Survival Marketing: Concentrate on the Basics
"Could you come right over?" Ad agencies and PR firms hear those words regularly. The prospective client's story is always the same: "We've got a problem." The problem is usually far more serious than the client will dare admit.
At the first sign of weakening sales, an economic change or the entrance of a new competitor, management panics. They derail logic and mobilize their forces and rally for increased sales.
When conditions change as they always do, the wise manager doesn't panic or give into fear. Instead of taking a defensive posture, he goes on the offensive. The wise manager who has navigated problem periods before, have armed themselves with the techniques of "Survival Marketing."
Techniques of Survival Marketing
The techniques of Survival Marketing are very easy to use, and begin with a simple, yet very powerful concept: concentrate on the basics. Your company's single most important job is to get and keep customers. The only way of doing this is to help solve your customers' problems better than anyone else! Don't assume you have the answers. Learn what each customer means by "better." Then, adapt your product or service so that it is perceived as "better" in the eyes of your customer.
The customer relationship is always much more fragile than we like to think. In fact, customer satisfaction depends on just one issue: meeting needs on time, every time. Work harder than ever to meet as many of those needs as you can. This means taking more time to be helpful, understanding, and supportive of your customers' needs.
It is also important during tough times to make sure it's your customers who are running your business. A marketing-driven company operates just one way: the total effort - product, service, price and promotion - must be adapted to the needs and wants of customers.
Another basic technique is to think like the customer to discover what you can do to bring out your uniqueness. Remember, though, it's never the value you want to add that makes the difference; it's the value the customer wants to receive that's important.
Beyond the basics, utilize these other techniques of survival for turning adversity into success:
Focus all your attention and energy on your customers. Make this one an ironclad rule and never forget it. When business gets soft, everyone will spend time talking about problems with the competition - better products, pricing, marketing. These problems spread like a bad rumor, where they are nothing more than an excuse for poor performance. Focus constantly on what needs to be done to create more and more customers.
Work especially hard at retaining present customers. Even if customers are spending less, don't let them be tempted to take their business elsewhere. It costs so much more to gain a new customer than it does to keep an old one.
Build your prospect list. Put some quality time into developing the customers you would prefer doing business with you're not doing business with now. Make regular contact with these companies and explain why you have a special interest in them. Show how dealing with you has special benefits for them. Make your goal clear: ask what you will have to do to get their business.
Increase your presence in the marketplace. Ideally, a marketing program should be consistent throughout the year in order to get rid of the valleys and establish an overall upward growth pattern. Many companies tend to cut marketing budgets in time of crisis. But what could be more essential than ensuring a steady flow of orders?
Clearly, if you want business, it is essential to be the leader. Even if you occupy a narrow niche, make sure you're perceived as the dominant force. Flood the marketplace with your presence through a carefully calculated program of advertising, direct mail, and public relations.
Market aggressively, and never stop. Adjust your strategy to fit the psychology of the times. Emphasize how your products or services save time, cut costs, and increase productivity. By taking this route, you will stand out in the marketplace while most of your competitors are pulling back to a more defensive position.
Keep a watchful eye on the competition. Don't assume your competitors are sleeping. They may be making moves to cut into your customer base. More than ever it's important to scout competitor's actions. At the same time, don't be duped by the competition. Just because a competitor is buying ad space in certain publications, don't assume that the decision to take these steps is based on solid information. The competitor may have moved out of fear, not research.
Practice niche marketing. Look for those markets that best match your company's products and services - and come out swinging. Chances are competition is less intense in these markets and your strong position will fend off unwanted intruders. As you successfully serve new customers, you have a good chance to become a preferred supplier.
Stand firm. The easiest way to get more business is to cut prices. In fact, if you cut them deep enough, you'll have more business than you can handle. You will also be bankrupt. Pricing problems are almost always the direct result of not having taken the time and effort to establish value in the mind of the customer.
Assume that no one, including long-time customers, knows what you sell. When all is well and sales roll in, we all get lax. We're so busy we forget about the basics. Has anyone ever said to you, "I've been doing business with you and I didn't know you sell an X, Y, or Z." What these words reveal is a vast untapped resource for new sales. The people you do business with regularly will buy more from you if you only let them know how you can help them. The key to success here is endless repetition. Tell them over and over again - in new and interesting ways. They may not buy today, but you'll have a better chance of them buying in the future.
"Survival Marketing" is neither a gimmick nor something new. It's just plain good, solid marketing sense, based on the fundamental assumption that difficult situations need not cause a business to flounder. When you get tough with yourself and your business, success is on the way. That applies to good times and tough times alike.
Long ago, these tough-minded practitioners of "Survival Marketing" discovered the most basic of all ideas in business: the primary goal is not to make sales, but to make customers. That's the goal of "survival marketing." That's how you stay in business regardless of the sate of the economy or the competitive scene.
This story is adapted from Mr. Graham's book The New Magnet Marketing (Chandler House Press). To read more about John R. Graham, see small business consultants, or visit his website at grahamcomm.com .
