I was on a business trip to New York. I had meetings on Monday morning, so I had flown into Newark, NJ the night before. The flight had been delayed and I was getting into my hotel very late. This was my first time into Newark and I was unfamiliar with the area. However, my hotel was close to the airport. In fact, it sat right next to the interstate, so how hard could it be? I soon found out it would be very hard. I could see the hotel, I just could not find the exit to the correct street. After a few drive bys, I found a frontage road that ran parallel to the interstate that I was sure would lead me to the hotel. I passed a sign that said to turn back, but there was absolutely no traffic on this road and I knew the hotel was just down the street. I came uponanother signthat caused me to bring my rental car to a screeching halt. You see, I had driven to the front gate of Northern State Prison, run by the New Jersey Department of Corrections. It sits on this unmarked frontage road along I-78. The Holiday Inn sits on the other side of the prison, but the frontage road does not go through to the hotel. The sign let me know that all vehicles were under surveillance by armed guards. Any unauthorized vehicles would be stopped and searched. I made a quick U-turn and found another route.

Have you seen signs that your marketing is heading in the wrong direction? What would be the warning signs you should heed? Here are three that should cause you to hit the brakes. One- declining prospects entering your sales funnel. Two- old customers are going elsewhere. Three- a drop in gross sales. Let’s take a look at each of these.

If you have seen less people showing initial interest in what you are producing or the service you provide, something is wrong and marketing needs to fix it. On the front end of marketing is research. That should include talking to targeted customers and finding out why their interest in what you are producing is waning. Do they see a need for what you produce? Do they think your quality is lacking or the price is too high? Don’t take this lightly; it can save your business. However, it may not be your product or service, but the way you are marketing them that is the problem. If these prospects have an interest in what you produce, but still are not transitioning into customers, something may be wrong with your marketing. You may not be engaging the prospect. They are left unaware of your brand and therefore are going elsewhere to buy it. That is a big marketing problem.

If you find that you are not retaining your old customers, why are they leaving you? You need to ask them to find out. Typically customers leave for one of four reasons: there was a quality problem, there was a conflict surrounding customer service in which they felt they were treated badly, they could get the same thing at a lower price elsewhere, or you could not deliver it on time to their satisfaction. Finding out if customers are happy, and fixing the issue if not, is a function of marketing. But there may be another basic marketing problem associated with old customers leaving you. It may be that you have failed to market anything new to them. We can make assumptions about the relationships we have with our customers. We often think we can just keep doing what we did to initially engage them and they will always come back. This is a myth, and a costly one if you practice it. The truth is, retention marketing is all about offering your current clients something beyond what they first bought from you. Give them the loyal customer treatment. If you are not offering them anything new, you are asking them to keep buying from you even though you have not made a pitch to them in quite some time. That is asking a lot of a business relationship.

Finally, if your sales are lagging, it is time to re-examine your marketing. All marketing leads to sales. If it does not, it should be replaced by techniques that better engage potential customers.

It is easy to lose your marketing direction, especially if you are ignoring the warning signs around you. If you need help examining your marketing efforts, give us a call.