ETD: 692 Let's Party!; Poker anyone?; A lesson in communications; Chihuahua bites Taco Bell; E-Commerce Idol

[E-Tailer's Digest]

  E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the  Retailer
  Issue #0692		         June 5, 2003
  George Matyjewicz, Moderator         mailto:georgem@gapent.com
  Published by:  GAP Enterprises, Ltd.  http://www.etailersdigest.com
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   CONTENTS

  [1]  Greetings
  [2]  Let's Party!
  [3]  Poker anyone?
----- ---- --- -- -> Important Offer <- -- --- ---- ---- --
  [4]  A lesson in communications
  [5]  Chihuahua bites Taco Bell
  [6]  E-Commerce Idol

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  [1]  Greetings.
===================================================================
Hi All:

Party planner extraordinaire Patty Sachs has a brilliant idea for a new 
CyberCelebratrion - Let's Party!  Trust me, she really knows how to party 
(plan).

And list member Urb LeJeune (Dr.) wants to play poker ;-).  Actually one of 
our special reports that he read for the fifth time raised some questions 
in his quest to find new prospects.  Any ideas?

Throughout my career I have always found working with younger people to be 
the best experiences.  They have great ideas and uncluttered minds and love 
to step up to the challenge and get things done.  Over the years I have set 
up programs in high schools, and worked with kids and teachers.  Well, this 
past weekend I got a new lesson in communication from a 4 year 
old!   Folks, take time to really listen to these kids.  Great stuff.

You would think that smaller companies may infringe on ideas to use in 
their own business.  Not so.  Seems Taco Bell ripped off the 
Chihuachua.  And now it's costing them.

Finally, in tune with the hit American Idol TV program, E-Commerce Times is 
searching for the E-Commerce Idol.   Who do you think should get the 
award?  Amazon?  Dell?  E-Bay?  Cisco?  Or perhaps some little-known company?

Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.

Sincerely


Dr. George Matyjewicz
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com

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  [2]  Let's Party!
===================================================================
Greetings!

I am truly honored to have our #100 CyberCelebration mentioned as a 
"non-compete" event.  Although I don't think we could repeat the swift 
success of that first attempt, I do believe we can do something equally 
festive and fun.  I am volunteering to put the plan in motion.

If anyone has ideas for a gala or wishes to brainstorm, just e-mail me and 
we will proceed.  George, I will send over the polished gems for your 
review and consent.  THEN IT IS ALL A SURPRISE PARTY for the rest.

How's this for starters?  Readers send one sentence describing the best tip 
or resource they've ever received on ETD.  Our magic counter-thingy will 
track submits and the 700th will win a bevy of grand and glorious 
prizes.  (Others will also win, less grand, but still glorious.)

That is just the start of the party.

Let's get busy.

partysachs@prodigy.net
P.S. All of the submits will be posted for everyone to review.

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  [3]  Poker anyone?
===================================================================
I just reread (for about the fifth time) your "How Do I Sell Large 
Accounts" article 
(http://etailersdigest.com/resources/Specials/Sell_Large_Accounts.htm). It 
is top draw. However, I think you poker analogy is suspect. If you throw in 
your hand every time you think you don't have a chance of winning and stay 
when you think you have a winning hand you may indeed win six of out seven 
hands when you stay, but the pots will be small.

Used to play with a guy like that, when he would raise everyone would drop 
unless they had a great hand. He couldn't understand why he rarely won 
money. Out of sympathy someone told him about bluffing and our cash cow was 
dead :-(

In the article you mention something to the effect of making sure you are 
talking to the decision maker. Great point and I'm sure everyone would 
agree. What would make a great article (maybe even a book), is how to 
ferret out the decision maker.

My prime market is small to medium municipalities. In one town the Township 
Administrator can be king, in the next town a glorified secretary.

Dr Urb LeJeune

+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++

We should play some day <g>.

Surprisingly enough, I still find poker and selling to be the same.  In 
addition to staying, I also know how to build a pot and how to bluff.  My 
favorite bluff was in Vegas with a full table.  A guy had a pair of kings 
showing and I had an ace showing.  I kept building the pot and kept raising 
every hand.  At the end he tossed it in.  I pull in the pot and the dealer 
said I had to show my hand.  Why, I asked - he tossed it in.  Seems another 
person was all in for a side pot, and I had to show my pair of 
threes.  Couldn't bluff again the entire night.

Thanks for the kudos.  I like that article - one of my favorites.

Selling is often a bluff.  Like when you meet a prospect and say that you 
will have to analyze their needs to see if you are willing to do business 
with them.  Or when you tell a client that they may need to go elsewhere, 
when their control issues do not conform to your implementation plans.

Your target issue is interesting.  Actually, Jacques Werth's book "High 
Probability Selling" is a great tool for learning how to do 
that.  Excellent reading.  And he's a poker player too - was a pro.

Selling to municipalities is a bear.  They do a lot of looking from 
November to June, then record the anticipated purchase into the budget, 
which they try to get passed in the fall.  I did that route at one point, 
and hated it.

Can any of our list members offer some help?

George

PS  Urb didn't use the Dr. title.  I did.  He has a success story that I 
love.  A couple of months ago he sent me this note in some offline 
communications:  "I never set foot in a college classroom until I was 44! 
Defended my dissertation on my 57th birthday. Received an unexpected bonus 
in my doctoral program, met my wife. We were in different programs but took 
a common course. We were the only two grandparents in a seminar."

My hat's off to Urb.

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  [4]  A lesson in communications
===================================================================
Last weekend I learned a valuable lesson in communications from a four year 
old.  We were discussing breakfast and she said she wanted French 
toast.  So I said in jest that we only had Freedom toast.  She didn't want 
Freedom toast, she wanted French toast.  After a bunch of discussions back 
and forth, I finally asked why she didn't want Freedom toast.  He reply: "I 
don't like pepper on my toast!"  Nobody knows where she got that idea, but 
she was adamant about it.

Imagine how many times we have discussions (arguments seem to be taboo 
nowadays) with people where we are at loggerheads.  The simple reason is 
often because we fail to ask the right questions and get their view point.

Many years ago, my oldest daughter had a puzzle: "A man is in his car with 
his radio on, and pulls off to the side of the road and shoots 
himself.  Why."  You could ask questions that gave a yes or no answer.  I 
didn't know the first question to ask.

That taught me another important lesson in communications.  When teaching 
people something new, like a new software application, or computer system, 
I used to say don't be afraid to ask questions.  No question is dumb.  In 
fact, at one point I had pads made up with the heading "Dumb things I have 
to ask George", hoping to get people to ask questions.  With my daughters 
puzzle I learned that people weren't afraid to ask questions, they simple 
didn't know the questions to ask!

So folks, listen to these little kids.  And ask questions.  It is amazing 
what you learn.

George

==================================================================
  [5]  Chihuahua bites Taco Bell
==================================================================
A federal jury awarded two marketers more than $30 million Wednesday in 
their lawsuit claiming that Taco Bell took their idea for a talking 
Chihuahua to use in award-winning ads for the Mexican fast-food chain. Taco 
Bell said it would appeal the decision.

The lawsuit, by Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks, charged Taco Bell with 
failing to pay for use of the Chihuahua character they created.

They claim Taco Bell had breached payment on a contract after they worked 
with the restaurant chain for a year to develop the talking Chihuahua for 
use in marketing. They originally had come up with the character for a 
cartoon, they said. Taco Bell became interested after seeing it at a 
licensing show and asked them to turn it into live action, they said.

"It was a roller-coaster ride to get here, but we survived, and a jury got 
to hear our story, which is all we ever wanted from the beginning," Rinks said.

Vada Hill, who was Taco Bell's chief marketing officer at the time of the 
successful campaign, which ran from 1997 to 2000, testified that he had 
sought a new ad agency for a new campaign and picked TBWA Chiat Day. The 
agency developed a campaign featuring a talking Chihuahua, Hill testified, 
saying he was unaware of the Chihuahua character until it was presented by 
Chiat Day. The agency was not a party to the lawsuit, and executives 
declined to comment.

The talking Chihuahua became a hit with the first ad, in which the 
character bypasses a female Chihuahua for a Taco Bell taco and declares: 
"Yo quiero Taco Bell."

Taco Bell dropped its $200 million ad deal with TBWA in 2000 for ad agency 
FCB, after the dog's appeal and sales began to wane.


Details at...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-06-04-taco-bell-lawsuit_x.htm 


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  [6]  E-Commerce Idol
===================================================================
American Idol is a runaway hit in the U.S. with 27+ million 
viewers.  E-Commerce Times asked a few industry analysts to select their 
e-business idol, and they all voted for different companies. However, all 
of their picks have merit for various reasons, and as e-commerce continues 
to grow, all are poised to experience strong surges in popularity. What 
differentiates these leaders from the rest of the pack?

The chosen few are...
	Cisco's Enterprise Outreach
	EBay's Bottom-Up Approach
	Google Plex

The Search Continues

Although the search for the world's e-business idol continues, all 
e-commerce companies will be winners if the findings of a Forrester report 
issued last summer prove true.

That report predicted that e-commerce in the United States will continue to 
grow at a powerful 25 percent annual clip over the next five years, 
eventually totaling $217.8 billion, or 8 percent of all retail sales, by 
2007. That kind of growth is enough to transform a lot of companies into 
e-business idols.

Details at...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/21648.html


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