With all the pizazz and flashy gimmicks people have to lure you into their store/office, I found this sign quite shocking. I actually turned my car around to come back and take the picture. I can’t imagine an ad agency or marketing consultant letting this fly and yet I’ve learned this gym has a steady customer base. While I do believe they could work on their marketing and just their general appearance there are some core elements you should focus on before you promote.
- Build a Great Product - A pretty package, web site or sign in this case may draw attention, but the product inside better be really good. I know several friends who have killer logos, business cards and web sites, but they have very little sales. I’ve fallen victim to this several times by spending an immense amount of time on my logo, tag line only to neglect making my product or service incredible.
- Cash TRULY is King – Promotions, giveaways and the freemium model can work, but there must be a financial model of profitability behind your marketing efforts. I’ve tried the loss leaders for sales and it can work as long as the overall plan makes sustained profits.
- Plan for Growth – In the technology field, it’s beat into your head to have a disaster recovery plan, but why not also plan for success? One of best AND worst things can happen to a young business is to get accelerated growth. The story I heard last week was of a company who had to add 75 extra phone lines to take all the incoming orders. The owner admitted it was a great problem to have, but he found he struggled to retain his quality his product. Think about who you’d hire, what you’d change and where the money would go if you got real traction.
- Go long or go home – Many promotions are focused on sales or temporary price incentives (i.e. – the entire car industry). Forget the flashy ad campaign and do something insanely good for your customers. Zappos is grabbing every headline and case study about customer service and we could all do well to follow their lead. With a society that is extremely jaded towards salespeople and service in general, what can you do for your customers to be memorable? That catchy ad campaign could get people buzzing, but a long term customer plan for service could get you real growth.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a full believer that you have to promote and pimp out your product to the right audience, but all sizzle and no steak leaves the stomach empty.
