Want your marekting to work? ANSWER YOUR PHONE!

Okay, so how many of you have worked with clients that swear marketing and advertising doesn't work? How many have been told that PR didn't increase their bottom line? And how many of you clearly know that it's not YOUR part in the puzzle, but indeed THEIRS that unraveld the campaign and netted a loss?

We work with many small businesess in the retail and small service sector. And I know of two examples of times that clients recieved a great deal of foot and phone and email traffic to their establishments, and were completely lost because of one simple step: the client didn't respond in a timely manner. Clue in, people - you have to respond to the customers. Duh.

You think it's a rare example? It's really not. This whole week, for example, I have been trying to reach maid and carpet cleaning services. Out of five companies contacted both by phone and email (cleaning servcies) on Monday with a follow-up call on Tuesday, I have recieved exactly ZERO responses. Sadly, I got the information for the services from online Pay Per Click ads, a direct mail insert, and a billboard. So, some poor agency somewhere is being brow beaten for sure about how they aren't earning their keep, when really, the business is hurting themselves.

So, if there's one piece of magic in advertising, marketing, and public relations today, it's simply this: ANSWER YOUR PHONE!