Company president Sandy Friedman explains that considering the mass of the potential market -- millions of people are affected by the changes reported in the daily Federal Register -- testing the channel was worth the gamble. Counterpoint had already invested in the software and hardware to set up a "gopher," or information-exchange station, and so the company was well positioned to distribute its electronic library of information to Internet customers.
Internet protocol precludes broadcasts of promotional electronic mail. Protocol doesn't, however, prevent Counterpoint from shrewdly posting announcements where suitable prospects can easily discover the company's services.
A person searching Internet gopherspace for "federal register" or "government-related information" will come across Counterpoint Publishing and its E-mail address. Another way Internet users find Counterpoint is through specialized mailing lists of Internetters with a common interest -- for example, law librarians, government-document librarians, and corporate librarians. A question sent to such a group prompts a Counterpoint response. Each day, Hal Kingsley, Counterpoint's Internet account manager, answers 200 to 300 such queries for regulatory information by forwarding short descriptions of Counterpoint's subscription services, and he arranges 30-day trial subscriptions for those who express further curiosity.
So far competitors haven't marketed on the Internet, leaving Counterpoint an exclusive audience. Friedman anticipates that the power of the Internet will continue to grow as commercial on-line services like America Online make E-mail a routine communication medium.
* * *
Before Their Very Eyes
Product: Idiosyncratic sportswear
End-users: General consumers
Conventional channel: Retail stores
Fresh approach: Television shopping channel
* * *
Mark Sneider's newfangled Warmup Scarf (which incorporates a heating element) and Cooldana (a bandanna with a cold pack attached) did not budge from retailers' shelves. Scantily paid department-store clerks had little reason to promote the unusual product line. Explains Sneider, "When they did demonstrate it, it would sell, but they weren't motivated to do much besides ring the cash register." Furthermore, his start-up company, Personal Comfort Corp., in Orlando, had no resources for print or television ad campaigns.
Sneider was growing frantic for a way to promote the virtues of his innovative sports garb when, finally, a manufacturer's rep who understood Sneider's marketing challenge proposed a solution: television. QVC, for example, books orders for products while they are being demonstrated before 53 million viewers.
Sneider managed to hook up with Frank Montemuro, an agent who knows his way around the network. "You need a rep who is respected by QVC buyers and who isn't more than a few minutes from its headquarters," advises Sneider.
QVC required Personal Comfort to stock the network's warehouse with 5,000 units before airtime. Sneider also agreed to take back all unsold inventory. By the end of the first 15-minute show, 2,500 Warmup Scarves and Cooldanas were already history. Since then Sneider has appeared nearly 100 times as a guest host, and he consistently outsells QVC hosts by 200% to 300%. And since that first show, more than 250,000 scarves and bandannas have been sold through the channel.
The success of Sneider's foray onto QVC has had a wider impact. "Now department-store buyers think there is demand," says Sneider, whose promotional inspirations continue along rather unorthodox lines. The Weather Channel, he says, is perfect for heightening interest in his weather-challenging gear.
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Dialing for Dollars
Service: Custom software
End-users: Large corporations
Conventional channel: Branch sales offices
Fresh approach: Telesales
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Sure, $12 magazine subscriptions move over the telephone, but what about custom software priced at $100,000? Ashok Trivedi figured it was worth the cost of a few phone calls to find out. In 1988 his cash-strapped start-up, Mastech Inc., couldn't afford to open branch offices to market the temporary services of its software programmers.
"We needed to differentiate ourselves from the competition," Trivedi explains. "One way to do that is telesales. The customer gets the savings we earn in lower overhead, and that makes us price-competitive in the marketplace." It also allows Pittsburgh-based Mastech to canvas "off-Broadway" cities like Battle Creek, Mich., and Wichita, where even wealthy competitors don't open branches.
In remote regions, demand for programmers can far exceed supply. Under such circumstances, a potential customer with an urgent need for, say, a new billing system is often willing to forgo the formalities of a face-to-face meeting.
Trivedi says, "Most prospects have nagging doubts about working with a company over the phone. Eliminating those doubts is our challenge." To do so, Mastech salespeople systematically gather information on sales leads from industry-research firms, trade publications, customer referrals, and the company's own 900 full-time employees around the country. When Mastech sales reps make calls, they already know the size and scope of potential projects for which the company's programmers are suited, and they are prepared to propose solutions.
Mastech's telesales force does not rely on a script. Because salespeople specialize in industry segments, they are familiar with the idiosyncratic needs of their particular markets. Their knowledge helps them earn prospects' trust, despite the remote approach. "At the end of the day we must deliver on what we promise," says Trivedi. "That's how you really build rapport. We invest heavily in training our programmers on the latest programs. We know they can deliver." The formula works. Just seven years after ground zero, about 60% of Mastech's $70 million in 1994 revenues were from sales closed over the phone by 16 telesales reps.
