Here’s a statement I’ve heard a lot in my career: “We know our customers, so we don’t need to advertise.” It is true some businesses in the oil and gas production industries have fairly limited applications for their products and services, and they may know all of the key players, but it’s likely not all the players know you well and value your services enough to call on you every time they have a need. And, if you are so successful as to have 100-percent market share, it is likely another little start-up firm is itching to take a bite out of your market the minute you make a mistake or fall out of favor with someone. Or perhaps your ace salesman decides to defect and join the opposition or a key man decides to hoof it and start a similar company despite his non-compete. There’s always that company down the way that branches out and enters your market, and oops, before you know it, it begins to take projects away from you.
Then there are those rare bears that are so specialized they almost have a monopoly. They perform consistently well. They have honed their customer service to the point there’s not much of anything bad one can say about them. The danger here is these companies can price themselves out of business if they aren’t careful and they, too, can fall prey to those ever-vigilant hawks that want to chip away at their monopoly for less profit.
There’s another more common scenario of the company that says it doesn’t need to advertise (but it may be advertising and just not know it). While these companies typically don’t have tradition-al advertising plans, they quietly court their customers through social interaction. If they assigned a dollar amount to the time they spend courting individual customers via golf outings, hunting trips, et cetera, their “advertising” budgets would be phenomenally large. What they are doing through social interaction is actually building relationships and building brand awareness through perks and personality. These relationships can go far and deep, but traditional advertising can enhance their brand awareness as well because, unlike the old days, the marketplace is changing.
There are some new sheriffs in town
If you haven’t noticed, there are some newcomers involved in the decision making process since many of their predecessors have retired or are nearing retirement. These newcomers don’t necessarily know who your company is or all you do. They also may not have a personal relationship, allegiance or history with your company. You need to reach and teach them as well.
Too much and not enough
During the good times, we hear, “We’ve got all the business we can handle. We just don’t need anymore right now.” But it’s not many years (or months) later I hear, “Business is slow. Our budget is stretched. We can’t afford to advertise.”
It’s never good to promise more than you can deliver. So, when business is booming, why advertise? The reason is advertising does not bring instant sales. Advertising creates awareness. It takes time and multiple messages (frequency and consistency). I like to say every advertising message in every media needs to be spoon-fed. Advertising during the good times will help you in the lean times. When you are not so concerned with the bottom line, you can better hone your message without being stressed to the point your message is desperate or faltering. Advertising to new potential markets in the good times can help decrease that cyclical teeter-totter.
Most businesses are cyclical. When projects are slim and profits are thin, you still need to keep your name in front of your customers and potential customers. You need to be visible at the very time they realize they have a need for your service. The old proverb “out of sight, out of mind” is true. People forget. My favorite excuse is, “We tried advertising and it didn’t work.” So, here’s another proverb, “try, try again.” Either the message didn’t resonate or it was put in the wrong place at the wrong time.
For more information, contact Connie Voss by calling (713) 206-9975, email her at cvossmarketing@sbcglobal.net or visit www.cvossmarketing.com.
