Photo: Shutterstock.

I wrote recently that your marketing is toast. That’s to say, what motivated people to hire you or buy from you before the coronavirus pandemic, has changed. In that post, I provide some ideas to help you put things right.

Today, I want to help you identify and fix another two, extremely widespread marketing challenges.

Check your marketing promises and guarantees

I’d like to start by drawing your attention to the various benefits of buying from you or hiring you. Specifically, the guarantees and promises you offer. That’s because almost every business makes promises in their marketing, which they can reliably keep in normal times, but can’t achieve in the current economy.

These vary from industry to industry and may include things like:

• Guaranteed delivery times.
• Payment terms.
• Guaranteed results.
• Price match promises.
• Enquiry response times.
• Opening hours.

Obviously, if you’re no longer able to fulfil any of the promises or claims in your marketing, make the required adjustments. Also, look for new, attractive promises that you can deliver on.

What’s new with your competitors?

I also very strongly recommend you take time to do a little research on what your competitors are doing right now.

That’s because it’s entirely possible some of them will have made significant changes, which could impact your business. Even those competitors that seldom change their marketing may be forced into action, as they try new things in order to adapt to the current challenges.

Again, these adjustments will change from industry to industry and may include:

• Discounting their prices or fees. Many will start discounting, because they have no expert marketing help, are panicking and assume slashing prices is the right thing to do. (It absolutely isn’t for a number of very good reasons).
• Changes to their payment terms.
• New bundling of products or services together, in a way that makes them more attractive to prospective clients (your prospective clients) than they used to be.

Once you know what you’re competing against, you can look for ways to regain your competitive advantage.

I hope you found these ideas useful. If you did, please continue to share them with your friends. We’re all in this together.

Photo: Shutterstock.

A few months from now, we will all know a lot more about our business, our marketplace and the people we rely on.

That’s because when times are tough, we learn what people really think. We learn what standards they have and what their priorities are.

• We’re learning how strong our relationships are, personally and professionally.
• We’re learning who we can trust in the future.
• We’re learning how honest our service providers are.
• We’re learning who we can recommend.
• We’re learning who the real leaders are.
• We’re learning how people, systems and businesses perform under stress.
• We’re learning who really does go he extra mile.

And our clients, customers and marketplace are learning this too.

Warren Buffett famously said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently”.

As you have almost certainly seen by now, a lot of business owners are not taking his advice. They’re thinking very short-term and creating a far bigger problem for their business, than the coronavirus.

In a few months

Long before the pandemic ceases to be the main news story, business restrictions will start to ease. People will be able to move around more freely. Things will start to feel closer to ‘normal’ than they do right now.

As this happens, the marketplace will start regaining confidence. Spending will increase. Cash flow will improve and increase.

It’s at this point that many business owners will pay the price for short-sighted decisions.

We have to be smarter than that.

We need to be very aware that every decision we make has consequences. The marketplace is watching us. And it will remember. As Buffett said, one short-sighted move and a 20-year reputation can be destroyed in minutes.

The only way forward is to think ahead, because things will improve commercially, and a lot sooner than many business owners seem to imagine. Only then can you plan effectively and make decisions that are best for the medium and long-term.

Photo: Shutterstock.

I want to share something with you today, to help you grow your business. It’s something to help you thrive, whilst many of your competitors fail to even survive. And it’s based on work I’m doing right now, with thriving service providers worldwide.

Allow me to explain.

I’m writing this on Wednesday morning, in lockdown because of the coronavirus.

Between now and the end of business on Friday, I have meetings scheduled with business owners in.

• Nebraska, USA.
• Melbourne, Australia.
• Pennsylvania, USA.
• Dublin, Ireland.
• Alabama, USA.
• Brisbane, Australia.
• London, England.

And my son is currently having his guitar lesson via Skype for the first time.

Here’s the thing

Working during a period of lockdown does NOT mean you’re isolated. And it’s vitally important you are aware of this in very real terms.

Why?

Because if you operate from an isolation mindset, your thinking will be drastically limited. Limited thinking produces ineffective outcomes. It’s almost literally “thinking INSIDE the box”, massively reducing the vision you need, to successfully navigate the coming months.

Think about it

Many service providers, probably most, can grow their business very effectively right now. You can thrive, let alone survive! These include almost every consultant, coach, trainer, accountant, lawyer, designer, PR agency, communications agency, web developer and marketing provider.

Growth: You can speak with new, prospective clients via voice or video, whichever they prefer. You can invoice the new client via email as usual, and receive money via bank transfer almost instantly.

Retention: You can also render outstanding service to your current clients and help them, thus retaining them.

Now consider this

The vast majority of your competitors are in panic mode right now.

• Their thinking is about isolation; “when will it end!?!”.
• They’re fear-focused.
• They’re wondering how they’re going to get through this.
• They’re not looking to expand, they’re desperately trying to contract.
• They’re seeking ways to limit their overhead.
• They’re refusing to pay key people to their business.

In short, their focus is limitation, lack, fear, reduction, loss, contraction. And as people tend to move towards what they focus on, they’ll really struggle.

But not you, my friend.

Because with the right growth strategy, the sky should be your limit.

Whilst your competitor’s limit is the inside of their isolation box.

Photo: Shutterstock.

The marketing plan you developed in January is now toast. That’s because your marketplace is thinking differently today, than it did just a few weeks ago.

Very, very differently. And this will continue, until the pandemic has passed and the economy eventually returns to normal.

From a marketing perspective, this means the way you have traditionally sold your services or products needs to change. It needs to change, because the way your marketplace makes purchasing decisions has radically changed. Here is just one example, which is already having a massive impact on almost every industry.

• In a typical economy, people don’t have to think too hard about making a purchase. As such, even poorly marketed businesses are able to generate a level of sales; just by ‘being there’ or contacting prospects at the right time.
• When economies are plunged into crisis, people think far harder before they buy anything. Your prospective clients are anxious. They’re making fear-based decisions. As such, pre pandemic marketing and ‘being there’ just won’t cut it. Literally every marketing or business development decision you make, needs to take this into account.

Adjust and get the wind in your sails

The way we set our sail, determines whether we get the wind behind us and excel or end up on the rocks. We set our sail commercially, with the decisions we take (and the decisions we avoid).

A few areas to consider.

• Reduce the risk attached to hiring you or buying from you.
• Adapt your business, so that it’s more relevant to the current needs of your marketplace.
• Increase the value of your services or products.
• Introduce flexible payment options.
• Grow bigger ears. (This one is really important).

Faced with what now seems to be a long-term challenge, it’s essential to adapt as early as possible. It’s what your agile competitors are already doing. And it’s what your marketplace demands.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Just 5 days ago, I shared some ideas about how to boost your cash flow during the coronavirus restrictions.

Here’s some of the feedback you gave me, on how you’re tackling the impact of the virus. I also share a very important observation for business to business service providers.

Anita runs a vegetarian restaurant. “We were basically waiting for the order to close and figuring out how to survive with no money coming into the business”. […] “After your email I started thinking on things we could do and nothing came to me. I asked Joe my partner and he said why not provide a takeout service so we asked around our friends on Facebook to see if anyone was up for it. They were and we started 2 days later and today we’re getting some thermal bags for home delivery starting next week”.

Grant is a financial advisor. In his email he explained that he had built his reputation around a very personal level of service. “The thought of working remotely with clients left me cold plus I hate cameras”. […] I read your blog and decided to call around some clients to check if they’d like next weeks meetings via video and only one client said no. That’s because he didn’t have video set up on his home computer yet. I’ll call everyone next week and am hopeful about the future for the first time in a month.”

Alan runs a hair studio and liked the idea of offering vouchers, which can be bought today, to secure your place in the queue, when the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. He explained that a lot of his clients were due an appointment, so he emailed them. “Around 35% snapped the vouchers up and I think more people will buy them over coming weeks as hair gets longer and greyer”.

I was also contacted by a piano teacher, a fitness instructor and several business advisers who have offered their first video sessions, or plan to, next week.

Okay. I’m going to pivot slightly and focus on a specific section of readers.

Your marketplace needs you more than ever before

There’s something huge that I’ve noticed increasingly over the past few weeks. And it’s echoed powerfully in many of your emails.

Those who provide B2B (business to business) advice of any kind, are finding they are more needed by their clients now, than ever before. Their clients are worried, uncertain, in real need of answers and support.

However…

This surge in need is being totally missed, by providers who are scaling their services back, rather than ramping their services up.

I can’t help but think that many providers in; marketing, HR, recruitment, finance, training, PR, coaching etc., are missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve their marketplace, by refusing to adapt to the new needs of the market they serve.

If you’re one of these B2B providers, your marketplace needs you. And it needs you like never before. This is not the time to step back. It’s the time to step forward and adapt to the new landscape. Because your expertise has never been more needed. And in helping your clients and wider marketplace, you’re going to help your own business.

Just don’t expect to be able to carry on with a business as usual approach. If your marketplace doesn’t know you have the answers, support and ideas they need for this crisis, they’re not going to ask you for help.

Stay safe and remember, we’re all in this together, my friend.

Photo: Shutterstock.

It now seems increasingly likely the coronavirus crisis will be a medium to longer-term challenge. This means it could be some time, until we revert back to ‘business as usual’.

When circumstances change as radically as they have, we need to adjust accordingly. As I said very recently, we must adapt our services so they are relevant to the NEW needs of our clients and prospective clients. We also need to significantly improve our marketing, so it speaks to the concerns they have right now.

One question people often asked me during the 2007/8 financial crisis, was a version of, “how do I know if my business is improving things enough, to get us successfully through this crisis”?

In general, I have found the following to be a useful gauge:

If the ideas you’re thinking of implementing feel safe, they’re probably not going to have the impact you need.

Why?

Because meaningful change, the kind that has the required impact during a global crisis, doesn’t feel safe.

Incremental change is what feels safe.

And incremental change is the exact opposite of what you need, in order to attract new clients.

Remember, your prospective clients are worried. They’re unsure what the future holds. So they’re thinking a lot harder about what they invest in.

This means they’ll need radically better (different) motivation from you, if you want to earn their trust and inspire them to hire you, than they did when things were ‘normal’.

Compelling marketing ideas, the kind that allow you to thrive when your competitors struggle to survive, will require you to stretch.

To stretch from the danger zone (doing the kind of things you’re used to doing), to the safety zone (doing what’s absolutely essential for this economy).

This is a little different from my usual stuff.

A local business association asked me to join their conference call yesterday, to advise them on how to improve their member’s cash flow.

Here are the bullet points I used for the call. I only had 15 minutes to put them together, but people on the call found them extremely useful. I hope you find them equally so.

Restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels, etc., can offer gift vouchers to their regular / loyal customers, which will be purchased today, for use when things return to normal.

Bookshops, specialist interest shops (board games, music, art / craft shops etc.), can also do the above. Additionally, depending on their situation, they can offer to home deliver items that are traditionally picked-up in the store.

Lawyers, advisers, accountants, coaches, tutors, consultants, planners, designers, etc., who are unable to currently visit clients, may want to work via video conference. Skype, Xoom, FaceTime, etc. This is how I have chosen to work every day for well over a decade, and it’s extremely effective.

Salons, tattoo studios, nail bars, beauty parlours, etc., could find themselves in high demand when they open again, if forced to close for a period of weeks or more. They might consider offering customers the option to book now, via a paid voucher, so they don’t have a super-long wait when the business reopens its doors.

You and your business

You need to get working on ideas today.

Your business will have specific needs, based on your industry, the restrictions on movement in your area, logistics and lots more. However, by widening out these ideas, there will be something here that most people reading this can adapt into their business.

The key points I focused on were:

• Sell gift vouchers today, for services you’ll be able to provide when things settle down again.
• Provide delivery of items, which customers would usually pick up or collect from you.
• Switch your service from face to face, to video / phone calls. This is huge, as it also allows you to attract clients from a massively wider area. My clients this week, for example, are based in the USA, France, Ireland and South Africa.
• Start offering vouchers if your work has to be face-to-face. This lets people pay now, so that they’ll be first when you’re able to start taking bookings again.

I hope you find this useful. If you do, please share it with your contacts.

We’re all in this together, my friend.

Photo: Shutterstock.

There are small business owners reading this, who will absolutely thrive in 2020.

Yes. Really.

They will survey the current crisis and identify improved ways to operate. They will look for opportunities to radically increase their value to the marketplace, based on the landscape ahead. They will adapt to the new needs of the people they serve.

And they’ll not only grow exponentially, they will become more useful, more valued and more cherished by their marketplace than ever before.

The reason this opportunity exists, is that most small business owners won’t do any of that.

They’ll wait. They’ll sit tight. They’ll keep doing what they always do and hope things get better, before they run out of time, money or credit. Just like others did in the 2007/8 financial crisis.

It’s interesting to see how differently small business owners act, when faced with the same situation. They tend to fit into one of two broad groups. Some will thrive. Some will freeze.

• Thriving: Those who thrive will do so by adapting their approach and helping others with the crisis we face. The thrive strategy is a core focus of my work with clients right now. It should be your focus too.
• Freezing: Those who freeze don’t have a strategy. Things are moving fast. So failing to adapt isn’t even an option… let alone a viable business strategy.

Thriving: Where to begin?

Look at the services you provide and the people you serve, not based on their usual needs, but their needs moving forward.

As I learned from working on thrive strategies with small business owners recently, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Strategies that are spectacularly effective for some will be ineffective for others. I’ve needed to piece together individual strategies with my clients.

A useful place to start, is to check your range of services, opening hours, payment methods and client acquisition strategies. Also, check your marketing messages and advertising, etc. What worked fine until now may need to be replaced with more suitable alternatives.

Listen intently to your clients and the marketplace you serve. And keep listening. Things are moving fast and their needs will change and so will the opportunities around you. Be prepared to adapt because it isn’t going to be ‘business as usual’ for a while.

However, it’s your business.

You’re in control.

The winds will certainly change, but you set your own sail.

So don’t freeze.

Because you can thrive if you choose to.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Today, I have something different for you. It’s a simple, yet powerful technique I often share with business owners. By the way, this leads on nicely from my previous post. You can read it here.

I want you to imagine for a moment that you’re sitting with a potential client or customer. Between you is a table. And on that table, you place a box.

1. You explain that the box contains something of truly great value.
2. You tell them that other people are using it, and they love it so much that they recommend it to their friends.
3. You then tell them that once they have it, they’ll wonder how they managed without it.
4. And then you explain that the price for what’s in the box, is way below what it’s worth.

Finally, you ask them, “Would you like to see what’s inside the box?”

Their eyes widen as they lean forward and say, “Yes please!”

This begs the question: What’s inside the box?

As a business owner, your task is to develop a product or service for your clients, which fits inside that box. The only rule is that in order for it to fit, your product or service needs to be able to deliver on the 4 points above.

Why bother?

It changes everything. If you take the time to get it right, you’ll find yourself speaking with highly motivated potential clients. People will need very little encouragement to hire you or buy from you. Plus, your existing clients will be eagerly telling their friends and contacts about your services and your business.

Make no mistake, this process requires creative thinking. And it takes guts, too. Why? Because whatever you decide to place in the box, will by default, be different from what your competitors are doing. And it takes courage to stand out, to zig when everyone else zags.

Is it worth it?

In my experience, (both with my client’s businesses and my own) the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. It’s easier, more profitable and far less stressful to have products or services that pretty-much sell themselves.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Is logic ruining your marketing results?

Yes. Probably.

And here’s why.

Your prospective customers make purchasing decisions based on feelings. Not on logic. Understanding this principle is essential if you’re serious about growing your business in 2020.

Here’s a very quick example of what I mean.

• People don’t visit coffee shops for the coffee.
• They already have coffee at home.
• They pay between 300% and 500% more for coffee at the coffee shop, because of how the experience makes them feel.

Logically, they’d save a ton of money by drinking their coffee at home, sitting in their own super-comfortable chair. But people, including your prospective customers, don’t make purchasing decisions based on logic. They make them based on feelings. (I explain how emotions drive decisions, here).

If your marketing message is based around a list of benefits, that’s way too logical. And it’s losing you a ton of money. Your service or product may be less expensive, more premium, faster or whatever. But are you explaining how it will make your prospective customers feel?

If not. Than start.

Because logic tells. But feeling sells.