No $ for Marketing in Downturn? Evidence Says That's a Mistake!

The historical evidence is clear. Companies that want to win in the long run, MAINTAIN or INCREASE their marketing budgets during a downturn, when the ad rates are lower.

Dr. Gerard Tellis of The Marshall School of Business at USC has conducted a study of the recessions in the last 110 years. The recessions are growing less frequent and of shorter duration. Of interest to us is the fact that those who invest in marketing and advertising during the recessions come out of the recession with much stronger brands. Kellogg's did this in the 1930s to gain considerable ground on Post Cereals, for example.

Russ Klein, Chief Marketing Officer of Burger King is doubling down on his investments. He told Advertising Age: "There is strong historical evidence around companies that step up with their innovation and advertising and their ability to move through economic downturns and emerge with stronger brands."

Dr. Tellis' research has shown "There is strong, consistent evidence that cutting back on advertising during a recession can hurt sales during and after the recession, without generating any substantial increase in profits."

Bernard Ryan, of the American Association of Advertising Agencies wrote in Advertising in a Recession in 1991 "One study after another, of recession after recession, shows that those who reduce spending usually lose market share and sales. Furthermore, they take longer to recuperate...The bottom line? The advertiser who does not cut back can move ahead during the recession and afterward, capturing share from those who, hesitant and unsure, do cut back."

Content may still be king. We can help with that with "Voice of the Customer" studies to get the right messaging and words. What do you think?

Can You Understand Customers Without Talking to Them?

Recent market research has shown that 75% of senior managers and above in the United States NEVER talk to customers! Does this make sense to you? Not to me!

How can you possibly understand what's going on in the world without talking to customers? I understand that salespersons and Customer Relationship Managers will get nervous about having executives talk to customers. They may promise things that their organization cannot deliver, or say that an issue is "fixed" when the solution that they are talking about is in a future product, not the one the customer has.

Of course, the senior manager or executive will need to be coached on what to ask and what can and cannot be promised. They may want to read our book concerning the Voice of the Customer process. They can talk to their salespeople about what may be on the customer's mind and what problems they may be having.

Having said all of that, why not talk to customers? Why not get a first-hand account of what the issues are? The book describes how to collect and make sense of that data, how to organize it to take action. It is our feeling that ALL senior managers and above should have at least a few conversations with customers every year. There is no substitute for that experience. What do you think?

Can 900 Customers Be Wrong?

On Amazon they began selling milk for $3.99 a gallon. As a result, they got 900 people to rate the milk as very good or outstanding! One rater said that the milk was so good it was "worth its weight in gold times infiniti!" An analysis of Amazon's ratings of books shows that the "average" rating is 4.2 out of 5! When Amazon sold staplers, almost 60% of the raters gave the stapler a 5, with only one rater giving it a 3. Does this mean that there are no average staplers? I don't think so!

When people rate romance novels, for example, they tend to be fans of romance novels. So even a mediocre read is rated good by that audience. How many of us, when we are unhappy, will make the time and effort to find the item on the web and enter a "Poor" rating? If only fans of products are rating them, what happened to the old addage that an unhappy customer tells 30 people, while a happy one tells just a handful? Is that changing on the web?

Are the people inflating scores on the web sincere? There were stories of some companies inflating scores about their products on blogs, etc. Do we trust these scores?

Some companies are using online reviews as measures of the "Voice of the Customer." Is this wise?

We would recommend more traditional surveys, but they have problems as well. What are your thoughts?

Voice of the Sales Staff?

Do you treat your salespeople as well as your customers? You should. Good salespeople are tough to hire and even tougher to hold. You can apply our listening techniques to your sales staff. Learn their pains and learn how to solve them. You will reap great benefits!

One company that did this hired us to interview their sales staff. We obtained a "Voice of the Sales Force" in much the same way as described in our book. We then got several sales managers together to discuss metrics that would predict success with the sales staff's pains, things like "The Amount of Time Required to Generate Reports for Upper Management." Obviously, the staff wanted this metric to be near zero!

By implementing these metrics and solutions, their sales increased, the staff were happier and had more time to make sales calls. Revenues and profits increased. After all, that's the purpose of sales activity, isn't it?

What Is Your Pain?

What is your marketing pain? Please comment or send an email.

If you are like many salespeople or business executives, trying to find new customers or clients can be frustrating. Maybe you are struggling with your marketing message. Or maybe referrals aren’t paying off like they used to. Maybe you are concerned about wasting time and money on unproductive efforts. If marketing seems like a lot of hard work with little or sporadic payoffs, you are not alone.

How would you like to attract more clients than you can possibly handle, without breaking the bank? The good news is the American Dream of creating a professional service or consulting business that provides a high six figure income is alive and doing well. That is, if you take the time to get the knowledge how to do it. Best of all, these techniques require a minimal investment.

Face facts. Other successful professionals and consultants have found the way. How can you model their success? To attract new clients, the best approach is the Educating Expert Model that demonstrates your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. In addition, you can increase closing rates up to 50% to 100% by discovering and rehearsing the right questions to ask prospective clients.

Here are the five ways prospects judge you (Aaker, 1995, Strategic Market Management) and my views of how the Educating Expert Model is the perfect fit:
1. Competence. Knowledge and skill of the professional or consultant and their ability to convey trust and confidence (you demonstrate and prove your expert knowledge by speaking and writing)
2. Tangibles. Appearance of physical facilities, communication materials, equipment and personnel (you do this by the appearance of your Web site and how-to handouts)
3. Empathy. Caring, individualized attention that a firm provides its clients (educating people to solve problems before they hire you proves you care)
4. Responsiveness. Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (when you promise to give people things like special reports and white papers, do it promptly)
5. Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (prospective clients will judge you on how organized your seminars, speeches and Web site are)


Here’s how to determine if this is a good fit for you. Do you specialize in performing professional, scientific, and technical activities for others? If you are like most of our clients, your activities require a high degree of expertise and training. Do you provide any of the following? Legal advice and representation; accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll services; architectural, engineering, and specialized design services; IT and computer services; consulting and mentoring services; research services; public relations and advertising services; HR and recruiting services; translation and interpretation services; and other professional, scientific, and technical services.

If you fit this profile and have struggled with marketing, it is no wonder. Maybe you tried to emulate the marketing of big companies, a common problem for professionals and consultants. According to one Harvard Business School researcher, typical marketing not only doesn’t work for professionals and consultants it is actually harmful. Instead become an educator and attract all the clients you need.
Want to discover more strategies on how to create a high six figure income?

Turning Pain Into Marketing DNA

Attracting Clients With Marketing DNA

(Be sure to see the end of the article for a complimentary invitation)

Before you can begin attracting clients, you need to create a marketing genetic code that is attractive to clients. All of your marketing messages, from networking discussions to speeches, will contain the elements of this marketing DNA. Here are 10 steps that will help you create these all-important marketing genes.
1. Create a business name or a Web site name that gives potential clients a hint at the results you can produce for them. The worst possible name or Web site name is your name. Sorry to say, clients don’t want us, they want results.
2. Write a headline for your Web site and marketing materials that describes your audience and the results you produce for them. Do this in no more than 10 words. Mine is “We help professionals and consultants attract all they clients they need.”
3. Name your client’s pain. What are your client’s worries, frustrations and concerns that you help solve? This is also called the FUD factor: fear, uncertainty and doubt.
4. Describe your solution or methodology for solving these pains. What process do you follow to produce results? Offering a proprietary problem-solving process that you name and trademark is best. This answers the all-important question in their minds: “Why should I do business with you instead of one of your competitors?”
5. State the common misperception that holds many back from getting results. Why doesn’t everybody do what you named in step 4?
6. Tell your clients what they need to do in general to solve their problem. Pretend they weren’t hiring you and you had to describe the steps they should take for success.
7. List any other benefits they get from following your methods. What other good things do people get when they do what you advise?
8. Elaborate on your track record of providing measurable results for clients. Be specific as much as possible. Use numbers, percentages and time factors.
9. Create a Web site with free tips articles on how to solve these pains. Each article should be about 300 to 600 words. What’s a good format? Consider the numbered tips approach you are reading right now (easy to write, easy to read).
10. Make prospects an offer of a free special report on your Web site. You are offering to trade them a valuable piece of information for their email address. Tell them they will also receive a tips enewsletter from you. Assure them you will maintain their privacy and they can easily opt off your list any time they want.

How To Turn Speeches Into Customers

Give speeches about solving customer pain and you will be a star. Even though surveys consistently show that people would rather visit their in-laws than speak in front of a group, speeches and presentations are absolutely essential to build strong bonds with customers.

To turn speeches into customers, I recommend you read From Contact to Contract by Dianna Booher, CEO of Booher Consultants (a communication training firm that counts among its client list 25 of America’s 50 largest corporations and 227 of the Fortune 500). Here are just three of her valuable tips.


1. Make Subtle Mentions, Not Blatant Plugs
A conference organizer’s greatest fear is that a session will turn into a blatant sales pitch. “Your audience will protest loudly if your speech becomes a sales pitch,” advises Booher. Still, you can (and should) create subtle ways to mention your services and organization. Choose case-based anecdotes to illustrate key points that showcase your expertise. Put descriptive slogans on your handouts and other reference material. And be sure to have the person who introduces you mention your organization and establish your credibility.

2. Provide Multiple Avenues to Your Front Door
When you do land a speaking engagement, you must give prospective clients in the audience as many ways as possible to contact you afterwards. In all likelihood, Booher points out, you won’t be able to speak with each one or answer detailed questions immediately after the session. Instead, offer several methods to let them get in touch later. Put your contact information on slides, handouts, and invitations to future events. Give them a good reason to visit your Web site (offer a download of your slides or other free information). Make it easy and beneficial for the true prospects in your audience to seek you out.

3. Be Stingy With Your Business Cards
When a prospect asks you for your card after the presentation, turn the tables unexpectedly and ask for their card instead. Why? Because if you give them your card, you’re dependent on them taking the next step. Booher points out that when you have their card, you’re in control of the follow-up process. Furthermore, she says, you should avoid exchanging cards, too, because that gives a prospect reason to say “I have your contact information; if I have a need, I’ll be in touch.” What you want, of course, is the opportunity to help them understand they have the need in the first place.