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by Stephen Parezo

August 6, 2004 —This December, Fiducial franchisee Lawrence J. "Larry" Recor will be celebrating his 25th anniversary in business. No company ever reaches that milestone without developing results-driven marketing strategies, and it's this very same kind of approach that this affable entrepreneur affords his clients.

With offices in Old Forge, NY, and Boonville, NY, located in the foothills of the Adirondacks, Recor regularly consults with small business owners.

One of the key areas they discuss is marketing. Most owners aren't exactly sure how to approach this important area so he and his professional staff lead them through these often uncharted waters.

Consider the furniture manufacturer who relied solely on manufacturer's representatives to spread the word about their products. In performing his analysis of the company, Recor found that the reps act on behalf of several different manufacturers, making it difficult for one firm to separate itself from the pack.

So what advice did he offer? "We got them to develop brochures in their market which were mailed out to the dealer network and this increased their return by 30%," said Recor.

During the course of his analysis of a firm's marketing activities, Recor tells them that he has to review what they're doing and what they're not doing. Through that analysis he determines in what directions to take marketing. What he consistently finds is that the business will do one of two things marketing-wise and that's about it.

The plan has to be well-balanced

"They don't have a plan that includes direct mail, telemarketing, newspaper, television and yellow pages advertising," he said. "The only effective way for your marketing program is being in all of those mediums."

Owners then ask how much these marketing vehicles are going to cost but Recor allays any worries that they might have over the expense these avenues will incur.

"We tailor the marketing efforts to fit within budget but you still have to do some of these things to some degree to make any of it work," he said. "The plan has to be well-balanced."

Results-driven marketing for small businesses is no accident. Recor says it has to happen every day.

As an advisor, he convinces people who want to grow their business that advertising is an investment and that they won't necessarily see results right away. They're making an investment for the future of their business and to get them over that hurdle, Recor provides examples from his own practice.

"Last year we picked up a new account, a summer lodge on Blue Mountain Lake, that we had mailed information to three years ago," he said. The owners had saved his brochure for future reference. "All of a sudden they had a need because the husband's got cancer and couldn't do the books anymore. I've used that example many times in encouraging businesses to look at their advertising as a long-term investment."

Through the years, Recor has had to adjust his marketing techniques in order to produce desired results. He knows there's no magic formula for doing this and that there's no substitute for being consistent in fine-tuning his systems. This is one of the key lessons he advocates to his fellow franchisees as a Fiducial Marketing Committee Member, and it's still gratifying for him even as his business approaches the quarter century mark.

"It becomes more satisfying every year because obviously you learn more things on how to help your clients," he said.

By the way, Recor's business has a 93% client retention rate which he's understandably very proud of. "That's pretty consistent every year," he said. "That's way above average."

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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