Customizing Products and Services Presents Entrepreneurs a Great Way to Bootstrap a Business

We live in a world where mass production and scalability have enabled consumers around the world the opportunity to enjoy a wider range of Consumer Products and Services than ever before. Large scale production drives down prices. Items that were once luxuries are now within reach of masses of consumers on every continent.

Overwhelmingly the benefits of scale and industrialization are beneficial to society. Jobs, distribution opportunities, global trade and finance have all thrived in large part because of the benefits of a consumer driven world. The Benetton sweater or MAC cosmetic that is purchased in Denver is the same as a unit of either sold in Sydney.

There is a downside to mass production, a downside that presents opportunities for those seeking to position their enterprise successfully within the whirl of this hyper–competitive consumer marketplace. Most mass produced products are impersonal. They offer value, utility and uniform performance features. They do not, however, differentiate themselves significantly from competitors. This is where the creative and craft minded producers can maximize their offerings.

Hermes purses and scarves are famous, but simple examples of a Brand that has been built from scratch, painstakingly over time and by being extremely protective of distribution channels for their limited production, hand crafted products. Hermes controls the price and design of each unit produced with a discipline that borders on fanaticism. When a design becomes popular and demand soars, the family owned Company caps production far short of maximum sales potential. This is a classic example of a limited distribution strategy that serves to increase Hermes’ product desirability among discerning consumers.

Ferrari automobiles, Zegna menswear, Piaget watches, Tory Burch fashions and La Prairie Skin Care and Cosmetics are other examples of Brands that have created world-wide franchises by avoiding any taint of a mass production model. They sell service, customization and personalized product that elite customers demand. The strategy does not need to be limited to exclusive couture brands, however!

The Branding and Marketing Consulting firm that we manage utilizes many different forms of personalized service or customized product assembly to differentiate our clients. In order to be able to compete with behemoth, multi-national brands a new company must be able to identify their Unique Selling Proposition (USP). A better ingredient story or a better mousetrap design will not suffice.

Recently a prospective client approached us with a Perfume concept. The Fragrance world is huge and brutally competitive. The perfumer we met with was keen to commercialize a range of scents, mainly by utilizing generic top notes. We spent a good deal of time trying to define a USP that would differentiate her product, while creating a niche she could occupy. The final, agreed suggestion was to sell a value added personalized blending service with each offering customized, value added and unique to each client. There are a number of added special service features which insure that the Brand will be perceived as unique by her “alpha” clientele.

We have utilized one form or another of this strategy for Gourmet Food products, Toys, Cosmetics, Wellness regimens, Service Providers and many other client projects. An important feature of this strategy is the opportunity to bootstrap the product or service when limited resources are at hand. Local sales can be leveraged to regional sales and beyond. The enterprise can be grown at a pace that is more easily handled by thinly resourced entrepreneurs.

Red Bull, Snapple and Arizona Iced Tea did not start as national and international brands. They were bootstrapped. They found holes in saturated, developed marketplaces and they filled niches. This model is available to creative entrepreneurs who are driven to compete, but understand that they must deal from a different, smaller deck of cards.

by: Geoff Ficke

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

Great Tip For Memorizing Presentation From a Trade Show Presenter

I am often asked on the trade show floor ( I do trade show demos ) if I am wearing an ear prompter ( a device to hear your script without memorizing). When I tell the individual I memorize the script, they are blown away. Memorizing for me is pretty hard unless I employ a simple trick I created for myself that helps “download” the script into my head making it easier to recall during rehearsals. Below is a link to a presentation I just hosted at the AMI Worldwide Food Expo in Chicago just to prepare you:

The trick: I read the script the client sends me into my quick time media player through my computer and save it. Next, I transfer the audio file to my iPhone and every night before bed I put my ear buds in and listen to the script on a LOOP so it plays all through the night over and over again. The following day or week during rehearsals, the script seems to come natural to my mind. When I finally pitch on the floor, it flows perfect! This is a great trick too for students studying for exams. Read your presentation into your media player. When your mind hears your own voice playing the presentation over and over, it seems to recall the data much easier than standing there reading live and memorizing cold.

Here is the next key trick: I record SECTIONS of the presentations or paragraphs into individual recordings so I have a playlist of the script broken up like songs. I sit down and LOOP one section at a time and listen to that looped section or paragraph at least five times and then stop the tape and say what I just heard. It flows because my mind remembers what I slept on the night before! This is how I rehearse all of my trade show demos and it works! I hope this helps!

New Real Estate Agents – How to Make Your Listing Presentation Different From Everyone Else’s

When I started in real estate, one of the first things I was taught was to create a listing package. Into this package went all of the bells and whistles I could find to persuade a seller to hire me.

My first listing presentations were a compendium of things I would do for the prospects…all the ways I was going to market their house and all the ways my company provided an edge. I had practiced my presentation in front of the mirror, in front of my broker, in front of my class at the office, so I was ready.

And my first listing presentation went exactly as I hoped it would. I was polished, professional, and profound.

And STILL the listing went to the other gal…the one with years of experience.

I had the temerity to ask Mr. and Mrs. Seller what the other agent had said or done differently than me, so I could learn to be better next time.

Sure, they said. She basically had the same things in her listing package as I had in mine. But she asked them if they’d rather have someone with many years of experience working on their transaction or someone new in the business.

Well, how do I compete with that? Well, now it’s been years and I’m the one with the experience. And here’s my advice to you if you’re working on your first listing appointments.

Listing Appointment Advice to Newer Agents

  • First, fake it ’til you make it. There are a lot of home sellers out there who know a lot less than you about selling a house. They aren’t always going to be interviewing a bunch of high-powered agents. You have a chance. You never know. So be polished, professional, and profound.
  • Second, ask a lot of consultative questions to find out what’s important to the sellers, before you ever start presenting anything to them. Don’t be afraid to talk about their past experience with real estate agents. Don’t be afraid to talk about their objections. Sellers will be more likely to hire you when they feel listened to and heard.
  • Third, practice closing. You can’t get hired if you don’t ask them to hire you. This is not something you practice in front of a mirror alone. You can start there, but you have to practice this with a live person who challenges you with real emotions.