Sure times are difficult in this economy and many businesses are hanging on just trying to ensure that they are around when the economy improves. During the tough times, don’t make the mistake of letting the accountant run your business – the Sales Manager should. Accountants tend to want to hold on to the cash for the rainy days and allow your business to slide gracefully in to the grave. A Sales Manager wants to stimulate sales and turn things around. A great Sales Manager can do that, but it takes some investment, some fresh thinking and some solid marketing direction. Waiting for things to improve naturally may be too big of a gamble for you to endure.
Lately I’ve heard from a number of Realtors that times are tough and sales are way down, therefore they won’t be doing any advertising. Sounds to me like we are going to have a lot less realtors. In my home town, we have 1500 realtors working the realty market which likely means 100 are successful and 1400 are hoping to one day be successful. Hoping doesn’t make a whole lot happen on its own. People that make good decisions, work hard and overcome obstacles make things happen! Should you advertise only when times are good? No, of course not. Truthfully, when times are good, many small businesses say that they are having a tough time keeping up with business and they don’t need to advertise.
Advertising should be done consistently throughout the year to establish your brand.
Once established, you may be able to simply maintain your brand but jumping in and out of advertising is crazy. Consistency and frequency are the keys to successful advertising.
If anything, knowing that some people don’t know how to manage their business gives you an advantage during the tough times. If your competitors aren’t advertising and you do, your advertising stands alone or at least with more clarity. You’ll probably find advertising rates are less expensive during the tough times too – another bonus!
When times are good, everyone is out there trying to grab the business but when times are tough a Sales Manager will tell you to try harder. Business isn’t dead, it has just slowed. Get out there and take advantage of this time to stimulate some growth and drive some business. When the going gets tough – the tough get going, right? They don’t stand off to the side and wait.
Will you be one of the businesses that capitalize on the slow times or are you willing to gamble on whether you can wait it out? What can you improve? How can you attract more customers? How do you spread the word that you want to earn some business? How is your website? How can you give customers confidence that now is better than waiting? Stimulate some business or surrender now and let the others have more.
