Sales and marketing alert: Our annual 100 best ideas

1. The 100 percent Perfect Problem (Or the 90 percent Done Problem)

1. If you continue to work on an ad, brochure, mailer long enough, eventually you will get it perfect. This is a false assumption.
2. The reality is that no communications project is ever more than 90 percent perfect. There’s always something that could be revised and improved.
3. It is better to accept a 90 percent perfect project and finish it so it can begin to do its work, rather than keeping it caged while chasing the elusive 100 percent perfect goal.
4. If you have a new business or product, the important thing is getting some kind of message out there. You need customers or clients and you need them fast. Every day you delay the better chance your competition has to reach your customers. Your materials will go through several evolutionary changes over the years and you will never be totally happy with them.

2. Start a “Swipe File.”

A swipe file is a collection of ads and brochures that copywriters and artists collect, or swipe from other artists, for those times when they are stumped for a good idea. Don’t copy them exactly, but many good ideas can come from what the guy down the street is doing. And if they’re doing something, so should you.

3. Give Your Customers More Than They Expected

1. What small thing can you do for your customers that will surprise them without additional cost to your business?
2. Good service generally goes unnoticed, and does not receive a comment. Exceptional service does; so does exceptionally poor service.

Note: Avoid the customer service trap of trying to be all things to all people. You should provide a level of service that you can maintain consistently and profitably. Don’t try to WOW them. If you do, how are you going to WOW them the next time? Or the time after that?