Story Time At On Target
Mark had a bad week. A very bad week. His air conditioning business is drying up. With looming financial obligations, like rent, payroll and healthcare benefits starting him in the face, he needed to do something.
It wasn’t always this way. There were times when the money flowed like milk and honey. There were times when he never had to concern himself with how to pay his bills. Did the work dry up? Did the world move his cheese? Was it his reputation? What will he do? How will him and his business survive? Why wasn’t Mark selling anything? What happened?
Mark’s view of marketing never evolved, that’s what happened.
That’s right. Mark’s idea of sales was creating a flyer and dropping them in the mail. Mark’s idea of lead generation was leaving a handful of business cards at the local Chamber of Commerce and waiting for people to pick them up and call him. The world changed, and it changed quickly.
Sure, Mark has a website. He put it together 3 years ago on one of those $9.99 web site platforms. It has his company logo, a few photos and some copy about how wonderful Mark’s company is. He built a website so that he could simply just have a website. His website was failing him. No one was seeing it, no one cared, and in no way, shape or form, did this website help Mark’s company stand out from the rest. It was not memorable, not remarkable, not shareable, it wasn’t anything other than a mound of digital stuff thrown together on the cheap. It was destined for failure before he even hit that publish button.
Meet Joe.
Joe owns a successful electrical and security company. Joe has been in the space for decades, he’s seen it all. He’s dabbled with this, tried that, failed at this, but has constantly evolved as his marketplace has evolved. Joe is resourceful, he is constantly trying to learn and has a desire to have his company stand out from the sea of other electrical and security companies.
Through trial, error and experimentation, Joe has determined where his marketing dollars are spent best. Sure, they may change and be re-allocated, but the point is, Joe pays very close attention. He knows where the leads are coming from, he knows that his digital presence is a huge component of his business. He knows that even if he has an encounter with someone interested in his services off-line, that they (the prospect) will quickly visit his online presence before they buy anything. He understands that customer service can be digital marketing gold, he realizes that consumers visit several off-line and online places prior to purchasing anything. His mission, to be there, and not only be there, be amazing when someone finds his company. Joe invests in marketing, he has to. He also has to be flexible and go where the leads take him. Joe has realized, the people are in charge on the Internet, they go to where they want to go, when they want to and will only buy from him when they are good and ready. Joe, simply put, is there.
Joe Meets Mark.
Joe met Mark at a networking event. After throwing back a few cheap networking event brews and sampling some cheesy, over-salted mushroom concoctions, the two got to talking about business. Mark expressed his concern about Marketing and lead generation, Joe jumped in and started to show Mark what works, and more importantly what doesn’t. Within weeks, Mark started to change. He invested in his digital presence, he became recommitted to customer service, he updated his logo and started to wrap his head around the way that his customers shop today. Mark started to win. Mark Got On Target thanks to Joe.
If we can help your business Get On Target and reach your customers with a remarkable presence, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us: we’d love to share with you our own story and journey and how we can help get you On Target.
Thanks for reading, sharing, and being a giver like Joe.
Tom
