Pen-Point marketing is a series of simple micro-marketing
techniques used to determine some aspect of a customer’s marketing profile.
Micro-marketing techniques have come about as a result of the growing number of
free sites offering geographic and/or GPS based services online. These free
online services can be used in a variety of ways by online marketers to discover
facts about a potential client. For example, a marketer might want to determine
the physical location of a client’s home. There are several free online sites
that enable you to locate a client’s exact location within the greater
community.
Using an Internet search engine, you can now pen-point the
exact location of anybodies home. Some map related web sites like
www.MapQuest.com also offer free directional locators for every city within
the U.S. These programs even provide printable maps with arrow directions.
These mapping tools can also be used by advocates to locate medical sources or
as a means of determining the most appropriate location for a client meeting.
Although these online mapping tools where not designed to be used in marketing,
they are never-the-less useful to disability advocates.
Identifying a New Niche:
The Internet and pen-point marketing can also be used to
identify new market niches. With the growing sophistication of the Internet,
businesses are finding unique ways of identifying niche markets using these free
Internet tools. In the last two years, Internet based micro-marketing
approaches of various types have begun to evolve into reliable techniques that
include our pen-point marketing technique.
There are many different types of pen-point marketing
techniques and most are very easy to use. Some of these techniques are used to
identify locations as mentioned above, while others are used to determine a
client’s marital, criminal or medical status. With the growing number of free
online databases, there is no end in sight to the future available of
information sources.
Home Value in Pen-Point Marketing
To demonstrate a pen-point marketing technique in action,
I’ll use my technique for viewing the value of a client’s home. This
information can be used to verify the worth of a client’s assets and his
probable income range. Keep in mind that the information you extract from a
pen-point marketing technique does not need to be 100% accurate to be
useful. You’re using the pen-point marketing process as a quick-and-dirty method
of determining some aspect of a potential client’s profile.
In this example, the claimant alleges that he has earned
$50,000 a year for the past several years. He also indicates that he is a home
owner with other assets. Here is the pen-point marketing technique used to
determine the approximate worth of the client’s home. This same pen-point
marketing technique can be used to identify the market potential of the
claimant’s surrounding community.
To begin this pen-point marketing procedure, go online:
The Zillow database will provide an approximate value for
the property address inputted into the address window. By moving the view
screen from street to city-wide view, you’ll be able to use this same tool to
pen-point potential communities in your area for future marketing campaigns.
Interpretation of Data
A pen-point marketing technique will only provide value if you know how to
interpret the information it provides. For example, the home value number
provided by Zillow does not include improvements or expansions to the property.
Therefore, a given property could be worth as much as $100,000 more than the
number shown in the Zillow estimate. We address this issue by adding an equal
improvement amount to all surrounding properties. You also have the option of
just ignoring the actual value issue altogether and use the Zillow numbers as
shown.
You should also know the average home value in a given
community. For example, you may receive a home value of $220,000 on the Zillow
screen. How do you interpret this home value? The best approach is to know the
average home value within the client’s city. Knowing the average value in the
client’s city enables you to make an informed comparison to other homes and
other communities within that area.
In some areas of a city, the average home value might be
$300,000 and in anothers $150,000. In this circumstance, look at the average
home value throughout the entire city. Use this average value to estimate the
value of the claimant’s primary asset.
If the price of the client’s home is equal to or less than
the average home value within that city, the claimant is probably earning an
income equal to or less than average for that community. I use this client
asset information to determine if I should offer the client an alternative fee
agreement. Our experience has shown that those of average income or below find
the contingency fee approach to be the most attractive. Therefore, if a person
falls within the average income and asset range, I only offer these clients the
contingency fee agreement.
If a client’s home value is above the average value within
the same city, the client may be at or above average income. Those of above
average income are more likely to accept the terms of the advance fee approach.
Why, because it saves them money. Paying a smaller up-front fee that is held in
escrow until the successful completion of the case can save a client thousands
of dollars in fees. Therefore, I usually offer these upper income clients a
choice of either the contingency or the advance fee approach.
Conclusion:
The Internet is becoming an every expanding source of
information that can be used by advocates as a reliable research tool. As this
article demonstrates, there are a growing number of free services on the
Internet that can be creatively used in advocate pen-point marketing. Take a
few minutes and explore this Internet tool and discover for yourself new ways of
pen-pointing your market.
Keeping a client happy is in most
cases a matter of communication. The more you communicate, within business
reason, the happier the customer will be. If you communicate with your clients
more often than would be expected, you'll have happy customers even if you lose
their case. Somehow, good people respond well and think highly of services that
keep them informed.
