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Dear
reader,
This
a couple of years old but still up-to-date interview contained so
many important thoughts about saving failing businesses that I had to
acquire permission to republish it for your benefit.
Please
enjoy the article!
Christian
Dillstrom
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I
have not had that many new clients whose business is failing. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
”Where
do businesses in bad situations go for marketing and sales help?”
A
lot of businesses fail early on, most of them within the first 5
years. This subject interested me enough to do a bit of research
about it. My research revealed that many failing businesses go to
growth hackers for help and advice.
That
didn't really make sense to me, so I contacted a good growth hacker
to see why that might be:
WHY
DO GROWTH HACKERS AND FAILING BUSINESSES MATCH?
That
is an easy question – because in every case the business
fails because of marketing and sales problems.
”If
marketing and sales had produced better results, the business
wouldn't be failing.”
ISN'T
THAT VERY SIMPLISTIC TO BLAME MARKETING AND SALES?
Let
me ask you this: do you know any dead person whose heart is still
pumping on its own? No, you don't.
The
same applies to businesses: do you know any failing business whose
sales are doing great?
SO,
WHAT DOES A GROWTH HACKER DO WHEN A FAILING BUSINESS COMES ASKING FOR
HELP?
Sales
CPR – find the fastest way to get the blood, AKA sales, pumping.
The usual answer is to turn the customer database into a constant
sales source.
WOULDN'T
THE EXISTING MARKETING AND SALESPEOPLE HAVE DONE THAT ALREADY?
Surprisingly,
most of them have not. Even the ones that have usually produced five
times less sales than we would, using the same campaign.
WHAT
DO YOU DO AFTER BUSINESS CPR?
Then
we analyze what has gone wrong in the marketing and sales campaigns
and propose some changes.
”There
is no question about it; something has been off for quite a while.”
The
funny thing is that sometimes we propose changes that have already
been proposed by the marketing and salespeople, but management and
board refused to implement the changes they recommended.
The
biggest reason for this unwillingness to listen to the ideas brought
to the table by sales and marketing is a loss of confidence in their
ability, due to constantly decreasing sales and revenue.
Obviously,
marketing and sales are the main ones to be blamed for lost sales,
and no one takes their suggestions seriously after a while.
However,
even if we bring the same proposals to the table, nothing will change
unless the company accepts and incorporates the changes we suggest.
HOW
CAN YOU PRODUCE MORE SALES THAN THE EXISTING MARKETING AND SALESPEOPLE?
We,
growth hackers, only concentrate on maximizing the profits for our
customers; we have no other agenda. We also get fired very quickly if
we do not produce more profit, so we really keep our eye on the ball.
As
a result, we have optimized and innovated every single part of each
component of marketing and sales to produce more profit. Also, we are
the only ones with a totally holistic approach to marketing and
sales.
WHAT
HAPPENS AFTER THE BUSINESS IS BACK ON ITS FEET?
We
will leave. Businesses will then have new, effective marketing and
sales strategies to produce the results that will keep them
profitable.
It
is never our aim to stay with one business forever, just as long as
we are needed to implement the necessary changes that will make a
company successful again.
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Christian
Dillstrom.
Please
stay tuned for more interviews.