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1.  Those Who Wait May Get Left Behind

Our theory going into 2002 was that most companies would hold their breath and wait for the economy to move before investing in marketing.  And cutting back marketing dollars did turn out to be the wave that most companies were riding.  But, it is just a knee jerk reaction to a down turn.  Those that continued to market through this year are in better shape going into 2003 than when they started in 2002.  Marketing is not for just the best of times, it’s crucial in the worst of times.  We felt that by June people would start to get panicky, either they would hold their breath for the entire year (since the up-turn didn’t really happen) or they would wake up at the end of the 2^nd quarter and realize they had only 6 months to make their number. Yikes.  We experienced a customer flurry in June, which we were really happy about!  How did that happen?  We marketed hard throughout the year.

2.  It’s About The Customer - No Matter What

Aside from wondering where you’re going to get new customers, we all learned that it should really be about retaining your existing customers.  Guess what?  That’s where the lion’s share of your business is coming from anyway.  Too bad many companies cut back on customer service.  You can either put on a band-aid and some Neosporin (translation:  take care of your customers), or you risk getting infected.  Some companies chased away their existing customers in droves in the interest of saving money.  It doesn’t make sense, but cost cutting is supposed to make investors happy.  Go figure.

3.  It’s Not About Price – It’s About Relationships

We kept hearing from other consultants “how are you still getting work?”  Many of them wanted to talk about pricing and assumed price was the major issue with customers. A customer is surely going to talk about pricing.  But you have to move that conversation in a more productive direction.  It’s not about pricing. It’s about value.  If you can demonstrate value you don’t have to lead with price.  In large part, the value in any customer interaction is the relationship you build with them and how you maintain it.  And the hard truth is if you’re serious about relationships, you maintain them even when they aren’t buying.  Why?  Because once they have money they will stick with those who stuck with them. 

4.  Pipeline Pipeline Pipeline

Too often this year we heard people say, “no one’s buying,” or “it’s the summer, a slow time anyway,” or “no one buys during the holidays.”  None of that is relevant if you are consistently building a pipeline throughout the year.  Every company should be working on near term, mid term and long term opportunities.  This is solid selling technique.  In a tight economy, it’s absolutely imperative.  We all knew that 2002 had very little low-hanging fruit to grab.   That meant you had to search harder, more creatively and longer to build a solid pipeline.  Ideally, you should have a handful of deals just ready to close, a handful of hot prospects, and more than a handful of opportunities that you are moving along.  The time to start is always NOW!  Going into 2003, what does your pipeline look like?

5.  Doing More With Less Forces Better Decisions