Not long ago I drove past a donut shop that had recently opened and noticed, much to my surprise, that it had already closed its doors. "Out of business” read the sign on the front window. Odd that a business that opened for business less than six months ago has already closed. What you must realize is that I really like donuts, but I am picky about it. I won’t just shove any old yeast cruller in my mouth. The donut has to be fresh, not too sweet, but not too stingy on the glazing. I like them to melt in my mouth when I eat them. I am not a big fan of fillings or frostings that cover up the taste of the actual donut. I like my donuts to be pretty simple. The shame of it was, I had a little extra time this day and had passed by this new shop, intending to stop in and sample their offerings. But before I had the time, the place closed down.

What went wrong at that little donut shop? What could have saved it? Failure of businesses is nothing new, especially over the past four years. Small businesses are particularly susceptible to bankruptcy. There are common problems that wash out businesses. Many are under-capitalized. Many take on too much debt before they turn a profit and can’t keep up with the creditors. But another common problem lies in ineffective marketing, especially when you are talking about first time sales marketing.  For a donut shop, where the price point is small, getting masses of people through your doors and sampling your product is crucial in order to make it. Having a marketing strategy is great, but there are aspects to marketing that are critical for a new business like this. A new donut shop has to get people to try their product for the first time. The first time experience is going to be the judge of whether you will garner a following of customers or if people will give their donut dollars to another. Before anyone is going to like you on your Facebook page, tweet their favorite flavor in your product line, or recommend you to their coworker who is responsible to bring donuts into the office on Friday, they have to have a good first experience. I know that sounds pretty simple, but many businesses miss this point.

You may not be running a donut shop, but you should take note of the concepts around first time sales marketing in your own business. Enticing someone to try your product or service is a key to your marketing success. First time sales marketing is intended to bring the customer to a quick decision point. Either they love you or they don’t. First time sales marketing is meant to leave no fence sitters, no wishy-washy flip-floppers, no ten year engagements…you get the metaphors. The sooner you can use first time sales marketing techniques on a potential client, the sooner they will come to a decision about buying from you. How does that happen? The key to first time sales is to give the customer a reason to try you out. That may mean giving a discount for using the product or service for the first time. The donut shop may try giving out a free cup of coffee if you purchase two donuts. You may even give the product away in a sample size to let the customer give it a try. There is nothing that will sell your product more than that first time experience. If you have a new product or service, you should allocate marketing dollars towards some method of customer trials.

The other part of this equation is the product or service has to be excellent and ready to hit the market. That first time experience has to be as good as it can be. Remember, this is judgment day for any continued sales. This is the reason car salesmen let customers test drive their vehicles when they come into the showroom. But if the car breaks down during your test drive, you not only will not buy the car being test driven, my suspicion is you will not buy any on the lot. Am I right about this? Customers are very quick with their judgment in such cases. That is why you have to make sure your product or service is ready. Development, as much as you can do beforehand, has to have worked out the bugs and solved potential problems. If you bite into a stale donut, you will not be back for another. Is there such a thing as rushing a product to the market too early? Yes, there is. Test it out. Do a very simple marketing test with a small focus group. Listen to what they say about their experience and make adjustments based on those comments.