|
I recently wrote an article in the Blog on my website. I can't link to it yet... So I'll paste it below - enjoy....
You can't open a newspaper today without another doom and gloom story about how badly Britain's economy is going. Falling house prices, rising cost of living and the Euro starting to hammer the pound, where is it all going to go?
Many people would see this is a hard time for businesses as a result of fewer customers being prepared to spend less. I would have been inclined to say the same, that is until I saw a recent interview with Michael O' Leary, boss of Ryanair, and he changed my outlook.
"I love recessions," he says. "Recessions are much more fun. Good times are a pain in the bum. Good times, any idiot can make money. In recessions, the good get up off their backsides and start doing the kind of sensible things that they should do all of the time. It's good for business!"
But what is good for your business? I'll come back to that…
Two weeks ago I dented my car – yes I'll admit it I'm a terrible driver – I wanted to get some bodywork done to the car and I started off looking in the yellow pages for a local garage. I only phoned the places that had a full page advert and I couldn't find a local service. I turned on my computer, a quick Google search and I found a garage that could deal with me at the top of the search.
Everyday about 15 Million people use the internet in Britain. They look for information on products, services, bargains, the list is endless. The website I had found had been optimised for that particular search and as a result I chose to spend £450 there. The job was well done, I wasn't too happy at the price (even though it was low for what I had done!) and I went back home. One week later I received and email from them asking if I was happy with the work and they offered me a discount MOT and servicing voucher valid for two months. I clicked through the email, visited their website and got myself booked in.
This small garage has stolen me as a customer from a much larger chain and why? Because they are on the ball with their internet marketing.
This garage small as it was had obviously already figured out what Michael O' Leary was saying. They had gotten up off their backside and started doing the kind of sensible things they should have been doing all along. They had an up and running (albeit managed by a provider) internet marketing campaign that has resulted in me spending over £550 with them. No doubt they have a score of other customers just like me. This good use of the internet they will build a customer base for them and retain it. Not bad for a family run garage…..
|