Mom Was Right

Eric Jansen – President, Wood-Cutters Tooling Inc.

Recently, we have received numerous inquiries for products we don't provide, from hemp rope to sharpening kitchen knives to originating conference calls, in addition to too many phone calls where the caller hung up before we could say Good Morning, why is this happening?

After a few weeks, we’re pretty sure we know...

We ran a self-produced internet search ad campaign, and frankly even though our company appeared "higher in the search listings", the quality / accuracy of the respondents surely hasn't even come close to meeting our expectations.

Now to be fair, this was my first try, and I will admit there was a ton of learning experienced. And, just maybe my expectations of what my "talents & understanding" are, could have greatly diminished results also... (this self-awareness is killing me).

On the other hand, shortly after placing the first "ad", we were deluged with emails and phone calls seeking to "assist you to get the very best results" from your campaign. I am a little slow, but I eventually caught on. I stepped into an area of the Internet that I had very little knowledge about, and there were a lot of people out there, who noticed that very fact!

I've mentally accused them of staging phone calls so they have something to report as "better than last month". Also, the "ad views" of over 50,000/month sounds great until you peel back the onion and see that means the ad came up on a search page - doesn't mean anyone was interested or even looking at it...

However, in the past few weeks, new customers have been calling, asking if we can help them. These are companies in our service area who are seeking solutions to their woodworking / plastics manufacturing needs. They are seeking new relationships to help them with unmet needs. Long-time vendors are dropping the ball on them, increasing prices/decreasing service, basically telling them they aren't big enough to warrant "normal" attention.

These phone calls are what we were seeking with our ad campaign - new opportunities. These are the companies we were looking for - we just weren't using the right method to reach them, the old saying, "like two ships passing in the night..." comes to mind.

What have we learned?

1. Internet marketing is not my strength

2. Mom was right - "if it sounds too good..."

3. Bad news seems to travel fast

4. Mom was right - part 2 - "good things come to those who wait" & "if you do things the right way, people will notice"

5. Be Ready - you need to be able to rise up and meet the needs when they present themselves

6. Be On Time - if it's important to your customers, it is of utmost importance to you.

Wood-Cutters Tooling strives to meet all of our customers' needs, and a desire to exceed your expectations. We can provide most any new cutting tool required, whether Carbide Tipped, Insert Tools, or Diamond Tools. We have a full service grinding facility, and the capability to manufacture made-to-order tools too! Let us show you what we can do - call us at 616.257.7930 or via email at: sales@woodcutterstooling.com