Greetings All
just wanted to see if you'd share your positioning on the clients that tell us that they are stopping their advertising campaign with us because it was successful and they have increased their business and no not need to advertise any more.
Thanks in advance for your assistance
Well, I am still full from dinner, so maybe I will quit eating too? And You smell great today, so maybe you should stop bathing! I am being silly, I know, but do you see the point I am making, Mr Customer? Most successful businesses that continue to grow and prosper look at advertising like a utility cost. Look at Coca Cola for instance! They are pretty successful, but I can show you six billboards in our city that they pay $2700.00 per month on per billboard. Now that is $16,200. per month that they are spending just on billboards. You are successful, but we want to see you become "Coca Cola" successful! If you renew your agreement with us today, you will be locking yourself in for another year at the rate you currently enjoy. If you lapse, and our rates increase, you will be subject to the increase. Let's just renew your agreement, and we will run some brand new, fresh spots for you, and I will waive the production fees! Fair enough?
You don't say what type of business this is. Do they have a monopoly in their category? Or do they have competitors going after the same customers?
What do they sell?
How often do prospects/customers need to be reminded to buy?
In his "Twelve Most Common Mistakes in Advertising," Roy H. Williams reminds advertisers that people stay "sold" as long as grass stays "mowed."
Most businesses that sell to consumers need a constant stream of prospects and customers in their stores. The fact that they're doing good business now is no guarantee that they'll continue to do so. Sharp competitors are always looking for opportunities to siphon customers from the complacent and the weak. Market share is hard won, but easily can be lost by taking the current level of business for granted. "Out of sight (hearing), out of mind" didn't become a cliche for no reason.
Stores that sell large-ticket items with a long sales cycle (e.g., furniture, appliances, vehicles, HVAC) require a steady stream of new prospects, because once someone buys, they're out of the market for years. Service providers, from auto body shops to hospitals, want to be the one that customers think of first and feel the best about when the triggering event arises (an automobile accident; an unexpected illness or injury). This calls for consistent and incessant advertising.
"Sleep is the great eraser of advertising," hence the need for repetition on a daily basis.
Are there exceptions? Sure, and your client could very well be one. I've worked with contractors, for example, whose work is in such high demand that they're kept very busy, with jobs lined up weeks or even months in advance. To take on any more customers would require them to hire and train additional people, perhaps move into a larger facility, etc. - and they don't want to get that big. Hey, they have a right to stay small and manageable, if that's really what they want. Same might hold true for other service businesses or professions that are labor-intensive (think: mortgage brokers, massage therapists, chiropractors, two-chair barber shops, etc.).
But for businesses that can leverage the work of employees and add help when needed, or that can bring in new inventory quickly and easily in response to increased demand, it makes no sense to quit advertising just because they've finally hit the sales numbers they were hoping to achieve.
The most successful businesses in the world have plenty of customers (Coke, McDonald's, Ford) but they are always prospecting for new ones.
Your client was in trouble and turned to you for help. You helped. Now they're going to stop doing what turned things around? Makes no sense.
Does the client want to go through the tough times again? They need to keep doing what they're doing.
