Category: Selling

Are you into it?

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I’m sure there are examples of people who’ve been successful by simply being good at what they do. But there are more examples of world beaters who are ‘into’ what they do.

I’m into this blog. I love writing it. I did it with as much enthusiasm when 10 people read it each month as I do now when more than 20,000 do.

Some of my favourite entrepreneurs are really into what they do.

Branson loves music & flying.

Trump loves real estate & the deal

Steve Jobs is really into design & aesthetics

Lindsay Fox loves trucks and cars (he even has ‘truck driver’ as the title on his business card!)

Doug Warbrick loves surfing….

Doug and his surfing partner Brian started Ripcurl, the surfing company. They started making surfboards in the late 1960’s and shortly after made some the first surfing wetsuits the world has seen. In fact their first wetsuit was made from a rubber carpet underlay they pulled up from a floor with an old pre world war 2 sewing machine – great bootstrapping. He made the wetsuits so he could endure the harsh Victorian winter and enjoy the best waves of the year down there.

They just kept making really good surfing equipment. Which they also sold, 40 years on Ripcurl is now one of the three dominant companies in the Industry, valued at well over $500 million.

Ripcurl founders & store circa 1970, followed by curent retail outlet

Are you into your job, business or startup, or just passing the days?

The best innovations no less ‘ entrepreneurial success’ comes from people who are really into what they do.

Formula for winning

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Do, mistake, learn, improve, repeat.

Do, mistake, learn, improve, repeat…

Do it fast. Continue in perpetuity.

The key word is the first one – ‘Do‘. Unless we take action we remain largely philosophical about what might happen. It’s only when we act that we find out the truth and formula of startup success above can eventuate.


The skills that matter

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Since we’ve been going through a massive growth spurt at rentoid – I’ve been thinking about the skills which matter. The skills which will take us from start up – to business. That stuff that happens after we’ve proved our concept and people are getting involved in what we do. And here’s my conculsions:

1. Project management. We must get the stuff done we’ve been talking about with our customers quickly. They haven’t got time to wait for us to get our act together. We must deliver our promises, or lose them forever.

2. Leadership. Keep the team inspired and motivated, while maintaining the culture we believe in and have already created. Just because we are starting to achieve our goals doesn’t mean we need to invent systems, create paperwork and lose trust for each other. This is where we prove there is another way to do things in business & life.

3. Maintain Momentum. Go ‘back to back’ in sporting parlance. The ability to maintain public interest and is difficult after unpaid national TV coverage. We’ve got to keep the tap running, keep communicating and getting coverage. This is where communication frequency becomes way more important than communication depth.

Another great way to keep ’em talking about rentoid?

We make sure we deliver on all the stuff we said we’d do – refer point 1.

Retail Madness

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I took this photo in a local mall in Melbourne on August 9th – The coldest part of winter.

Anyone who lives in or has been to Melbourne knows it’s still very cold until November. Yet the clothing retail chain above already has summer clothes only in the display window. And they’ve already started their winter clothes clearance – in the middle of winter!

The top temperature on said day was 11ºc / 55ºf with snow falls down to 400m.

Here’s the weather forecast for Melbourne for the coming week:

This is retail gone mad – for a few reasons:

They are selling their ‘winter’ stock ‘during winter’ at a 70% discount?

Consumers don’t care about their buying seasons, just what the weather’s like – right now.

Melbourne people don’t care what the weather’s like in Queensland.

People’s lives are too busy to buy clothing 4 months in advance.

They are letting their supply chain get in front of what consumers actually need and want.

No prizes for guessing the store was empty.

If we buy hot soup on cold days, and ice cream on hot days, why should clothing be any different? It’s not. And is less so, as time becomes the finite resource.

If you’re a start up in the retail arena.

Startup blog says: make your range, match the ‘real’ world. You’ll be far ahead of any retail chain.

Best Pitch Ever

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

London Advertising Agency Prima, were pitching for the Ford Motor Co advertising account. This was in the halcyon days of advertising circa 1969.

They decided to do the following:

They dismantled a Ford Escort car. Took it up the stairs piece by piece, part by part and then put it back together in the board room. This was where the pitch was to take place. The people who did this were not mechanics. It was the people who would be working on the Ford account. The creatives and the account managers. The idea was entirely conceived and executed by the people who would be working with Ford on their advertising.

When the Ford people arrived for the pitch. They were flummoxed to say the least. And immediately asked how they got the car in the building?  Given there was no obvious way for the actual car to get in the building, let alone up the stairs!

The pitch then commenced with the Prima advertising team telling the story. Which no doubt included some of the trials and tribulations of dismantling & building a car piece by piece. But more so, showed all the intangibles which ultimately won them the account:

Passion, Ideas, Creativity, work ethic…

And a willingness to stretch themselves as a partner and an understanding of what Ford do, beyond that which any other advertising agency could have.

This is the benchmark. What will your next business pitch look like?

Picasso – 10 minutes & 40 years

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

A customer came to Pablo Picasso and asked for him to paint her a portrait.

He did so in 10 minutes. And then asked for $20,000 dollars.

The customer was perplexed and said – “But it only took you 10 minutes?”

His response: “It took me 40 years to be able to do that!”

Startups: The price needs to be a function of value created, not the time taken.

Four n twenty – Authenticity Facilitates Radvertising

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

For non Australian readers Four n twenty is a brand of meat pie, which is very Australian. A brand people know and love.

We also know that meat pies really have no place in the push for health and wellness. Pies are not a ‘healthy’ food. And quite frankly, who cares? All foods can be part of a healthy diet and trying to change your product because people can’t control themselves, does not a strategy make. It’s high time food marketers started to realise this. The so called ‘obseity crisis’ is not their issue.

Under the control of Multinational Food Giant Simplot, Four n twenty lost the ‘plot’. They started launching pathetic line extensions like ‘Low Fat Pies’ – which clearly would never change the perception of a meat pie, let alone get a non pie eater to start eating them. It’s fake and just damages the brand.

Recently the Four n twenty brand was divested from Simplot, to new owners Patties. These guys – who just play in the pastry and pie market have really shown they get it, when it comes to engaging their core target market.

Four n twenty make no apologies for what they are, the product the sell, and who they make it for. It’s authentic marketing. And their authenticity facilitated a great piece of communication.

This spot is Gold. Clearly it is radvertising.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIYC1gLSSq0]

Kudos Four n Twenty.