My Sales Blog: JD Conveyors - Mini Assignment #4

Since I was absent Friday morning, I was not present for Darcy Lennon’s presentation on Stewart’s Food Service. So I went ahead and interviewed, my father Jeff Loomis. He is the owner/operator and head of sales at JD Conveyors, Inc.

About the Company:

Established in 2002, JD Conveyors, Inc (JDC) designs and manufactures equipment serving the aggregate and recycling sectors of the market. Owner/Operator, Jeff Loomis keeps busy throughout the week designing and manufacturing the equipment for clients and suppliers.

Overall my impression of the presentation was good, it was interesting. Three most significant things I have learned from Jeff, is that it takes a lot of time, hard work and consistent effort to be successful in order to keep your sales up and customers interested in using your brand.

The Selling Process:

When qualifying a potential customer, JDC does not qualify them as a prospect but they qualify their requirements, while evaluating what the customer needs, the type of company in which he operates and if JDC can design and manufacture the proper equipment to fit the company's needs. For example, if a company approaches JDC looking for an aggregate crusher, they do not manufacture crushers, but if he needs a conveyor, they can be sure to help him out.

Most of the time, JDC does not find the prospects themselves but through one of their dealers (usually Powerscreen Canada). The prospects then come in and discuss their needs with the company and then they are evaluated. Sometimes the prospects come directly, by word of mouth from previous customers or speak to them at trade shows JDC participates in. When closing sales, JD Conveyors has proven reliability of their equipment. They receive a lot of customer recognition during and after the sales process which helps with closing of a sale.

Based on what I learned about the daily difficulties my father has in order for his business to be successful, has opened my eyes a little bit about the struggles of owning your own business and the importance of a successful sale. It has always been brought to my attention that I could work for the “family business” or potentially take it over. In truth, I’m not interested in the aggregate industry.

Two goals that I have already set for myself, is to  move into the Gift Registry department at the Hudson’s Bay Company. In which I have recently accomplished. My second goal is to transfer into a full time position as a Wedding & Gift Registry Consultant at the Hudson’s Bay - Queen Street store in downtown Toronto. After I have worked 8 months to a year there, I hope to climb the ladder into the corporate office in the event management industry. I will achieve them by working hard, and by not giving into distractions.

Article Summary 2: Advertising and the End of Instagram's Sincerity

Advertising and the End of Instagram's Sincerity

Posted by Matt Buchanan

Summary: For users, there are two kinds of content on ad-supported social networks: real content and advertisements. What generally distinguishes the two for a user is whether or not a post comes from someone or something that he or she cares about. If they care about it, it’s content; if they don’t, it’s an ad. They want to see one but not the other. For brands, that slippage is particularly powerful, as users willingly get caught up in the brands and products they do care about within their relations to people. If someone follows Starbucks on Instagram, they want to see pictures of coffee in the same stream as pictures of their friends. Instagram’s plan from the beginning has been to take advantage of that slippage between content and advertising in a powerful new way, because it is the social network with the greatest claim to a foundation of genuine emotion. Instagram has become what it is because people care about it and what they put on it in a way that is not true of Twitter or Facebook—and which is precisely why Facebook bought it.

Instagram is hoping, additionally, that the ads will be so aesthetically pleasing that you won’t notice, or at least won’t be upset, about seeing them in your feed. They want you to love their ads, even if they are from brands you do not want to follow: “Our aim is to make any advertisements you see feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos many of you already enjoy from your favorite brands.” Instagram ads will be beautiful, suited to the medium, and brimming with brands. The problem that Instagram faces as it starts slowly pouring ads into users’ feeds is that, until now, most everything it has done—except for removing its photos from Twitter—has been in truthful, despite the fact it is owned by one of the most fundamentally skeptical companies in technology. People connect to Instagram and its content, and love it because, as Paul Ford put it, it is sincere. But then again, there’s nothing less sincere than an advertisement.

I think a lot of users will not approve of their Instagram feed being infiltrated with ads. Some users will argue, Instagram is about capturing beautiful moments, and sharing them not shopping in a mall or catalogue. Brands should not bring stock photos to the platform; instead, Instagram's most talented and influential users should be selling the rights to use their content for advertising. On the other hand,  it may be a marketers dream in reaching a broad spectrum of consumers. Possibly increasing sales and social media "likes".

Article Summary 1 - Digital Influence by Lenna Garibian

Digital Influence: Blogs Beat Social Networks for Driving Purchases - Article Summary

by Lenna Garibian  |  

March 18, 2013| 

Summary: Blogs are more influential than social networks in shaping consumers’ opinions and purchase decisions, according to Technorati’s 2013 Digital Influence Report. Brands seem to be investing more on other social channels, particularly Facebook, than on blogging. The 2013 Digital Influence Report is based on surveys conducted among 1,200 consumers, 150 top brand marketers, and 6,000 digital influences.  Before making a decision on what to buy, consumers rank blogs as the third most influential digital resource (31.1%), behind retail sites (56%) and brand sites (34%).Consumers agree the value of online communities comes from sharing information and ideas but not necessarily from the size of a community: 54% say smaller communities have greater influence on a topic than larger ones.

Consumers engage with brands via social networking sites for many different reasons.  Facebook users tend to “like” brands to learn about products and services, keep up with brand-related activities, and for sweepstakes and promos, and only a few interact with brands to provide feedback.  Twitter users follow brands mostly to keep up with brand activities and learn about products and services; some  also do to provide feedback.YouTube users engage with brands mostly to learn about products and services, keep up with brand-related activities, and provide feedback.  Pinterest users follow brands primarily to learn about products and services, keep up with brand activities, and for sweepstakes/promos.  Instagram users follow brands to keep up with brand-related activities, learn more about products and services, and make purchases.

I think marketers spend more time on social networks rather than blogs because social media is a lot quicker and not much time and/or thought has to go into writing a status update or 140 character tweet. As with writing a blog, you must plan out what needs to be said with great description. Social follower levels are much more higher on Facebook and Twitter than they are on Blogger or WordPress. For example, for a busy small business owner, who directly manages their Facebook brand pages, they can post and interact in a matter of 45 minutes. Daily posting routine and interaction should take no longer than hour, so it gives them more time to attend to more pressing matters since most of them are hands-on.

Coca-Cola vs Pepsi

Coca-Cola Social Media Audit

Facebook - Coca Cola’s official fan page on Facebook, which was actually created by a fan, has 75 million fans. It advertises contests to people who have joined, announces new products and gives a brief history to the company.

Twitter – Twitter’s results surprised me the most. When searching, I found out that there are about 10 tweets a minute about Coca Cola. Though some of them are negative, the bottom line is that people are talking about Coca Cola. Coca Cola’s official page has two million followers on their official page. There are over 89 thousand tweets about Coca Cola (Twitter).

Pepsi Social Media Audit

Facebook - Pepsi’s official fan page on Facebook, which was actually created by a fan, has 28 million fans. It advertises contests to people who have joined, announces new products and gives a brief history to the company.

Twitter - Pepsi's official page has over two million followers on their official page. There are over 25 thousand tweets about Pepsi (Twitter).

Primarily, The Coca Cola Company is part of the food and beverage industry. However, they also own brands like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, therefore they tend to reach into other industries as well. Coca Cola employs people all over the world. Coca Cola is one of, if not the most, recognized brand in the world. In nearly every country around the world, Coca Cola has made an impact. Though the root of a variety of criticisms, including allegations of racism, extorting third world countries and other poor humanitarian acts, Coca Cola has been, essentially, monopolizing the beverage industry. Coca Cola is infamous for sponsoring TV shows like American Idol and the Olympic Games. They appear in video games, dominantly in PlaystationHome for Playstation 3. Their commercials, especially the ones featuring their animals at Christmas, are infamous around the world. Coca Cola, with a net value in the billions, has been a part of the lives of people for 124 years. Now reaching out to more than 200 countries, and featuring over 1330 beverages alone, The Coca Cola Company is relying more and more on social media to launch their brand even more so into the minds of consumers, and this is a major part in their succession.