Turning Skinflints Into Buyers

At the risk of overstating the obvious, we’re in a tough sales environment these days. It seems like a lot of people are following the philosophy of former Chicago Bears football coach George Halas, who supposedly threw nickels around like they were manhole covers.

In the old days, this sort of person was called a skinflint. You probably know the type. They turn out the lights to save on electricity, often before everyone has left the room, or they try to squeeze every last mile out of a gallon of gas. They see saving money as a game.

Even people who aren’t skinflints by nature are more carefully guarding their dollars in today’s economy. So what motivates these people to buy, whether it’s something for their personal use or from the corporate budget? Usually they’ll splurge for something they really want. That might be a new suit or a cruise for their own use, or something that solves a business problem in their corporate lives.

Making a skinflint buy something requires a better understanding of their reasons for buying … not your reasons for wanting to sell them something. That means uncovering what the prospect is trying to overcome, improve or eliminate by buying from you. However, if you focus too soon on features and benefits it sets up a dynamic that makes it easy for the prospect to compare you with their current vendor or other competitors. And then they may decide that everyone’s product is about the same, so price becomes the deciding factor.

You can break this cycle by understanding the prospect’s problems and the negative effects that are already costing them time, energy and money by not using your product or service. Then you can turn skinflints into buyers.

Sports Marketing: Effective Business Branding

One of the most effective branding tools available today is a good sports marketing strategy. Sports marketing is the art of transferring the passion fans have for a sport to your brand name. It's not always easy, but it can work for you if you follow some general rules.

Affiliate Your Company With A Sport Or Team

An effective branding campaign means more than printing t-shirts for your employees to wear at sporting events. And it's not just about buying advertising space on billboards at your local ballpark. An effective campaign is one that truly causes fans to feel passion toward your product or service. Your marketing goal is to trigger something inside consumers to make them feel like they have no choice but to do business with you, because they actually feel passion toward your business.

The best branding efforts are ones that closely link your brand name with a particular sports team or a sport in general. Why? True sports fans passionately love their teams and will do anything to show it. They believe they are part of the team and that they can actually will their team to win.

You want your brand to be mentioned right along side the team every chance you get to grab some of this passion and fan ownership.

Sports Marketing Techniques

Depending on your marketing budget, you can buy your way into having your product or service mentioned along side your local sports teams. Sponsorship costs often depend on the team's popularity. For example, the Chicago Cubs cost more to sponsor than its minor league affiliate in Peoria, Illinois.

The larger the fan base and the more passion the fans have, the more effective a marketing campaign can be. One effective branding strategy is to find the team or sport with the fan base you want to target for potential customers and to invest your company's dollars into advertising with that organization. The goal is to have your company name or brand seen right alongside their name every chance you get-on TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, t-shirts, ball caps and event programs. You want the fans to closely affiliate their passion for their team with their passion for your company. Take note of the Adidas brand name prominently displayed on the uniforms worn by the lady track stars pictured at the 2010 Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.

Post-Game Marketing Opportunities

Another effective branding technique is to convince the fans to shop with your company immediately following a game. Some companies place advertisements on the backside of ticket stubs. For example, if the local team wins or scores a certain number of points, the advertisement encourages fans to come to their store and get something for free or at a sizable discount. However, if you are considering this tactic, just make sure your company can handle an increase of business in the couple hours following a game.

With planning, advertising dollars, and follow-through, sports marketing can be a very effective tool. If you carefully consider the target audience and choose promotions that complement your firm's products and services, you can use sports marketing to capture an untapped, loyal customer base.