It’s become the mantra of the moment: “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Leaders everywhere are struggling to make sense of the worldwide economic crisis, to learn lessons that will guide them and their companies going forward. My worry is that too many leaders are learning the wrong lessons—they are becoming conservative and risk-averse, they are searching for every opportunity to scale back and do less, they are cutting first and asking questions later.
It’s a natural response—and a huge mistake. Yes, a crisis has a way of concentrating the mind. Economic crises tend to focus the minds of business leaders on inputs: labor costs, capital spending, marketing budgets. My one plea to leaders in 2009 is that they not lose focus on the most critical output of their organization—the strength of its bonds to customers.
As the business environment gets tougher, meaner, more unforgiving, customers are going to get even more selective about whom they do business with. And what’s more important, in a world of shrinking demand, smaller margins, and scarce resources, than the depth and quality of your connections with customers? Now more than ever, companies and their leaders have to figure out how to stand out from the crowd, how to stand for something special, how to offer a positive alternative to the status quo. Customers want to do business with companies that share their values—and customers look to how organizations behave in dark times as a test of their values and character.
Am I suggesting that leaders rule out layoffs, investment reductions, or budget cuts? Of course not. But I am proposing one simple discipline, to balance out the urge to purge with a zest to invest. Make it mandatory that every time a brand or department or business unit moves to scale back and reduce costs, it also moves to stand out and strengthen relationships. Every tangible cost cut must be matched by a tangible burst of creativity that makes a meaningful statement to customers about what the company stands for. The good news: The best ideas cost little or no money, so it’s possible to satisfy budget demands without disappointing customers. Not easy, but possible. Small gestures of kindness, good cheer, surprise and delight, can send huge signals—especially in perilous economic times.
For years now, as I have address executive audiences around the word, I have urged leaders to ask themselves one simple question: If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss you and why? I first heard this question from advertising genius Roy Spence, who says he got it from strategy guru Jim Collins. Whatever the original source, the question is as profound as it is simple—and worth taking seriously as you evaluate how to navigate through this economic crisis.
Why might a company be missed? Because it’s providing a product or service so unique that it can’t be provided nearly as well by any other company. Because it’s forged a uniquely emotional connection with customers that other companies can’t replicate. Precious few companies meet any of these criteria—which may be why so many companies feel like they’re on the verge of going out of business, even in good times.
Today, with times as bad as they’ve been in decades, this simple question becomes more urgent than ever. So eliminate waste, slash budgets, reduce headcount if you must. But balance every financial cut with an investment of creativity aimed at customers. Remember, in an age of excess supply and shrinking demand, if your customers can live without you, eventually they will.
Source: http://www.mavericksatwork.com/
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Low-Cost-High Impact Marketing Strategies for a Slowdown
Today more and more marketers are beginning to perceive that, counter-intuitively, what is needed during a slowdown is increased investment in marketing to boost flagging sales, as well as to gain competitive advantage. As During a slowdown, the marketplace is less cluttered and you can use marketing to make an impact and steal a march on your competitors.
1. Focus on managing and satisfying your existing customers:
A slowdown is, in fact, the right time to strengthen already existing relationships by focusing on your current customers, offering them value-added services and showing them that they can continue to rely on and trust you. Use the customer data at your disposal to design measurable and effective CRM programs. If needed, make extra concessions to your existing customers and they will remember this once the market goes into an upswing.
2. Use lead management to maximise the value of each lead:
Invest in lead management tools, since you need to ensure that every dollar spent on a lead helps you get the most value out of that lead. Use lead nurturing to develop relationships with qualified prospects.
3. Adapt your products and services to suit the new environment:
Changing product attributes making it to suitable to customer basic requirement at the time of slowdown gives them more reason to takethe product or services. Marketing of these offers and strong product attributes to right prospect is the key here.
4. Internet use:
The most cost-effective marketing tool in these king of contidition. It is also the medium which is growing. Specially marketing of product like IT, ITES, Travel etc are suitable. The internet also offers a variety of innovative tools – viral marketing, blogging and other social networking tools, online press release distribution and Google adwords – allowing you to use a combination of these to keep your marketing vibrant and creative; all at a fraction of the cost of advertising or offline PR. Web 2.0 should be included with marketing activities.
5. Invest in measurable marketing tools like direct marketing:
Cut down on channels that do not lend themselves easily to ROMI, such as advertising, and instead focus on channels like direct marketing.
6. Tweak your marketing strategy to include ‘proof’ of your products and services:
Promote your offerings as low-risk, reliable and credible; in short that you are a ‘safe bet’. Focus on building credentials – your marketing communicating should revolve around customer references, expert opinions, awards and recognition, and strategic partnerships and alliances.
So, bottom line is don't stop investing in marketing. Instead use the lean market and invest in low cost marketing techniques.
1. Focus on managing and satisfying your existing customers:
A slowdown is, in fact, the right time to strengthen already existing relationships by focusing on your current customers, offering them value-added services and showing them that they can continue to rely on and trust you. Use the customer data at your disposal to design measurable and effective CRM programs. If needed, make extra concessions to your existing customers and they will remember this once the market goes into an upswing.
2. Use lead management to maximise the value of each lead:
Invest in lead management tools, since you need to ensure that every dollar spent on a lead helps you get the most value out of that lead. Use lead nurturing to develop relationships with qualified prospects.
3. Adapt your products and services to suit the new environment:
Changing product attributes making it to suitable to customer basic requirement at the time of slowdown gives them more reason to takethe product or services. Marketing of these offers and strong product attributes to right prospect is the key here.
4. Internet use:
The most cost-effective marketing tool in these king of contidition. It is also the medium which is growing. Specially marketing of product like IT, ITES, Travel etc are suitable. The internet also offers a variety of innovative tools – viral marketing, blogging and other social networking tools, online press release distribution and Google adwords – allowing you to use a combination of these to keep your marketing vibrant and creative; all at a fraction of the cost of advertising or offline PR. Web 2.0 should be included with marketing activities.
5. Invest in measurable marketing tools like direct marketing:
Cut down on channels that do not lend themselves easily to ROMI, such as advertising, and instead focus on channels like direct marketing.
6. Tweak your marketing strategy to include ‘proof’ of your products and services:
Promote your offerings as low-risk, reliable and credible; in short that you are a ‘safe bet’. Focus on building credentials – your marketing communicating should revolve around customer references, expert opinions, awards and recognition, and strategic partnerships and alliances.
So, bottom line is don't stop investing in marketing. Instead use the lean market and invest in low cost marketing techniques.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Marketing during Recession
"Companies that have been looking at marketing as an investment, and not an expense, and have been running their business through customer knowledge are the ones that are going to come out of this [recession] really, really well."
Three common thngs one need to do marketing in this situation are:
1. Value Marketing: Knowledge of how to do it.
2. Confidence: Company culture to do it
3. Money: Offcourse without which you cannot do it, rt?
Example of value marketing during earlier recession kind of situation: Intel launching “Intel Inside” during the 1990-1991 recession.
As per the Harvard Business School professor John Quelch-Companies should bear eight factors in mind when making their marketing plans for 2008 and 2009:
1. Research the customer: Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing.
2. Focus on family values
3. Maintain marketing spending: It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
4. Adjust product portfolios
5. Support distributors: In uncertain times, no one wants to tie up working capital in excess inventories. Early-buy allowances, extended financing, and generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line
6. Adjust pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut list prices, but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions such as sweepstakes and mail-in offers.
7. Stress market share
8. Emphasize core values. Although most companies are making employees redundant, chief executives can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners, and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people.
The most likely route or the most-effective route one can take is to have a judicious mix of advertising, direct marketing, public relations and channel relations depending on the kind of customer one targets. Reducing the budget below a threshold level will prove to be counter productive and can actually favour competition by giving them a clear run of the market.
While there have been differences interms of opinion on the approach to be taken and components of that approach one aspect all the executives agreed on is that slowdown presents an excellent opportunity to showcase one’s offering in a cost-effective and focused manner using tools like PR, direct marketing and focused advertising, so that the brand is ready for the upswing when the recession is over
Three common thngs one need to do marketing in this situation are:
1. Value Marketing: Knowledge of how to do it.
2. Confidence: Company culture to do it
3. Money: Offcourse without which you cannot do it, rt?
Example of value marketing during earlier recession kind of situation: Intel launching “Intel Inside” during the 1990-1991 recession.
As per the Harvard Business School professor John Quelch-Companies should bear eight factors in mind when making their marketing plans for 2008 and 2009:
1. Research the customer: Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing.
2. Focus on family values
3. Maintain marketing spending: It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
4. Adjust product portfolios
5. Support distributors: In uncertain times, no one wants to tie up working capital in excess inventories. Early-buy allowances, extended financing, and generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line
6. Adjust pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut list prices, but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions such as sweepstakes and mail-in offers.
7. Stress market share
8. Emphasize core values. Although most companies are making employees redundant, chief executives can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners, and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people.
The most likely route or the most-effective route one can take is to have a judicious mix of advertising, direct marketing, public relations and channel relations depending on the kind of customer one targets. Reducing the budget below a threshold level will prove to be counter productive and can actually favour competition by giving them a clear run of the market.
While there have been differences interms of opinion on the approach to be taken and components of that approach one aspect all the executives agreed on is that slowdown presents an excellent opportunity to showcase one’s offering in a cost-effective and focused manner using tools like PR, direct marketing and focused advertising, so that the brand is ready for the upswing when the recession is over
Web 2.0=Marketing 2.0
Marketing 2.0 is a play on words on which parallels Web 2.0. As you know Web 2.0 allows for an interactive experience on a web site (blog, social network, podcast, wiki, etc.)
In Marketing 1.0 we approach our prospective buyers through various advertisements, direct mail, email messages and cold calls.
In contrast, Marketing 2.0 shifts power to the buyer, where they have the ability to engage in conversations on the web with others who share common interests to learn, research and hear from others about products and services of interest. Before a buyer makes a purchase decision he/she has an unparalleled ability to hear from others who have made a similar purchase decision.
Finally, As marketers we have to be aware of this shift of power and engage our buyers in sincere and authentic conversations. A conversation is two way. We need to speak with, not talk (shout) at them.
In the old 1.0 world marketers blasted messages out. Marketing 2.0 is speaking with your buyer in conversations, getting engaged and listening to them.
Benefits:
--> Web 2.0 presents opportunities to use the internet in new and interactive ways to deliver an unprecedented amount of information and choice to unprecedented audience numbers.
--> Making Web-based marketing the norm, rather than the exception, will help optimise overall marketing spend.
--> Faster way to reach the audience
--> Positive impact of brand image of the company in the mind of customer for using new technology.
--> Faster and reliable feedback system
--> Audience participation leads to better understanding and hence fast response.
In Marketing 1.0 we approach our prospective buyers through various advertisements, direct mail, email messages and cold calls.
In contrast, Marketing 2.0 shifts power to the buyer, where they have the ability to engage in conversations on the web with others who share common interests to learn, research and hear from others about products and services of interest. Before a buyer makes a purchase decision he/she has an unparalleled ability to hear from others who have made a similar purchase decision.
Finally, As marketers we have to be aware of this shift of power and engage our buyers in sincere and authentic conversations. A conversation is two way. We need to speak with, not talk (shout) at them.
In the old 1.0 world marketers blasted messages out. Marketing 2.0 is speaking with your buyer in conversations, getting engaged and listening to them.
Benefits:
--> Web 2.0 presents opportunities to use the internet in new and interactive ways to deliver an unprecedented amount of information and choice to unprecedented audience numbers.
--> Making Web-based marketing the norm, rather than the exception, will help optimise overall marketing spend.
--> Faster way to reach the audience
--> Positive impact of brand image of the company in the mind of customer for using new technology.
--> Faster and reliable feedback system
--> Audience participation leads to better understanding and hence fast response.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Building and Maintaining an Effective Database Marketing System
Today's fast moving economy demands that enterprises leverage database marketing techniques efficiently to drive corporate revenue, profits, and brand awareness among customers and prospects. A well-structured and maintained database is the most valuable tool in a company's marketing arsenal.
Good People and Good Systems = Good Database
The value of a database comes not from a computer program, but from the information that is tracked. The most important component in a good database system is people who understand the importance of gathering information and of thinking proactively, and who are dedicated to keeping the information up-to-date.
Please note that regular data entry and maintenance may significantly change your present organizational procedures, depending on who enters the data, what the scale of operation is, and training requirements. It is of the utmost importance to support the person(s) who maintain the database (i.e. the people who input the data). This should be a priority job, not an after thought or a "when-you-have-time" task, and not something to think about late in a database adoption process. Without full and initial support of this person or persons who will primarily input and manage the data, your database, no matter how well designed or how highly thought of it is by IT experts, will fail to meet your organization's needs.
Few points:
Check validity
Capture everyone
Backup data
Update time to time
Build on different parameters
Good People and Good Systems = Good Database
The value of a database comes not from a computer program, but from the information that is tracked. The most important component in a good database system is people who understand the importance of gathering information and of thinking proactively, and who are dedicated to keeping the information up-to-date.
Please note that regular data entry and maintenance may significantly change your present organizational procedures, depending on who enters the data, what the scale of operation is, and training requirements. It is of the utmost importance to support the person(s) who maintain the database (i.e. the people who input the data). This should be a priority job, not an after thought or a "when-you-have-time" task, and not something to think about late in a database adoption process. Without full and initial support of this person or persons who will primarily input and manage the data, your database, no matter how well designed or how highly thought of it is by IT experts, will fail to meet your organization's needs.
Few points:
Check validity
Capture everyone
Backup data
Update time to time
Build on different parameters
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