Scott Flood - Scott Flood Writing

SUCCESS STORIES: CHILDHOOD BANKERS

November 2, 2011 by Scott Flood

When out-of-town banks have begun to dominate the local landscape, how do you convince residents that your bank is truly part of the community’s bedrock?

Mutual Savings Bank has been serving Johnson County residents since 1890, choosing to continue its original focus of helping everyday people buy homes and save for the future while other financial institutions merged and diversified. When some of those new banks began to promote themselves as community banks, Mutual needed to find a way to remind residents that they were the real deal.

SUCCESS STORY: TURNING AMATEURS INTO INVESTORS

October 19, 2011 by Scott Flood

How do you make everyday working people feel confident enough about investing that they’re willing to put more of their hard-earned dollars into your mutual funds?

General American Insurance knew that companies have two reasons to encourage 401(k) plan participation: financially secure employees are happy employees, and larger employee contributions mean managers can park a bigger share of their own earnings in the company’s plan.

THE POWER OF DEMONSTRATIONS

October 12, 2011 by Scott Flood

One of the most effective ways to convince your prospects of your value is to show them. While demonstrations might sound like a relic from the days when drummers peddled their wares from door to door, the technique is as powerful as ever, for everything from consumer products to business services.

When container ship line APL was trying to convince shippers of the many advantages of double-stack intermodal cars (the ones that look like a truck trailer sitting atop another), executive Don Orris kept hearing concerns about the quality of the ride within the shipping containers. Shippers worried that their delicate merchandise would be jostled and damaged during transit.

SUCCESS STORY: HERITAGE ON RYE

September 28, 2011 by Scott Flood

You operate a century-old restaurant that everyone loves, but often forgets when faced with all sorts of well-advertised chains. How do you bring people back to the table?

Shapiro’s Delicatessen has been serving corned beef and pastrami sandwiches and other Kosher-style deli fare to Indianapolis residents since Louis Shapiro found his way to the Circle City just after the turn of the last century. The restaurant was still a local favorite (and even managed to impress visiting New Yorkers), but saw its business facing tougher competition.

IS IT OPINION OR KNOWLEDGE?

September 21, 2011 by Scott Flood

Much of what I learned in high school was most effective at setting one up for a lifetime of therapy. But there were a few gems here and there that have managed to stay with me throughout the ensuing years. One of those was the difference between facts and opinions. Several of my teachers devoted many class periods to helping their charges grasp what separates the two.

It’s a lesson that seems to be lost on many people, who develop their own opinions about something and then state those opinions as though they were factual knowledge. While the most obvious examples are those modern-day idea marketplaces — talk radio, cable news channels, and online forums — I’ve also seen the trend drift into the ways in which companies promote themselves or their beliefs.

SUCCESS STORY: DIFFERENTIATING WITH A COLORING BOOK

September 14, 2011 by Scott Flood

If you’re selling a high-quality product in a category that’s considered to be a commodity, how can you set yourself apart?

Plymate Image Mats provides a higher-quality product with far superior service in a market that’s saturated with – and accustomed to – low-end competitors. Their challenge is twofold: convince prospects that they need more than what they’re already buying, then sell it to them.

HASSEL-FREE PROFESSIONALS

September 7, 2011 by Scott Flood

Sometimes marketers can be their own worst enemies. Take the writing practice that invested in Google pay-per-click (PPC) ads.

I won’t mention their name, but their headline promises “Fast, affordable and professional written copy by experienced copywriters.”

SUCCESS STORY: LIVELY FUNERAL DIRECTORS

August 31, 2011 by Scott Flood

How do you convince people that your business is truly a part of the community when they only associate you with death and sadness?

Like most family-owned funeral homes, Ziemer Funeral Homes had been experiencing growing pressure from roll-ups of local competitors and other national chains. They wanted to remind potential customers that they are truly local businesspeople who hope to serve the community for decades to come.