Approximately 5 years ago Blockbuster came up with a campaign to start sending clients late fees to collections. This lead me to start looking at their business model to see how powerful or infallible they really were. After looking at the company model and recent campaigns I realized that they were on their way out. This was in 2005.
Lately I have rented all of my movies from Redbox because it's fast, simple and inexpensive. It just makes a heck of a lot of sense. When comparing the two, Blockbuster had every opportunity in the world to evolve and scoop the market share early for this strategy that Redbox has executed but failed to do so.
I'm not sure if it was arrogance on the part of Blockbuster or lack of insight but they have clearly lost the battle already. I saw recent news that Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy protection and have noticed a few stores closing. Here is where I feel they failed:
1) Instead of focusing on making their process more customer centric focused, they alienated their customers by sending late fees to collections and ultimately ticking off a lot of people
2) They became too focused with trying to make the mail in rentals work in order to compete with Netflix and must of somehow completely missed the entire concept that Redbox executed.
3) The prices of rentals stayed the same rather than focusing on higher volume and convenience to their customers. There are plenty of profit centers within Blockbuster but they seemed to have failed to monetize them and simply "stuck to what they have always done"
So I feel the takeaway here is to stay nimble as a company and be able to adapt to change as well as always keep your customer experience in mind. How can you better improve your company to cater to your customer or client needs. What can you do to increase your companies value to your customers and therefore extend the reach of a dollar in their minds. When value outweighs price, sales will do well.
Here is what I like about Redbox:
1) It's fast and simple
2) It's inexpensive
3) The system is very A to B without any hidden costs or tricks.
Redbox will own this market in a very short amount of time. They have located a need and filled that need with a very simple, inexpensive and customer friendly model which will soon become the future of the movie rental business. Don't be surprised when Blockbuster (late to the game) starts their own vending machine style of movie rentals and the entire store model and pricing model is gone. If you think in futures with your company, products or services and value proposition, it will serve to help with future prediction and allow you to pounce on opportunities that need to be monetized as they come along.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Why I Would Pay for Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin
I recently heard rumblings of news about Twitter potentially charging a fee. Some people have stated that if they did so, they would cancel the service. Silly.... in my opinion. Here's why:
Thus far, the public at large have exchanged (paid for) nothing from Twitter or most social media platforms yet are willing to pay monthly fees for silly expenses like TV to watch a constant inflow of advertisements that attempt to sell products which takes money from them. Twitter, is quite possibly one of the best promotional and sales vehicles that exists today. That statement may not be real for a lot of people but I assure you, it's correct. Let me qualify that statement further.
Twitter gives people the ability to reach out to any target public audience to establish communication with them and develop relationships that can and do result in sales and revenue. By survey, the number one and two sources of new business for any company is word of mouth and referrals. This is precisely what Twitter facilitates. You may not be familiar with Twitter or how it could be the very best promotional and business development tool for your company to employ but nevertheless, there are ways to use it strictly for business development that produces new relationships and sales. Our agency uses it for this very purpose for ourselves and our clients. To us, Twitter is no different than a cell phone. It's a tool to be able to communicate with who we want, when we want so we can develop new business.
Would I be willing to pay for it? Yes! of course. $50 per month? Sure! It helps me produce new business which is a vital aspect to any company. I pay for my office phones, my staff mobile phones, internet connections etc so why wouldn't I pay for Twitter? I can't wrap my wits around why anyone wouldn't pay for it. It's a tiny price to pay for something that could help me produce thousands of dollars per year for our agency.
Now, I actually don't think Twitter will end up charging for their service but will rather take the advertisement supported model but regardless I support it and will absolutely pay for it if they charge a fee, it's worth it.
Consider the intrinsic benefits of these tools before making a rash decision like John Mayer to close his account on Twitter recently. He just locked out 3 million fans from being involved in the conversation. The value of staying in front of your audience is priceless. John made a silly move to close his account and if I was his agent I'd be having a fit right now. The fans are his customers and his obligation to keep happy. No fans means no money. No celebrity is above bottom line numbers being affected by silly moves like that.
If you're thinking Twitter is simply a site to say "your getting a coffee right now...." then let me clarify that you have completely missed the strategy and opportunity with it. It's more than discussing random thoughts and the people who only use it for those purposes think they get and really don't. It's blows the doors off of most promotional outreach strategies if used correctly and will continue to do so. If there was a monthly fee, it would be insignificant compared to the value of it.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group - Follow us @richter102media
Thus far, the public at large have exchanged (paid for) nothing from Twitter or most social media platforms yet are willing to pay monthly fees for silly expenses like TV to watch a constant inflow of advertisements that attempt to sell products which takes money from them. Twitter, is quite possibly one of the best promotional and sales vehicles that exists today. That statement may not be real for a lot of people but I assure you, it's correct. Let me qualify that statement further.
Twitter gives people the ability to reach out to any target public audience to establish communication with them and develop relationships that can and do result in sales and revenue. By survey, the number one and two sources of new business for any company is word of mouth and referrals. This is precisely what Twitter facilitates. You may not be familiar with Twitter or how it could be the very best promotional and business development tool for your company to employ but nevertheless, there are ways to use it strictly for business development that produces new relationships and sales. Our agency uses it for this very purpose for ourselves and our clients. To us, Twitter is no different than a cell phone. It's a tool to be able to communicate with who we want, when we want so we can develop new business.
Would I be willing to pay for it? Yes! of course. $50 per month? Sure! It helps me produce new business which is a vital aspect to any company. I pay for my office phones, my staff mobile phones, internet connections etc so why wouldn't I pay for Twitter? I can't wrap my wits around why anyone wouldn't pay for it. It's a tiny price to pay for something that could help me produce thousands of dollars per year for our agency.
Now, I actually don't think Twitter will end up charging for their service but will rather take the advertisement supported model but regardless I support it and will absolutely pay for it if they charge a fee, it's worth it.
Consider the intrinsic benefits of these tools before making a rash decision like John Mayer to close his account on Twitter recently. He just locked out 3 million fans from being involved in the conversation. The value of staying in front of your audience is priceless. John made a silly move to close his account and if I was his agent I'd be having a fit right now. The fans are his customers and his obligation to keep happy. No fans means no money. No celebrity is above bottom line numbers being affected by silly moves like that.
If you're thinking Twitter is simply a site to say "your getting a coffee right now...." then let me clarify that you have completely missed the strategy and opportunity with it. It's more than discussing random thoughts and the people who only use it for those purposes think they get and really don't. It's blows the doors off of most promotional outreach strategies if used correctly and will continue to do so. If there was a monthly fee, it would be insignificant compared to the value of it.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group - Follow us @richter102media
Thursday, September 16, 2010
IKEA Model
I made a trip to IKEA with my family this past week and thought I would comment on the entire business model. To start, I feel everyone has something to learn from IKEA. Here are a few key points that can be and should be applied to your company:
1) Demonstration Sales Presentation - If you have ever been to an IKEA store you will know that the entire store is built as a full tour or live demonstration of their product offering. It's basically the Disney World for grown ups looking for home furnishings and accessories. This is a smart approach to sales. The customer gets to see the products and gets a clear picture of what they might look like in their home. The tour actually guides you with arrows to where they want you to go and what they want you to see which results in control of the customer on their part. By the time you're done the tour/demo you should have seen and now know what you want and added it to your cart. The demo/tour model is a phenomenal way to sell your product because it makes the product or service real to the potential buyer. Find a way to demo your product to your possible buyers in a way that allows them to compare it to how they will actually use the product or service. This will help control and improve your sales.
2) Fun - The entire experience is fun. It doesn't feel like shopping or a chore. It feels like you are at a massive theme park for home furnishings and accessories. The vibrant colors and entire layout makes it fun to walk through and look at. There are pictures on the walls about the history, latest products etc which makes the entire experience incredible. Making it fun will result in happy customers which will result in buyers which will result in income.
3) Catering to your Public - There is a HUGE elevator in the middle of the store to fit tons of people comfortably. There is an actual food court that is done beautifully to cater to hungry guests. The layout is perfect to easily maneuver around. There is a child center to leave the little kiddos to play to their hearts content and allow the parents to casually stroll not to mention the fun kid friendly pockets and sections all throughout in case the parents want to bring the tikes along. There are helpful staff spread all around. The checkout is a breeze. Need I say more? It's completely setup to take good care of their customers and to make them happy so they can enjoy their shopping experience.
4) Exchange - The prices are unreal. They are clearly providing a better value than one has to pay. I'm not by any means a cheap or bargain shopper but I can appreciate value and love the idea of geting a great value. IKEA has this pegged. The prices for the items and the overall experience is well below the actual value which makes their exchange with their customers through the roof. Figure out a way to provide a higher value to your clients than they pay for your product or service and you will always ensure long term survival for your company.
I am certain that there are more takeaways from IKEA than I have listed above but these were the basics that I wanted to make notes on. Go and see for yourself. It clearly had an impact on me which is obviously another benefit that will build their sales...... customer word of mouth. Kuddos to you IKEA
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
1) Demonstration Sales Presentation - If you have ever been to an IKEA store you will know that the entire store is built as a full tour or live demonstration of their product offering. It's basically the Disney World for grown ups looking for home furnishings and accessories. This is a smart approach to sales. The customer gets to see the products and gets a clear picture of what they might look like in their home. The tour actually guides you with arrows to where they want you to go and what they want you to see which results in control of the customer on their part. By the time you're done the tour/demo you should have seen and now know what you want and added it to your cart. The demo/tour model is a phenomenal way to sell your product because it makes the product or service real to the potential buyer. Find a way to demo your product to your possible buyers in a way that allows them to compare it to how they will actually use the product or service. This will help control and improve your sales.
2) Fun - The entire experience is fun. It doesn't feel like shopping or a chore. It feels like you are at a massive theme park for home furnishings and accessories. The vibrant colors and entire layout makes it fun to walk through and look at. There are pictures on the walls about the history, latest products etc which makes the entire experience incredible. Making it fun will result in happy customers which will result in buyers which will result in income.
3) Catering to your Public - There is a HUGE elevator in the middle of the store to fit tons of people comfortably. There is an actual food court that is done beautifully to cater to hungry guests. The layout is perfect to easily maneuver around. There is a child center to leave the little kiddos to play to their hearts content and allow the parents to casually stroll not to mention the fun kid friendly pockets and sections all throughout in case the parents want to bring the tikes along. There are helpful staff spread all around. The checkout is a breeze. Need I say more? It's completely setup to take good care of their customers and to make them happy so they can enjoy their shopping experience.
4) Exchange - The prices are unreal. They are clearly providing a better value than one has to pay. I'm not by any means a cheap or bargain shopper but I can appreciate value and love the idea of geting a great value. IKEA has this pegged. The prices for the items and the overall experience is well below the actual value which makes their exchange with their customers through the roof. Figure out a way to provide a higher value to your clients than they pay for your product or service and you will always ensure long term survival for your company.
I am certain that there are more takeaways from IKEA than I have listed above but these were the basics that I wanted to make notes on. Go and see for yourself. It clearly had an impact on me which is obviously another benefit that will build their sales...... customer word of mouth. Kuddos to you IKEA
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Friday, September 10, 2010
Work Ethic
Just a brief comment on work ethic. I try to challenge myself daily to push harder, get more done, be more disciplined and push through more tasks or goals than the day before.
I have observed that by doing this, my level of action and discipline relative to most people is much higher. It's almost like working out in the gym to physically expand your limits and therefore increase what can be done or how many miles you can run daily. You may start out at half a mile but if you push yourself daily, in a few months you will end up at 3-4 miles.
Today's working society is too lax about work and their limitations of how hard they will push is tiny. Don't allow yourself to fall into this category.
Challenge yourself to increase your work ethic. Push yourself and you'll be amazed at what you are capable of.
- Make a daily agenda, tasks or actions that you must complete and push them all through with zero reasonableness
- Spend less time at lunch and wasting time daily so you can execute your tasks at hand
- Be disciplined about reading something productive daily to increase your knowledge
- Run daily or get some kind of physical exorcise to stay sharp
- When you feel that you are through your tasks, push a little harder to complete another few
If you truly master your own work ethic, you will guarantee your survival and success. Push yourself and you will be an absolute asset no matter where you work.
Think of any sports team or event. Winners have an unbelievable work ethic. This is the one factor that is a constant with any winner. Don't allow yourself to be just involved in the game, decide to win and then push yourself to grow into the type of person that has an incredibly high work ethic that plays to win. Do this and you will win.
I will warn you that it's actually very hard and quite difficult to pull off and very few people who read this blog will do it. That is actually part of the reason that winners win. There is very few people to actually compete with. Most are lazy. Decide against being lazy and step up your entire game so you can attain and have anything you want. The game of winning in life is actually very easy..... you just have to be willing to work your tail off!
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
I have observed that by doing this, my level of action and discipline relative to most people is much higher. It's almost like working out in the gym to physically expand your limits and therefore increase what can be done or how many miles you can run daily. You may start out at half a mile but if you push yourself daily, in a few months you will end up at 3-4 miles.
Today's working society is too lax about work and their limitations of how hard they will push is tiny. Don't allow yourself to fall into this category.
Challenge yourself to increase your work ethic. Push yourself and you'll be amazed at what you are capable of.
- Make a daily agenda, tasks or actions that you must complete and push them all through with zero reasonableness
- Spend less time at lunch and wasting time daily so you can execute your tasks at hand
- Be disciplined about reading something productive daily to increase your knowledge
- Run daily or get some kind of physical exorcise to stay sharp
- When you feel that you are through your tasks, push a little harder to complete another few
If you truly master your own work ethic, you will guarantee your survival and success. Push yourself and you will be an absolute asset no matter where you work.
Think of any sports team or event. Winners have an unbelievable work ethic. This is the one factor that is a constant with any winner. Don't allow yourself to be just involved in the game, decide to win and then push yourself to grow into the type of person that has an incredibly high work ethic that plays to win. Do this and you will win.
I will warn you that it's actually very hard and quite difficult to pull off and very few people who read this blog will do it. That is actually part of the reason that winners win. There is very few people to actually compete with. Most are lazy. Decide against being lazy and step up your entire game so you can attain and have anything you want. The game of winning in life is actually very easy..... you just have to be willing to work your tail off!
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Coffee's for Closers
Here is our take on one of the greatest sales movies of all time - of course we felt they had it a little wrong so we made a few minor adjustments.
To discuss the difference of a lead vs. a reach, get in touch
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Speed
Have you ever truly looked over the value of speed as it relates to your companies growth, strategies, sales, delivery and expansion? I personally rate this as one of the highest valued items in our agency and in any company.
Speed. How fast you can take an idea into execution to make that idea a reality. Speed is your friend and time is your enemy. Speed of delivery. How fast can you deliver your product or service with the highest level of quality. Speed of sales. How fast can you find your audience, prospect, sell and close them to create hoards of new business.
Speed is something you should measure, if you don't already. People talk frequently about competition, what the other companies are doing etc. If you master speed, the truth is, there isn't any real competition out there. Most companies are slow. Most people are slow. Competition is a highly overrated concept. Focus on speed and the "competition" becomes something that you view from a distance scratching your head wondering how and why they don't get it.
Even looking at today's economy, if people and companies operated faster, new companies started fasted, decisions were made faster, speed became a central and crucial element of the marketplace, we wouldn't have a problem. The economy would recover swiftly and new fresh funds would be produced and circulated quickly.
Sometimes simple answers are the hardest to figure out but are ultimately the best solution.
Make a point this week and next to execute tasks faster. Speed up your cycles. Look at how you can take the time out of the equation on situations and your production will increase. Look at all the applications of speed and figure out how to put them into action.
- Speed of sales
- Speed of promotional ideas to get them into action
- Speed of quality delivery
- Speed of internal communications
- Speed of external communications
- Speed of news to the market
- Speed of promotional updates or changes such as websites etc
- Speed of hiring, training and executing actions
- Speed of meetings and phone calls
While this may sound a little overboard - it's not, I assure you. There are slownesses all throughout your personal actions day to day as well as throughout your company and I promise, it's costing you the game. Take speed seriously. Get disciplined about it and your "competition" will become a silly concept. Companies are slow, people are slow ..... take advantage of it.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Speed. How fast you can take an idea into execution to make that idea a reality. Speed is your friend and time is your enemy. Speed of delivery. How fast can you deliver your product or service with the highest level of quality. Speed of sales. How fast can you find your audience, prospect, sell and close them to create hoards of new business.
Speed is something you should measure, if you don't already. People talk frequently about competition, what the other companies are doing etc. If you master speed, the truth is, there isn't any real competition out there. Most companies are slow. Most people are slow. Competition is a highly overrated concept. Focus on speed and the "competition" becomes something that you view from a distance scratching your head wondering how and why they don't get it.
Even looking at today's economy, if people and companies operated faster, new companies started fasted, decisions were made faster, speed became a central and crucial element of the marketplace, we wouldn't have a problem. The economy would recover swiftly and new fresh funds would be produced and circulated quickly.
Sometimes simple answers are the hardest to figure out but are ultimately the best solution.
Make a point this week and next to execute tasks faster. Speed up your cycles. Look at how you can take the time out of the equation on situations and your production will increase. Look at all the applications of speed and figure out how to put them into action.
- Speed of sales
- Speed of promotional ideas to get them into action
- Speed of quality delivery
- Speed of internal communications
- Speed of external communications
- Speed of news to the market
- Speed of promotional updates or changes such as websites etc
- Speed of hiring, training and executing actions
- Speed of meetings and phone calls
While this may sound a little overboard - it's not, I assure you. There are slownesses all throughout your personal actions day to day as well as throughout your company and I promise, it's costing you the game. Take speed seriously. Get disciplined about it and your "competition" will become a silly concept. Companies are slow, people are slow ..... take advantage of it.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
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