There are two times that you should always market your business: when you’re busy, and when you’re slow.
The slow times seem obvious. You’re in need of incoming calls and scheduled appointments, so you send out direct response offers to your customers and prospects, or run direct response service newspaper and radio to generate activity.
But when you think about it, the busy times should be just as obvious. The best time to go fishing is when the fish are biting, right?
Right. The time to gain market share is when your market is busy and buying. For example, how successful do you think ads for tax preparation services are in, say, July? But run them in April – when these accountants are as busy as they can possibly be – and the services scoop up more clients during the height of their most active days, generating a level of work that can carry them through the months to come.
They don’t have to make the tax preparation ads direct response to generate calls. No special offers needed at all. They’ve just got to get a name, phone number and presence into the market. And that’s pretty much the same situation you’re in when your busy season hits.
So, the weather is warming, and now you’ve got a community of folks who are getting a little warm in their own homes. Their HVAC systems are not operating efficiently, and they need help – anything from a tune-up to a new system itself.
They’re going to need this, most likely, when you’re already very busy. And because the warmer days mean more people are uncomfortable, that also means more people are entering the market.
What should you do? Grab your fishing pole and head for the pond! The weather has placed people in the market for you, and they are looking for:
- Names they trust. (A company they already use or were referred to.)
- Names they know. (A company that has a strong “top of mind awareness.”)
- People they don’t know but want to trust.
You can help them see you in this list with a marketing approach that builds image, builds awareness and gets your name in their minds. And you can do that through all-purpose ads, Image ads and TOMA ads – all great vehicles for getting your name in the market when people are in the market choosing among your competitors.
The goal of busy times is to be successful enough that you can cover yourself during the slow times. So, remember, every opportunity that comes your way on a very busy day is also the way you are going to recover from the slow day that’s just a few months down the road. The tax preparers know this well. They reach into the market and scoop up everything they can, as quickly as they can. So listen to the lessons from the folks who know the numbers, and get busy while there is business to get.