Marketing in a crisis

Marketing is fun. You get to say and do things that normally aren't done or said. Good marketing uses an angle that disrupts the audience. Good marketing attracts customers like cell phones to sinks full of water.

But once in a lifetime, the moon turns blue. And something happens, outside of your control, affecting everything you do and say.

A catastrophe puts your entire operation in crisis. You have to close. You won't be able to sell your stuff.

Earth, wind, water, or fire. Something shuts you down for months. You can't do anything until your insurance kicks in.

What do you do?

The time to sell is over. The time to protect has arrived. Protect your market share as much as you can despite not being able to sell anything.

Marketing should not end. It is more important than ever.

The execution changes.

The method changes. But communication must continue.

Everyday is a lost opportunity. Don't let the lost opportunity convert to lost customers.

Customers need product and the twitchy competitor down the street has been rubbing his greasy palms together waiting for your wonderful customers.
Keep your messages rolling.
Remind the customer why they love you.
Over and over again. 

Have you ever been to the airport watching families waiting for their dad to arrive? Everyone is at the airport waiting at the baggage carrousel, with hugs, claps, smiles and the five year old daughter is jumping up and down.

The customer can't buy.
Keep them wanting to.
Keep the dialogue going.
Run your radio campaigns.
Post to social media.
Engage, communicate, share, repeat.

Your customers will miss you if you stay in their head. They'll be jumping up and down waiting for your reopening.

During a crisis, you can count on a few things happening.

1. Employees will get other jobs. If you can get payroll insurance, get it. The strength of your business is the people you've hired. If you don't have payroll insurance, figure out how to pay them or help them find interim employment hoping they return when all is cleared up.

2. Suppliers may sell their exclusive products to that twitchy competitor down the street. This is just business. They want to sell stuff and you're not an option.

3. Customers will buy elsewhere.

A lot of people will say they will be there for you, but few will be.

There will be others who talk a good game, but look for a quick way to get away from you.
Let's call them rats.
Rats are the first to leave the ship.
Remember them. Those who scurry away were never really on your team anyways.

I know that's a hard pill to swallow. The rat is a nice guy most of the time. It's easy to be a good guy when things go well. His true personality emerges when things go wrong. 

That's why I call them rats. They nibble on your business like a block of cheddar for years. Then they run, leaving you to pick up their mess. 

Good times will return.
Set traps to keep future rats.
Hopefully nothing will go awry again.
A few traps never hurt.

A good captain keeps his ship clean.

A good captain navigates his plan.

A good captain stays until the very end, putting everyone else's safety ahead of his own.

The time for having fun and farting around is over. 

You will be a Phoenix or a pile of ashes.

Everything you know about business can be trashed.

What you become after the crisis is determined by what you do early on. 

Be vulnerable. Be real. Be supportive.

And NEVER let them see you sweat.