The Golden Rule of Small Business MarketingWritten by Will Dylan
The Golden Rule of Small Business MarketingSolving Marketing vs Operations Riddle As a current small business owner and corporate marketing manager, I have seen marketing from both sides of fence. The big corporations tend to rely on their buying power and large advertising budgets to convince their potential customers to buy their products, while small business owners tend to be more crafty with their modest marketing budgets, looking for unique opportunities here and there that will enhance their sales efforts. There is one rule, however, that is applicable to both big guys and little guys. I call it Golden Rule of Marketing, and here it is: Marketing will never solve an operations problem. As much as marketers hate to admit it, bottom line on marketing is that it tends to cause more harm than good when a company’s operations are not running smoothly. So if sales are down and you’re considering ramping up on your marketing dollars to “solve” problem, you should first ensure that problem is not with your operations. Evaluate your Operations How do you sell your product or service? How good of a salesperson are you (honestly)? How about your service delivery…is it smooth and swift or slow and cumbersome for customers? All of these questions pertain to operations of your small business, and none of them can be rectified by running a razzle-dazzle marketing campaign. In fact, a successful marketing campaign that encourages people to purchase your product or service, only to find that product or service is faulty or service delivery is poor, will hurt your business in long run through negative word of mouth. Consider an Example Imagine that you run a hardware store. You need to have right store hours and right personnel in each department in order to ensure that your operation runs smoothly. If you have a great lumber salesperson working in your plumbing department (and he knows nothing about plumbing), that’s an operations mistake. You can pour over numbers each month and work hard to come up with new marketing schemes to boost your sagging plumbing sales, but nothing that you try will work as long as you continue to employ wrong salespeople in wrong departments. In fact, a great marketing program that draws people in to your store only to experience poor service when shopping for plumbing supplies might convince them not to return to your store, thus damaging your business. It’s a broad example, but you can see how easily it would apply to other businesses, including yours.
| | How to Survive “No, Thanks.” In BusinessWritten by Dr. Rachna D. Jain
When owning or operating a business, it’s inevitable that sometimes, people will not buy your product or service. This might occur early in contact cycle, or it might occur later, after you’ve expended some amount of time, money, and effort. While this never feels good, here are 10 ways you can minimize its impact on you and your business.1) Maintain a very high level of regular self care. This means that you make a commitment to your health and needs for sleep, exercise, good nutrition, and relaxation. It means that you have adequate reserves of time, money, and resources so that you have more than you need in all these areas. If you don’t, today, have “more than you need” getting to this level should be one of your first priorities. There is little worse than “needing” a client to buy so you can meet your monthly rent payment. Take strong action to increase your reserves. 2) Find a different spot to stand in. This means that you find a way to shift your perspective on process. Some will take rejection and use it as an excuse to never try again. Others will find a way to use experience and make it in something bigger, more generative, and more powerful. Which approach is more likely to foster success? 3) Consider that solution might be “not this way - try another”. This means that this event might, actually, give you a guidepost of how to move forward on your next attempt. If you can, find out why prospect did not buy your product or service. A simple follow-up call can show you ways to improve your selling process for next time. 4) Remind yourself that it’s not personal. This means, don’t make person’s decision as reflective of your talents, or your abilities. Some people are not right for you or your company, and some people are. When someone has said “No” be glad. They wouldn’t have been happy with what you offered, and may have cost more (in time, effort, special requests) in long run. It’s easier to do this, by way, when you don’t “need” sale - see tip #1. 5) Decrease time you spend with people who don’t respect you, your product, or your service. This means, instead, spend more resources cultivating people who value what you offer. Generate an “ideal prospect” profile and stick with this. Your bottom line will reflect difference.
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