8 Recommendations for Marketing Watkins Products in a Recession

In February of this year, John Quelch, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School since 1979 and known worldwide for his expertise in global marketing, global branding and communications, published an article entitled “How to Market in a Recession.”  I just came across the article today, but parts of it reminds me of an article I published here Watpros.com on April 4, entitled “How to Beat the U.S. Economic Recessions with a Part-Time Watkins Business.”

I’ve reviewed Quelch’s 8 recommendations for marketing in a recession and determined how each can be applied to a Watkins Associate business.  His 8 areas of concentration and my recommendations on how we can apply them are provided below for your review and consideration:

  1. Research the customer — I agree, before you go out start selling people Watkins products, make a list of your prospects and jot down things you know about each (i.e., their interests, hobbies, favorite foods, etc.).  Then review your Watkins sales catalog in search of products you feel are best suited for their interest.  When you have your sales meeting with them focus on those products you determined they would like.  In short, don’t always pitch the same products, or rely on the most popular Watkins products to garner a new customer.  Instead, customize your sales presentation to fit the needs of your customer.
  2. Focus on Family Values – Well, now isn’t that easy when you’re selling Watkins products.  Review your Watkins catalog and look for products that might hold intererst to the whole family, or could be used by the whole family.  Paint a nostalgic picture of the history of Watkins and how they’ve been helping American families for 140 years.  Demonstrate products like Watkins Red Liniment and Petro-Carbo Salve that have been staple goods and part of Americana since the beginning.
  3. Maintain Marketing Spending — That’s right.  It takes money to make money.  In the beginning you can rely on sales to family members and friends to kickstart your Watkins business.  But finding that next new customer might require some new Watkins sales materials or brochures, a classified ad in your local newspaper, an ad in your church bulletin, etc.  Just because we’re in a recession and having to cut back in many areas, one expense area you don’t want to cut back on is marketing.
  4. Adjust Product Portfolios — If you see your customer’s cutting back on buying Watkins products and trying to save money, educate yourself on the cost effectiveness of your Watkins products and adjust your sales pitch to promote products that not only meet the interest of your customers, but will also save them money.  Ask your customer or prospect if they would mind you conducting a survey of their kitchen pantry and laundry room to review products they’re currently buying, then show them Watkins replacements that costs much less when analyzed on a cost per use or cost per serving basis.
  5. Support Distributors - We can translate this recommendation of John Quelch to implying we need to support our downline Watkins associates more than ever.  Recessions are difficult times to market and sales products, although Watkins has prospered and done extremely well during recessions over the course of its 140-year history.  That said, don’t be surprised to find Associates in some areas of our country become discouraged if they find selling in their area more difficult than normal.  You must be able to not only recognized this and jump to their aid, but you also need to be proactive and plan to contact your associates more frequently and offer them better ideas on how to market during a weak economy.
  6. Adjust Pricing Tactics – What’s this you say?  How can I adjust prices if Watkins has official prices?  Well, that’s actually pretty easy.  Instead of focusing on prices, focus on the cost per use aspects of Watkins products.  Visit the Watkins website often and read all  your email notices from Watkins to keep up-to-date on the latest Watkins promotions and price mark-down’s.  As soon as you see one, email your regular customers and promote products that are on sale.  For that hard-to-sell prospect, contact your prospect to discuss the latest Watkins deals.
  7. Stress Market Share – This want is a bit more difficult to enact than the previous 6, because its too difficult to measure in our field.  However, I review this as “replacing my competition.”  For example, if you have friends or relatives that are already buying and using products from other direct sales companies, focus on replacing these products with Watkins products.  They’re really a great potential customer base to focus on because they’re already accustomed to buying direct from others.  So how can you do this?  Well, let’s say you have a friend that is currently purchasing laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent from Amway.  Study the Amway products and compare them to Watkins’ detergent products.  Make a list of attributes and features that set the Watkins products apart.  Now that you have some ammo, visit the prospect and make your pitch.  It’s best to do this with product samples you can show and demonstrate.
  8. Emphasize Core Values - Cement the loyalty of your associates by informing them that Watkins has survived difficult times before.  Emphasize that Watkins has always focused on “maintaining quality rather than cutting corners and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people.”

I hope you find my take on Quelch’s article useful and that you can find ways to work these 8 recommendations into your own Watkins business.  Until next time — keep plugging away!

Beat the U.S. Economic Recession Starting a Part-Time Watkins Business

Credit SqueezeAre you and your family feeling the pinch of the escalating U.S. recession?  If not, you represent the minority, because consumers nationwide are showing signs of being squeezed by the economic crunch.   Who would have thought just 3 years ago that by 2008 we would be paying over $3 per gallon for gasoline month after month, and see the price of everything from eggs and milk to paper goods and beef shoot through the roof?  And if you live in rural America, where the cost of living is often even higher, the income levels are less and the prospects for new part-time or full-time job opportunities run scare to non-existent, chances are you’re feeling the stress greater than the average Joe.

How many nights have you come home from work to find your spouse worried about where the dollars are going to come from to pay overdue bills?  I have friends who live in the country that have a monthly energy bill far greater than my own.  Because they live in a rural area they’re having to drive more miles to and from work, they have 2 or more cars in the family and heat their home with propane, which has shot to $3.00 per gallon also.  Thus, in addition to having an annual gasoline bill of $5,000 to $6,000l, they also have an annual heating bill in the $2,700 to $3,000 range.  These are people with a household income before taxes in the $32,000 to $36,000 range.  They simply can’t make ends meet. 

Close your eyes for a few seconds and fast forward your life 2 years from now.  Keep your eyes closed and say out loud what you see in store for your family if your energy bills don’t go down and the costs of other consumer goods remain inflated?  It’s not a pretty picture is it?  

Chances are you’ve been putting your head in the sand like an ostrich, hoping these things will just magically go away.  Well, unless you’re a magician, a genie or a wizard – the solution to your woes is not going to be magic.   You may be avoiding things now, but deep down inside you know the real answer to your problems is that you just can’t continue sitting still and hoping that your problems will magically go away.  You must take the bull by the horn and do something to avoid a train wreck in your financial and emotional life.  For its inevitiable.  The train wreck is going to occur unless you can either (1) make sufficient reductions of all non-essential items in your budget, or (2) increase your income.

I know that if you’ve read this far, and you closed your eyes and thought about where you will be in two years, you have a question.  And I think I know what your question is, because I bet it’s the same one you have when you think about these issues every day.  It’s “What am I going to do to get myself out of this rut?”  Followed by . . . “I can’t ask my boss for a raise and there’s no jobs to be had around here.”  

Ta-daah!!!  Enter the solution I have for your life.  Why not create your own job?

What’s that you say?  Create my own job.  How do you expect me to do that? 

Well, if you’re serious about turning things around, I mean really turning them around, and you’re willing to put forth an effort and practice it regularly, I can offer an excellent solution for you.  But before I share it with you, close your eyes once again and fast forward your life 2 or 3 years down the road, but his time imagine you have an extra $500 to $1,500 per month coming in every month.  The power for you to do this rests smack-dab between your ears.  That’s right, its all about willpower, self-motivation and belief in yourself.  If you can manage these 3 attributes I can provide you a solution that will put you on the road to turning your financial and emotional life around.

A Super LifestyleThe simple answer and solution I propose to you is to make a leap of faith and start your own  Watkins business.  Think again about what another $500 to $1,500 per month would mean to your life and family?  I’m willing to bet that it’s the difference between a stress-filled life and a carefree lifestyle full of happiness and laughter.  Often times it can be the difference between a bad marriage and a good marriage, the difference between keeping a house and selling a house, between sending your kids to college or sending them to trade school, having a spouse that works or one that stays home with the children or playing golf at the public links versus having your own country club membership.

Why would I recommend a Watkins business?  There are many reasons, but let me share just a few with you now.  The beauty of a Watkins business is that it can be started on a small investment (less than the cost of a meal for 4).  You can built your Watkins business at your own pace, according to your own needs, and built it to almost any level of income you desire, if you put your heart into it.  If you work at it long enough, just a few hours per week, your Watkins-based income will continue to grow and eventually match or replace your current source of income if you work at it long enough.  You’ll be providing people you know, people you come to know and people you will come to meet online, with 350 fantastic products that American consumers in all walks of life use.  Consider what this great opportunity could do for you and your family.  Learn more about becoming a Watkins Associate by visiting a special Watkins business information center now.

If you still have questions about Watkins after visiting our information site and wish to talk more about this in a no-pressure, no strings attached, casual and informative environment, please feel free to call a working Watkins associate, toll-free, at 1-866-759-5158.

Professional Direct Selling Techniques for Watkins Associates

Many Watkins associates come from a background with very little direct sales experience and lack knowledge of the powerful online and PC-based resources available to professional direct marketers and sales persons.  This article is aimed for Watkins associates that fall into this category and specifically addresses 3 very successful marketing techniques you can add to your direct sales and marketing tools chest. 

Customized Email

You’ll soon learn that as your Watkins business grows your most valuable asset will become your mailing list, or should I say your “e-mailing” list.   You will ultimately have 4 email lists.  One will be your customer’s email list, a second will be the mailing list of your downline, a third will be a mailing list of prospects who have not become associates yet (but are still receptive to your contact) and the fourth list will be a list of prospective customers. 

So how do you manage such email lists?  Well, you’re in luck.  There are numerous companies online that provide mailing list management software, or what is often called email marketing software.  Such companies as iContact.com, ConstantContact.com, SendBlaster.com, Mailworkz.com and ContactPro.com are widely recognized cost effective solutions for managing your mailing list, no matter how large it might get.  Most of these products will allow one to set up email address by “Groups” — which would allow you to put all of your contacts into one database and send selective emails to your Groups separately.  For example, if you wish to send an email strictly to your downline Associates you could type in your message and send it to every contact marked under the group “Associates.”  Likewise, if you want to contact your prospects you send the email to everyone in your list labled as a “Prospect.”

Free Conference Calls

What?  Free conference calls?  You probably think I’m kidding you, but there remains some great free deals on the Internet these days, and free conference calls is one of the best deals you’ll find online.  Once your Watkins business begins to grow you’ll find there will be many times when you will want to hold a conference call with your downline associates.  A great way to do this at no cost to you is through an online conference call service like FreeConferenceCall.com.  The cost to you is free, normal long distance charges apply to those calling in.  The conference bridge will hold up to 96 callers at a time.   If you prefer to offer your downline a toll-free number for conferences and you pick up the charges, try a service like SimpleTollFree.com and pay just 6 cents a minute for the total minutes used.

Make Presentations to  Your Downline Online

Let’s say you wish to share something from your computer desktop, say a Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint file.  So how does one go about presenting a Powerpoint presentation to your downline via the web and a conference call setup.  It’s easy, particularly if you use an application like Webex.com, GoToMeeting.com or MeetMeNow.com. 

These are are just three fantastic direct marketing methods one can use to promote your Watkins associate business using web-based and PC-based applications and services. 

Training Aids for New Watkins Associates

The first question most new Watkins associates have after signing up is, “Okay, I’m an associate, now what?”  This is very understandable, particularly if you have no prior sales experience.  And direct selling, which is what the Watkins business is all about, can be handled in many ways, some more suitable or convenient to one Watkins Associate than another. Thus, how you choose to market and sell Watkins products is largely dependent on your talents, time, finances, experience and desires.

Fortunately, Watkins associates from all walks of life have discovered numerous ways to market Watkins products.  Many have been gracious enough to share their marketing techniques with others, particularly with associates in their own downline.  Numerous examples of Watkins associates sharing their successful marketing methods can be found in the training web site of the Summit Group – an elite group of Watkins associates, of which I’m a member.

The Summit Group has two web sites, one for prospective Watkins associates, and one for training new associates.  The informational web site for prospective Watkins associates can be found at TSGinfo.com, while the training web site is located at TSnet.com.  The training web site is a protected membership web site that can only be accessed by Summit Group members.  If you elect to becoming a Watkins associate by signing up under another Summit Group member like myself, you will receive free and automatic access to the Summit Group training and information site. 

Whether your a new Watkins associate or one that has been a member of the Summit Group for years, you can also be assured that you’ll learn something new each time you visit the TSnet.com private membership site.  One can spend hours at this special training site reading countless pages that will help you become a successful Watkins associate.  If you promise yourself that you’ll visit the Summit Group’s private membership site daily for 20 minutes a day after becoming a new Watkins associate, and reading all the materials available for new associate training and startup recommendations, you’ll soon be on your way to creating a highly successful Watkins products business.  So don’t delay, sign up at the Summit Group’s information site today and get access to our training site tomorrow.

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