"Today is an opportunity to get better. Don't waste it."

- Phil Jackson

 

At the beginning of the pandemic, we began working with a CEO who runs a US-based manufacturing business specializing in safety gear. Their product line  included the two best-selling products of the past year and a half – face masks and hand sanitizer. 

 

You’re probably sick of hearing about face masks and hand sanitizer, (I know I am), but stay with me here - this is a story you’ll want to hear.

As you can imagine, when the world was thrown into chaos, their business revenues exploded - the public's insatiable demand was a dream come true.

That is … until their factories couldn't keep up with demand.

And then, they had to grapple with operational restrictions to comply with CDC regulations. 

 What started as a dream situation quickly turned into a nightmare.  

Longtime customers got angry, new customers got angrier, and manufacturing costs escalated as the workplace restrictions took effect. 

 

A less determined CEO would have crumbled, but not this one.

Instead, he dug in, rallied his team, and brought in our expertise to increase their marketing and communications. Yes increase (not decrease, as you might expect).  

 

Why increase?

Because even though they had more demand than they could handle, this created its own set of problems.

Their supply challenges also meant they needed enormous help converting – and retaining clients.

By investing to increase their marketing when most others decreased it, – the CEO was focused on post-pandemic, sustainable growth for his business. We helped him charter strategy and communicate in a transparent way exactly what was going on – the good, the bad and the ugly. This built enormous trust.

As a result, today their revenue continues to outpace even their most optimistic forecast despite worldwide sales of pandemic supplies steadily decreasing.. 

 

But that's not the case for most businesses who are now feeling the pressure to hit their revenue targets and make up for lost time. 

 

This made me wonder, are you on target to hit your revenue goals? Or are you scrambling? 

 

Either way, let's do a quick consult on this together.

 

1. Your Revenue Is On Target

 

If you’re on target – that’s great, but don’t rest on your laurels. Now is the time to go on the offensive by identifying the three biggest risks that could derail your results. 

 

For example, what if your star salesperson resigned?

 

Or your largest client chose not to renew their contract? 

 

Or your top-selling product or service suddenly plummeted because of a supplier public relations catastrophe. 

 

What happens then?

 

By identifying these top three risks, now you have a game plan to execute to prevent these from happening.

In the example above, with your best salesperson resigning, you could invest in better training and marketing tools for your sales team, so you're not reliant on one super-star – or better yet, get them involved in the training. 

 

Make your list of the top three risks, identify the solutions and then do them yourself, delegate or outsource them. 

 

2. Your Revenue Is Behind

 

If you’re scrambling to meet your revenue goals – don't worry; there's still time to get things back on track.

But it means you can’t bury your head in the sand hoping that demand will somehow pick up next month. 

Your decisive action is needed.

 

Here's what to do:

 

Step One

Diagnose the problem by identifying where your “marketing Achilles heel” is.

Step Two

Apply the marketing fix (I'll show you how to do this below).

 

In my experience, no two businesses have the exact same marketing needs because every business is unique (which is why cookie cutter marketing doesn't work).

But, here’s the similarity - their “marketing Achilles heel” always falls into one of these three categories, or sometimes all three: 

 

1) Lead Generation, 

2) Customer Conversion and/or 

3) Customer Retention.

 

Let’s deal with lead generation first – this is the category most businesses tend to focus almost exclusively on in their marketing (which is not always the smartest thing).

 

Problem 1 Lead Generation  meaning there’s an issue with the volume of new leads you have flowing into your business.

Is your phone ringing enough?

Are you receiving enough email queries?

Are there enough “qualified prospects” coming in?

When it comes to lead generation, the quality of your leads is far more critical than the volume.

Your business could answer 200 phone calls in a week, but if only 10% of these convert to an appointment, that's a great deal of your staff time wasted talking to non-prospective buyers.

 

Here's The Marketing Fix To Generate More Leads

 

If you have a lead generation problem, it means either you have a 1) messaging problem (using the wrong message), 

or 2) you have a market problem (you're advertising to the wrong target market, 

or 3) it means you're using the wrong media platforms to advertise on. 

 

These three things are what I call your 3-legged marketing stool. If any one of them is out of whack, then the whole stool falls over, and you'll be wasting a ton of money on lead generation with disappointing results.

 

For example, did you know that according to a recent study, the biggest buyers of plastic surgery are not affluent stay-at-home moms, or top earning professional women earning six figures plus? It’s actually women who earn less than $62,800 a year? If you know this, then that will radically change the way you're marketing to attract new patients). 

 

Look at your target market first - are you targeting the right group or groups of people?

 

Then look at your marketing message - is your message irresistible to your target market so you can grab their attention and get them to take action?

 

Are you advertising in the right media platforms - where large numbers of your target market hang out?

 

Problem 2 - Customer Conversion Problems.

This is the process your business uses to convert prospective buys into actual buyers. In other words, it's the process you use for money to be exchanged.

Do you do this by an in-person appointment?

Or a zoom call?

Or a phone call?

Or is it an online shopping experience?

Ask your team - has your conversion rate increased, or decreased over the past twelve months?

 

Here's The Marketing Fix For Conversion Problems

 

 If you're struggling to convert prospects to customers, the first question I always ask is, "are you sure these are actually prospective buyers and not just tire-kickers?”  

Many conversion issues are caused because a company's marketing is attracting the wrong kinds of prospects.  If you suspect this is what's happening, then you actually have a lead generation problem, not a conversion problem – see above for the fix.

 

But, if you’re sure your marketing is doing its job bringing you the right people, but they're not buying –  it usually means your sales process is awkward, outdated, or high pressure.

 

For example, if you transact online, maybe the way your products and services are displayed is confusing?

Or maybe there's an issue with the check-out process?

Or, if you're converting via in-person appointments or zoom calls, maybe your presentation is too "salesy" and doesn't do a good enough job connecting with prospects and providing them with an easy way to transact the first sale to build trust.

 

If this is sounding even vaguely familiar you need to dive into your marketing forensics by looking at all your sales collateral, data and the overall sales experience. This is where bringing in an outside consultant can be invaluable. A marketing audit will reveal the holes and opportunities for your business quickly and easily.

 

 

Problem 3: Customer Retention Problems.

Once you've won the trust of a new customer, how skilled is your business at keeping them happy and having them buy from you again, and again and again?  

In my experience, retention marketing is the most overlooked area of marketing – but it's actually the real goldmine. 

I have yet to do a Transformation Consult on a business that couldn’t at least double their revenue numbers from focusing on this one area alone.

 

The Fix For Retention Problems

The fix for retention problems is better marketing and strategy to create real relationships with your customers instead of treating them (as most companies do) as "transactions." When was the last time you felt truly valued as a customer of a company? For example, take the insurance industry – usually, you never hear from your insurance broker until it’s renewal time. 

 

Funnily enough, the number one complaint of Insurance brokers is how "disloyal" their customers are, always chasing after the lowest price. Is it any wonder? 

 

By investing in your company’s retention marketing, you build a fortress around your customer base, maximizing each customer's value and building trust - just as our manufacturing client did at the beginning of the article.

 

So there you have it - a quick consult on how to fix your most pressing marketing problems and still get your revenue goals met (or exceeded) before the year is out!

 

So, what's the first item on your game plan?