Start with Reality in your Marketing
Start with Reality in your Marketing
Most professionals today have not been involved in a recession. They do not realize that a recession needs a different set of skills and management techniques. You must decide on your course of action. Put your toe in the water and test it, then take the plunge and I can assure you that soon you will be swimming in open water. Trust yourself to get to the other side. It is not easy. But you have to take the plunge. Or you will stay on the side you are on now. Recessions are tough. They are all different, requiring different goals and strategies. Start with setting obtainable goals and the results that will define success. Keep it positive! You need things to celebrate and starting with reality is the first.
Strategies that I have seen in a recession are different then many marketing people may agree with. What I have learned is that you zero in on what you do well in every area of the company and put your money in those areas. If you have a pet project or something that is going to set the world on fire, it seldom does. There are not that many Ipods out there. So target, target and target some more and build the best buyer persona that you can to get results.
Do you need a full-scale new business plan now? You probably already have one but are you using it? You might even have Accountant, Attorney, and Marketing Agency that is ready to give you advice. Are you using them? But I will warn you, it takes a different set of rules in a recession. I had an accountant in the middle of turnaround, who was concerned that my light bill was not separated properly so I could allocate overhead correctly. I could not run the business correctly without understanding overhead allocation. He also recommended that we change our entire chart of accounts at that time to get our cost in line. I recommended that we considered the lights as one expense and hope that when we flipped the switch next week the lights still came on. All cost at that point is an expense and nothing more. Simplify your plans.
I use The One Page Business Plan® template for decision making and as a guide not only to start but when to stay in and when to get out. The OPBP is based on these five questions:
1. What are we building?(Time)
2. Why does this business/department/activity exist? (Timeless)
3. What are the specific measures?
4. How are we going to build this company/department/activity over time?
5. What is the work to be done?
If you use these 5 questions correctly, I think you will find them very useful to your organization. Elaborating on each of these questions goes beyond the scope of this article. However, I would encourage you to pay particular attention to question three, “What are your specific measures?” Make sure whatever your objective is, that it is measurable and also that the measures are based on true drivers that allow you to follow the progress. Poor measurements find out to late in the process that something is not working. Also having measurement along the way to an objective allows you to celebrate your successes, the most important ingredient in a recession.
Start with Reality in your Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Joe Dager's Website.
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When your business is in trouble it is safe to assume you have to do something different or you will get the same results. Change must occur. But what do you change to and how do you know that it is going to work. Most poor business decisions are because you lack certain information but can you know everything? You have to proceed and so you must develop a method to make minor changes to decide if it is working and then test the waters.
Most professionals today have not been involved in a recession. They do not realize that a recession needs a different set of skills and management techniques. You must decide on your course of action. Put your toe in the water and test it, then take the plunge and I can assure you that soon you will be swimming in open water. Trust yourself to get to the other side. It is not easy. But you have to take the plunge. Or you will stay on the side you are on now. Recessions are tough. They are all different, requiring different goals and strategies. Start with setting obtainable goals and the results that will define success. Keep it positive! You need things to celebrate and starting with reality is the first.
Strategies that I have seen in a recession are different then many marketing people may agree with. What I have learned is that you zero in on what you do well in every area of the company and put your money in those areas. If you have a pet project or something that is going to set the world on fire, it seldom does. There are not that many Ipods out there. So target, target and target some more and build the best buyer persona that you can to get results.
Do you need a full-scale new business plan now? You probably already have one but are you using it? You might even have Accountant, Attorney, and Marketing Agency that is ready to give you advice. Are you using them? But I will warn you, it takes a different set of rules in a recession. I had an accountant in the middle of turnaround, who was concerned that my light bill was not separated properly so I could allocate overhead correctly. I could not run the business correctly without understanding overhead allocation. He also recommended that we change our entire chart of accounts at that time to get our cost in line. I recommended that we considered the lights as one expense and hope that when we flipped the switch next week the lights still came on. All cost at that point is an expense and nothing more. Simplify your plans.
I use The One Page Business Plan® template for decision making and as a guide not only to start but when to stay in and when to get out. The OPBP is based on these five questions:
1. What are we building?(Time)
2. Why does this business/department/activity exist? (Timeless)
3. What are the specific measures?
4. How are we going to build this company/department/activity over time?
5. What is the work to be done?
If you use these 5 questions correctly, I think you will find them very useful to your organization. Elaborating on each of these questions goes beyond the scope of this article. However, I would encourage you to pay particular attention to question three, “What are your specific measures?” Make sure whatever your objective is, that it is measurable and also that the measures are based on true drivers that allow you to follow the progress. Poor measurements find out to late in the process that something is not working. Also having measurement along the way to an objective allows you to celebrate your successes, the most important ingredient in a recession.
Start with Reality in your Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Joe Dager's Website.
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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