Articles
How To Thrive When the Market Around You Changes
By: Debbra Sweet
December, 2007
As the year is winding down, the question to ask is: What are your marketing goals for 2008? Did 2007 turn out to be the kind of year you wanted for your business? If so, what successes do you want to repeat? If not, what do you need to change?
Many people I spoke with said that their sales and revenues were down in 2007 and they weren’t quite sure why. They had not changed what they had successfully done in past years, yet the results were different. I know the reason why: Although the industry they are in may not have changed, the market around them did. What do I mean by this?
What I’m talking about here is the buyers market. Consumer habits –the way people approach making a purchase- is different now than it was a year ago.
Since the evolution of the internet, the habits of consumers have made a dramatic shift. No longer do you find consumers listening to your every word eager for all of your suggestions of what to buy and when to buy it. It’s just the opposite! The wealth of information available to buyers about every subject under the sun is enormous. This one fact alone (among many others) has caused a major change in the buyer’s market place.
A Changing Market Causes a Confused Market
Buyers are confused
Suddenly, people see so many choices all around them. It used to be that there were only one or two choices in town for a specialty product or service. The choice was easy. Now, consumers have thousands of options at their fingertips. The ways that these businesses market themselves are not always clear or distinct. The buyers, now with more choices available, are baffled by the immense array of options and are unsure of which one to choose to best serve their needs.
The market itself is confused
Interest rates have risen, and continue to rise. This has an impact that trickles down into every industry. Some businesses are offering huge incentives to get their prospects to buy. The consumer has over saturation of sellers of goods. The consumer isn’t sure if they should take advantage of the huge incentive offers or hold out for better deals later. These conditions have reduced potential buyers’ sense of urgency to purchase now!
Businesses are also confused
It has been a sellers market for so long, and suddenly, it’s not anymore. Businesses do not know what sort of measures they should take to combat this problem. They become reactive to the market instead of being proactive. They react and do desperate or hodge-podge marketing and advertising. They try to follow a shift trend instead of being the one to create the new trend with focused, well thought out and thoroughly planned, targeted marketing.
Reactive businesses feel the need to immediately lower prices. Some might be able to do so for a short period of time. Most cannot afford to do this at all. Lowering prices too much and/or too often can cause an unexpected negative effect in the mind of the buyer. If you continually lower your prices you can actually cause more instability in the mind of your prospect. They may see that action as a signal of weakness in your business or they may even think there is a problem with the service or product. This can discourage people from buying from you.
Salespeople who work for you are confused
The ways people want to be sold to have changed. When sales people do not understand that, coupled with the lack of training in sales evident today, their sales will slow down. Sales do not come as easily or quickly as they used to. We find that with many of our clients, when we first start working with them, the sales team has never been integrated with the marketing department. Sales people are unaware of the goals or strategies that the marketing is supposed to achieve. Most sales people have never owned a business and they have a natural inclination to automatically want to lower prices, offer incentives and spend more of the company’s money on advertising that may or may not work.
So What Is A Business Owner To Do?
To thrive in a changing market- You Must NOT be confused about the market around you and be very in tune with the buying process of your customers.
The fact that the market has changed from a sellers market to a buyers market doesn’t mean that your business is in a bad market.It just means that you need to alter your sales process to stay with the times. You need to update your marketing systems to include motivating communication and messaging built around marketing strategies that connect with the buying habits of today’s prospects.
All businesses that attain and maintain success understand that marketing should be a fluid element in the business, based on following proven strategies in a solid marketing plan.
Many businesses have ideas of what they want to do but they do not have it written down in a clear, concise plan that allows for strategic growth. Ideas not written down and held accountable to are simply ideas- not a plan.
Your business needs a written plan with room for adaptations in how you will be proactive in your approach to sales and marketing. You need to allow for some reactive marketing and PR opportunities but for long term success… a proactive plan is the key!
There are many nuances in developing an executable marketing plan. Just as one would find benefit in working with a skilled architect to develop plans to build a home or office building, working with a marketing advisor or professional marketing plan developer can be a huge benefit to the success of your business. The investment to engage a professional to help you develop your plan will be nominal when compared to the long term return potential.
Real time example of the importance of proper planning
We are currently working with a client that went through our planning assessment (our proprietary CANDO ™ Process). One of the goals of this company was to increase revenue 25% by years end. This company is a sporting/entertainment venue and has been in business for many years without a marketing plan. Recently, as buyer motives shifted in the market around them, they experienced a loss in customers and a decrease in revenue. What they had historically done for generating business was no longer working.
The simple plan for them is to regain lost customers, generate new ones, engage all staff members into the new marketing approach and get revenue up 25% over the next 12 months.
We introduced a custom marketing plan to them in September 2007 and started one new marketing strategy (out of many to come) in October. This strategy will be carried forth between October 2007 and June 2008. To date with just this one new strategy (involving three specific event promotions) the company has regained former customers and attracted new ones. Two of the events each resulted in double the anticipated participants. One event was brand new. The other was an update on a traditional promotion. The next event (another brand new idea that came out of the marketing plan) has been sold out for some time.
There has been a noticeable shift in the culture and attitudes of employees and people in the community- and the management staff is wondering how they will be able to handle more inquiries to their existing sporting events from new customers. (This is a good problem to have!)
If this company stays on target with this one new strategy we introduced, they will easily reach their 25% goal of revenue increase. The probability is strong that as they introduce a couple more marketing strategies from their new marketing plan and they will surpass their goals.
The Main Point
In a very short amount of time, this company has become a proactive marketing business instead of being reactive and held hostage to the market changes around them. The ability to make such a noticeable turn around in such a short amount of time started with one decision: they decided to make the commitment to having a strategic marketing plan made for them and work with a seasoned advisor that guides them along the way. From this decision, they will see continuing success, they’ll be able to avoid common marketing mistakes and the company will be able to stay financially healthy for many years to come.
Where will your company be in 2008? It has been said “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Are you ready to make a commitment to yourself and to your company this year and develop a strong marketing plan that will allow you to be proactive and successful in the market around you?
Start Here |
