Where's your business headed this year? This article by John Graham offers recommendations on setting your priorities.
If we listen to half the politicians, everything will be coming up profits this year. They tell us to stop worrying about the economy. We're heading towards a new sunrise, they say. The other politicians paint a darker and far less optimistic picture. Where does that leave us? What are we to believe in 2004?
After reviewing the predictions, the picture might look something like this: Some sectors, particularly those driven by defense, will be roaring. But aside from that, much of the economy will still be hurting, and not too much will be trickling down.
Here's how it looks: Fewer and lower raises, substantially reduced advertising expenditures, and, as the authors of The Two-Income Trap suggest, “even for families that do everything right, the line between solvency and bankruptcy has never been thinner.”
Two headlines on page one of the same daily newspaper screamed the message: “Poverty Increases, Income Declines” was an article on the latest U.S. Census report. The other one was even more direct: “Working, But Hungry.”
So where does this leave us for getting where we want to be this year?
Here are a dozen thoughts and suggestions for 2004:
1. Stand with your customers. Don't fall for the “glass is half full” nonsense. It might be half empty. What's the point? Don't be softheaded. Most important, don't be caught short. Prudence is always the best guide.
This isn't about optimism and pessimism. It's about reality. For example, Xerox's strategy with one customer segment is reality driven. Instead of just trying to sell the latest and greatest equipment — and it is, by the way — Xerox is working with customers, even suggesting that they buy out equipment at the end of a lease to save money and to wait before making new equipment purchases until there's greater business certainty.
2. Don't keep trying to “milk” present customers for more business. Whenever times get tight, we're told to sell more to our current customers. Although this might sound like a great idea, it's nonsense. It's the present customers who are cutting back!
In the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s, many companies tried to load up their customers, a disastrous strategy for those who found themselves drowning in debt. Together with many companies, Xerox made this mistake. No longer! Its goal is to work with customer so that when the time comes for new purchases, Xerox will be there to make the sale.
3. Only do business with those who take time to understand what you're up against. The issue isn't “understanding your business.” While that's helpful, it's not a core issue. It's figuring out where you are, grasping what isn't going well, and figuring out ways to fix it.
A long established, well-known manufacturer with sales problems called in a marketing services firm. An initial analysis noted that the company had serious marketing deficiencies, including an inability to distinguish between features and benefits and a seemingly incorrigible tendency to talk about itself instead of focusing on the customer.
Fancy brochures, a glitzy Web site, e-mail campaigns, and stepped-up advertising weren't going to solve these fundamental problems. But would the prospect want to hear all this? Would the prospect like to hear that all that's needed is a quick, inexpensive fix? Of course. That's what sells. But it doesn't solve fundamental problems.
Just because you or I happen to sell to a number of companies in the same industry provides no assurance that we can solve the next prospect's problems. It's by understanding what a particular business is faced with that makes a difference.
4. Don't be timid. The pain of the last three years won't be forgotten as quickly as we might think. The fact that so many others are holding back gives you an excellent opening. Drive through. “In Lean Times, Big Companies Make a Grab for Market Share,” stated the Wall Street Journal's page one headline. The subhead put it to bed: “Opportunity Knocks.” Come out and do it.
Is it accidental that Schick brought its new Quattro shaving system to market when it did? Of course not. Schick is David attacking Gillette, the great Goliath of shaving with 80% of the market. Does Schick harbor illusions about beating Gillette? No way. But a preemptory strike that gives the company an up tick in market share is an achievable goal.
5. Give them a reason to want you. “Did you get our proposal?” “Could I stop by for 20 minutes and tell you about our company?” “I'm going to be in your area next week, can I” When you hear such phrases, there's just one question to ask: “So what?”
Forget about ads that shout the name of your company and how long it's been in business. Draw upon your company's years of experience and your expertise that will help your customers. If you share it with them, you'll be welcomed because you bring something that's useful.
6. Don't fall for the simple, the easy. Sure, e-mail “blasts” are quick, easy, and cheap. But do they accomplish your objectives? Do they enhance branding? There might be a reason why the cost is low. Don't reject what takes time, effort, and planning just because it takes time, effort, and planning.
Either-or thinking gets us in trouble. The Pew Internet and American Life Project study found that “wired baby boomers” split between hard copy newspapers and online news sources. But with a low tolerance to wade through up to 50% of e-mail spam, there's a place for print advertising and electronic advertising.
Or, take the bash staged by Harley-Davidson in honor of its 100th anniversary. It drew more than 300,000 visitors to Milwaukee. And at the high point of the event, the company introduced its 2004 line of bikes. It was the biggest birthday party of all time.
It was a public relations event that took years of preparation and millions of dollars. The Harley-Davidson people didn't choose a PR strategy because it was less costly than something else — but because it could be the most effective approach for building the brand.
7. Dig out the gold. Read business and trade journals; and not just those of your own industry. Get your hands on as many as possible. Read the table of contents. That's where you'll find the real gold. Editors are good at identifying hot topics and problems their readers are having. If you can come up with solutions that make sense, you have a leg up in attracting customers from particular business sectors.
8. Don't get seduced by your own ideas — or the ideas of those around you. Most companies are poor marketers because they're preoccupied with the image of themselves they see in the mirror: “We're the best, Our service is great, We have terrific people.” On and on it goes.
Our firm reviewed a file folder full of marketing materials from a substantial company. Each piece whether a newsletter, mailer or brochure had the same theme: the company. There was nothing about what customers might want. There was no reference to customer expectations. In fact, there was nothing about customers.
Companies, like people, can become so self-absorbed that they fall into the trap of seducing themselves. Here's the point: If it isn't all about the customer, it's worthless.
9. Guard the brand. Difficult times and pressure from above might mean taking chances. Mutual funds have long been a bastion of trust for the small investor. Yet, some investors are evidently more equal than others. “Fund managers have succumbed to temptation and allowed investors in the target funds … in exchange for additional money in their own pockets,” stated a complaint from the Attorney General of New York State.
Not only have some of the nation's outstanding mutual funds been scarred by their greed, but faith in the mutual-fund system is further threatened.
At all costs, guard your brand. Why did the head of the New York Stock Exchange allow his personal gain to supercede his responsibility to his company?
In the final analysis, it's all about the brand.
10. Don't live vicariously. Jack Welch was a great business leader with a great support staff caring for his image night and day. He also rose during the 1980s and 1990s, when most CEOs looked good. He was staged, perhaps better than any president other than Ronald Reagan.
All consultants have all the right answers, until something goes wrong — and then they bring out a new book. Forget about 23 behaviors of the most successful salespeople. Business isn't about imitating; it's about being real — being yourself.
11. Tend to the details. Our daughter was conducting a campus tour at Boston University of prospective students and their parents, when the Chancellor, Dr. John Silber, joined the group. “Why did he take his time to do that?” she asked. There might be a number of reasons; but it suggested to me that the head of the nation's fifth largest private university understands the value of taking care of the details. Everything is important in getting to the goal.
If we skip taking care of the little things, we'll be faced with dealing with the big problems.
12. Watch out for the “deflectors.” They're in every organization. It's easy to spot them. They constantly introduce reasons for not taking action. There's always a piece missing or a need for extra time. And when they've pushed those scenarios about as far as they can go, they introduce a new idea that turns attention away from the tasks at hand.
As the time came for a company to implement a series of marketing programs, the sales manager came up with an approach that sidetracked what had been in place for months. The end result was clear: Nothing happened.
The test of any organization is in what it accomplishes, not what it talks about.
There they are a dozen tactics to avoid derailing a company from fulfilling its mission. Even the best of companies tend to be thwarted by inertia. Beleaguered Motorola missed the key selling season by being late in getting its photo cellular phone to market. Already behind its competitors, it just couldn't make it happen.
Each of these 12 tactics deals with a facet of falling behind. Overcoming them is the effective way to get ahead.