Wow what a week. The Big 3 left Washington empty handed and the economic news continues to be the top news story. The Red Sox acquired a new reliever and the Celtics have become my favorite escape from the economic news. Life goes on and most of us look to work smarter, focus our efforts and fine tune our business.
As an owner of a business, a CEO, a president, you likely are evaluating all aspects of your business. Looking at every expense, questioning what business you can count on and what business may be at risk.
Are you evaluating ALL aspects of your business? How are your customers faring? What do you offer them that can be of help in these tough times? Can you help them save money, work more efficiently or increase productivity? Where do you deliver value for your clients? Do you know?
If you offer your clients the opportunity to increase their revenue or reduce costs you have a great opportunity to make sure your clients and identified prospects know clearly what you offer them. Do they know how to find you and your business? Do they clearly understand what you offer them?
As you assess your business situation in the midst of this economy, convert your mental notes into your A priorities to put them into action. Make a physical list identifying specifically what you and your business offer that can help your clients during these times. As an example, a financial advisor does not just provide advice and guidance in these tough times. For me, our financial advisor offers us peace of mind as I know he knows our priorities, our goals and our objectives and he is evaluating what makes sense for us to do or not to do. While I am not opening my statements right now, his service offers me peace of mind that I do not have to second guess what he is doing in my best interest. Think of your service offering broadly – what do you really offer your clients? You have a market opportunity by clearly articulating that message and getting the word out.
You are not alone in evaluating every aspect of your business right now. We are all constantly reviewing what else we should be doing, what we should STOP doing and what we need to be doing more of. If you aren’t, maybe you should be.
Assess what you are good at. Clearly articulate it. Make sure it matters to your clients and prospects. This is the essence of marketing. It matters more than ever in these challenging times. Are you at risk of being cut out by your clients or are your services/product valued and not viewed as discretionary? If your services really matter to your clients, they are going to work hard to not have to cut back on your services. As you evaluate cutbacks in your business, make sure you don’t cut in the areas that matter most to your clients.
Make a physical list – what are you really good at? Why? Why do your clients work with you? Leverage those points and focus your energy, your resources and your time on doing what you do REALLY well and making sure your clients and prospects know exactly what you deliver to them in terms that matter to them. This may not be your typical view of what marketing is all about, but this is exactly why marketing matters… especially now.