Why complacency is a curse

“To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted” George Keller

I bumped into a friend in the supermarket yesterday and what started out as a gentle conversation rapidly turned into a marketing session. My friend has bought a franchise and has been following the franchisor’s blueprint to the letter, investing huge amounts of time implementing the franchisor’s prospecting process. The problem is it’s not working. The franchisor’s marketing blueprint has remained unchanged in the last few years and herein lies the problem. What I’m increasingly finding as a marketer when I speak to small businesses and franchisors is that the marketing plans that served you so very well several years ago are insufficient now.

Why?

Well in the current climate especially ,although money is still available, businesses have to invest more targeted energy to find prospects; wooing them along the continuum of behaviour – awareness, interest, evaluation, desire and, ‘kerching!’, action. You cannot assume that the sales prospecting model that was good to go last year will be just as successful this year. For example, this particular franchisor’s tried and now rusted model is predicated on leafleting and cold calling; the logic being that the businesses of the first few franchisees were successfully built in the early years  on these two marketing tactics alone.

Chatting to my friend I could see that a more personal approach was needed with her marketing, underpinned by some training in how to make successful cold calls without appearing pushy. Cold calling most definitely does work but most people need training in how to make those calls, and in how to use social media to locate prospects and build a mutually beneficial two-way relationship before the telephone is picked up.

You may need to push well and truly out of your marketing comfort zone in 2012 and embrace tools and tactics that you’ve previously ignored. It’s not just about investing inordinate amounts of time on doing what you’ve always done. It’s about looking at your prospects with a fresh pair of eyes and being willing to make subtle or dramatic changes as required.

What do you plan on doing differently this year with your marketing?