Building Business Momentum

Friday, 03. 6. 2009  –  Category: Ranger Wireless Solutions

If you’ve ever played sports you know all about momentum. This rare compilation of confidence, luck and timing can help make even the worst of teams believe they are just good enough to win. It can break wills and bring crowds to their feet. It is so powerful, that the idea alone of a possible momentum shift can be enough to actually shift momentum.

Yet in business, there is nothing more underrated than momentum. Rarely when discussing a strategic plan or a marketing strategy do I hear anyone mention momentum, let alone how one might build the plan to adequately use it. Like high profit margins or good worth of mouth, many business people believe momentum comes with the territory of doing business.

When it comes down to it, momentum has to be planned for because the cost of regaining lost momentum can amount to about two to three times what was originally spent. That means if you spend $1000 on a campaign that you fade, it will cost you $2000 to $3000 additional just to get you back to where you left it.

And why? Because you have worn out your welcome. Like white noise, the potential customer has now tuned you out because they are used to your message. They have built a tolerance up, and it requires you to come back with even stronger force if you want to overcome it.

For most businesses resources are already limited.  Even if we segment our market down to the most ideal customers, we are still talking about a significant investment to consistently push your message. And when you have to repeat and increase your investment because you keep dropping the momentum, it can get frustrating to say the least.

So how do you combat it? By building “waves” your work. Research continually shows that a consistent, unendingly visible message is what seems to work. Seven touches, or views, is usually the believed standard.  A potential customer has to see or hear about you seven different times and ways before it sinks in that they should check you out. The seven touches, however, can’t be spread out over a year. They need to be tied together in a steady stream to keep you “top of mind” as the experts say. Television shows do this quite well. They reserve their barrage of commercials and guest appearances until a few days before the show airs. After all, why tell you about something on Friday when it won’t air until Thursday? You may forget about it over the week.

Therefore it only makes sense that you quit spreading your already-thin resources even thinner and start generating waves in your campaign. Instead of talking about all of the unique bullet points of your business, break them apart and give each one a strong, short-term push. Hit hard with direct mail for two to three weeks, and then tail it with a strong one-to-one follow-up sales campaign. Break it down into segments that people can digest and you can afford.

And there is nothing wrong with a little “down time.” Use the time between campaigns to network, follow up with prospects, build your next wave of materials or do reporting on your activities. Considering that for many businesses the sales person is also the marketing person (and perhaps the public relations and customer service person), waves can not only save money. They can also save mental sanity.

David Fleming is Director of Corporate Communications for CornerWorld Corporation.

Tags: article, David Fleming, marketing, momentum, strategy