Graham McGregor: Simple marketing can be highly profitable…

There are many simple things we can do to quickly improve our marketing results. Photo / 123RF

A few months ago I read a story in the New Zealand Herald about a man in Ireland who had always thought his dishwasher rack was too small to hold his large plates.

So for 10 years he had washed these plates by hand.

He then discovered that the top rack on his dishwasher could easily be raised in a few seconds.

And his problem was solved.

He tweeted about his experience and thousands of people realised that they had the same problem with their own dish washer.

After reading the story in the New Zealand Herald I realised I was like the man in Ireland.

I also had been hand-washing large plates for more than 10 years as I thought they were too big for my dishwasher.

However, with a quick Google search I found that by pushing a button on the side of my dishwasher rack it could easily be raised and my extra-large plates now fit nicely. (Problem solved. Time taken - two seconds!)

This experience reminded me that sometimes you can do something very simple and quick and end up enjoying some great results.

Best of all this concept of doing something very simple and enjoying great results can be applied to your marketing as well.

Here are two examples to show you what I mean:

Example 1:

We had a major power outage in Auckland a few days ago and once power was restored we still had one fridge that was not working.

So I rang three businesses who specialise in fridge repairs.

The first business was a large manufacturer that actually made the fridge I owned.
However, when I phoned their customer service line I was put on hold for more than 15 minutes.

I decided that I didn't want to wait any longer so hung up.

The second business had a voicemail which I didn't feel like using.
(I actually wanted to talk to a live person and make sure my fridge was something that could be repaired.)

The third business was called Main Refrigeration and the owner Brent Main answered his phone within three rings.

I explained my problem and told Brent the type of fridge I had.

Brent had been repairing fridges for 30 years and had a good idea what was causing my problem. He was in the area, so a few hours later my fridge was repaired and Brent had been paid.

Brent kept it very simple in his marketing.

He personally answered his phone when I called. And spoke knowledgeably about solving my problem.

And as a result he gained my business.

Example 2:

In March 2012 I had a major accident on my bicycle after coming off at high speed down a hill. I broke a number of bones including four ribs, my collarbone and others.

And I was off work for a number of weeks while I mended.

About a week after my crash I got an unexpected parcel in the post from Tony Dowd the managing director of a nutritional supplement business called Asta Supreme based in Nelson, New Zealand.

Tony sent me a lovely hand-written note that said: "Graham, I'm sorry to hear about your accident and wish you a speedy recovery. Here is a bottle of Asta Supreme which should help you as you mend. Just take three capsules a day. Best wishes. Tony."

I checked out Tony's website and discovered that his firm had research that showed that Asta Supreme has excellent results in supporting cardiac health, healthy cholesterol levels, joint health, eye and visual health, optimal skin health, and more.

So I was more than happy to take his supplement.

I encouraged a number of people I knew to try his product.

And here I am telling NZ Herald readers about it many years later.

(All as a result of one simple bit of added value marketing from Tony.)

What I like about these two examples is that they are a great reminder that there are many simple things we can do in business to quickly improve our marketing results.
And a lot of the time these can be done easily with minimal cost and effort.

In other words, we are doing "simple yet highly profitable marketing".

"Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful" - John Maeda

Action Exercise

Take a few minutes over the next few days and think about your own business.

Ask yourself a question like this one: "What could I do in my own business that would be simple to implement yet potentially highly profitable at the same time?"

Then take action on some of the answers you come up with.

- Graham McGregor is a marketing adviser and helps businesses who offer an expensive service to quickly attract ideal new clients. You can download his brand new 106-page marketing guide The Expensive Service Marketing Solution at no charge from www.TheExpensiveServiceMarketingSolution.com