MarketingMoment

Whether your company is feeling the pinch of these brutal economical conditions, or there are personal factors that are affecting your bottom line, one thing is certain: to succeed in business you have to keep on marketing, especially in the current climate. 

Don’t market your products or services . . . and your business will fail. And that goes for ANY business in ANY economy.

Here is one low-cost ‘no-brainer’ marketing tool you can use right now to help break out of a sales slump and boost your revenue — and therefore your staying power. In fact, it’s a strategy that has been proven to work irrespective of which direction the economy is heading.

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Reactivate ‘Stale’ Clients

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It’s a well-known fact that it is 5-7 times more expensive to acquire a new client (or customer) than it is to get a repeat sale from an existing or even ex client. Yet still, business-owners are all too often so busy chasing new clients that they completely overlook what they already have: a gold mine of neglected sales. And even if they don’t ignore their former clients, most companies never properly implement or even consider a follow-up strategy. 

There are numerous ways to  ’mine’ lapsed clients. Here is one of the quickest and perhaps easiest methods:

Simply pick up the phone (or write to them, if you prefer) and ask how thing are going. Apologise for it being a while since you last were in contact. Check how they’re doing, and what’s going on with their business, etc. 

The purpose of the call is NOT to sell your new product or ask for more work, but rather to remind them that you exist. You’ll be surprised how many ’stagnant’ clients will say, “Hey, while you’re here, I’ve got a need for…”

Don’t feel like contacting them? No problem! But you can be sure that when you are not talking to your former clients on a regular basis, your competition will be.

(To discover more, read the latest issue of Communiqué for Success.) 

NB:

If you want to learn how to systematically implement a simple-yet-powerful reactivation strategy that adds 10-30% to your business profits with little time, money or effort, and at absolutely no risk to you, then please get in touch for your no-obligation complimentary consultation.

Please be aware that I am offering this service to just three companies at this time. These few will learn just how easy it is to implement — and execute — this sustainable 2-step profit technique … and they WILL gain an incomparable competitive advantage. All places are on a first-come, first-served basis.

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If business development, thought leadership and brand focus were important topics before this recession - the best companies will now put them at the very top of their agendas, so said a top independent strategic economist in Europe recently.

Look at any of the past economic downturns and you’ll see one thing in common with the ‘intelligent’ brands: They each upped their game when it came to building a presence. This took the form of greater marketing activity (to the point where they were selling far more aggressively than during more prosperous times) and introducing new ideas.

The result was that when the economy rebounded and the tide rose above the recession, not only did they come out fighting, they also had a far greater market share than their competition. Those competitors who survived, that is.

So, and I’ve said this numerous times before, now is NOT the time to cut back on your marketing spend. Instead, stretch your budget while marketing smarter. Your brand – and company revenue – WILL thank you for it later.

Sceptical? Apart from the anecdote above, take a look at the current biggest brand in the world: Barack Obama. He became president of the United States amid the worst global recessions since World War II. Yet, he didn’t stand still just because the times were tough. Rather, he ’sold’ himself to the world, collecting a staggering number of ‘hits’ on countless websites and inspiring many along the way. His drive for the presidentship spawned a whole new kind of branding in its wake, including a whole host of Obama-branded merchandise, and helped him get more than global recognition; he got elected, too! 

I urge you to take a leaf out of Brand Obama’s book and be proactive, (not reactive). Optimise your marketing opportunities during these uncertain times recession. Please don’t be one of the ‘Gordon Browns’ of the business world by only doing something about your lot when it’s too late… 

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Picture by ‘bargainmoose’, ‘MOO’ and ‘FRINGEy’ via Flickr

I ventured outdoors to a networking function the other day (being a writer, I’m afraid I live up to that semi-reclusive stereotype. Oh, heck, let’s just say I’m more comfortable liaising via the written word than face to face, where I often fall flat on my face. Or it feels like it!), and was given a number of business cards to take home with me.

Without naming any names, I noticed that several weren’t being used to their full potential. Worse, one had a typo on it.

So, here allow me to present a few tips on producing a business card that you’d be proud of — and that would do you proud:

1. Include all the important details. For example, your name and/or business name, address, phone number, fax number, email address and website URL.
2. Make someone really connected by handwriting your direct telephone line or email address before you pass on your card.
3. If your company has employees, make sure everyone has their own stack of business cards. The more cards there are to give out the better; it will make your employees feel valued and help to spread the word bout your business.
4. Place your cards on bulletin boards at local libraries, schools and restaurants to obtain maximum coverage for your business in your area. Might be worthwhile seeking permission first.  :)
5. Think about creating magnetic business cards — which are becoming popular, but still underused enough to be a novelty. Your clients/customers can put them on places where they will be visible for many years. They could give you the edge of your competitors.
6. Make sure you proofread your card before it goes to the printers — and, if possible, as a page proof before it gets printed.

Source: Start Your Business magazine, issue 17

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Fellow blogger David Pogue has published a great post on how he used Twitter as part of a real-time Q&A session. If you’ve ever wondered how to be creative with Twitter, or just wondered about Twitter, then this is a good little post to read (you’ll get a few laughs, too): 

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/the-twitter-experiment/  

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