Marketing tactics and strategies seldom fail overnight.

Instead, they become a little less effective over time. The decrease in effectiveness is usually so gradual that for weeks, often longer, you hardly even notice it. Then you look at your sales leads, your upcoming sales meetings and your sales figures and the reality of the situation kicks in.

Your marketing is no longer effective and you’re about to feel some real pain, unless you resolve things.

One guy went 5 months without a sales lead, before he contacted me. He said, and I believe him, that he hoped it was just a long blip, and that things would pick up ‘next week’. It was only after his bank refused to increase his lending that he reached out for help.

That months-long period is how marketing problems usually manifest themselves. There’s a slow, very gradual decline in results. Then suddenly the numbers punch you in the face. It’s at this point, where most business owners will take action.

Other business owners do things differently.

Here’s what I see regularly, with new clients. They have been keeping an eye on their marketing and the results generated. They then paid extra attention as soon as they saw a negative pattern emerging. The moment they believed there was a bigger problem ahead, they contacted me.

So, why do most small business owners hesitate?

There are a number of reasons behind the decision of some business owners, to wait longer than others, before proactively taking control of their problem.

Here are the reasons I hear most commonly from new clients.

• Some are sat on a fat bank account, which decreases their hunger to fix things. They’ll try to ride it out.
• Some hate the idea of change, so leave it as late as possible.
• Some have far less motivation or need to make money, as the vast majority of their family income is from their life-partner, wife, husband or parents.
• Some have a well-paid job and their business is really just a hobby or pastime.

It boils down to different circumstances and different attitudes.

Whatever your current situation or mindset, marketing problems are easier and faster to resolve, the sooner you get started. Because the moment you start doing the right things correctly, you change the direction of your business.

You’ve connected with a prospective client or customer.

You’ve taken time to fully understand their needs.

You are now absolutely certain that your service or product is exactly what they require. Experience of your industry assures you that they won’t find a better match than you, anywhere.

You now have a professional obligation to the prospect. Your obligation is to make sure they don’t make the mistake of hiring or buying from another provider.

Your professional obligation

The reason you have an obligation, is that as a professional, you always act in the interests of the market you serve. You have no way to know just how badly people will be served by one of your competitors. The only thing you can know for certain, is that you take great care to provide your clients with a superb, professional service. In short, your prospect needs you!

Okay. Please hold that thought for a moment.

Now consider your next conversation with a prospective client.

Before you begin, simply remind yourself of the facts above; that you can provide exactly what the prospect needs, that you’ll serve them better than any of your competitors and that the prospect needs you.

Here’s what often happens

Having shared this idea with countless business owners over the years, here’s what I have found again and again.

By approaching the conversation with your prospect, mindful of your genuine commitment to their best interests, it improves how they feel about you and how they feel about what you say.

Interestingly, you don’t need to deliberately change the words you use.

Why?

Because what you’re doing is 100% sincere.

It’s natural, not scripted.

It’s genuine, not a trick.

What changes by default, is how you communicate; your eagerness to listen fully to what they say, the cadence of your conversation, your facial expressions and your body language, etc. You’re now communicating with them as an ally who is looking out for them and their best interests. Because that’s exactly who you are, and it’s exactly what you’re doing.

It all stems from a simple reminder of how much you care for your clients, and how committed you are to delighting them.

Unsure why you’re attracting too few sales or too few clients? It could be down to false assumptions. Allow me to explain.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, ‘if the words don’t add up, it’s usually because truth wasn’t part of the equation’. Here’s my marketing equivalent, ‘if the numbers don’t add up, it’s usually because truth wasn’t part of the equation’.

In other words, when your sales numbers don’t add up the way you expect, it’s usually because false information entered the equation. False information, rooted in a false assumption, to be precise.

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

Failing to check the source

Small business owners are often poorly advised. If they wrongly assume the advice is correct when it’s false, and then follow the advice, they’ll lose money, waste time and miss opportunities.

The golden rule here is to always check the source of advice, before you act on it.

For example, if a sincere friend gives you marketing advice, make sure they have the marketing background required. As Jim Rohn used to tell us, sincerity is not a test of truth. It’s possible to be sincerely wrong!.

Equally, before you pay for advice from a marketing provider, check them out. As you may have already discovered, there are plenty of ineffective marketing providers out there.

The easiest way to check a marketing provider out is to look at how they market their own business. Effective marketing providers attract clients via referral and reputation; so people already know us and our work long before they hire us. Less effective marketing providers are unable to attract enough clients or get enough referrals. You find them at networking events hunting for clients or on Linkedin pestering people for leads. That’s a huge red flag.

Here’s another cause of false assumptions.

You need more sales, not more leads

Imagine the following scenario.

A small business owner urgently needs more sales or more clients. However, they make a false assumption. They wrongly assume they need more sales leads or client leads.

Their focus is now on lead acquisition tactics, when it should be on sales / client acquisition tactics. As a result, they get leads, maybe lots of leads, but few additional sales or new clients. In short, they got what they went for, leads, but they went for the wrong thing. They should have focused on bankable results.

For those who don’t know, in most cases you can attract clients or customers massively faster without spending time or money on lead acquisition or advertising. Only after direct, faster options have been deployed would I consider lead generation.

What next?

When it comes to marketing your business, make it a habit to never assume anything. Check your sources. Ask relevant questions. If you do, you will dramatically increase your chances of finally getting the results you deserve.