So many businesses are haemorrhaging money and they don’t even know it. One of the key places they waste money is in their advertising. 

Each week businesses spend thousands on letterbox drops, local paper advertising, posters and even local sport sponsorship. Each week, these same businesses refuse to track or even service the business that comes in from this advertising. So save yourself the money and stop advertising!

For example, recently we needed some gutter work done on an investment property. Serendipitously we received in the letterbox an A5 sized coloured flyer promoting a local gutter specialist. Let’s just work out the cost of that. 

A quick Google shows that 5,000 flyers cost about $500 to distribute and about $500 to design and print. So that’s a $1,000 for the minimum run of 5,000 flyers to print and distribute. To pay for that, the business needs to bring in a new customer and a new job that pays $1,000 in PROFIT not just revenue.

Our gutter specialist not only did a letter box drop, they did an advert in the local paper “Trade” section. But it wasn’t a normal sized advert, theirs was a double advert so it was twice as big as everyone else’s.  Now they service multiple areas so it is possible that they have this advert in multiple local papers. Their advertising spend continues to grow.

The reality is a little different. We called and let them know what we wanted. Putting aside the rough and ready way they answered the phone (“Hullo?”), we said we would be on site for the next three days. The guy said that “I will try to get there and if not I will be in touch.”

It has now been three weeks and we are yet to hear from them. (But their advert was in the paper again this week). So not only is it a waste of money, it is really poor customer service.

Stop wasting your money. If you don’t have the systems and processes in place to deal with the new business your advertising is generating, you are doing yourself more harm than good.

Your systems MUST be ready to accept new customers, discover where they are from (so you can track the effectiveness of your marketing) and then be able to service them. With the number of supporting products and services available in the market place today, there is no excuse for poor systems and poor service.

Here is how this experience could have gone.

The number on the advertising could have been for a virtual service. The person answering the phone could have asked for basic job and contact details, how the caller found out about them and then advised that the tradie would be back in touch within 48 hours (unless it was urgent), typically after 4pm when they finished hands on work.

If they tradie called within 24 hours, the customer would feel good simply because they called within 24 and not 48 hours. The tradie could advise that all quotes are done on Fridays and the next available quote slot is this Friday at 2pm (or whenever). They book a quote time and then start the process.

This whole process not only makes it easy for the customer, it also helps set their expectation for the service they will be receiving. Their customer service experience has not been left to chance.

Michael Gerber said, “The systems run the business and the team run the systems.” This is particularly important for solo business operators like tradies and entrepreneurs.

So look at what you are doing. Are you wasting money on advertising because you are not set up to actually take on the new business? Are you annoying people with bad service that you can easily avoid? Put your systems in place and make your success happen.

Whatever you do, stop wasting money!

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I am a Star Wars fan.

I was 9 when the first film came out. The first three films were great, the second three  – not so much.

When I heard Disney bought Lucasfilm I was concerned. Disney are known for their focus on achieving a significant return for their investment, sometimes at a cost of the brand. (Recently they sent legal letters to people posting photos of their legally bought Star Wars action figures.)

The long awaited Episode Seven is due to open on the 18th of Dec. Already the marketing and merchandising has been going full steam ahead. I was stunned today to see the licensing of kids yoghurt balls (the advert is above).

I am certain many brands would love to piggy back on Star Wars popularity but what is the cost to Star Wars and Disney?

As a long time fan, I am saddened by all of the marketing. Somehow aligning “The Force” with everyday products takes away the “special” feeling the brand used to have. It is no longer unique but common.

What about your brand? Whether it be your company brand or brand “YOU”, be aware who you align yourself with.

If you don’t respect your brand, why should anyone else? 
PS We ran a special Blab on Friday talking about Mindfulness and Communication. We also created a special deal for the 2016 Kick Off. You can check out the recording here and take advantage of the deal until midnight tonight (Monday 14th December 2015).

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I was speaking with Zerafina Zara, one of the performance coaches for Mushroom Records recently about the music industry. There is a constant message that applies to your business that you need to know.

No matter how good you are, it doesn’t matter a damn if you don’t have an audience.

So many people work on their skill set, their techniques, their song writing, their creative process, their new development, but if you don’t have an audience, you will starve.

Apparently some performers get to the point where they think getting an audience is “beneath them”. From first hand experience, there are plenty of business people who are not focussed on getting an audience, or as I like to call it, SALES.

We have all seen products and services that are not that good but they have a huge following and significant sales. Maybe it is your competitor and you even have a better product or service than they do. But they have clearly focussed on their marketing and sales processes. This is because they know the value of an audience.

So do you have an audience? What will you do this week to increase your audience rather than work on your product or service?

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