Brands are Big, but for survival in tough economic times, and even good times, customer service may be more important. A bad customer experience could cost you a customer for life and a lot more.
Prioritize your sales leads and help your customers buy something. Don’t let your organization, procedures and staff talk customers out of buying from you.
Recessionary marketing and public relations, doing more with less, may be your only chance for long term survival. Like any investor with your lead generation and marketing you need to "spread the risk, invest in the highest probability returns to the lowest, and monitor them constantly."
The bankruptcies of major retail chains have significant impact on local and national employment directly and indirectly via the supporting services businesses which supply retailers, their employees and vendors. Their bad debit will also cause significant cash issues for vendors in the upcoming months.
Variable sales compensation is performance oriented. You get sales, you pay, as long as the sales staff cannot sell below your authorized margins, you’re getting what you wanted and agreed to pay for. Don’t make the mistake of making cuts to your commission obligations for past performance.
Messaging notification services like those built into Twitter, Linkedin, Plaxo and others can be great tools, but with anything, overdose can be poisonous!
Marketing and Sales like rust can never sleep. The basics of sales and marketing need to be continually reinforced in good times and in bad times and it does take money to make money. Be where your customers need to be and make the most of the opportunity.
Return on Investment (ROI) could mean survival. Marketing sizing and the cost of customer acquisition and cash flow are critical for start-ups as well as continuing businesses.