World’s Best Sale Pitch: “My Product will help you Increase Sales”
Posted on July 28, 2012 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
We’ve spent over two decades in sales, and it’s true – nothing happens until the sale is made. We have a friend who described her sales job as “conveying the value proposition of (her) product to (her) buyers.” There are many books written on the subject of sales, sale techniques, and best closing strategies. We’ve [...]
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Tailor Your Message to What Your Audience Wants to Hear
Posted on June 18, 2012 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
If you want to make a statement, tell them what you want to say. If you want to make a deposit, tell them what they want to hear. Sounds simple enough, but what do they want to hear and who are they anyway? Every successful business learns eventually that there are a whole lot of [...]
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Improve Your Chances of Success by Starting Small and Carefully
Posted on February 23, 2012 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
As long as your product is not in a specific market or retailer, it can’t be discontinued. Once you are discontinued you may never get back. You’ve got one shot. Take careful aim and hit just one bullseye at a time. The shotgun approach may get you more distribution in the beginning, but, due to [...]
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The Advantages of Being a Small Start-Up – Part 2
Posted on January 23, 2012 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
This is the second installment in a four-part series designed to encourage small start-ups by recognizing some of their inherent advantages. Small start-ups face a myriad of challenges. They are undercapitalized, unproven and have no market traction. They are up against the status quo that will use its established power and influence in the marketplace [...]
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Positive Company Culture is critical to Growth and Survival – Part 3
Posted on December 31, 2011 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
This is the third part in the series about the original Barefoot culture. Culture really sets the tone, boundaries, and expectations the team has toward your company, your mission and your product. We’ve saved the best for last because having a common cause and a common challenge forges, more than any other single factor, positive company culture. When [...]
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Distribution: The Distance between a Great Product and a Sale – Part 4
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
In the previous three posts we have given just a few examples of the importance of Channel Distribution Management in product design. Here we will examine two of the most important factors in product distribution through conventional channels: 14. Stack it! It is great to get your product on the retail shelf, but getting it [...]
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Distribution: The Distance between a Great Product and a Sale – Part 3
Posted on November 10, 2011 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
When the producers of any product first go into business, they tend to think they are in the production business. In fact, if they are to succeed, they are in the Distribution Management business. Distribution Management trumps production because without it, your product may never make it to the shelf – no matter how good [...]
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How To Get Your Product To The Market
Posted on May 9, 2011 by Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey in Business Blog
You may have a great product at a great price, and people may really want it, but that doesn’t mean you can get it to them. If your product is sold in retail stores, like most consumer goods, it probably has to go through conventional distribution channels. In order to get to the end-user, you [...]
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