5 Easy Pieces

The best way to break up hard times is to focus on a few easy tasks that represent positive action and, at the end of the day, have the potential to yield amazing results. Here are 5 easy pieces I have found that have the power to jolt you out of a stall and into a roll.
1. Review your value proposition - is there a way to re-frame it to work better in today's tough economy? Southwest Airlines is currently running a commercial showing a baggage handler happily toting luggage around on a cart, while the message comes through, "bags fly free." Wow. Friends fly free, now bags fly free! Who would have thought that your bag flying free would become a powerful value proposition? Obviously Southwest Airlines did, and you just have to know the competition is grinding their teeth every time that TV spot runs.
2. Remove cost as you add benefits - this is nothing new. Best Buy did it by drop-shipping directly to consumers for faster service and zero inventory. What can you recast in your marketing mix that adds up to lower cost, higher value for your customer?
3. Empower your customers by giving them trade-off options vs. price - it may mean unbundling some of your services, but in tight times, an ala carte menu puts the power in the customer's hands.
4. Tie your value proposition to your customers' core desires. Target did this when they squiggled "high style" into their budget-wise branding stance. Car insurance companies that sell insurance "by the mile" provide another example of appealing to basic customer desires.
5. Expand your universe. Who else needs your stuff? Who else would buy your stuff? Sometimes, a little brainstorming is all it takes to help you crack open fresh, new markets.
Give me a call if you'd like to discuss any of these ideas. Heck, you can do any one of these on your own if you put your mind to it! Good luck...and call me anyway!

Down the black hole and into the abyss.

I remember a visit to The Science Place some time ago, standing in front of an interactive exhibit demonstrating centrifugal force. Basically, you take a penny and roll it on edge along the circumference of a wide cone and watch as the penny makes the rounds, down, down, down the narrowing chute until it disappears into a deep, dark hole at the bottom. The entire circuit takes about 90 seconds to complete. It's mesmerizing. Other folks line up to roll their pennies as well, and even as the line of pennies circle, you can't take your eyes off your lone penny, circling, circling, circling down into the abyss. I thought of this exhibit recently after spending a day calling through my backlog of "proposals on hold." I keep a file of every proposal we make. Once a prospect says they're not interested, I move the file to the "dead zone" and hope that at some later date, I might be able to revive the contact. Well, after a day of making calls, and hearing one sob story after another on why someone can't do anything at this time...their marketing budgets were frozen...they'd just laid off staff...they're trying to make do with internal resources...they're not selling now...they're waiting for the economy to turn...they're stopping all marketing spending...they just lost an account...etc., etc., etc., I imagined that penny circling down into the abyss. You may as well have placed the name of every one of those sorry prospects on a penny and rolled them down into the tank. Folks, I don't need to tell you this...you already know it. The worst thing to do in a down economy is quit. Look. I understand it if you aren't sure about how to invest effectively on a marketing effort. It does take a little bit of intestinal fortitude to step up and spend into a recession. And, you can fix most of that if you measure twice, cut once and build a solid plan. But, while so many of your competitors are getting sucked down into the hole, I promise you, your effort to swim against the tide will stand out even more. Small marketing investments at this time "look big," because no one else is doing anything. Now is the time to do something. Be smart about it. But, absolutely do something. Now is the time to talk to MarketGarden and come up with a modest plan, based on good intelligence, and deliberately aim at increasing your business. You can be the hands at the bottom of the cone. Catch everyone else's pennies as they fall off the map. Break the cycle and get on a reverse roll, so that when this thing does turn around, you'll be standing at the top. I'm at 214-750-6601 if you want to talk.

Measure twice, cut once.

My dad, who made his living working with wood, hammered that axiom home with me (no pun intended). In marketing, it's equally applicable - especially in lean times. I have met with countless clients who seemingly structure their marketing plans using the old "rep in the doorway" approach. A media rep shows up, looking particularly attractive that morning, offering the deal of the century on (FILL IN THE BLANK). Almost without a thought, the contract is signed and the money is spent...marketing mission completed for said month/quarter/season, etc. Not long after said rep's perfume has wafted out of the office, said client awakens to the fact that said deal did not produce. Is your business doing so well that you can afford to continue the old "rep in the doorway" approach to marketing? My guess is probably not. My suggestion is to measure twice, cut once before you spend. Define what you want to achieve, build a plan to specifically achieve it, and by all means, measure the results along the way. You'll cut waste, improve results and effectively push back against the ill tide that has affected just about everyone's business. And all for a few meager ounces of forethought. Call me at 214-750-6601 if you want to discuss your marketing plans. I'll be happy to help.