By now you are finding out if your marketing plan is working for 2011 and tweaking it to get the most out of your budget and staff.  I remember the days when I was cold calling in radio back in the early 2000’s and I’d call a customer this time of year to hear “Our marketing budget is gone until next year, call back in November”.  At first I took it and called back in the Fall.  Then I soon realized it was an easy way to get me off the phone.

2 Questions for you:

1.  Are your sales people settling for this classic blow-off?  If so you better change that before your competitors sales people realize it’s just a ploy to get off the phone and close a deal you missed.

2.  Are you using this to get the annoying sales people to leave you alone and not looking at new ideas that could help you increase profits?  I know the headache, for 10 years in retail I received hundreds of these calls per month.  It was tough to listen to everyone, but I was amazed at what I found out when I did.  I challenge you to take more of those calls serious and see what you might be missing.