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How to Thrive in Times Like These

Written by: Liz Walker

Article Overview: The “R” word is coming up a lot, of course. How bad will it be? What should we do? How worried are you? Maybe surprisingly, in those coffee shop gabfests, we’ve heard some fabulous ideas and success stories along with the questions and worried looks. So this article is about how we can all cope, maybe even prosper, in Times Like These.

How to Thrive in Times Like These

Your Best Customers are Depending on YOU in Times Like These

We usually have our weekly planning meetings in one of the coffee shops in town—for one thing, there’s better coffee—and we can usually find a couple of other business owners to chat with.

The “R” word is coming up a lot, of course. How bad will it be? What should we do? How worried are you? Maybe surprisingly, in those coffee shop gabfests, we’ve heard some fabulous ideas and success stories along with the questions and worried looks.

So this article is about how we can all cope, maybe even prosper, in Times Like These. Recessions are not new. Statistics show that businesses that continue promoting through recessionary times come out stronger than ever when the hard times are over. We’ll show you how a simple step-by-step system will ensure your marketing dollars are working for you, and we’ll share success stories from other local businesses that you can adapt and use.

The First Step: Take care of your Ideal Customers and they’ll take care of you.
Ideal Customers really trust you, value the experience they have doing business with you and look to your expertise to give them what they want. They buy a lot of your product, pay quickly and never give you a headache. They pay more, and they expect to!

They are the lifeblood of your business, and right now they are being wooed by every one of your competitors with special offers, lower prices and extravagant promises.

If you do nothing else this week do this: write to each of the Ideal Customers who provide most of your profit to tell them how much you appreciate their business. Reassure them that you are committed to maintaining the high level of service they are accustomed to. Ask for a personal meeting with you or your sales team to discuss their needs. Remember, they are hurting too—be prepared to offer them something of value that will help them keep their Ideal Customers.

And know that in Times Like These, you have to go the extra mile to maintain these valuable relationships.

But don’t stop there. Ask your Ideal Customers what publications they read, what TV shows they like, what kind of music they prefer, and perhaps even what kind of leisure activities they enjoy. Look for the commonalities among the answers and you’ll get an idea of the places where your advertising will work best because it’s reaching the right people.

If you really want to be successful, you simply must strengthen the loyalty of your Ideal Customers and find more customers just like them.

Here is what we would like to hear you say every time you are about to start a new task in your business: “Will this help me keep my Ideal Customers?” If the answer is no—don’t do it!

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Article Tags: business owners, coffee shop, coffee shops, doing business, extra mile, fabulous ideas, headache, lifeblood, local businesses, marketing, promises, recessionary times, recessions, share success, special offers, statistics, success stories
Referred by: http://www.makingprofitspour.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - I concur with the above posters. Franchise Times is a very good industry publication.


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