93 Articles - Guerrilla Marketing (76-93)

Guerrilla Marketing, over 90 field-tested tactics to get your business into the frontlines

By: Jay Conrad Levinson.


76. THE VIP TREATMENT

Guerrilla Bill Symons treats every visiting salesperson who comes through his door as a very
special guest. His company will even take the visiting salesperson to lunch, rather than letting
them pick up the tab.
When salespeople leave his office, they have become unofficial ambassadors for him and go
on to spread word of his company wherever they go. The rapid growth of his company proves
this tactic and he feels much better at the end of the day.

77. USE WAL-MART TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Guerrilla Jim Mayfield used Wal-Martʼs strength to his own advantage.
Jim is a small town specialty retailer of lawn, garden, feed and seed supplies. So when Wal-
Mart came to town and the other retailers ran for the hills, Jim launched a clever new media
campaign of his own.

The campaign said simply, “Go to Wal-Mart for paper towels, then come to Rainbow for your
feed.” and “Go to Wal-Mart for deodorant, then come to Rainbow for irrigation supplies.”
Each ad closed with “When you think of Wal-Mart, think of Rainbow AG.” During Wal-Martʼs
opening week they also created a sandwich board and handed out leaflets with the line
“THINK RAINBOW” in front of Wal-Mart. Results? His sales doubled during Wal-Martʼs opening
week, they havenʼt gone down since, and people still talk about the ads!

78. USE ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES

Guerrilla Thomas Kan got his Hong Kong internet marketing firm off to a quick start with
advertising specialties.
He sent out 3,000 promotional mouse pads just as he launched his company. Now heʼs getting
lots of calls. The promotion worked because of three things: (1) the mousepads all had a phone
number, (2) the pads were given away before most were thinking about the internet, and (3)
they were interesting enough to keep on a desk. If you think it might work for you and would
like find some suppliers, check out our Vendors and Resources Directory for suppliers.

79. SAY IT WITH CHOCOLATE

When Guerrilla Ann Douglas wanted the attention of a prospective agent, she had a local
chocolate store make up a large chocolate “YES” and she sent it along with a note that said, “I
hate to put words in your mouth, but I want you to say ʻyesʼ to representing my work…”
If her proposal is as good as the pitch, we should see her on the shelves soon!

80. REVERSE PHONE LISTING PROMOTION

Guerrilla Doug Hannan came up with a promotional offer that helps others to become
Guerrillas themselves. He was looking for ways to improve response to a newsletter for North
Star T-Shirts in Kimberley, British Columbia, when he came up with an offer for a reverse
phone directory.
Response to the offer was tremendous. Many readers reported using the reverse directory
to confirm information before returning unclear phone messages. Doug says the easiest way
create a reverse directory is by using one of the many popular CD ROM phone books, exporting
it, sorting on phone number, and then printing.

81. MAKE STAFF CHANGES A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Most people lose customers whenever staff changes at a client company but Guerrilla Mark
Brodie finds new clients and profits whenever staff changes occur.
Mark works in the competitive field of graphic art and design. He scans the weekly want ads
for companies that have open positions in marketing, advertising and graphic design. He
waits a few weeks and then contacts the new employee, who is often looking for new vendors
and anxious to get things going.

82. DELIVER QUALITY

Guerrilla Ed Clark sometimes gets price objections for his resume writing service in Louisiana.
When a prospect gives him a big harumph or says “Iʼll write it myself,” he offers to rewrite it
without obligation.
If they donʼt like his work, they pay nothing (they also DONʼT get to keep it). To date, his
Guerrilla method is 100% effective. The secret? Deliver the best possible quality work.

83. INCENTIVIZE STAFF-GENERATED SALES LEADS

Southern New England Telephone Company rewards its non-sales staff every time they
generate a lead for the sales force. If friends of staffers express any interest in any product
or service, staffers give the company the lead by calling a toll-free number. The lead is
processed and the salesperson contacts the prospect within a few days. For generating the
lead, the employee receives a certificate for lunch at a local restaurant. If the lead becomes a
sale, the employee can win up to $25 in award points or a gift certificate for selected stores.
In l993, the program generated $1 million in revenue. The message of the program should
be the message even without a program—”You can make the difference.” Related item:
Southwest Airlines hires employees based on their sense of humor.

84. ELECTRONIC MARKETING TACTICS

Political Guerrilla Bill Barbee used the web and email to get a city councilman re-elected.
When he discovered that computer ownership in his county (Ventura, CA) was over 55%, he
decided to campaign electronically. His councilman went on to become mayor

Guerrilla Jeff McNeal wins business online with a rapid response. One recent prospect reported
that after contacting fifteen suppliers Jeff was one of only two to reply within 48 hours.
Other online vendors even replied with snail mail and fax and then did not include their email
addresses. Even though Jeffʼs rates were a little higher than the rest, he beat out all his competitors
with a 30-day, unconditional, 100% money back guarantee.
Guerrilla Greg Dale of Carrollton, TX sells all kinds of window coverings and wins against
even the largest competitors. He puts his email address on everything—from postcards to
letters, ads, business cards, his van and even his wifeʼs car.
Customers always mention the email address as something that gives them comfort in dealing
with them. Greg uses email for all kinds of things, quotes, follow ups and general correspondence
with our customers through email. Even though they operate from home, customers
say that they seem like a “real” business and not some “fly by night” operation.

85. TEST MARKETING ON THE CHEAP

Guerrilla Jim Servies has a great tale about how to develop a winning business name and logo:
“When starting my new business I took the advice of the Guerillas and hired a professional
graphic artist. When two different designs were decided upon, the Guerilla in me
took it one step further and let the waitresses at a local Waffle House pass it around to
their customers for a day.
With all walks of life seeing the two logo designs and marking the one they felt were
the most appealing (clarity, readability, and other considerations) I was able to make a
better choice. Measured and tested! test test test all that you do!”

86. USE HUMOR

Guerrilla John Weiss entertains prospects with offbeat humor and gets repeat traffic and great
word-of-mouth in return. His company created a website for an acne treatment product
that included a forum entitled “Confessions of a Pizza Face,” and an interactive game called
“Zit Hunt.” It may not be pretty, but it worked well enough to get covered in Internet Life
magazine.

87. FAXBACK RESPONSES

Guerrilla Jeff Rubin gets great direct mail business with a faxback form and a free report
offer. Instead of asking for business in his direct mail pitch, Jeff offers a free copy of a report,
“How To Produce Newsletters That Get Results.” Response is fast and painless because Jeff
lets them respond with faxback form. The information on the form qualifies them and gets
them a copy of the report. He gets 5-8% response on each mailing.
You can reach Jeff Rubin and Put It in Writing via email, jeff@put-it-in-writing.com, or phone
510-724-9507.

88. BUSINESS REFERRALS

Guerrilla Vince Furlong, with Micro Computer Solutions in Chicago, sells computer training
but doesnʼt do Macs.
Instead he refers all Macintosh training requests to a competitor. In return, the competitor
refers training requests for a course they donʼt do to Vince. So, even though they compete
on many courses, they have niches where they can cooperate. Most customers respect their
attitude and the word gets around.

89. 30-DAY REFUND POLICY?

Donʼt say “We have a policy of no refunds after 30 days, so I cannot return your money.”
Instead, say “Our usual policy is not to issue a refund after 30 days, but we donʼt want any
unsatisfied customers. What would you consider a fair deal?” Customers just love it when you
bend the rules for them.

90. USE A FUNNY PITCH

Guerrilla Peter Schroeder runs a collection agency near Toronto in Waterloo, Canada. He
sends gets postcards to prospects from Florida with the following on the back: “Please donʼt
send my overdue account for collection to Rampart Canada collection agency. I am having to
much fun with your money here in Florida!” He adds to the fun by forwarding them to Florida
for a more authentic postmark.
Response to his creative campaign is great, but there have been a few complaints. Non-
Guerrillas might think even one complaint bad, but when Peter explains that itʼs just a funny
pitch, they sign right up!

91. USE CONTESTS TO GENERATE IDEAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

PaperDirect of New Jersey sells computer paper via catalogs. They also run quarterly contestsfor new product ideas from customers, netting about 500 suggestions each time. Sales havejumped from $1.1 million in l990 to $17 million in l993. I wonder how much of that camefrom customer ideas?

92. FREE HOTLINE PHONES

Norwayʼs largest transport company, Toll-piost Globe, will install free hotline telephones onthe desks of Norwayʼs top 500 managers according to Euromarketing. Thatʼs micromarketing,Scandinavian style.93. ASK FOR A FEW SECONDSFinancial planner Michael Marteloni calls prospects and asks them for 43 seconds of theirtime. Itʼs such an odd number that people are curious enough to say yes. In 43 seconds,Michael introduces his firm, himself and his objective: a 50-minute face-to-face meeting.Around 10% of people agree to the meeting and of those, 10% become clients. Michael talksto a lot of people.


93. ASK FOR A FEW SECONDS

Financial planner Michael Marteloni calls prospects and asks them for 43 seconds of their
time. Itʼs such an odd number that people are curious enough to say yes. In 43 seconds,
Michael introduces his firm, himself and his objective: a 50-minute face-to-face meeting.
Around 10% of people agree to the meeting and of those, 10% become clients. Michael talks
to a lot of people.