It’s absolutely amazing how business owners tend to blame poor sales figures on the back of advertising.
“Weekend traffic was down…must be the advertising.”
“Pretty good traffic this weekend but no sales…must be the advertising.”
“We seem to be getting more and more grumpy customers…we must be talking to the wrong people with our advertising.”
Nine times out of ten, if you want to know who to blame for down times or poor sales…look in the mirror.
When you really understand the function of advertising you will know where to look to for the cure to your problems. Let’s consider the restaurant owner who spends thousands of dollars to attract people to his restaurant. The ambiance is perfect. The food and presentation are exquisite. The service is…….well; let’s just say it wasn’t good. We sat at our table for 10 minutes before our waiter greeted us. Finally she arrived. No smile. No pleasantries. No eye contact. No menu suggestions. No service. No tip. No return visit. The poor taste of bad service trumps the good flavor of great food. Every time!
The problem in this restaurant is not exclusive to restaurants. You can spend and spend more on advertising, but if your total marketing effort is not where it should be, you’re better off saving your money until you get your act together. Good advertising will do one of two things; it will help a good business grow, or, it will put a bad business out of business faster.
What kind of a message are you creating with every customer that buys your product or engages your services? Are you and your employees treating every customer as though they are the most important customer on the planet? Are you providing everything the customer expects…and then some? What are you doing to create positive word of mouth with each customer?
Check your employees. Check their attitudes. Check their product knowledge. Check their appearance. But first, check your own. Remember, the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
You can have the best food in town…the cleanest dining room…convenient parking…but if part of your total marketing effort is suffering, you will see the results as lack of cash in the till.
If you’re store traffic is down, maybe it’s the offer in your advertising. Maybe what you advertised just isn’t grabbing people. Maybe your competition is offering more. Maybe the timing was wrong. Maybe people didn’t have enough time to react to your offer. Maybe you didn’t reach them often enough to cause a reaction. The point is, before you point your finger and blame the advertising, check everything. It’s only through honest assessment and self-examination that we correct the problems, learn from mistakes, and become better at what we do. The better shape your Marketing Bridge is in, the better your advertising works.
Van is vice president of Marketing Firepower with decades of experience in helping small business succeed through the effective use of advertising.
