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di erent types of traps, even going as far as breeding ies in old sh tanks to have subjects to test.
The couple said they had dozens of prototypes, and many of them caught ies but didn’t keep them contained. Liz said there were numerous occasions when the couple thought they could break out the champagne only to watch their catch y away. Finally, they came up with a cone that lets bugs y into the trap but not get out. After develop- ing that, they installed it in a container attached to a suction cup that can be applied to a window.
In order to make the trap attractive to its potential guests, the McGavins picked colors that attract speci c insects: black and blue for ies and clear and blue for wasps. Once the bugs get in the trap, they die within a few hours due to a lack of oxygen.
After installing the traps, the McGavins realized they had a win- ning design. However, they wanted to increase their odds of capturing bugs. So they worked with an entomologist to help create a non-toxic attractant they could add to the traps. Once that was added, they started capturing bugs at a shocking rate and decided to get their invention patented. As of right now, the window-based trap is patented, and they are working on acquiring the patent for the cone, which Kory calls “the secret sauce” of the trap.
Every part of the trap is made either in Montana or the United States and, for now, the McGavins assemble every
trap by hand, sometimes with the help of their three children, Kaylie, Landon and Ridge.
“We could have had the tooling made in China for a lot less money, but it was really important to us to have them made right here in the United States and Montana,” Liz said.
With the product designed, the McGavins have been getting ready to sell the traps. The ytraps are already available online and will be coming to Albertsons stores next spring.
But just because they’ve designed a trap does not mean they’re done. The McGavins are currently looking at ways to sell just the cone so people can turn regular old bottles into traps.
“If you snap this cone into a reg- ular soda bottle, you have the most inexpensive and e ective ytrap ever made,” Kory said while demonstrating the product, adding that it could be a big help in poor countries.
The McGavins are also hoping to expand into the mosquito-catching business by applying their cone to an “ovitrap.” An ovitrap is a dark con- tainer with standing water that attracts female mosquitos to lay eggs. Once that happens, other mosquitos are attracted to the trap.
Although it’s still early, the McGavins are optimistic that within a few years they could start hiring employees if sales take o .
For more information, visit www. y-
stop.com.
TRANSACTIONS
WEEKLY BUSINESS BRIEFING
NEW SUSHI BAR AND LOUNGE OPENING IN DOWNTOWN KALISPELL
Tony Tran, a former execu- tive chef and co-owner of a large sushi restaurant in Tampa, Flor- ida, is bringing his culinary tal- ents to downtown Kalispell.
Tran, pronounced “Train,” and his family are in the process of renovating the vacant space at 1926 Main Street, next door to The Toggery, and developing Blue Samurai Sushi Bar and Lounge.
The goal is to open the new restaurant in December, Tran said.
“I want to bring Montana into the Japanese Asian culture and bond them together,” he said.
Train said the restaurant will o er fresh seafood and specialty dishes that change regularly. He said he is acquiring an alcohol license to serve drinks as well.
Tran previously operated Ocean Blue in north Tampa. He had fam- ily living in Kalispell and decided to move here a year ago. Seeing the success of downtown businesses like The Toggery, he said he decided to open a new restaurant, which will o er Asian cuisine and sushi.
Opening, moving or expanding a business in Northwest Montana? If you would like to be featured in “Transactions,” please email information to news@ atheadbeacon.com
BUSINESS IS PERSONAL MARK RIFFEY
THIS YEAR, FOLLOW UP AND DO IT WELL
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
FOR MANY BUSINESSES, TWO things happen this time of year. One: You get a bunch of new cus- tomers. Two: Many of the new custom- ers you acquired during this time last year “forget” to come back. The custom- ers on the rst list cost time and money to acquire. A fair amount of the people who “forget” to come back were never asked to. In other words, the business didn’t invest the time/money to follow up with their new clientele.
There is a problem with this concept. Being able to follow up requires having some contact info for your clients. These days, people are all too used to being nagged incessantly, mostly by mail and email. They’re also concerned about pri- vacy and identity theft, which increases their reluctance to provide you with their contact info.
Why They Think You’re a Spammer
While it keeps the FCC and others “happy” to publish boilerplate privacy and security policies, most people either won’t read them or won’t care that you have them. Until given a reason to think otherwise, they will group your request with all the ones they’ve received before.
This means that you will be thrown into the bucket with the companies who used their contact info inappropriately.
Inappropriate doesn’t necessarily mean illegal but the net impact on the business is roughly the same.
While many marketing people and business owners think otherwise, they don’t get to decide what is spam and what isn’t. The recipient does. The legal de - nition is irrelevant. No matter how good you think the message is, the recipient decides whether your messages are out of context, incessant, annoying or of no use. If your follow up message matches any of those criteria, it’s spam and they will unsubscribe.
Even worse, they will group you with all the other spammers and be super hes- itant to provide you with information in the future – even if you need it in order to serve them as they wish.
Poorly Conceived Follow-Up Has a Hard Cost
Spammers are of the mind that they can send millions of emails for free. They have the luxury of not caring if they retain a “customer.” You do not. They have the luxury of not caring about the
cost of a lead, much less the lifetime value of a customer. You do not.
When you send a message that feels to your customer like spam and it causes them to unsubscribe, there’s a hard cost associated with that. Think about what it cost to get that person to visit your store or website. We’re talking about labor, materials, time, consultants, employee salaries, service costs, etc. Every lead source has a cost and a ROI. The latter comes from the lifetime of that client relationship with your company.
When your message causes the client to unsubscribe, your lead cost rises and your ROI is likely to drop because the lifetime customer value of that person or business will probably stagnate.
Great, So How Does My Follow-Up Avoid This?
Expectation management.
When they provide contact info these days, people have questions about the use of their contact info:
• How it will be used.
• How it will be shared (short answer:
DON’T).
• How it will be secured.
You have to be crystal clear (and
succinct) when answering those ques- tions. You have to adhere to what you said. Stepping outside the bounds of what you said you’d do, even once, breaks what little trust was granted when their con- tact info was shared.
Whether you feel it’s justi ed or not, people are hyper-sensitive to this. If you want to build a lifetime customer rela- tionship with them, your behavior has to show it.
A Suggestion
Everyone likes getting stu on their birthday. It doesn’t have to be a (heaven forbid) 50 percent discount. You don’t need their birth date, which they will be protective of due to identity theft. You only need the month. During their birth- day month, a simple o er or add-on that is special to them is all you need. Do you have any low cost, high-perceived value services that could be given away with purchase during their birthday month?
The alternative is to keep paying more for leads. There are only so many people in your market. Nurture your clientele and show them you’re always thinking about how to help them. Win the long- term game.
Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a strategic, operations or marketing problem? Email him at mri ey@ atheadbeacon.com.
NOVEMBER 2, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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