The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

Welcome to 2014. I trust that you brought it in safely. In addition to personal resolutions, businesses will also often make resolutions. These revolve around improving on what happened last year. It is time to face one of the realities of marketing. If you do the same thing you did last year, it is unlikely you will get vastly different results. If you were satisfied with last year’s results, you should be aware that applying the exact same strategies will yield the exact same results this time.

Standing still often means you are falling behind. That is largely because of competition and the economy. Competition adapts to everything that we do. It first copies it, ensuring our marketing messages have less impact. While the economy has not improved enough to carry everyone along, movement for the sake of movement may also be a serious error. That requires constant attention.

Most businesses budgeted at the end of last year. They predicted, based on many factors, including seasonality and experience, how they will fare this year. Some included VAT’s impact; some did not. The point is that this year many businesses will have to do some reinvention in order to stay viable. That may mean price increases or lay-offs, or even getting into a different type of business. Reinvention will be the order of the day for those who hope to survive.

So what is the primary thing you should be doing, as a member of the Marketing Revolution, while you are going through this reinvention? You should be finding a market that is eager to consume your messages, and eager for your product or services. And how do you find that market, you may ask? There is no easy answer except to say that you will not find the answer without probing

Have you tried sponsoring a community event, where you are allowed to display your product, if you are selling into the community? Have you tried surveying your existing customers? Have you looked through your records to see what is selling this year more than last year? Have you interviewed your line staff to see what customers seem to be attracted to? Have you watched your successful competitors and seen what is working for them? With a little bit of work, you can determine the best course of action to reinvent your business. I hope you have a prosperous year.

• NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds an MBA from the prestigious Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general insurance, retail, the health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. He is also treasurer of the Bahamas Olympic Committee. To receive his marketing newsletter FREE go to http://darcyrahming.com