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Article #8

Is Business Slow? Here Are Questions That May Lead You To the Answers You Need
by Jessica Miller & Scott Greggory

All companies experience periods of growth, stability and decline. The pattern can even be cyclical and predictable. The key to stopping the up-and-down cycle and keeping your business in growth mode often can be found by asking yourself a few basic marketing questions.

Ask Yourself “Why?”
Why has revenue stopped growing? It could be you’re not investing enough time in the right activities. Maybe you haven’t created or updated your prospect list, or capitalized on recent trade show opportunities. Are you using your website to capture the right type of information about interested visitors? Are you following up on and closing client referrals? Most importantly, are you communicating often enough and effectively enough with your greatest resource - your existing customers? Remember, you should woo and care for and market to that group of people as much or even more than prospects.

Ask Yourself “How?”
How do consumers find out about your company? Through an online search? In the phone book? Your website or TV spots? You need to know. If you don’t, find out by surveying your current customers and asking everyone else who contacts your company in the future. Then, focus your marketing efforts and budget on the media or methods that generate the most new leads or prospects.

Ask Yourself “Who?”
Who are the people that are looking for what you sell? (Believe it or not, the answer is not “everyone.” ) And who do you most want to attract? Defining your target audience by gender, age, income, lifestyle, and other demographic information will help you find them and decide how to best reach them. Or are you selling to other companies? Wholesalers? Retailers? The government? Are your sales and marketing efforts tailored to the decision-makers in those organizations or are you aiming too low?

Ask Yourself “What?”
What can you do that will excite potential clients? Is it an update or improvement to your product? Do you need to set yourself apart from the rest of your industry with a dramatic new customer rewards program or by defining and delivering a new level of superb client service? Or is it something as relatively simple as adding e-commerce features to your website to make ordering more convenient for visitors? Again, the best way to find out is to survey your customers and prospects.

Ask Yourself “When?”
When should you do all this? There’s no time like the present. In fact, you should be asking yourself many of these same questions all the time, even when business is booming. They just may help you to stay ahead of and respond more effectively to the up-and-down cycle that is business.

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