When the economy is down, invest in sales and marketing

3/12/200810:46:29 AM Link |  | Add comment

Sales and Marketing

When the economy is down its the perfect time to invest in sales and marketing.

When the market isn't going your way, especially in small business its time to reinvest your time, effort and money into how your selling your services or products.

I go to my favorite restaurant, Houston's at least once a week and have been for many years now. Typically I go around 11:20 for lunch to avoid the heavy lunch hour traffic but in this case I was running later than usual and so I arrived at 12:30pm. I anticipated a long wait as I walked in but was surprised to be welcomed with no wait, not all of the tables occupied and impeccable service. Walking in as a regular customer the hostess immediately suggested that I sit in my favorite section because I was recognized as a regular and there was obvious availability in every section of the restaurant. Houston's over lunchtime is notoriously busy. I had never seen it this slow especially at the high peak of the lunch rush. The service throughout my meal was impeccable even though it was very clear from my surroundings that business was down.

My usual lunch at Houston's at an atypically slow lunch hour made me think of the slowing economy and slowing markets in many industries. The best time to ramp up on sales and marketing and to invest in your current clientele is at this very moment when business is down and fewer customers are walking in the door.

As the media continues to remind us of our current economic crisis I'm happy to remind you that small business is a driving force of the economy, the last thing small businesses need to do is to ignore sales and ignore marketing efforts. Sales and marketing should be consistent regardless of economic growth and stability. It is necessary for sales and marketing to pick up when the economy fails to drive sales. Invest in your customers, invest in your strength as a small business, if personal attention and impeccable service is what defines you to your customer base, invest in that. Invest in sales and marketing today to maintain a viable business. Invest in what defines your small business to remain viable in your industry.