But the devil is in the details, the follow-through, and sustaining emphasis through tactical ups and downs. Companies think they’re being innovative risk-takers when they jump into social media marketing for a few months, dash off a new mission statement, or play around with a new bonus program. Failure to fully commit is one of the surest ways to fail. ![]() And yet small bookstores that embraced the Internet and developed new marketing channels are still going strong. For instance, in recent years many small bookstores were devoured by discount chains and then by the Internet. They fail to recognize those times when taking risks is actually the most pragmatic course of action. Many businesses are so reluctant to take chances that they slam the door on opportunity when it is sitting right in front of them. Are you sure the people who are training new hires are passing along your company’s vision, values, and priorities? What are you doing for long-term employees to keep their skills up-to-date and prepare them for new challenges and roles? Firms that neglect training put the “dumb” in dumb, fat, and happy.ĩ. On-the-job training has its advantages, but it shouldn’t be the only training method and it shouldn’t happen haphazardly. ![]() Effective internal communication must be handled with care.Ĩ. Does every member of your staff clearly understand your company’s vision, values, and priorities? If so, congratulations, because in most cases, every member of the staff and every department has its own interpretation - and many times these interpretations are in direct conflict, undermining morale and results. Don’t set your business up for failure.ħ. One way firms run into collection problems is by extending credit to customers that don’t qualify for it in the first place. If you are so happy to get a new customer that you fail to assess its creditworthiness, your initial intoxication will produce a horrible hangover. In time, there won’t be enough cash on hand to make payroll, let alone expand.Ħ. When all of this happens, cash flow takes a beating. Not only do they allow customers an extra 60 or 90 or 120 days to pay, they also fail to assess late payment penalties, fail to take steps to ensure future orders are paid on time, and fail to raise prices to compensate for late payments. Many businesses are lackadaisical in enforcing their payment terms. This blunder not only hurts revenues, it also causes the cost structure to crumble: Retaining a customer, in terms of sales and marketing effort, is far less expensive than acquiring a new one.ĥ. Another common marketing problem is putting all the focus on customer acquisition and forgetting about customer retention. Internet marketing best practices change rapidly dumb, fat, and happy companies fail to keep up.Ĥ. Those pop-up subscription windows on your blog could be driving away readers instead of attracting them. If your search engine optimization (SEO) program hasn’t been updated in the last 3 to 6 months, it could be doing more harm than good. Outdated, Counterproductive Online Marketing. Even when sales reps share your intensity and work ethic, they will still fail unless you give them the critical tools: high-quality products and services, training and mentoring, effective collateral, customer service support, the ability to follow through on commitments, and a fair and motivating compensation plan.ģ. This is why it is vital to set clear expectations and monitor activity.Ģ. How many hours are your sales reps putting in? How many cold calls are they making every day? Do you really know? Business owners sometimes assume sales reps have the same intensity and work ethic they do. ![]() ![]() Here are 10 things that may be going wrong that you aren’t aware of - things that will cause your business to unravel.ġ. Is your business dumb, fat, and happy? If so, by definition, you probably don’t know it, which makes you a sitting duck for hungry competitors. One of my sales managers used to say that the best type of competitor is one that is dumb, fat, and happy.
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