The Best Marketing in a Down Economy

Below is an article from the March 2009 edition of my free monthly eNewsletter The Buzz Bulletin. To sign up for future issues, please visit the Galvin Communications website.

“Do what you do so well that your customers will want to see it again and bring their friends.”
Walt Disney

In today’s difficult economic climate, it’s easy to feel as if there’s little you can do to improve sales since the media keeps churning out stories about how consumers and companies aren’t spending money. The good news is that many of your competitors will believe this and stop trying to attract customers. This presents tremendous opportunities to grow your business.

Last week, Bob Stonhaus, a friend, client and founder of modular wine storage manufacturer STORViNO, sent me a statistic about the recession of the early-1980s. McGraw Hill Research found that companies which maintained aggressive sales and marketing efforts enjoyed more growth – some 275 percent in the five years after the recession – compared with only 19 percent growth amongst companies that cut or reduced their marketing budgets during the economic downturn.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Hey, that makes sense but I don’t have extra cash for marketing since my sales are terrible.” Well, the best marketing doesn’t cost anything. Rather, it takes a commitment to love and delight your customers with stellar service.

Yesterday, my wife Ellen and a friend went to Vinideus, a neighborhood wine shop and bar in Portland, Oregon that we’ve walked by for months but never visited. Ellen was curious to check it out since we’ve seen signs in the window announcing a diverse array of activities including a networking evening, French movie night, salsa lessons and a variety of musical performances. One of the owners greeted her and everybody who came through the doors with a smile and warm hello as if they were arriving in his living room (in fact, the shop has the cozy atmosphere of a family-run bistro in France).

When he overheard Ellen and her friend discussing the nuances of authentic French crepes, he apologized for interrupting but enthusiastically told them about his plans for introducing crepes in a few weeks as well many of the other exciting things that Vinideus would be offering.  When Ellen and her friend left, they had signed up for the shop’s weekly newsletter and were already making plans for their return.

They wandered a few blocks up the street to try another wine bar, where the atmosphere was quite different. While the service wasn’t bad, it lacked the warmth, energy and knowledge of the previous establishment. Likewise, the space itself felt cold—literally and figuratively. There was no music, no laughter and, not surprisingly, very few customers on what should have been a popular place on a Friday night. Ellen’s comment was, “There was no enthusiasm, no love.”

Think about the businesses that you love. What makes you loyal to these companies over others that offer similar products and services? Is it possible to adopt some of their customer service tactics? By doing so, you will take your business to new heights as satisfied customers keep coming back and referring their friends.