Let’s assume for the moment that you have either recently created success in your business or you have been experiencing success on an ongoing basis. If so how are you handling it? Vacations? New house? New car? Are your feet up on the desk? Are you smoking a cigar? All of these options seem fine to me but I offer a word of caution.
In my world we are aware of a marketing distinction we call “what’s next.” What’s next is very interesting. It is very real and is as consistent and predictable as gravity. We all sell within categories. My category is creative marketing services. Yours could be service stations, frozen pizzas, dry cleaners, magazines, gas stations or whatever. I will assume you monitor your category faithfully and are aware of its evolution. Category evolution is the result of a series of changes that are adapted by category participants (that’s you) and accepted by the category consumers. What I can guarantee you is that “what’s next” is alive and well no matter whatever category you’re in.
You have a choice. You can create “what’s next” or you can wait for it to show up. If you wait, it will appear. If you wait, when it appears you will see and feel the effect of whatever change has taken place and that is often very painful. There is a great deal of suffering when you are at the effect of the category changes that others have created.
The learning here is to watch out for complacency. Once you have achieved success, be my guest. Put your feet up on your desk and light up a cigar. However, once you have finished the cigar, even in the face of success, begin creating “what’s next.” If you do not, you have in that moment shifted to a reactionary marketing methodology. In this mode, you are no longer the cause of your category evolution, but are conversely at the effect of it. There are many businesses that are successful operating in a reactionary mode. To do so is an art, one that you are not likely to be schooled in and I will not elaborate on it here as it doesn’t further the conversation. My experience indicates that the smarter, safer and easier marketing methodology is simply being the cause for “what’s next” in your category.
This may sound on the surface to be a costly methodology, but it need not be. You may be thinking you have to spend on advertising or promotion. You can accomplish major shifts in sales by making changes to your selling proposition. I will next show you examples of how to do just that. Until then…
Keith Chambers
Keynote Marketing Speaker
Creative Marketing Consultant
(310) 473-0010
www.chambersgroup.com
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