Down economy? Declining sales? Layoffs on the horizon? Hunker down and wait it out? Never! Any company that intentionally pulls itself from the radar screens of potential and existing customers will find itself on a slippery road to the scrap heap and seriously behind more forward-thinking competitors when things turn around.
Smart companies exploit an economic downturn by identifying and meeting customer needs that their competitors cannot. Needs that often customers don’t even see. The market is changing, the world is changing. Companies can’t just stay on the sidelines and wait for the playing field to level out. Customers need new and innovative products and services. These are things your company has the brainpower to design, develop and bring to market. Unfortunately, this outlook is counter-intuitive in many traditional-thinking firms.
Faced with economic hard times, many companies look to eliminate communications and marketing budgets as a way to reduce costs. However, the actual effect is to reduce revenues, and the medium- and long-term consequences are often worse than the illusory short-term benefits.
In this era of near-instant communication and media saturation, an opportunity lost is not easily won back and the being “quick to market” generates momentum that becomes a hurdle to competitors. Conversely, absence from the marketplace sends the wrong message to customers, suppliers, potential investors, employees and bold competitors. For these reasons, it is vital to maintain a presence, engage the marketplace, and be visible – with the right message – to all stakeholders.
Communicating during a recession is not business as usual. A recession should shake up the creative juices of a company. The phrase – “but we’ve always done it that way,” should be banished from a company’s vocabulary and replaced with “what can we do that is different?” “How can we be of greater value?” A recession creates the opportunity and motivation for a shift in thinking and opportunities for success.
If your marketing and communications activities have been operating in their own little world, now is the time to evaluate, engage and empower – partnering inward focus with outward success. This is the heart of what we call our P2R e³ Process™.
Evaluate – review and audit perceptions and programs. This can be done by interviewing company executives, managers, sales force, admins, customers and suppliers, industry and media, and assessing company marketing materials and brands. This method produces some surprises, but in the end almost always leads to a stronger company with a more thorough understanding of its strengths, market and opportunities for growth.
Engage – with the information garnered from the evaluation stage, create a road map for communications, utilizing all the elements and attributes of your business and marketing plan – both informal and formal. Leave no constituency unattended. Now is the time to be creative. This approach paves the way through the clutter and helps companies reach customers, investors and other key audiences with a clear, unified message.
Empower – give employees a role in creating and strategically executing the new marketing communications plan – one fully aligned with business objectives, and launched through integrated communications activities aimed at employees, customers, suppliers and all other critical stakeholders. Leave no stone unturned. Now is the time to innovate. Build on your strengths, radiate optimism, seize the marketing initiative.
Many companies think the job is done when the communications program has been launched. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Companies need to constantly monitor communications programs, assess progress, re-evaluate and adjust where necessary, re-engage audiences and track success. Get rid of what doesn’t work, refine and hone what does. Reach out to customers, employees and all other stakeholders. Question assumptions, encourage adventure and reward smart thinkers.
This continuous improvement cycle brings a focus on objectives and a freshness to the effort. It maintains a “front-of-mind” presence with your stakeholders through the positive messages you create, making you – not competitors or external forces – the manager of your reputation and the keeper of your brand. Success should be measured against pre-determined metrics established during evaluate and engage activities.
Developing and maintaining a consistent cadence of information to the marketplace is crucial to communication, marketing and branding success. The idea is to keep your message constant and your voice clear.
Wise CEOs refuse to let other priorities cloud a steadfast focus on their marketing, brand communications and public relations. Instead, they work to build and leverage their brand reputation through integrated communications activities directed to all stakeholders.
In a recent American Marketing Association survey, 63 percent of respondents said companies investing in brand building activities during an economic downturn can lessen its effect – and history supports their view. Companies that maintain or even increase marketing spending benefit from the silence of others. In fact, a recent study by the World Advertising Research Center concluded “that brands with sustained advertising expenditure through recessions have a competitive advantage.”
Another study by International Survey Research underscored the importance of employee communications. It found dramatically better financial performance in companies with highly engaged employees compared to those with low employer engagement. While the competition mindlessly cuts costs, fully engaged and empowered firms were better positioned to both increase market share and maximize revenue.
Even McKinsey makes the point. In a 2002 study of best and worst performers, researchers found that one of the most significant differences between winners and losers was with respect to their spending on marketing and advertising during a recession. The best performers actually increased spending in these areas – not just relative to their competitors, but compared to their own spending in better times. Interestingly, a 2005 study conducted by the International Journal of Research in Marketing reached the very same conclusions.
During a recession, many companies grow. After a recession, some companies grow faster than the competition. This is more likely if they have: new products and services that fit customer needs better; engaged, enthusiastic people who creatively collaborate; an absence of assumptions and an aligned and streamlined business that continues to execute its strategic vision. Focused communications across the spectrum of the business environment is the means through which these things are achieved.
While communication is an often-overlooked, misunderstood and underutilized business tool; in reality it is a vital, integrated “force-multiplier” for a business as critical to success as cash management. Indeed – an effective and sustained integrated brand communications effort is a fundamental driver of cash-flow, stability and long-term success.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
New Year / New Business / New You!
Learn something new
Does anyone have the time for this? The answer is yes. I’ll bet that you received some new gadget for Christmas. Something like a new HDTV, iPhone or laptop computer. I’ll also bet that you made the time to sit down and learn all the features of that gadget. (Maybe even looked at the instruction manual – hah.) The point is that you were interested in the gadget and made the time. You can also make time to volunteer in your community, visit a local museum or take a class at a local school or on-line. Perhaps a course on automotive marketing, customer service or business accounting?
Delegate
Wouldn’t this be nice? Doing things yourself because “you want them done right” is a supreme time-waster. Take that next step and hand that project off to another person on your staff. (Unless due to layoffs, you are the only person on that staff.) Another person’s point-of-view might be just what that stalled project needs to be successful. It could turn into a win-win-win for you, the other person and your company. Delegation also builds staff confidence.
Rethink your schedule
Just how crazy is your schedule these days? Utilize a simple to-do list with estimated time for tasks. Be realistic about how long something will take to accomplish. Don’t do the easy stuff first, this is a form of procrastination. The easy stuff will be your reward for finishing the hard tasks. You may have to allot time with no interuptions. No phone, no e-mail, no meetings. Remember to focus on results versus number of accomplished tasks. Yes, I know, we have PDAs, computers and other tools to create schedules and to-do lists, but reliance on automatic devices can cause more stress in the end.
Take a fresh look at your projects
You probably have a regular reoccurance of projects – daily, weekly, monthly. Reports, estimates, payments, collections, trade shows, etc. you probably cannot change the format or timing of some of these, but you can think of new ways to make them more exciting. Move staff meetings off-site – even if it is just to a park across the street. Add customer interviews to your company newsletter. Have the local ice cream truck make a special stop at your place of business on alternating Fridays to stimulate creativity. The point here is to alter your routine. It’s the small things that may surprise you.
Set goals
Are there goals attached to your New Year’s resolutions? What is the point of your resolutions? Experts say that the chances of following through on resolutions are greater when you attach goals to them. If you’ve chosen to lose weight, is it because your pants don’t fit or because you want to be healthier? What do you really want? Perhaps you are looking for more stimulation from your work or would like a promotion. Maybe you want to organize your day better so that you can attend your child’s baseball or hockey game, instead of the last couple of minutes – or not at all. Give some serious thought on how to make your goals happen.
Reward yourself
It’s OK to reward yourself. The days of the Puritans running things are over. After you finish that month-long project (on time) reward yourself by having a nice lunch out. Don’t forget to reward your team also. Hand out gift certificates for local restaurants or coffee shops. Again, the little stuff might surprise you. Don’t go overboard however. New golf clubs might be too much of a reward to justify as are new Porsches. It bears repeating . . . it’s OK to reward yourself.
Push your limits
Every self-help guru has this one in their back pocket. But it is so obvious that it cannot be ignored! How will you grow as a person, spouse, parent, employee, employer if you don’t push yourself to new greatness? Go rock climbing – not likely. But take a twenty minute walk five days a week? Sure. Cold-call and secure ten new customers this week – not likely. Call ten existing customers and thank them for their business last year? Bingo. Studies have shown that you can achieve more sales through existing customers than you can through cold calling for new business. And that is hardly what I would call pushing your limit. So go ahead, call those ten customers, feel good about yourself, reward yourself – then go rock climbing.
Does anyone have the time for this? The answer is yes. I’ll bet that you received some new gadget for Christmas. Something like a new HDTV, iPhone or laptop computer. I’ll also bet that you made the time to sit down and learn all the features of that gadget. (Maybe even looked at the instruction manual – hah.) The point is that you were interested in the gadget and made the time. You can also make time to volunteer in your community, visit a local museum or take a class at a local school or on-line. Perhaps a course on automotive marketing, customer service or business accounting?
Delegate
Wouldn’t this be nice? Doing things yourself because “you want them done right” is a supreme time-waster. Take that next step and hand that project off to another person on your staff. (Unless due to layoffs, you are the only person on that staff.) Another person’s point-of-view might be just what that stalled project needs to be successful. It could turn into a win-win-win for you, the other person and your company. Delegation also builds staff confidence.
Rethink your schedule
Just how crazy is your schedule these days? Utilize a simple to-do list with estimated time for tasks. Be realistic about how long something will take to accomplish. Don’t do the easy stuff first, this is a form of procrastination. The easy stuff will be your reward for finishing the hard tasks. You may have to allot time with no interuptions. No phone, no e-mail, no meetings. Remember to focus on results versus number of accomplished tasks. Yes, I know, we have PDAs, computers and other tools to create schedules and to-do lists, but reliance on automatic devices can cause more stress in the end.
Take a fresh look at your projects
You probably have a regular reoccurance of projects – daily, weekly, monthly. Reports, estimates, payments, collections, trade shows, etc. you probably cannot change the format or timing of some of these, but you can think of new ways to make them more exciting. Move staff meetings off-site – even if it is just to a park across the street. Add customer interviews to your company newsletter. Have the local ice cream truck make a special stop at your place of business on alternating Fridays to stimulate creativity. The point here is to alter your routine. It’s the small things that may surprise you.
Set goals
Are there goals attached to your New Year’s resolutions? What is the point of your resolutions? Experts say that the chances of following through on resolutions are greater when you attach goals to them. If you’ve chosen to lose weight, is it because your pants don’t fit or because you want to be healthier? What do you really want? Perhaps you are looking for more stimulation from your work or would like a promotion. Maybe you want to organize your day better so that you can attend your child’s baseball or hockey game, instead of the last couple of minutes – or not at all. Give some serious thought on how to make your goals happen.
Reward yourself
It’s OK to reward yourself. The days of the Puritans running things are over. After you finish that month-long project (on time) reward yourself by having a nice lunch out. Don’t forget to reward your team also. Hand out gift certificates for local restaurants or coffee shops. Again, the little stuff might surprise you. Don’t go overboard however. New golf clubs might be too much of a reward to justify as are new Porsches. It bears repeating . . . it’s OK to reward yourself.
Push your limits
Every self-help guru has this one in their back pocket. But it is so obvious that it cannot be ignored! How will you grow as a person, spouse, parent, employee, employer if you don’t push yourself to new greatness? Go rock climbing – not likely. But take a twenty minute walk five days a week? Sure. Cold-call and secure ten new customers this week – not likely. Call ten existing customers and thank them for their business last year? Bingo. Studies have shown that you can achieve more sales through existing customers than you can through cold calling for new business. And that is hardly what I would call pushing your limit. So go ahead, call those ten customers, feel good about yourself, reward yourself – then go rock climbing.
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