In a recent discussion among business counselors serving small business the topic turned to what are the attributes that indicate likely entrepreneurial success. The collective wisdom of the group including a serial entrepreneur is in the following list of attributes we look for to predict success when we’re in our advisory roles:
Just when you thought you were done, you realize that the campaign measurements aren’t necessarily conclusive. Or you’re left with a lingering doubt as to whether the response was an aberration perhaps affected by a one time event. Smart marketers always retest results even positive ones to ensure before the budget is spent on a costly roll-out that they are fairly secure in a predictable outcome.
Once you have launched your marketing campaigns you will measure your outcome. To have analytics that are meaningful and useful guess what, you have to plan for them before you launch your campaigns? As your marketing plan will reflect goal accomplshment through the tactics you choose so the analytics will tell you how successful you were in accomplishing the goals.
If you’ve been reading the previous posts in this series then you know that I am a strong recommender of planning, planning, planning before you spend precious resources on marketing programs. But if you’ve been through the planning phases then it’s time to develop the marketing plan and pull the trigger. The marketing plan itself must take into consideration not only resources and time but most importantly you need to consider how your likely prospects get and absorb information.
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I’ve worked in marketing for many years and there is one truism that has held throughout my career which is, “Murphy’s Law reigns supreme.” Yes, if it can go wrong it will go wrong and the only way to protect yourself against an unsuccessful outcome is with contingency plans. Please notice I used the plural here. It’s not good enough to just have one back-up plan. I encourage all the entrepreneurs I work with to have contingency plans to improve their chance of success. When something goes askew of your business predictions you may not have time to work though an alternative plan. Being ready to change direction or make a course correction can save a business from losing market share.
Once the strategic plan and annual business goals have been documented the marketing plan can be developed. By following this process entrepreneurs and their staff can focus activities on what’s important to the success and growth of the company. I often find working with entrepreneurs that they rush into the marketing plan without the previous planning stages running the risk of wasting time and money. If the wrong marketing tactics are used failure is a likely outcome. If you’ve ever heard yourself saying, “oh we tried that and it didn’t work,” check to be sure the marketing plan was written after the strategic plan and business goals.
Annually entrepreneurs need to set business goals. Generally these are related to business growth but they can cover any of the normal business functions from sales and marketing to employee management and operations. Well written goals help business owners focus on what’s important so take your time when crafting them.
Writing good goals is as much science as art as they should be measurable and have an estimated time frame for accomplishment. Marketing plans should only be written once the business goals are established. Too often entrepreneurs rush into marketing activities without taking this very important step of writing clear measurable goals and then are disappointed when the marketing doesn’t work.
In working with start-up companies I always advise them to follow a 7 step methodology that includes:
1. Strategic Planning
2. Business Goal Setting
3. Market Planning
4. Contingency Planning
5. Plan Implementation
6. Program Analysis
7. Retesting
I’m devoting the next series of blogs to short discussions about each step.
I have a well known IM/internet calling service installed on my laptop which I installed when I was at my last job and foolishly used my work email in my account profile . Yes you guessed it I forgot the password. The interesting vicious circle I got caught in was to get a new passsword I need to get an email (which I can’t becasue it was my old work one) and to change the email I need a password.
Ok I have no problem contacting customer service and asking for help. Yes, I did a stupid thing, mea culpa but please help me. Now here’s where it got interesting. You can’t contact this firm’s customer service. No phone, number or email only a virtual loop of FAQs. OK I’m into self-help but my problem isn’t on the list so can’t self-help either.
The one thing everyone is willing to share is his or her opinion. Bad news if it’s your in-laws but great news if it’s your customers. In my experience working with small business professionals rather than being the first line of defense it’s often left out of the playbook all together. No matter what it is your selling asking for customer feedback, insights, and unfulfilled needs should be part of your organizational policies.
Making it standard practice among all employees (so who in your organization doesn’t touch a customer or potential customer?) and institutionalizing it as a regular procedure is a key to business success. Create a list of questions that can be asked during customer interactions. Here’s a few to get you started:
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