The Hindu Business Line : Whatever you do, don't waste time!

All business is people business. So, if you treat people right, and offer them something that solves their problems, or fulfils their needs or wants, `the circle of great business completes itself,' says David Abingdon in Out of the Box Marketing, from Viva (www.vivagroupindia.com) .

Get started, therefore, by checking if you have something that instantly clicks in your customers' minds. With that `basic visibility' work on linking the visible image with high quality. "Offer clear-cut solutions in your marketing materials. Create an iron-hard bond between your specific brand and the problems it solves," exhorts Abingdon.

Build a brand name that is equal to the solution of a problem. "All your people, all the time, must be telling everyone they meet that this is what you do - and the better they explain and articulate the details, the more you are going to build your reputation and image."

The book brims with ideas. "Work is no longer work - it is your life - and it's fun," proclaims a banner in the middle of a page. "Think about how you can be first to offer something the others do not," suggests another. Elsewhere is this insight that jumps from the pages in big, bold letters: "One of the primary traits of the Web shopper! They're impatient!"

A chapter on `high octane marketing' offers `19 ways to supercharge your sales,' beginning with `finding your phantom money and making it real.' Even if you're making a profit, settling for a single sale will keep you mired in mediocrity, warns the author.

"Making multiple sales to the same customer is a blazing fast way to increase cash flow." A simple tip for those who have but a single product is to incorporate a value-added aspect to that product, in the form of, say, extended warranty.

Another `high octane' idea reads, `Whatever you do, don't waste time!' No less than 90 per cent of your day should be focussed on making money and making things happen for your business, says Abingdon.

He alerts that "you may be in for a surprise" if you start keeping a daily log of how much time you actually spend on money-making activities. "If you decide to spend 15 minutes shooting the breeze about the World Cup, even if it's with a client, that time is lost money." Be warned: When you allow people to unload their problems on your ears, at the expense of your precious time, you get nothing "except for the reputation of being a good listener."

A chapter titled `Gold Marketing Principles' lists 17 insights, such as: long copy outsells short copy (`an 12 cm x 12 cm ad will outsell a small classified ad every time'), a picture is not worth a thousand words (`a big picture that just sits there and says nothing is a dangerous way to advertise'), and it's perception, not product (`your product is only as good as people perceive it to be, no matter how good or bad it is').

Abingdon has further lessons, on how to make fast cash. The first strategy is to `bring dead inventory to life,' because non-moving stock is several problems rolled into one! Slash price till it hurts; "if that gets the stuff moving and brings in cash, you're better off in the long run." Another line of attack is to offer a special promotion to the best customers.

The final chapter is a book by itself, packed with `112 brainstorm marketing ideas,' including placemats in restaurants, CD-ROM catalogues, workshops, invitation only events, special reports, statement stuffers, demonstrations and party plans.

"Don't delay, don't hesitate, don't procrastinate. Do it now!" insists Abingdon, in conclusion. Because `now the work really begins!'

More than value for money.

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D. Murali