Firm Should Spotlight Its Behind-the-Scenes Service

Thousands of people have seen his work, but only a few Hollywood insiders know his name. Stanley Ottenstein has decided it’s time to change that to reverse a decline in sales at his Burbank-based Finders Research Services Inc.

He’s not looking to get his name on an Emmy. But as one of the ultimate behind-the-scenes guys--Ottenstein has dug up film footage for the Emmy Awards, the “Ellen” television series and the PBS show “Nova,” among dozens of others--he knows he needs a higher profile.

In a business in which who you know is often a measure of success, Ottenstein acknowledges that he’s let his networking efforts slide. Sales have slid too, down by a third to $80,000 last year from their peak three years ago.

“I have so many contacts . . . [but] I have been relying on word-of-mouth to generate sales,” Ottenstein said. “That certainly happens, but it doesn’t happen enough.”

While he’s been busy in the last decade researching scripts and footage and negotiating ownership rights on everything from a poster in the background of a TV scene to a fictitious character’s name to a music clip, three large rivals have emerged to eat up market share. And the Net has made simple searches for stock footage and photos easier for nonprofessionals.

Ottenstein hopes to use a small inheritance to fight back. He wants to break further into the lucrative script-clearance business and to find new markets. His goal is to increase sales to $500,000 within two years.

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That may be a bit ambitious, said marketing consultant Sharon Berman. But sales could easily double or triple with a savvy direct-mail campaign aimed at new and existing markets and a targeted networking effort, she said.

“He has to hustle a lot more,” said Berman, founder of Berbay Corp. in Tarzana. “He needs to develop ways to stay in front of his target audience more often.”

And he’ll have to find out why past clients may have stopped using his services, she said. Ottenstein had considered a customer satisfaction survey but hasn’t yet completed it.

Too often, in fact, the business owner has balked at pursuing his marketing ideas, she said, even though he has some very good ones. His creativity and writing ability put him ahead of the game when it comes to developing his own campaigns and market research, she said. But to sustain a successful push for higher sales, he will have to learn to trust his instincts and take action.

“Marketing is an art, not a science,” Berman said. “There’s no way to guarantee the outcome.”

On the plus side, Ottenstein is an experienced negotiator and knows how to manage costs, the consultant said. He’s been a reliable presence since 1989 in a tumultuous industry, has a contact base that is wide and deep and has a track record.

To leverage those strengths, Berman recommended that Ottenstein first find out why sales are down. That could be as simple as calling former clients to determine why they might not be using his services. It might not be a fun job, but it’s an important one for any business owner.

“It takes courage and it can be very uncomfortable and before you ask anything you have to make a commitment to yourself that you are willing to do something about it,” Berman said.

Former clients might say that their company policy is to use one of Ottenstein’s three big competitors, she said. He might be told a client didn’t get the service they wanted. Or he might learn that his low profile contributed to lost sales.

Ottenstein should also query prospective clients about the services they want and the best way to deliver those services, she said.

Armed with that information, Ottenstein will be able to make better decisions about where to focus his resources, she said. He might learn that the new markets he is contemplating, including advertising agencies nationwide, are excellent sources of new sales. And he might find he has more opportunity than he expected in his existing markets.

To conduct the customer survey and for all his future marketing efforts, Ottenstein will need a solid customer database, Berman said. She gave him points for having an up-to-date list of current clients--most business owners don’t--but said he needed a more comprehensive list.

“I’m a big believer in using your database. Your database is a gold mine,” Berman said.

She recommended that Ottenstein’s database include all former, current and prospective clients. He should also track referrals--those who have referred clients to him and those who might be able to do so in the future.

Working a referral list, whose members can often refer more than one name to Ottenstein, can be a more efficient way to generate sales than pitching to one client at a time, she said.

She’d also like to see him move his current contact list from his electronic Rolodex to his computer. Ottenstein has installed ACT, one of several contact-management software packages, on his computer but has not been making use of it.

The database will be the foundation for his direct-mail and networking efforts, the consultant said.

Berman is a fan of direct mail “done right” and uses it for her own company, she said. She liked Ottenstein’s ideas for direct-mail postcards, including one using stills from old Hollywood movies and one geared to out-of-town production companies and ad agencies that sports the tag line: “Let us be your Hollywood connection.”

Before he starts pasting on stamps, though, she recommended he investigate the eight-week seminar on direct mail offered by the Los Angeles Direct Marketing Assn. The $425 cost includes a $75 membership in the Manhattan Beach-based group.

Once he is ready to send off his first batch, she suggested he add a personal note of just a few words to make his pitch more effective.

For his “A” list contacts, Ottenstein might also want to do additional mailings of more personal appeals or gifts, she said.

“It’s a great way to stay in touch,” Berman said of direct mail.

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But a business owner shouldn’t expect the phone to ring off the hook after a mailing, she said. For a service business such as Ottenstein’s, though, gaining even one new client can pay for a single mailing, she said. Also to his benefit, his client universe is relatively small. One key segment--production coordinators and script coordinators--probably numbers only about 200, he estimated.

Networking will be an important way to strengthen his database, expand his market knowledge and, most important, raise his profile, the consultant said.

Like many business owners, Ottenstein has been so busy delivering his services he’s neglected the lifeblood of his business: relationships. His once or twice a month networking event or group breakfast is not enough, Berman said, especially in an industry based on relationships.

She recommended that he use his research skills to find the formal and informal networks his contacts use. Be creative in building relationships, she said. Ottenstein doesn’t have to have breakfast or lunch with each contact. For his top targets, he might want to research their past and current projects, then call them or drop them a congratulatory note with a soft-sell pitch for how his company can help them do their job faster and better.

Another approach is to offer them a referral or a valuable contact from his existing network, she said. And try not to think of networking as a chore, Berman said.

“It can be scary, but it can also be fun--connecting with people you know,” the consultant said. It pays to remember that “people like to do business with people they know and like,” Berman said.

As part of his efforts to expand his contacts and raise his profile, Ottenstein should pursue his ideas on upgrading his Web site, she said. The site needs to deliver a quicker message about what Finders Research Services can offer and why it is better than the competition, she said.

She also recommended he revamp his brochure. Although it has key information such as what the company offers, who its past clients are and some testimonials, it also lacks a tight sales message, she said.

“If you read it, you really have to concentrate,” she said. “He needs something that quickly tells his story.”

She suggested he emphasize his company’s “points of differentiation”--what it can offer versus the competition. For example, he might want to note that his years of experience, depth of sources and negotiating skills means he can do a job faster and cheaper.

Ottenstein’s goal to increase his script-clearance work is worth pursuing, Berman said. Script-clearance reports satisfy the entertainment industry’s errors and omissions insurance requirements that scripts be reviewed to ensure anything mentioned can legally be used in the show. Typical items Ottenstein said he might be asked to clear include set dressings (posters, paintings, pictures, etc.), copyrighted footage of film clips, music and company logos.

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He’d like more such work because it provides steady income and because it might offset revenue lost to the increased competition for providing footage to television shows, he said.

His network of contacts has helped him land several script-clearance jobs effortlessly, Ottenstein said. Networking will be his best bet for increasing his share of that market, the consultant said. But she doesn’t think he should concede the footage business just yet. “There is a lot more out there for him. I just don’t think he is maximizing what he can do.”

Ottenstein seems closer to stepping into the spotlight his business needs to thrive, she said. He has already signed up for the direct-mail seminar and is polishing copy for the postcard campaign.

For a long time, Ottenstein said, he was happy to consider himself a researcher and a businessman. That is beginning to shift, he said, as the need for marketing has made itself clear. “I guess a businessman has to be a salesman too,” Ottenstein said. “I think the key thing I’ve come to accept in the last few weeks is that marketing is not a luxury, it is a necessity and it needs to be done on some level every day.”

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Cyndia Zwahlen can be reached at cyndia.zwahlen@latimes.com.

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This Week’s Business Make-Over

* Company name: Finders Research Services Inc.

* Headquarters: Burbank

* Type of business: Entertainment industry research and script clearance

* Owner: Stanley Ottenstein

* Founded: 1989

* 1999 sales: $80,000

* Employees: One part-time

* Customers: Recent clients include Fox’s “Mad TV,” ABC/Lions Gate Entertainment’s “King of the World’ and Turner Network Television’s “James Dean: An Invented Life.”

Main Business Problem

How to recapture lost revenue and break into the field of script clearance.

Goal

To increase gross revenue to $500,000 within two years.

Recommendations

* Find out why customers do or do not buy from him.

* Investigate new markets.

* Develop and use a customer database.

* Create a direct mail advertising campaign.

* Increase networking.

Meet the Consultant

Sharon Berman, a marketing consultant with 20 years of experience, founded Tarzana-based Berbay Corp. five years ago. The company specializes in professional service firms.