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05.05.09
A surprising reason why spending is down
Between deadly pig flu, government bailouts and pirates, talking about the recession seems almost anticlimactic – nevertheless I wanted to share something I learned from Dan Kennedy at the Super Conference.
Dan had a special session about Recession Rescue, which included a bunch of good info about thriving during this time (I’ll be sharing more in later posts). He had an interesting point I wanted to talk about today:
One of the main reasons why spending is down is because businesses have stopped asking for the sale.
Businesses all over have cut back their marketing and sales budgets because they think it doesn’t matter. “Why bother?” they say. “People aren’t buying anyway, so why bother trying to sell to them?”
Of course, as all good students of copywriting know, if you don’t ask for the sale, you’re not going to get the sale. So if you stop marketing and selling, people WILL stop buying. (Yes it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.)
And especially now, you need to sell and market even harder because people are more cautious with their money, so if anything you should be stepping up your marketing strategies and efforts, not cutting back.
When business is slow, there’s no question it makes sense to cut back on expenses. But cutting back on things that directly relate to income (i.e. marketing and sales) is not a smart business move.
What are your thoughts? Have you noticed less selling in your life? What have you noticed in YOUR business? Leave me a comment and let me know what YOUR experiences are.
Jack Donner said,
May 11, 2009 at 10:41 am UTC
Advertising and marketing can be either an expense or investment. Putting out your info and getting no response, makes no sense to keep it up. Find something that works and do it more. Invest time and energy in what produces business. Jack Donner
http://www.businessproadvisor.com
DougPeterson said,
June 7, 2009 at 7:25 pm UTC
This recession is a real challenge that one must see as an opportunity to grow in value so you can offer more values to the market–the customers who are most likely to buy.
I ask you “Why should I buy products from YOU?”
… and how do you answer that question?
If you’re in business just to make a buck you’re sunk, in my opinion. Offer more value for the same price. This is the time to augment your value so you can offer more value which in will generate more sales.
People will still keeep buying; so you must give them an offer they can’t refuse; and assume your competition is doing the same thing you are.
I would assume this.
Wow your customers
Michele PW said,
June 8, 2009 at 8:36 am UTC
Well said, thanks Doug.