other brands for common goals to reach out and explore new markets.

4. Open up

Keep improving the way you make the life of your customers better. Inform your customers about all aspects of your business. Include your customers in your decision process. Always ask for feedback. Use your testimonials to reach out to other customers. Work with referrals as much as possible.

5. Be emotional

Women like to be taken away by stories about how your product will improve the quality of life. Capture her imagination to help her understand how your product or service will fit into her life. Select images, messages and stories that will authentically reflect the values of your customers. A good story will give them the tools they need to visualize what it will be like to interact with your brand.

Apply your marketing to all senses of the customer. The customer will recognize the small things, the background music and the color of your displays and will pay more attention to the message of your store. Offer some little extras that the customer will discover herself.

Never push anyone into buying something. Be sure all questions are answered before the sale will be closed. It’s the experience with your brand that builds the bond with your customer.

6. Be Bona Fide

Your brand should be different from others and stick out of the crowd. Don’t follow your competition!

Show personality and be authentic. Be honest with the strengths and weaknesses of your brand. Work with real life situations to promote your product instead of idealized scenarios. For example showrooms must not be perfectly cleaned up as a display.

Be consistent in what you say and what you do. Two-faced messages disturb your credibility. Encourage questions and provide as much information as possible. Make sure this information can be shared publicly.

Source: Don’t think Pink by Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned, 2004

The Future of Retail

Robert Borneff Marketing August 27, 2015September 25, 2015customer, lifestyle, retail, technology 0 Comment

In 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers did a study about the developments in the retail industry with the name: “Retailing 2015: New Frontiers”. That study was updated in 2012 with new insights named ”Retailing 2020: Winning in a polarized world”.

As a result both studies confirm that the retail industry is becoming more complex and changing faster than ever before. The furniture industry faces the same challenges. A look in the retailer magazine of the North American Home Furnishing Association shows that new technology and changing customers are forcing retailers to adapt to the changing retail environment. On the other hand, new technology and a bigger variety of customers also opens opportunities in the retail market.

In order to take advantage of the upcoming changes Jazzy Jobber follows this development very closely. The following post identifies three key developments in the retail marketplace:

Changing customers and business models
New technology
Service and personalization

4 Steps to the Millenial Customer

Robert Borneff Marketing May 7, 2015May 8, 2015customer, Generation Y, Marketing, Millenials 0 Comment

With the successive retiring of the baby boomer generation, a new type of customer is going to dominate marketing in the future.

The buyers of the millennial generation spent $27 billion in 2014 on furniture and bedding, which is 142% more compared to 2012, according to Furniture Today’s Director of Research, Dana French, in a recently published analysis about the shift of generational buying power in the last years. http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/518483-consumer-buying-trends-boomers-buying-power-decreases-17

There is common agreement that this generation will be a driving force in sales and marketing in the next decades, but it seem like there are blank spots and uncertainties regarding the way to work with this new kind of customer.

One goal of the Jazzy Jobber is to provide a platform for the millennial buyers. In this post I will discuss main characteristics of this generation and how to engage them.