Jun
25
Graphic by Nikolas Allen
Due to a combination of active PR, event marketing, direct contact and follow-up, social media marketing and word of mouth referrals, my consulting business has been booming over the past couple months.
Lately, I enjoy getting phone calls from numbers I don’t recognize, because more often than not, it’s a new prospect on the line. After working so hard for the past three years revising and refining my business concept, it’s a thrill that random phone calls are becoming hot leads, speaking engagements are manifesting new prospects, and Facebook referrals result in signed checks.
Of course, as I schedule more Free 30-Minute Needs Assessments, meet with more prospects and submit more BAM! Solution Proposals, I’m also encountering something that’s not quite as thrilling: Lots of fear.
Is it my own fear? Hmm, in the name of honesty, I suppose some of it belongs to me – having to go out and sell my services has a tendency to activate that little voice that tries to protect us from rejection and failure. But what I’m really referring to is the fear I’m encountering in many of my prospects.
They know they need to do SOMETHING in order to meet their business objectives (all of which seem to share the common theme of getting more clients/sales/profits), but they are afraid to spend the money to make it happen.
So, instead of making an uncomfortable investment in a marketing initiative that will move them toward their objectives, they keep on doing what they have been doing: A whole lot of nothing.
In some cases, several of them ARE doing something, but it’s either too little, too inconsistent, or it’s not effective enough to achieve the desired results…which is about the same as doing nothing.
Before we go any further, allow me to clarify that my intention with this post is not to mock my fearful prospects, nor to complain that they aren’t willing to spend money on my services to help them achieve their objectives.
Financial fear is a common, universal feeling that so many of us have been experiencing throughout the dismal economic climate of the past few years. I want to acknowledge this, to bring it out in the open, and make it clear that I do understand this.
I also understand that in order to be effective, marketing needs to be a consistent endeavor that’s worked into the structure of the company, rather than the “optional, dreaded expense” that is doled out on an as-needed basis – which is usually too little, too late.
I would like to encourage my readers, and prospects, to work through their fear and try to make bold choices where their business is concerned. Entrepreneurs are gamblers. We know going in that starting a business is a calculated risk.
Just because those black and red chips are starting to look pretty thin on that green felt table does not mean it’s time to freeze up and paralyze your marketing efforts.
It means that it’s time to improve your strategy.
Making bold choices is not the same as making stupid choices. It doesn’t mean throwing your money away because you hear a slick sales pitch. It means knowing the difference between a (non-fixed) expense and an investment, and having the courage to make the occasional difficult choice between them in order to improve the condition of your business.
Where marketing is concerned, more than ever before, you must be absolutely clear on WHAT your company stands for, WHICH benefit is most meaningful to your customers, and HOW to articulate that in your marketing message. You need to determine exactly WHAT your marketing objectives are, WHO your ideal audience is, WHERE they are and HOW you can best reach them.
The unfortunate thing is that most of the people I’ve been meeting with are NOT clear on the imperative elements mentioned above. They KNOW they need help defining and articulating these things (which is the service that I’m offering them), they KNOW their current efforts are NOT achieving desired results, yet they STILL opt for the Fear-Based Marketing Strategy of inaction.
Taking a “let’s wait until things improve” approach is a passive strategy that will ultimately weaken the foundation of the business you have worked so hard to build. Plus, it begs the question, “when are things REALLY going to improve?”
And, once things DO improve, that’s not the time to be playing catch-up on your marketing strategy. That’s the time to be laser-focused on innovating your offering, improving your customer service and generally knocking the socks off your customers who are finally loosening the grips on their wallets!
You may have heard the saying, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” Therefore, if you want the results to be different, the actions need to be different.
There’s no better time than right now to work through the fear, to improve your strategy, to take action and to make bold, calculated decisions about what truly is the most effective way to grow your business.
Wishing you and your business all the success you deserve! ~ Nikolas Allen
