The,Golden,Rule,Small,Business marketing The Golden Rule of Small Business Marketing
Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t
The Golden Rule of Small Business MarketingSolving the Marketing vs Operations RiddleAs a current small business owner and corporate marketing manager, I have seen marketing from both sides of the fence. The big corporations tend to rely on their buying power and large advertising budgets to convince their potential customers to buy their products, while small business owners tend to be more crafty with their modest marketing budgets, looking for unique opportunities here and there that will enhance their sales efforts. There is one rule, however, that is applicable to both the big guys and the little guys. I call it the Golden Rule of Marketing, and here it is:Marketing will never solve an operations problem.As much as marketers hate to admit it, the bottom line on marketing is that it tends to cause more harm than good when a companys operations are not running smoothly. So if sales are down and youre considering ramping up on your marketing dollars to solve the problem, you should first ensure that the problem is not with your operations.Evaluate your OperationsHow do you sell your product or service? How good of a salesperson are you (honestly)? How about your service delivery is it smooth and swift or slow and cumbersome for customers? All of these questions pertain to the operations of your small business, and none of them can be rectified by running a razzle-dazzle marketing campaign. In fact, a successful marketing campaign that encourages people to purchase your product or service, only to find that the product or service is faulty or the service delivery is poor, will hurt your business in the long run through negative word of mouth.Consider an ExampleImagine that you run a hardware store. You need to have the right store hours and the right personnel in each department in order to ensure that your operation runs smoothly. If you have a great lumber salesperson working in your plumbing department (and he knows nothing about plumbing), thats an operations mistake. You can pour over the numbers each month and work hard to come up with new marketing schemes to boost your sagging plumbing sales, but nothing that you try will work as long as you continue to employ the wrong salespeople in the wrong departments. In fact, a great marketing program that draws people in to your store only to experience poor service when shopping for plumbing supplies might convince them not to return to your store, thus damaging your business. Its a broad example, but you can see how easily it would apply to other businesses, including yours.Think About your BusinessDoes the above example sound like something that might be happening in your small business? Maybe youve got the wrong people in the wrong places, or maybe you are trying to do everything yourself and havent accepted the fact you cant be a copywriter/salesperson/accountant/operations manager effectively.Remember, marketing will never solve an operations problem. It is critical that all small business owners remind themselves of this rule every time they consider a new marketing plan aimed at boosting sales or countering a downturn in business. Before you spend your money, ask yourself Whats the problem with my business before you try to solve it through increased spending. If you can identify that the problem lies with your operations, it can usually be repaired for far less than a new marketing blitz will cost you.You cant throw money at an operations problem and hope that it goes away. An operations problem is like a bad cut and marketing is salt in the wound. Your business will be better served if you heal it first, then drive the customers to your door.
The,Golden,Rule,Small,Business