Marketing for professionals during tough economic times quotes expert Curtis N. Bingham, President Predictive Consulting Group in Littleton, MA.
While it’s no secret that public relations firms, like most businesses, have been hit by the economic crisis, there are keys to beating the recession, according to Curtis N. Bingham, President of the Predictive Consulting Group in Littleton, MA.
Bingham, who recently spoke to Independent Practitioners (IPN) in Weston, MA, told the group, “It’s all happened before,” underscoring events that lead to previous economic downturns. Among them, said Bingham, were the oil embargo of 1974, the savings & loan scandal of l981, the Iraq Ware in 1990 and the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. “While these events marked the beginning of previous recessions, in every case, the recessions lasted about 11 months.”
There are signs that we are emerging from this recession – “real sales are up, the construction industry has stabilized and people are beginning to spend on technology,” Bingham pointed out.
Said Bingham, a champion of the corporate CCO or Chief Customer Officer whose mission is to build customer loyalty, warned, “During difficult times, public relations people and other professionals tend to hide out from their clients hoping to avoid bad news.”
As a first step to weathering the recession he stressed is to, “keep your customers from leaving by finding out what they want.” They often want to cherry pick services so agencies have to, “change the value proposition by eliminating costly services that clients no longer value.”
He pointed out, for example, that everyone is trading down –Wal-Mart and Dollar Store sales are up, while sales at high-end retailers Like Nieman Marcus are down. Likewise, “clients who used to want Madison Avenue are looking to trade down.”
While it is tempting to venture into new services or markets to generate income, do not sacrifice the core business by doing so, warned Bingham. He cautioned public relations firms to change only one thing – expand into new markets with existing products or offer new products in your existing markets. “Don’t try to offer new products in new markets during difficult economic times.”
Bingham suggested that IPN members scour large agency client rosters for clients who want less costly service and to collaborate on client projects with other professionals. IPN members added ways to survive the recession by pursuing green businesses, companies receiving stimulus money and those that have been awarded new patents. IPN member Rick Goldberg suggested, “Position yourself as a journalist to get (free) press passes to trade shows where you can meet prospects and network.”
Bingham is the author of the forthcoming book, The Key to Customer Strategy: The Rise of the Chief Customer Officer (HRD Press) a contributing editor for Sales & Marketing Excellence and a regular contributor to the Handbook of Business Strategy. He is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants. Bingham is available for consulting and speaking curtis@predictiveconsulting.com or tel. 978-952-0047
