So, you are a business owner and you’ve had a successful business for the past number of years, but now it seems like things have slowed down. You are not getting enough new customers in your business, and your current customers are just not coming back as often as you would like. You tell yourself “Maybe the economy is slowing down” and yes, you are partially correct. But it’s more likely that you are the cause of your business slow-down. Here are 5 reasons that you may be losing business. 

• You and your team suck at sales. It may very well be that in earlier days, your products, or services just ‘Sold themselves.’ Now that other factors have come into the marketplace you have to actively sell in order to get customers to buy from you. What are you doing that may be sabotaging your sales? Poor scripting? Unable to overcome objections? Not asking for the sale? Perhaps it’s time to tighten up your sales process and get your team trained in sales.
• You are behind the times in the market. Your product or service was a big hit 5 or 10 years ago, but now it seems that people are not as interested in what you have to offer. How has the market changed over the years, and have you kept up with the changes? Perhaps it’s time to look at the service, product, or technology that you are offering compared to others in the market and find a way to make your product or service appealing again. Staying stagnant is a surefire way to lose business.
• Your product is not appropriately priced. It’s interesting how customers seem to be in tune with what value they get for your product or service. If you price it to high and there is no perceived value difference from your competitors, your customers will almost always go for the lower price point. If your price is to low, your customers will perceived what you are offering is low quality and will trend towards the perceived higher value product. Make sure that you are doing your homework and that your price accurately reflects the value you are giving to your customers and clients.
• Your marketing message feels dated and irrelevant. Have you ever driven by a business that has signage that is 20, 30 or 40 years old? What is that out of date and faded signage telling your current and future customers? Probably that you are stuck in yesteryear. What about your website that you launched in 2010 and never updated? Yes, it’s going to be expensive to freshen up your marketing and brand image, but if you don’t your customers will perceive you don’t care anymore.
• The delivery of your goods and services are sub-par. Are you late on delivering your product or service to your customer? Is the quality starting to drop? You may have been able to get away with some bad customer experiences back before the internet, but today those bad experiences live on forever in places such as Google, Yelp, Facebook, or any other review website. Start finding ways to tighten up your speed of service, and the quality of your product and service. 
  

The bad news is that any one of these 5 elements can sink your business, and fast. The good news is that these 5 issues can easily be fixed with some focus and help from team members and outside help (marketing agencies, business coaches, research companies) for you to get your business back on track. Find out what needs to be fixed, and make it happen TODAY!!

Kevin Weir - 9/12/2022