Mr. Marketing: Innovation is the key to business success
Rob Weinberg
Published 06/10/2010
- 9:49 a.m.
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Why am I losing customers?
Susan Rogers, Rancho Bernardo
Today’s challenging economy makes it tempting to stick to business basics. Returning to tried-and-true methods of success maintains a comfort zone with familiar challenges and equally familiar solutions.
Yet just doing the same old thing risks losing customers to someone offering what you sell...and more.
If my daughter stands in my yard balancing an elephant on her nose, she’ll get some attention. In three months, if she’s done nothing else, she’ll become part of the scenery. Drug store. Girl balancing elephant. Post office. No big deal. Soon even I won’t notice her.
McDonald’s knows you can get burgers and fries at a hundred other places within easy walking distance. So they sell ice cream and salad to encourage you walking through their door.
It can’t be coincidental that McDonald’s grew in 2009 while almost every other business in the world fell off a financial cliff. Their constant flow of new ideas and willingness to invest in development, marketing and distribution made them quite profitable.
At my fifth annual Rotary conference in February I was asked if I had new jokes. I responded, “I don’t need new jokes — I have a new audience.”
The same rule applies to most businesses. Selling one thing means you need a steady stream of new customers to buy it.
Providing something new and exciting gives customers more reasons to talk to you. And don’t forget that existing customers typically generate more revenue than new customers do.
Oh yes — new products and services don’t have to be fancy. My accountant also offers bookkeeping services. I pay her for that, too.
So before you decide to only offer the original widget that got you into business 10 years ago, ask yourself what new services or brand extensions you can offer at little or no additional cost. You might be surprised.
A wise man once observed that today’s challenging economy makes it tempting to stick to business basics. Pulling in your horns and only focusing on the familiar is probably counter-productive to your long-term bottom line. Long-range success demands you regularly reinvent your business in the public eye.
With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.
Mr. Marketing’s agency has introduced new marketing services and innovations for 30 years. You can learn all about them at www.askmrmarketing.com.
Susan Rogers, Rancho Bernardo
Today’s challenging economy makes it tempting to stick to business basics. Returning to tried-and-true methods of success maintains a comfort zone with familiar challenges and equally familiar solutions.
Yet just doing the same old thing risks losing customers to someone offering what you sell...and more.
If my daughter stands in my yard balancing an elephant on her nose, she’ll get some attention. In three months, if she’s done nothing else, she’ll become part of the scenery. Drug store. Girl balancing elephant. Post office. No big deal. Soon even I won’t notice her.
McDonald’s knows you can get burgers and fries at a hundred other places within easy walking distance. So they sell ice cream and salad to encourage you walking through their door.
It can’t be coincidental that McDonald’s grew in 2009 while almost every other business in the world fell off a financial cliff. Their constant flow of new ideas and willingness to invest in development, marketing and distribution made them quite profitable.
At my fifth annual Rotary conference in February I was asked if I had new jokes. I responded, “I don’t need new jokes — I have a new audience.”
The same rule applies to most businesses. Selling one thing means you need a steady stream of new customers to buy it.
Providing something new and exciting gives customers more reasons to talk to you. And don’t forget that existing customers typically generate more revenue than new customers do.
Oh yes — new products and services don’t have to be fancy. My accountant also offers bookkeeping services. I pay her for that, too.
So before you decide to only offer the original widget that got you into business 10 years ago, ask yourself what new services or brand extensions you can offer at little or no additional cost. You might be surprised.
A wise man once observed that today’s challenging economy makes it tempting to stick to business basics. Pulling in your horns and only focusing on the familiar is probably counter-productive to your long-term bottom line. Long-range success demands you regularly reinvent your business in the public eye.
With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.
Mr. Marketing’s agency has introduced new marketing services and innovations for 30 years. You can learn all about them at www.askmrmarketing.com.
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