It seems that every day there is a new take on the recession. The housing market is up, but housing sales are still down? Consumer sales are up, but consumer confidence is still down. The stimulous is not working. Small businesses are taking advantage of stimulous dollars to bridge the sales gap. Who is right here? What can I expect?
The short answer is, all of these are correct. What you experience is likely dependent on some key determining factors. Your industry, your location, your systems will all play a part in what is happening for your business. More important than any of these, however, is how you have responded to building your business during the recession. If you have been working on growth in meaningful ways, you are more likely than others to see improvements now. One of my clients illustrates this very well.
When this recession started, perhaps the hardest hit industry was home construction. Certainly new home construction was hit hardest, but every segment of that industry fell the pain. Master Custom Home Remodeling in Knoxville, Tennessee was no exception. As the recession started they saw a decline in customer inquiries and a reduction in sales. Many business owners responded to this market change by withdrawing, Dawn Steimer decided the better idea was to grow.
In the early days of the recession, Dawn began a radio marketing campaign that was expensive, but promised high returns if it worked. Over the course of the next 12 months she continued to pay for ad presence on one of the area's most popular stations. She also volunteered to be a guest host on a local Saturday morning radio talk show focused on home maintenance and repair. The results were dramatic.
Measuring and comparing this year to last year, Dawn's lead generation increased by 400%. The result for her is a full pipeline and opportunities that could make this one of the best year's ever for her business. I would say the recession is most likely over for Dawn and Master Custom Home Remodeling.
But what about business owners who did not start marketing so early? What can you do to end the recession in your world?
First, you have to believe that it is not too late to make a difference. If you want to get your business growing right now, then get started today on your systems for lead generation. As you do, keep these principles in mind:
1. Who: Lead generation begins with a very strong understanding of who you are marketing to. You need a current profile of your target customer that let's you know exactly who you are trying to reach. The CEO Rule is, "you market to suspects."
2. What: Before you start marketing or advertising, make sure you know exactly what you intend to offer. This may seem obvious, but creating a value proposition that will be meaningful to your suspects is not always easy and may change from time to time. This is especially true as you are trying to break out of a recession. Revisit your product or service mix and define a value proposition that will sell right now.
3. Where: This piece has two components. First, define the geography of your market and then target that geography. Dawn Steimer did a lot of things to increase her marketing activities during the past year, including updating her website and getting active in social media marketing. While some of these may have had global reach, she defined each of them in terms of how they would help her reach her local market. That is why the radio program was so valuable. Her voice on live air was supported by other activities that emphasized her commitment to her regional marketplace. A great strategy.
Second, you need to know where to find the people or businesses who make up your target market. There are hundreds of marketing avenues, but only a few of them will actually lead to your suspects. For example, if you want to meet business owners, you have to know where you will find them. What organizations do they join? What events to day attend? What kind of mail will they actually read? What radio or television stations and programs do they follow? Blindly investing in marketing activities that don't actually reach your suspects is not money well spent.
4. When: There are good times and bad times to approach the people in your target market. You need to know when is the best time to reach them. Not only the best time of day, but the best day of the week, the best week of the month, the best month of the year. All business has seasonality. Know when is the best time to make your pitch. Plan your activities to match their patterns.
5. Why: This is the most important piece. Before you begin your marketing and advertising campaign you need to understand why your suspects will buy your product or server. Know why not from your perspective, but from theirs. Think about the times when someone has tried to sell you something. If they don't have the why part right, they will often focus their energies on telling you how much you need what they have to offer. How much better would it be if instead, they focused on asking you about what you want or need so that they can make sure they know just how their product matches your need.
Now that you have answered the key questions, you are ready to put your plan into action. Of course, that is often the most difficult part. You may need to find a coach or adviser who can help you decide the best avenues to pursue. If so, give me a call or send me a message at kevin@estradastrategies.com. I can help. Whether you set out on your own or work with an adviser or coach, make sure you create a plan that you can measure for success and then commit to that plan for long enough to produce the results you want.
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