A Silver Bullet?

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A year ago, I was receiving the same inquiry at least one a week: How would I dramatically improve sales in an ever more challenging marketplace? Over the past few months, the number of inquires have skyrocketed to once or twice a day.

Upon reflection, I've noticed that people are looking for some secret formula, some "new" way of magically getting more business, some way of accessing their clients in this new and dynamic marketplace. So here then is the new secret: research.

Too simplistic you say? In order to sell at a higher level, to separate yourself from the pack, you must employ tactics that get you more and better information on the buying behavior of your customer. Armed with this new incisive, time-sensitive information, you can change your selling strategies to meet the needs of your client's spending habits NOW, and help to create new patterns of buying behavior.

For example, there are two recent research pieces I looked at recently. One was by the Luxury Marketing Council, which interviewed 405 companies in New York and Boston. One of the more startling findings was the high number of companies that are cutting expenses. Fifty-two percent of the companies cut advertising and marketing expenses. And the future looks even bleaker as the same group predicts a 69 percent reduction in marketing expenses for the upcoming year.

Next, I looked at a report from arguably the most credible researcher in the luxury market, Pam Danziger of Unity Marketing. Pam conducted a series of focus groups (or discussion groups) with highly-engaged luxury shoppers in Beverly Hills -- ground zero for the conspicuous consumption lifestyle -- followed by an in-depth nationwide survey among 1,041 affluent consumers. Her report, titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" offers even more enlightenment into the mindset of the luxury buyer now:

The Good -- A great many consumers feel that NOW is "a great time to get more for less."

The Bad -- The recession has brought widespread changes in peoples' willingness to spend and even in their willingness to display what they have spent.

The Ugly -- Once the recession is over, the luxury market will be the same, so you need to know NOW where it is going before it gets ahead of your strategies.

As a consultant, I automatically think of ways to help clients who cut the expense of attracting clients through marketing. Knowing this kind of information about how my clients are thinking gives me a distinct planning and selling advantage. If you are a retailer, what was your first thought in capturing more market share when you heard the findings of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?" The key here is that we must use sophisticated, real-time target market research to create strategic plans for our drastically changed markets. We must embrace the change and step in front of it. We must embrace the change.

Next, we must train our people to exemplify these new behaviors, reframe your marketing plan, be lean, but highly informed and effective in order to capture the imagination and pocketbook of ever fewer elite, highly informed customers.

But it all begins with research and our ability to be ahead of the market adjustments -- to lead the change, to be the change, to be past relevant, and to be wanted for the change you represent.