Which are you better at: Marketing your services or servicing your market?
Superb service – Average marketing
I have lost count of how many outstanding businesses I have seen go broke, simply because they failed to market their services correctly. They enjoy superb customer retention, because their services are so good that people just don’t want to leave.
However, because they win too few new customers, their revenues and profits stagnate and if they do lose a big account or have a large, unscheduled financial commitment pop up, they can suddenly be running at a loss. If that loss goes on too long, they are in deep trouble. If only they adopted better marketing, they could achieve great things.
Superb marketing – Average service
Then there’s the other side of the coin. There are companies that offer a pretty average service, yet their marketing is very powerful. They find it easy to win new customers. They have a great marketing message and they reach stacks of targeted people with that message really effectively.
Of course, because their service is pretty average, they tend to lose quite a few customers too. Their customer-base is like a bucket with a leak; it never fills because they are leaking too many customers. If only they offered a great service, they could achieve great things.
The magic mix
Without doubt, the most successful businesses are those with an outstanding product or service and great marketing too. These are the companies that enjoy long-term commercial success, because they not only win stacks of new customers, their quality of service is so amazing that they seldom lose customers. They can plan ahead with confidence, knowing that they have truly developed the winning formula.
Is there a lesson here?
I think so. If you know you offer a great service and you are not achieving the business growth you feel you deserve, take a look at your current marketing strategies. If you enjoy high levels of customer retention and yet are still failing to gain the revenue and profits you want, you need to attract more bankable results; through a more powerful marketing strategy.
If you have little trouble attracting new customers, but find it a challenge to retain their business, it’s usually a sign that you need to focus on the service side of the business. Marketing is important, but ultimately, it is not a magic bullet. For a business to succeed in the longer term, there has to be an excellent service behind the marketing.
In my experience, small businesses tend to focus too much on either their marketing or their service. If you notice too great an emphasis in one of these areas, bring the weaker element up to the high standards you have set in that stronger area. Match your marketing to your amazing service or match your service, to that super-effective marketing you use.
What do you think?
Photo: CRSchmidt
Related posts:
I think you’re right, Jim. In my own case, I don’t doubt my ability to deliver superb coaching. I’ve never particularly had to think about marketing till now because I’ve been offered work off the back of my corporate business pedigree. However, now that I’m moving in a different direction, I’m realising that I need to learn how to market – and indeed to do it to a standard that matches my coaching.
Christine Livingston´s last blog ..How am I doing?
Hi Christine. The very fact that you are actively working to match your marketing to the effectiveness of your coaching, says a great deal about your commitment to excellence.
Kudos to you!
Hi Jim. Thanks for sharing this. Sometimes the solutions or opportunities are staring you in the face, but you just fail to recognize them.
Our service level is excellent, our marketing is average, but I think we could use a better system to maintain a database of our existing clients.
Constant self-evaluation is a sure way to improvement. Regards @ginos
Gino S´s last blog ..Should banks incentivize clients to pay their home loans?
Thanks for the feedback Gino.
Thanks for the article. I enjoy reading the write-ups as well as the comments. Similar to Christine’s post I have a greater difficulty with marketing than I do with services. Gino’s comment about a DB for client records highlights a problem I’ve witnessed before in other settings and one I am in the process of tweaking myself. It is important to communicate effectively and efficiently with current customers so is worthwhile to work on.
Alex C´s last blog ..Analysis, Commentary And Controversy Are Proven Frameworks: Ignore Them At Your Own Peril
Hi Jim, as I have said before, I was largely ignoring marketing for most of my career basically because I had too many other things on my plate. For the last few months putting a renewed focus on it has helped start to bring in more traffic.
I have miles to go before things like client follow-up and touch-backs are in place. One step at a time.
Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Cultivating Networks —> Stand Out from the Crowd!
Absolutely! Getting the foundations in place is the essential first step.
Thanks Julie.
Good day Jim,
I personally Thank You for answering My tweeted question..
This and Your previous article put things in straight view! I guess We have sum up by talking Focus..
Ps. Thank You once again!
Norman Flecha
Straight Talk
STRAIGHTALK´s last blog ..The Do’s and The Don’ts for online Networking / Marketing
I personally think too many businesses get caught on the “retain business” side because that is how they were brought into the business. That being what it may I think it creates a nice opportunity for people with marketing expertise to fill the gap.
Regards,
Gregg Zban
The Guru Hub
Gregg Zban´s last blog ..How to Make Your Links “Clickable”