Marketing Disaster

rduffy

I would appreciate some advice/insights with the following situation.
Last March we were approached by a marketing firm which proposed to provide the following to our business:
1. Develop our uniqueness and our strategic position
2. Package the above for sales chat
3. Set and agree goals
4. Help develop initial prospect database and help prepare us for making the appointment and the appointment itself.

As we had little experience in selling our services in terms of winning new clients, it appeared a good investment, even though it came at a hefty price of €1,200 + VAT, with 50% of this payable before any work was completed. The alternative was to pay a similar amount to a sales company to win sales meetings for us but we would be responsible for winning the client and without any training.
We were to have three onsite workshops, the first to work on points 1 – 3 above and the second and third to concentrate on training on cold calling, and developing a prospect database.
The whole thing turned out to be a disaster. The guy had to ask each time we met what our company name was; he lost his notes following our first meeting. At the second meeting he said he lost the keys to his office and we had to wait an hour until his colleague e-mailed over the templates we required. With all the messing around we never got to cold calling/database development. Turns out all they do is take a standard ‘template’ for mail-shots and target different accountants. When our template was e-mailed across, it still had the name of the old accountant in place, not to mention numerous mistakes.
At the third meeting the guy went back to the start and decided to flesh out our strategic position, target market and uniqueness. I asked about the database and cold calling training. He then agreed to come down a fourth time and go through, however we were in the meantime to prepare a list of prospective clients to ring. At this stage we began to smell a rat, however as the one thing we wanted from the whole experience (selling training) was still on the table, we agreed to his proposal.
Our gut feeling was that this guy was only interested in getting his money and as only the last quarterly fee was outstanding, we gave him a post dated cheque. When he came back the following week, he called just a few prospective clients which didn’t go well. He blamed it on our database and said it was no better than a phone directory. To be honest, he was downright rude.
Unhappy with the whole situation, we formally wrote to the marketing company and said we were cancelling the final payment until all the deficiencies were corrected. They simply replied saying they were happy with what they did and best of luck for the future. Now, four months later they are writing to us saying they just noticed that our final cheque ‘bounced’. If payment is not received within the next few days they are commencing debt collection and legal proceedings.
Did we research the company? Yes, we spoke to references that were supplied to us prior to us entering the marketing arrangement. Of course, nobody give references that have something bad to say about them so this was probably a waste of time. Doing some more research now, it turns out that other clients all have the exact same wording (‘sales chat’) on their website and in their ‘templates’. The marketing guy wasn’t interested in any background or issues surrounding our business, all he wanted was to get to his ‘copy and paste’ template stage and get his money.
Turns out this guy is also connected to a debt collection agency, so we’re expecting correspondence from this business in the next few days.
I think marketing is important, but done incorrectly it can be disastrous. We’re basically back to square one and in need of new marketing consultants. But no way will money be paid up front, and any payments will be commission based.
Are our experiences typical of what marketing firms are like? Are there any regulations or certification? How do we ensure that our next marketing firm does, and is competent enough to do, what it sets out to do?
Do we need to take legal advice in relation to the old marketing firm? - why should we pay for an unsatisfactory service or for services not rendered?
Thanks,
Ronan

antoinolachtnai

I really think you are way off in your expectations and understanding. Not to say that the guy wasn't pretty bad, but:

- marketing is not the same as sales (what you are talking about above is sales)

- if you are selling bookkeeping/accounting/business services, cold calling is really really hard and requires large volumes (hundreds) of prospects to get one sale.

- 1200 euros is really not a lot of money to spend on marketing/sales activities. You really aren't going to be getting any marketing consultants of any note to do any meaningful work for you for that amount. I know that it is your hard-earned money and it is a lot to you. I am not saying that you should necessarily spend more money than that, but you need to be realistic about the cost of professional services.

I would suggest that you get a recommendation from a colleague in your profession or a friend in another business for a sales training company. This will help you turn leads into customers.

For the promotion/lead generation side, I really don't know what to say. It really depends on your business. Ads might work for you, or maybe not. Maybe you have personal contacts you can call on to get business.

For overall marketing strategy, it's much more metaphysical to come up with an answer. Ultimately this is a job you have to do for yourself.

antoinolachtnai

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

For overall marketing strategy, it's much more metaphysical to come up with an answer. Ultimately this is a job you have to do for yourself.

I agree it is a job you have to do for yourself, but at the same time they sound like a cowboy company and very unprofessional.

If I were in the OP's position and very upset with the level of service, I would reply and say I welcome your legal proceedings, and we will take our own legal proceedings against you for a full refund of payments due to the dismal performance by your company. If you continue to threaten legal proceedings and debt collection we will be in touch with all media outlets and let them know about your company and the quality of service you provided and the threats you are now sending us.
not everyone will agree with me here, but when companies or individuals do what they are doing to you, I respond with an UNRELENTING attack until they piss off....

rduffy

Thanks for the replies. I do agree witih what you say about having to do the marketing yourself. However, selling is a skill and marketing is the product in my opinion anyway. At a basic level, I've learnt to sell client needs/benefits rather than the product itself.

And at least I've learnt from my experience!

antoinolachtnai

I wasvery specific, you have to do the marketing *strategy* yourself. I am not sure what you mean re marketing and selling but it is worth learning more about such things. PS firms traditionally don't 'do' marketing and this is a failing.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Hi Ronan,

Sounds like just another part of the learning curve. Clearly they we're cowboys but man up and chuck them out if they show up for a meeting un-prepared or without your company name correct. The standard is 3-5 times the prep for the length of the given meeting. Cut your losses and remember how much your time is worth if they haven't done any customized prep.

They can't argue they provided the full service if they didn't get through the first day. Next time get in writing what your paying for, itemized and deliverable. I'd say that lesson alone was nearly worth the money!

Oh and never ever cold call for professional services, it's not the 80's anymore.

John368

rduffy

This company sounds like a bunch of rip-off merchants. They also probably know all the tricks of the trade, especially if they are connected with a debt collection firm.

Tread very carefully. Giving them a post-dated cheque and then cancelling it puts them in the driving seat legally as far as I can see. They are probably have got quite a lot of experience in dealing with disatisfied customers and still staying in business, so perhaps seeing a solicitor is required to get the low down on how you stand legally - I bet they know the law very very well and are probably playing upon it a lot.

As others say here, I would put it down to experience, but before you do get some legal advice. You are in the moral right here, but that is not always what the law says in situations like this.

John