Posted: 01 Apr, 2009
By: Roy.
I received this e-mail off Chris Cardell, a marketing guru who I like to follow, he says it as it is, I am thinking of going to his summit as many of his messages can be passed on to our clients so we would get a double benefit from attending the summit.
Just reading his e-mail is stimulating enough!
Roy
Dear Roy Griffiths,
For years I’ve been telling my customers that they need to be more honest and blunt when they sell to customers. That this very British hesitancy around selling does us an enormous amount of harm as Entrepreneurs. The idea that if you can help your customers, you need to be loud and proud in telling them about it.
Well, as this year progresses , I’m getting a very strong lesson in walking my talk.
I have a huge challenge in my business. I am going to share it with you as you may face something similar.
My challenge is not the economy. Immunising your business against a recession is a proven science and I started doing it last summer. Fortunately many of my smart customers did the same thing.
So my challenge is not the economy specifically. It’s the fact that this economy has changed the message I need to send to business owners and sending that message has become very, very tricky.
Because here’s the truth…….
I get to see the performance of thousands of business owners every year. I have 260,000 business owners on my email list and I work with thousands of others through my various groups and events. So I am in a position to give you a very specific report on the impact of the Recession.
The only way I can really describe the view from here is to relate it to Darwin’s Survival of the Fittest. I am seeing two huge extremes.
On one side thousands - and I mean thousands of perfectly good business owners with perfectly good products and services are having their efforts destroyed, or have begun to go down a path that will sadly end in disaster. They’re not bad people. They’re not stupid. They just always thought that doing well in business was about having a good product or service. They thought Marketing, Selling and Internet Marketing were probably important - they just never felt they had the time to get around to them. The earthquake in this economy has sadly shown them too late that it’s all about Marketing, Sales and Influence. Seeing these peoples’ lives destroyed is horrible. Because that’s what’s happening. It’s not just business failures. It’s lives, families and homes being threatened.
Then on the other side is something quite remarkable - and something the media is totally ignoring. Every day I hear from or speak to business owners who are so excited because they are doing so well. Sales are up. Profits are up. Internet traffic is up. Online conversions are up. How have they done it? They’ve seized the numerous opportunities that this economy has offered and they’ve realised that as business owners, if they don’t become superb at Marketing and Sales, the alternative is disaster.
So we have these two extremes. Darwin’s survival of the business fittest. But here’s what you need to know….and this is so, so important:
There are very few people ‘in between.’ Very few business owners who are just rolling along ‘OK.’ It’s not going to happen anymore. In 2009, you’re one or the other.
And that’s my big business challenge. The message I have to send to customers now is so blunt, that I risk alienating them and I risk them thinking I’m just ’selling’ But I’m left with little choice. If I don’t tell it how it is and I don’t forcefully communicate the urgency of the situation, I risk having people like you end up in the first category above. And I just won’t do that. So below is my current message to you about my big business activity over the next few months. It’s written with sincerity and with a deep concern for your business well-being. It’s also extremely ‘to the point.’ If that offends you or seems ‘un-British’ you really shouldn’t read it. Here it is:
There are urgent steps you need to take in your business - Marketing, Advertising, Sales and online strategies that if you do them will immunise your business from this Recession and set you well on the way to the Entrepreneurial wealth that you deserve. They are new and different from much of what we’ve discussed in the past. We have hundreds of businesses implementing these approaches and they’re thriving. That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news. The blunt truth is that if you DON’T take these steps in this economy, I truly believe you are risking disaster. The ‘haves and have nots’ scenario that I am seeing is not pleasant. If you run a Business you simply must get superb at Marketing and Selling. I’ve been saying this for years but for many business owners, this is the last chance. I have put together an Emergency three Day Entrepreneur Summit in June. Again, the blunt truth - I will fill this event whether or not you come. But I want to do everything humanly possible to get you to come because I believe it will change your business life. And I don’t want you to miss out. You are going to be exposed to breathtaking powerful strategies that won’t just let you soar through the Recession, they’ll equip you on the road to true Entrepreneurial Wealth. I have spent 6 months preparing this Summit. We have some of the finest Entrepreneurial minds on the planet joining us as guest speakers. I even back it up with a personal £15,000 guarantee. I can’t do anything more. We live in new times. This is a ‘must attend’ event. If you’re willing to commit, I will deliver and show you how to immunise your business from the chaos that the powers that be have created.
I urge you to reserve your place for the Entrepreneur Summit today. Details here:
http://www.entrepreneur2009.co.uk
This is the most important event I have ever held. Read why and who’s coming - and my extraordinary £15,000 guarantee here
http://www.entrepreneur2009.co.uk
Thanks for listening.
Best wishes
Chris Cardell
Barrett Electrical have moved into retail and have focused on the developing village of Easton on Portland for their first retail outlet. The location of the new shop at 19 Easton Street will provide a convenient place to purchase electrical items that can only usually be found in larger DIY stores.
