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The Other Retailers
So what will happen to the other retailers? The ones who don’t embrace
technology, become lifelong learners, or develop the marketer’s
mindset? Not to put too fine a point on it, they will simply
go away.
These are the folks who sit around and whine because the
economy is bad, or Wal-Mart moved next door, or the bridge into
town is under repair. They’re the ones who won’t change their store
hours to make shopping convenient for their customers. They complain
that there’s not enough time to learn how to use their computer
or put in a POS system.
These folks are largely engaged in what we call “hope marketing.”
They hope that the Fed will slash interest rates to spark
spending, they hope that their chamber of commerce will bring
more people into town, they hope that their customers will shop
with them again. Some of them hope that the weather is good so
people head outside; some of them hope that the weather is bad so
people head for the malls. Hope springs eternal, but hope is not a
good marketing strategy.
Are you going to be a vibrant, successful New Millennium Merchant—
or are you simply going to go away? The choice is yours.
We think we know what your choice is. You’ve picked up this
book and are reading it. You’re not sitting around blaming slow
sales on someone else; you are a learner, you’re embracing technology,
and you’re developing your marketer’s mindset!
Most marketing by independent retailers today lacks focus. It’s usually
a scattershot approach—a little bit now and a little bit then—
mostly driven by advertising salespeople. Newspaper, radio, cable
TV, yellow pages. When they come and make their sales pitch, the
store owner buys an ad. When they don’t, not much marketing
happens.
If this sounds like you, you’re probably spending lots of money
on advertising but not getting much in return back at the cash register.
You’re starting to think of advertising and marketing as an expense,
but it’s not. It’s an investment.
Great marketing is an investment in building your business
that pays you back big time. Without great marketing you don’t
have the engine that drives sales and keeps your company thriving
and growing year after year after year.
WhizBang! Marketing is a focused, systematic approach with
four steps that will lead you to higher sales and happier customers.
And it will cost you a lot less than the scattershot approach.
With this system you will think about the life cycle of your customer—
kind of like the butterfly life cycle diagram you drew as a
kid. Remember the circle with the arrows?
Well, with this system you’re going to start at the beginning
of your customers’ life cycle with your business and try to keep
them alive and buying from you over and over for as long as you
possibly can.
Different kinds of marketing work best for customers at different
stages in their relationship with you and your store, different
stages in their customer life cycle. You need to use some of each
kind for your marketing efforts to be the most effective and give
you the biggest bang for your buck.
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