Jim Connolly Marketing

How to make more sales, in uncertain times

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As I promised recently, here are some more ideas to help you and your business through the uncertainty of the current economy.

As things change, we need to adjust our marketing to the new wants and needs of our customers or clients. That’s what I’m focusing on today.

Plan with flexibility

Typical marketing plans run for a year and make the mistake of assuming conditions will remain roughly the same. As a result, these plans fall to pieces when faced with a period of rapid change. That’s why your marketing plan needs to have flexibility built in.

I recommend creating 90-day marketing plans, to run alongside your overall business plan. These need to be regularly reviewed and adjusted, based on real-time feedback. What’s working better than before? What are your prospects suddenly asking for? What’s no longer working as well as it used to? You get the idea.

Pay extra close attention to your customers

One of the best pieces of business advice I’ve ever received is this.

‘Your customers will show you where your market is going’.

Customers do this through their actions and their words. Here are some questions to ask yourself, so you can see where your market is going.

  • Have your customer enquiries changed recently?
  • Have your customers’ buying habits or preferences changed recently?
  • Are customers mentioning any new concerns during the sales process?
  • Is there a meaningful increase or fall in customer spending?
  • Have you noticed customers becoming more price-sensitive?
  • Are customers engaging with you differently online, perhaps interacting more through social media, direct messages, or emails?
  • Have your customers started recommending (or requesting) new products, services, or features you previously hadn’t considered?
  • Is there a noticeable increase in customers asking you for personalised or customised offerings?
  • Are there specific fears or uncertainties customers are expressing more often?
  • Have customer priorities recently changed?

Now ask yourself, are there new opportunities emerging, or new concerns emerging, which I need to take action on?

Focus on your new opportunities. Think positive

Rapidly changing conditions often cause stress or anxiety for small business owners. We need to be aware of this, and turn it around. A positive, proactive mindset helps us adapt quickly, confidently, and effectively. That’s exactly what we need right now.

So, focus on opportunities rather than obstacles.

Also, encourage yourself, and your team if you have one, to innovate. Innovating puts you in control. It immediately gives you a lift and causes you to think far more positively.

And remind yourself regularly of the challenges you’ve overcome in the past. You’ll overcome future challenges too, if you use the right approach. In fact, you may well come out of this wiser and wealthier than you were before. I saw this with 100% of my clients during the pandemic.

I hope you found this useful. If you did, share it with your friends.

How to increase your prices

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Do you need to increase your prices or fees because of the current crisis? Not sure what to do? I’ve put these ideas together, to help you limit resistance to your price increase as much as possible.

Let’s go!

Honesty and openness

Customers are more understanding of a price rise when they hear specifics. For example, tell them your shipping costs have doubled and to maintain the same level of quality/service, you’re increasing prices by (whatever) percent.

Specifics cut to the point. The more real it feels, the fairer it sounds.

Give as much notice as possible

This is important on a number of levels.

  • Short notice price increases give the impression your business is in trouble. This dents customer confidence.
  • Even a couple of weeks’ notice can reduce customer resistance.

You may also find that the advance notice creates a short-term increase in sales. This can provide you with a very welcome improvement to your cash flow!

Reward your most loyal customers

This is the worst possible time to start losing your most valuable customers. Whenever possible, let your best customers keep their current price for a little longer. 

A message like this goes a very long way. 

‘We’re increasing our pricing, but as one of our most valued customers, we’re keeping your rate the same for the next 3-months’.

Being forced to increase your prices is never easy

There’s almost always a degree of pushback. That’s why it’s essential to focus on protecting your customer relationships. Once you know for sure that an increase is inevitable, take action.

It isn’t easy. But the longer you delay, the harder it gets.

On a personal note, I feel for everyone who’s struggling with the current crisis. I want you and your business to come out the other side of this better and stronger. Rest assured, I’m going to try and help you as much as possible.

Your economy

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The economy is general. It’s determined by outside factors.

Your economy is specific. It’s determined by you.

Your economy is what matters. That’s because it is always your actions that determine your economy… and your results.

We saw this everywhere at the start of this decade, during the pandemic lockdowns. There would be businesses in the same industry, in the same towns, serving the same marketplace; one would flourish and the other would fail.

Same restrictions.

Same opportunities.

But massively different outcomes.

Your economy and amazing opportunities

Yes, the 2025 economy is fast moving and increasingly hard to predict. However, every business owner who’s doing the right things for the current landscape will thrive. I know because I work with these business owners every day. We’re working on their economy. We’re focused on the things they can control.

It turns out that’s almost 100% of what actually matters, for the success of their businesses.

Also, remind yourself that every time we see economic uncertainty, the number of new opportunities multiply. So, look for the new needs and new wants of your marketplace. Their needs and wants are begging for you to step in. Bring them your new ideas, new products, new services, new product bundles, new payment options and new packages, etc.

In short, there are opportunities all around you. It’s the perfect time to start developing your economy.

How to own your competitors. It’s easier than you think

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When you own a high-profit chunk of your marketplace, everything improves. You’ll have no meaningful competitors. Growing your business will become easy. You’ll attract the ideal type of client or customer every time. And you will never again have to compete based on price.

I’m going to show you how to make this happen. I’m nice like that.

Let’s imagine someone is the owner of a small marketing agency. Ironically, that’s one of the most common industries with this problem. Now let’s assume they know that there are lots of ideal prospective clients in need of a new agency. But their agency isn’t getting a big enough share of these wonderful, prospective clients.

By the way, let’s assume this agency also has a well-designed website, nice branding, some kick ass testimonials and experienced team members. As well as all the services you’d expect.

Given there are lots of outstanding prospects out there in need, why doesn’t this well-equipped provider get a really big slice of their market?

Yes, there are lots of wonderful prospective clients out there with a very real need. But unless those prospects want to hire YOU to fulfil their need, they’ll go elsewhere. And because the vast majority of businesses in every niche look similar, they each end up with a small slice.

You see, prospective clients expect a well designed website, nice branding, kick ass testimonials and experienced team members. They expect to see a familiar list of services. As such, nothing there creates ‘want’. Nothing. Even the most beautifully crafted branding is no match for a predictably dull range of services/products and promises.

The answer?

The providers who win the best clients or customers, refuse to be just another superb, well branded example of a professional provider in their industry.

Instead, the winners get intentional. They choose an edge, based on the exact profile of client they want. Then they absolutely OWN it. Their edge gives them their unique voice and allows them to develop a very specific strategy, with which to attract and utterly delight their ideal profile of client.

This gets them noticed by prospective clients who want a provider with that edge. Prospects are powerfully drawn by the connection they sense, when they encounter a 100% relevant provider. It cuts through the noise and almost instantly commands their attention. 

So choose your edge. Then make it the cornerstone of all your marketing.

It’s how the prospect’s want is hatched.

It’s how you capture their eager attention.

And it’s what motivates ideal prospects to get in touch, who really, really want to hire you. Allowing you to own a huge, highly-profitable slice of your marketplace.

Four questions that helped a subscriber boost sales by 68%

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building business contacts, better contacts

When I ask a business owner who their ideal customer or client is, they almost always reply with demographics; average age, location, income level, etc. 

Whilst demographics are certainly useful, they’re just a piece of the picture.

Demographics will tell you who to target with your marketing.

However, to get that demographic to buy from you, you need to know what matters to them. That’s their motivation. That’s what drives their decisions. That’s what drives their actions. That’s what determines whether they buy from you… or don’t.

Demographics alone can be problematic. There are wealthy people who spend the lowest possible price for a reliable product. They’d happily buy a £5 pen, but wouldn’t dream of buying a £500 pen. There are also those on low incomes who would take a loan out, just to own that £500 pen. Income level is only part of the picture.

I was inspired to share this with you, after learning that one of my newsletter readers increased her revenues by close to 70% last year, partly by focusing on 4 of the questions I shared in one of my newsletters. By honing in on the right things, she was able to improve her marketing, so that it spoke directly to what matters to her marketplace.

These are the 4 prospective customer questions that worked for her.

  • What improvement are prospects looking for, from my services or products?
  • What do they primarily place their security in?
  • Which do they value the most, quality they can rely on or low-prices.
  • What do they give most of their attention to commercially?

By talking with current and former customers, we can get a good idea of what matters most to our typical buyer. Often we don’t even need to ask! For example, if our customers tend to wear designer names, quality and style are more important to them than the lowest-priced/reliable alternatives. 

Through observation and conversation, we can get a clear picture of what our prospects are attracted to. That’s an essential part of attraction marketing; marketing that attracts sales and enquiries from our ideal customer. 

I hope you found that useful.