bad economy stories
“How to Get Customers in this El Crappo Economy.”
You won’t find “el crappo” in Webster’s, but it’s the exact verbiage used when I was emailed this topic and invited to offer my insight. So, here goes.
But first some background. I run a creatively-driven, advertising and marketing firm geared toward smaller businesses. I also do something called “Marketing Therapy” which is the way I often begin with business owners who realize they have marketing issues and also realize they need professional help. I’ve been doing Marketing Therapy for the past few years and running a business, in various forms, for the past 24. During these 24 years I’ve been responsible for getting my own clients for all but 4 of those years. So, I’ve managed to get through several tough economic times. Oh yeah, I should add that I’ve had no formal business or sales training.
I’ve learned that the way to get customers in a bad economy is not a lot different than the way you’d do it a good economy. A bad economy just forces you to do it better. “Better” means smarter and more creatively. Because in business, as in battle, the spoils don’t always go to the biggest or richest. They usually go to the smartest and most innovative. But being effective at it depends on the specific business and situation. For example, are we talking about a law firm, or a car dealership? Is this about a national branding effort, or a personal job search? To get a real idea of what I mean you can see some real problem/solution cases at this link. Whatever the scenario, however, you must be really clear about who your prospect is and then devise a way to get their attention in an exiting, positive way. Once you do that, then comes the fun part — convincing them.
I was recently interviewed on BlogTalk Radio and asked about an article I wrote entitled, “No One Give a Damn About Your Product — unless you Give’em a Reason to.” If the title isn’t obvious, it means that unless you’re selling cold drinks in a desert your product benefits may not be as obvious to your prospect as you’d like to think. And, this is where business owners really need help. Entrepreneurs and business owners, as a rule, are passionate, ego-driven people. As a result they tend to have a blind spot when it comes to seeing their business or product as nakedly as their prospects do. So, besides lacking marketing expertise, they lack something equally critical to their success in getting customers — objectivity. I’ve seen it time and time again when a business owner’s ego blinds, or distorts, the realities. Some examples are… not knowing or respecting your competition… not acknowledging a poor presentation of your product… or thinking you can write compelling ad copy because you majored in English. These things will not help get more customers. If you’re truly looking to improve your odds at getting more customers start by being as clear as possible about how your product or service is being perceived. You may not have the thousands to invest in research, but spending a few hundred to get a trusted, qualified outside perspective is a wise investment.
Another key point about attracting customers is this: Information, no matter how complete, is not enough. You won’t convert prospects into a customers if you don’t excite them. Your message needs to touch your prospect on an emotional level.
Besides creativity, and objectivity, and knowing how to appeal to prospects on an emotional level, it also takes persistence, patience, and occasionally a little luck. Here’s a true story of how I landed one of my biggest projects.
If “who you know” is the way to get more business then Networking is one good way to know more people, right? Well, that depends. There’s no shortage of networking events that, I think, are a big waste of time. After a year’s worth of my active membership in one particular networking group I was sure that my experience was falling into that category. The organization was NYWICI … NY Women in Communication.
Yes, I know. I initially attended as a guest and thought it was a joke when I was asked to join. I was told that, yes, men could join and they’d love to have me. The female membership was close to 900. When I asked how many men were members, they said 7.
I was convinced that I had to do more networking and pondered the idea of membership for several weeks. I even talked with another male member who encouraged me to join. Did he get any business out of it? No. But he did get a girlfriend. Hmm. So, with reluctance, I joined figuring that at least I’d stand out hoping that my mere existence would act as an automatic conversation starter. At the very least, I figured, I’d get a couple of dates out of it.
Not the case. Month after month, for 12 months, I’d throw on my best suit and make the trek to the events only to be ignored by a professional sisterhood that I felt no part of. I felt like I was a wedding crasher and it was unnerving. As I discouragingly shuffled out of the final networking event of the year, regretting my $350 membership, I found myself sharing an elevator with the incoming president. Just moments earlier I’d enjoyed her impassioned speech about the importance of business integrity and camaraderie. So, as I stood watching the elevator lights count down the seconds of my membership, I suddenly turned and complimented her on her speech. With a who-the-hell-are-you glance back I quickly explained that I actually was a NYWICI member. We exchanged cards.
Now I must tell you that my business card is not your normal business card. So, when she was stopped by it, and impressed by the attention-getting creativity, her demeanor quickly warmed up. And for the next 18 floors down I found myself in the most engaged dialogue that I’d been in all year. By the time we hit the ground floor we’d talked about lunch. It took the next three months to actually have that lunch, but a month after we did I signed a contract for a very cool 2-month project that netted me $86,000.
Was it luck? That was certainly part of it. But that luck was created by a synchronistic combination of strategic thinking, action, out-f-the-box creativity, persistence, and patience. Those same things apply to marketing any business to attract more customers.
About the Author
John Follis is President of Follis Inc. which includes Marketing Therapy. His full professional profile can be seen on Wikipedia. John can be reached at: john@follisinc.com And, for those who are curious, his business card can be viewed at: http://www.follisinc.com/cardstory.htm
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