Do you have a Battle Plan for your Marketing?

Do you have a Battle Plan for your sales and marketing program?

A couple of months ago I met with a CEO of a graphics-print shop that asked for some advice with his company. While the conversation centered much around his difficulties in the marketplace, one thing became crystal clear. He was operating his business in the same way he had 10 years before when his business was great.

I explained that the number of times I had seen this strategy work were few and far between. During our conversation I recommended a shift in his perspective in four concrete ways:

1. Realize you’re at war, not a party.
2. Understand who is eating your lunch and do something about it.
3. Be willing to change how you operate your business.
4. And most importantly, draw out a battle plan that can be put into action immediately and changed on a dime.

Printing is being purchased online in greater quantity all of the time. Convenience of print shops located at major retailers are taking chunks of business away from smaller printing companies who used to receive all of this work. And the Internet and eco-science are causing some companies to think digitally about how they communicate.

Taken together this is a lot of change. To start, pull back the troops, draw up your plan, and reset your marketing to create viable leads that lead to closed sales.