Fasten Your Seatbelts. It’s Going to be a Bumpy Holiday Season

Economists are predicting this to be the worst holiday sales season in 17 years according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Given the current economic conditions, they are probably right.

We are in a major election year. The fear of the unknown always tightens purse strings. If you have doubts about that comment, review your sales data 4, 8, and 12 years ago. Compare it to non-election years. Sales tend to decline when we are bombarded with advertising telling us that our world will end if the opponent wins.

Then Election Day comes and goes without a catastrophic end. The pocketbooks open a little, then a little more, and then we are back to business as usual.

This year is different.

We have a huge country debt hanging over our heads. Our leaders are considering adding $700 billion to it with the stroke of a pen. We are told that if we don’t allow this to happen, then our economy will collapse. Do you understand how all this works? More importantly, do your customers?

In most people’s minds, it is the war of the worlds. Martians are landing, giving us the choice of surrendering everything or watching it destroyed.

If this isn’t enough, gas shortages are popping up around the country. High prices are inconvenient and pull resources from other areas. But you still have options. You can drive less or pay up.

When there isn’t any gas available, there are no options. The reasons for the outages don’t really matter. Your life has changed. Your customers’ lives have changed.

How are you going to adapt to these challenges?

The stores featured in the WSJ article are reducing holiday staff and increasing advertising. They are making policy changes when systematic changes are needed.

It will be a long time before we see the boom days of yesteryear again. This doesn’t mean that your company can’t grow and prosper during this period. It can, if you implement systematic change throughout your organization.

We have a global economy filled with empowered consumers. The corporate world has no control over branding, pricing, or product development. It is all consumer driven. The sooner that you accept this to be true, the sooner your company will start its rise to the top.

While you can’t control the marketplace, you can build a foundation that lends itself to positive branding and customer relations. You can also improve your efficiency and effectiveness.

Here are some tips to get you started:

• Consistently communicate with your customers. Emphasize the value of your products and doing business with you. Price is only a determining factor when everything else is equal. Make it your goal to have the most informed customers in your industry. The more they know about your mission, products, and policies, the better your relationship.

• Improve online product descriptions. Explain how to use or wear the item, how it was made, why it is available from your company, the benefits and pitfalls, and any other information that helps your customers make an informed choice. Emphasize the value, not the price. Write your copy in a manner that fits your company image and customers’ expectations. Do not use the manufacturer’s commentary verbatim.

• Eliminate unnecessary costs. (Un-nec-es-sar-y: not necessary; needless; unessential) The definition is a reminder to address the costs that are unessential, instead of the ones highlighted on your financial reports. Use in-depth analytics to identify needless costs. (Hint: It is probably not your staff!)

• Leverage resources across channels. Now is the time to integrate your channels and improve your cross channel applications. Compile and use the information in your systems to refine (or rework) your marketing and operational processes. It improves customer retention while reducing costs.

• Look for opportunities to expand. Yes, you read that right. This is the best time to grow your business. While your competitors are downscaling and waiting for the turnaround, you can move ahead. The information you need, is buried in your database. Use your down time to find it so you can sprint ahead.

Next Steps:

Read Five Trends Reshaping Multichannel Marketing

Reduce marketing to hit-and-run customers How Much Money Do You Waste Marketing to Hit-and-Run Customers?

Check out The New Rules of Multichannel Marketing and the Multichannel Analytics Intensive Workshop

Stay ahead of your competition by subscribing now. Don’t lose your competitive edge by waiting for the articles to be posted online.

	Subscribe

It is free and guaranteed

to help you profitably grow your business.

If you are still undecided, check out more free articles.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. Y’all come again soon!

Have a great day!

Debra Ellis - Founder

P.S. Even if you don't subscribe, join our Multichannel Magic blog. We love to have commentary that that helps our industry improve.

Do you like this article? Please feel free to share it. You may send it to your own list, post it on your site, or post it on your blog. It must be unaltered and printed in its entirety, including links.

And this must be included at the end of the article:

©2004-2009 Wilson & Ellis Consulting. All Rights Reserved.
Visit www.wilsonellisconsulting.com for more multichannel management articles.

 Home ~ Services ~ Playbooks ~ Articles  ~ Contact Us ~ Blog  ~ Join Our Affiliate Program  

3175 Sweeten Creek Road ~ Asheville, NC 28803

Office: (828)626-3756 ~ Fax: (828)626-3753

admin@wilsonellisconsulting.com

Copyright © 1998-2011 Wilson & Ellis Consulting  All rights reserved

For Reprint Permission contact dellis@wilsonellisconsulting.com

 For the Media                                                                                                                                                   For Search Partners