Jack E. Zenert <> ZedBiz

Marketing Solution Specialist

Volume I Issue 1

Inaugural Issue.

I am going to focus on me right now. Too bad for you. Well not really. I think that if you have some idea where I am coming from, you will get more out of my newsletter.

Does that make sense?

So … who am I?
… why am I writing this newsletter?

My name is Jack E. Zenert. Ok, ok – I know the first question is what does the ‘E’ stand for? For years I used the ‘E’ when ever I signed my name, and people always asked me – and I never told anyone – just made them guess.

Well, now I think that I should tell everyone. My full name is Jack Edmund Zenert. My Great-great Grandparents had 2 boys – Jack and Edmund. Then my Great-great Grandpa Jacob died and my Great-great Grandma remarried and had a bunch more kids.

So I am named after my Grandpa Jack Zenert, and my Great Uncle Ed. Both people who I admired very much, and have very fond memories of.

So now you know.

But now more to the point. Who am I that I should write about Marketing. Well, I am the son of a born salesman. He never had a career as a salesman, but my Dad sure could sell anything he wanted to. For that matter he could also negotiate a good deal on whichever side of the sale he was on. He had a natural talent for it.

I grew up watching him sell many many items. We lived on a farm, so we were always selling cows, horses, tractors, combines, trucks, boats, trailers or just about anything else there was to sell.

And my Dad knew everything there was to getting a good price for what he was selling. He knew it instinctually – could do it like he was born to it. Had no training at sales whatsoever, but I am sure could outsell the best trained most seasoned salesman that I have ever met.

I have officially been in sales about six years. I have taken extensive training and experience in many many methods of selling. The whole sales process concept, the close, the trap, soft-selling, ABC (Always Be Closing), direct sales, internet sales, cold-calling, you name it, I have learned it, and I have done it.

I now know how good my Dad really was. And I am amazed how true to ‘form’ he did what he did – without any training, just by doing what came natural.

So you might now ask – why am I not the ‘Sales Solution Specialist’? A valid question. And if you only knew as much about me as I just told you – you might think that is what I should be writing about and calling myself.

But see – the problem was – er… still is .. is that I am not my Dad. I have more training, possibly more experience (he only did it when he had something that he needed to sell, where I have done selling for the last six years fairly consistently on a daily basis).

But I am not the salesman my Dad is. Mind you, I can sell just about anything to anyone. But, like in hockey, there are many damn fine hockey players – Darryl Sittler, Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Guy Lafleur, but there are still the truly exceptional – the Wayne Gretsky and the Bobby Orr.

As my Dad was exceptional – I am not, so what I have done is found a way, trained myself, found the tools, the strategies, the SOLUTIONS to get the exceptional results.

And that, my friend, is MARKETING!

So what is Marketing?

Now that leads in to question number two. Why am I writing this newsletter?

What I see is that almost every business has absolutely NO IDEA what marketing really is!

I know for a fact that just about every sales person I have met does not know beans about marketing.

People just have no idea.

What is marketing? – Anything and everything that leads to a sale.

Simple eh! (My Canadianism coming through)

So how is that different than selling?

Well put it this way. Let’s take Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretsky – no doubt the two best hockey players of all time – and put them on a football field. What’s going to happen? Are they going to win a hockey game there? Will either of them score a goal?

No – it’s a little absurd. Two guys in hockey equipment, holding their hockey sticks, standing on a football field – doesn’t make sense.

Well that is the comparison of Sales to Marketing. You can have the best salesman in the world, but if you don’t put a potential customer in front of him – nothing will happen.

Therefore, sales are just a part of selling.

Marketing also includes advertising, quality products, consistent message, first impressions, customer service, client loyalty, after sales support, client contact management, up-sells, cross-sells, and many other factors.

Marketing truly is ‘ANYTHING and EVEYTHING that LEADS to a SALE!

Whether it be the first sale, the second sale, or the 21 sale, it is an ongoing practice.

And that is why I am writing this newsletter. To really try to get you to understand that everything in your business – absolutely everything, from the sign on the front door, the glass in the window, the greeting of your receptionist or salesperson, their clothes, the merchandise, the billing, the advertising, everything ties in to marketing.

And it all counts.

And IT ALL COUNTS!

Did you hear that – IT ALL COUNTS!

What does that mean – it all counts.

Well I could have said it all matters – but that doesn’t really do it justice.

Just a little story here …

Have you heard what some kids sports leagues are doing. This fad was a little stronger a few years back, but I still hear about it now and then.

They want the kids to go and play, whether it is soccer, baseball, whatever. Just go out and play – but not keep score.

Have you every heard of anything so absolutely STUPID.

They have tried this, and it just does not work. If you don’t keep score – kids don’t CARE. And if they don’t care – then they don’t try.

The parents who think this is better think that the kids will try hard because that is what they should be doing. The effort was there – that’s all that matters. You tried to get him out – that is all that matters.

Well listen – trying, even doing – well it may matter, IT MAY NOT COUNT.

Russia just played Canada on the weekend in the World Junior Hockey Championship.

The Russian team played good. I actually think that for possibly most of the game they played slightly better than Canada. They controlled a lot of the play. And their power play was absolutely deadly.

But should I therefore say that Russia won??

No Way!

Canada Won – why – Because scored more goals – and THEY ALL COUNT!

So you see – when we talk that everything – yes everything in your business relates to marketing – and it all counts.

Now you know why that is important.

Your making good money, but do you want to have enough to go to Vegas next month for a weekend. Well clean the front windows, fix the squeaky door, clean off the front desk, teach your receptionist to say ‘May I help you’ in a cheery voice, fill the order 5 minutes faster, and organize your storage room better and you can!

Or, you want your kids to go to that expensive University. Again, write better copy for your ads, improve your sales presentation, practice your sales presentation regularly (almost no one does this), improve your customer follow up, and add a back end sale and you can send them to any school you want – and even afford to visit them every weekend (although they may not want you to).

I am going to answer one more question that I did not say I would at the start of this newsletter.

Who is this newsletter for?

This you might say is the about you stuff. (all the stuff before this was really about me – now I will talk a little about you – only a little though)

You might think that if you don’t own a business this newsletter is not for you. Okay, maybe sales people might get something out of it, but what can they really change. And definitely a receptionist or just an administrator does not need anything about marketing.

Well if you really think this has absolutely nothing to do with you, if you got nothing out of the above message – just drew a blank – then yes – unsubscribe now. I want happy readers, ones that think this stuff makes sense. And if that is not you – then bon voyage!

But if you have anything to do with sales (and I will show you later that everyone on the planet tries to sell something – hey we all have friends, get married, get jobs . . . ideas . .thoughts) then this newsletter is for you.

And if you run a business, own a business, manage people, especially manage a sales team – well then you just hit the jackpot!

And you there – yes you – the guy in the third row – that marketing graduate – yes you, the one working at some big company, making a decent salary working in their marketing department. Writing sales brochures and coming up with the latest ‘sales campaign’. I am going to shock your world!

You are either going to come away from reading my newsletter with more ideas, more strategies, more solutions that will actually work in your organization to make MORE MONEY (and possibly upset your Boss – unless of course you send him a copy of this), or you will shake your head, say that doesn’t work in your world, and go away.

But let me tell you, what I say does work in your world, it works in my world, it works on Mars, on Venus, on the Enterprise, and oh boy does it ever work here on Earth.

So stay tuned for the next issue where we will jump right in to some ideas you can use ASAP!

Onward and Upward,
Jack Zenert