Scott Cundill has his heart set on world micro-business domination. Not just for his own company, Majestic, but for all small businesses out there. “The statistics show that eight out of 10 smallbusinesses fail. Of the 20% that do succeed, it’s because the entrepreneurs are on their umpteenth attempt, or are highly connected. Those kinds of statistics just aren’t acceptable to me,” says the 32-year-old entrepreneur, business author and internet marketing specialist. Cundill started Majestic in 2003 as a solution to the problem that so many entrepreneurs face – how to increase sales. His approach differs radically from traditional approaches to selling. In fact, it’s almost ‘anti-sales’. But he must be doing something right because companies using Majestic are enjoying anything from a 10% to 60% response rate to their e-mail marketing campaigns.
Cundill explains that Majestic offers a mixof a technology, which is the company’s software solution, and a technique. Combined, these two items assist entrepreneurs to grow their business. Cundill outlines his approach: “One of the biggest reasons why small businesses fail is because they can’t increase their sales. To do so, they need to increase the number of relationships they have. These relationships need to be continuously nurtured and our technique is to teach people how to do this through communication – but not communication based on selling. Rather, we teach businesses to communicate with people in a way that adds value to their lives.
“So instead of telling someone how much you can charge them for a health product, you send them information about the various aspects of holistic health, such as how stress affects the body. Not only does this establish you as an expert in your field, making you the natural person for that person to turn to when they need health products, but it helps you to establish a relationship that fosters two-way communication. In return for providing people with value-adding information, they will provide you with information about themselves that will ultimately give your business a qualified lead.”
He explains that businesses can load all the contact details of people they meet onto the Majestic software package and then create an educational journey for them via digital communication, be it e-mail, sms or fax.“The biggest problem with traditional CRM tools is that they rely on salespeople to upload data. Majestic keeps data updated automatically by e-mail communication with people. Inside the e-mails that you send are links to web forms where people can go to tell you more about themselves,” he says. These forms capture the pertinent personal information that a traditional CRM tool would, but with one difference: people willingly give it themselves.
”If you are using the right relationship-building techniques – your e-mails are well-written and provide people with value-adding information instead of hard sell about your company, they will trust you by giving you details you’d usually get through a CRM tool,” he explains. This, along with the details gleaned from the two-waycommunication with people, tells the entrepreneur all they need to know aboutthe particular needs of individuals. That’s potent stuff, as any marketer will tell you. The Majestic software was developed in-house. At first Cundill focused on larger businesses. “We needed to spend time implementing the system and teaching companies how to use it, which made the solution too expensive for small businesses.”
He eventually came up with a solution to target the market he’s so passionate about. “We wrote a book and set up a website, providing entrepreneurs with the tools to teach themselves how to use Majestic. There’s an online forum where they can learn from other users how to make the system work for them. And as we aren’t having to invest time in setting up the system and teaching them how to use it, we can offer it to the mat a fraction of the price,” he explains. He is also setting up a network of businesses to teach each other how to use Majestic. Thus, a plumber will show his electrician mate how to get leads through his database using Majestic! Cundill is as pleased with the result as his clients are. It’s a step further to his dream of an economy dominated by small businesses.