Power Direct Marketing: The Book
Some Questions to Consider
What are some of the things you should consider as to when to be in the marketplace?
- What is the competition doing? If they are active and you are not, you could lose. Get and stay tuned into what the competition is doing.
- Is what you offer truly seasonal—is there a "best time"? If so, be there. You can try ‘til the cows come home to even the mountains and valleys of sales, but a season is still a season. Don’t miss it.
- "Slow time." Your traditional time is good . . . maybe you can increase the action during the slow time. Test. Make special offers—delay payments, offer premiums, test things to get the marginal buyer to become your customer now.
- Wave your mailings, spread your schedule—not everything at once, but some over a longer schedule. So you are visible over a continuing period of time.
- When are your customers buying? When do they want to buy? When is your product/service used the most—and how much lead time is necessary to hit that heavy use season?
If you sell boats, equipment, and supplies, the use season is usually several weeks to months after the buying season. If you are mail-order selling fishing equipment, you may find your heavy season is several months before the fishing season begins.
Many businesses make buying decisions around their month end, the quarter, and the fiscal year. For everything from pencils to heavy equipment to advertising services. Do you know the fiscal year of your key customers and prospects?
If you sell to Hewlett Packard you’ll soon learn they work a November 1/October 31 fiscal year (It doesn’t tie to anything—not the quarter, the calendar, to nothing!). If you sell HP you need to know this. You need to know it no matter who you sell to.
Schools usually have a July/June year, with two buying periods. Most federal government bodies work a July fiscal year, but funding is from October.
These, any many more similar characteristics, are important as you decide the best time for you to be in the marketplace.