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SPN DEC 2012 Pool&SpaIndustry


www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk


Dorian Davies of Doric Marketing looks at how some in the industry are bucking the trend by “choosing not to take part in the recession”


here’s a lot of speculation about when things might “get back to normal”, or “back to where they used to be” in discussions surrounding our economy. Whilst I certainly feel we’ll come out of recession in the next quarter, I don’t subscribe to the notion of things getting back to “how they used to be”, and I believe we will never get back to “normal”, on the basis of the definition of “normal” being the economic conditions that existed back in the run-up to the crash of 2008. And nor should it be, as the policy of the banks throwing money around like confetti or gambling it in the global casino of bizarre inter-bank schemes is what put us where we’ve been for the last four years in the first place. To that end, you’ve probably heard both economists and marketers talking about “the new economy”. In other words, the situation we’re


what initiatives are proving productive for those at the sharp end of our industry, I asked him what it was about those dealers who were doing extraordinarily well versus those who were struggling. After all, the weather and the state of the economy are the same for everyone. He said that the good ones were “choosing not to take part in the recession”. What a great statement! I’ll say that again, and think about its deep meaning: they are “choosing not to take part in the recession”. Really think about those words for a second. Here are a bunch of companies that have realised that everyone in their market is subject to the same pressures they have absolutely no control over, so they don’t waste time worrying about them. They also realise that there is always money and, therefore, business out there. Not only that, but our


THE NEW ECONOMY T


often as you can. And when done right, in a focused, targeted, multiple-strand and integrated way it is a powerful tool with which you can radically alter your business. Depending on how big you want your business to grow, it can take you from a point where you’re desperate for every customer, and therefore vulnerable to pricing pressure, to where you can choose who you deal with and at what price. So how do you achieve this? The key is to spread your message across several channels, both online and offline, internet and ‘real world’ but integrated between all of them so the message is consistent and leads prospects down a defined path to sale. Above all, implement, implement, implement! I know this sounds obvious, but if you don’t put your strategy into action, it’s not going to generate anything for you.


"The key is to spread your message across several channels, both online and offline, internet and ‘real world’ but integrated between all of them...”


in now is the normal that we’re going to deal with in the future and, whilst modest growth will probably continue (as long as the Euro doesn’t collapse), there will be no return to how it was before and everyone will have to work that bit harder to find new customers and sell to them.


But, have you noticed though, that in a whole host of markets and industries, some companies have not only been surviving, but capitalising on their situation and positively thriving. What do they do differently? I was at last year’s international pool show in Las Vegas, and bumped into an old American colleague from a previous employer, a well known name in the spa manufacturing sector. We went off for some lunch, over which I asked him how things were going. Very tough, he replied honestly. But, having said that, they had been posting some good numbers, bucking the industry trend, and they were confident of the future, thanks largely to the efforts of a key core of dealers who were not only just holding their own, but were performing astonishingly well! Always keen to know


industry makes some of the most desirable, lifestyle-enhancing and health-improving products that money can buy. The money may not be in the same places it used to be, that’s for sure, but it’s still there all right, and if a company can come up with strategies that finds out where it is now, puts their products in front of the money accompanied by a message which resonates with those buyers’ needs and wants, they’ll get the business. So, what’s the magic formula? Things have changed since the “good old days” and phones don’t just seemingly ring on their own like they used to.


Every company out there now needs to get very good at marketing. Marketing is, effectively, buying customers at a price lower than you make out of each. And it’s vitally important to think of it in these terms. For example (to keep the numbers round and simple), it may cost you £1,000 to ‘buy’ a new pool customer, but if you’re making on average £10,000 gross profit from each customer, it’s something that you’d want to do as much and as


IT’S ALL IN THE FOLLOW-UP


Here are some final sobering facts to keep in mind when you have generated a lead. A lead is great; but it’s nothing until it becomes a sale and the money’s in the bank, so how do you follow-up to take them from lead to sale? Back in the 70s, renowned business guru Zig Ziglar expounded on his ‘seven points of contact’ theory, where, in studies of consumer buying habits, it was found that a prospect needed contacting by a vendor on average seven times after they presented themselves initially as a lead before becoming a paying customer. And remember that’s an average. So, for everyone who impulse-bought straight off the bat, there were an equal number who took a lot more nurturing than the seven points of contact.


More recently, Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the ‘Guerrilla Marketing’ series of books notes that today, with consumers leading much busier lives and the ways in which information can reach them multiplying almost exponentially, that average has now increased to 21 times! How often do you contact your leads before deciding they’re not interested and giving up on them? If it’s fewer than 21 times, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table, especially when you consider the potential lifetime value of a pool or spa buyer. spn


i FOR FURTHER INFORMATION


F DORIC MARKETING ( 01672 841193 : dorian@doricmarketing.co.uk


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