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Marketing Myth #26:
Business is way off, but we have no time to market. |
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 There's always time to market; the real issue is you won't make the time because you don't enjoy, or feel uncomfortable doing it.
Recently somebody complained to me that he gets involved in paperwork and then loses his train of thought when someone returns a marketing call! I couldn't believe my ears. Are you in business to get through paperwork, or to bring more business in which will create more paperwork that you can hire someone else to process, so you can do more marketing?
Just what is your priority here?
Here's another piece of nonsense I'm hearing from companies who've been in business as long as 20 years: they're making cold calls! What's wrong with this picture? You can't pay me enough to make cold calls. No wonder your people aren't finding the time! I don't relish facing rejection or leaving unreturned messages in voice mail, either.
When was the last time you checked in with past clients or customers, the people who know how good you are at what you do? The idea isn't to sell them more, just to see how they're doing. The chances are about 40-50%, however, that they'll buy something. "I've been meaning to call you. Can you also help me with . . . "?
It simply drives me crazy that marketing is so low on so many companies' radar screens. Then they have the nerve to tell me that business has steadily declined over the past few years. That's when they make a desperate stab at marketing: "let's run an ad/do a mailing and see what happens. Get on the phone and make some cold calls." I'll save you the time and expense. Nothing will happen from one-shots. You need to have some respect for the importance of consistent marketing; and, remember, it's not what you spend, but how you spend it.
It's time to realize the significance of your existing client base. It's time to make one phone call per day, just to learn what's happening in your clients' or customers' lives. If they tell you how great you are, thank them and ask them to tell their business colleagues about you.
Marketing is that simple and that painless. Stop the cold calls now!
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Visit Adrienne Zoble at www.azobleassoc.com. Check out her Do-able Marketing Plan workbook and her 10-Minute Marketing Plan Program. Her Schmoozing Calendar will provide ideas for productive ways to build relationships and form alliances.
Perhaps
your organization or company is looking for a dynamic,
tell-it-like-it-is speaker; or you need an article/column for your
publication or newsletter.
Adrienne Zoble will help you sell more in less time, even in these challenging times.
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Adrienne Zoble Associates, Inc. azoble@azobleassoc.com
1060 Sailors Reef www.azobleassoc.com
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525 970/282-1150
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