Bananarama Syndrome

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Copyright (c) 2013 Nigel Botterill

"It ain't what you do…it's the way that you do it - that's what gets results"

Any child of the 80's can easily remember this Top 10 hit from 1985 from Bananarama (featuring the Fun Boy Three!)

I would have thought that over 25 years later it could become a mantra for any business owner striving for super success.

The fact is, the lyrics to this catchy pop tune are as profound as they come.

Many times people come on the phone and tell me that they are doing everything that they can. I send emails, I'm running Google Ad Words, I take ads in the local paper and so it goes on. Yet, they're not getting the results that they want.

It usually doesn't take me more than four or five minutes to find out exactly why. You see, in business, it isn't about what you do. It really is the way that you do it that gets results. There are no prizes in the commercial world for ticking boxes.

There are some great examples of Bananarama Syndrome - situations where business owners have, ostensibly, done the right thing. The problem is, they haven't done it well enough and, as a result, their results are poor.

Last week I was sent a picture by one of my Entrepreneurs Circle members of a billboard that had been taken out by a local Beauty Salon that was doomed to fail.

Now, pause for a moment and consider the investment the business owner has made in taking a billboard. I know a bit about this, we have billboards all over the country as part of our thebestof business and he'll have paid several thousand pounds for a minimum six week lease on this particular site. It is NOT a trivial spend.

He will tell his Bank Manager, his staff, even his customers that he is doing all he can to market his business, "I've even taken out a billboard" and he'll then, likely as not, explain how, despite him doing everything he can, business is not growing and it's the fault of the Government, the Banks, the recession, the economy, the Euro, etc, etc.

Rubbish!!

It's his fault - because his marketing stinks.

It was a rubbish billboard.

The wording was poor with no call to action and an even bigger mistake was that he hadn't even bothered to include his phone number! Yes - that's right. He's taken a billboard out, promoting his local salon and he hasn't even put a phone number on there. BONKERS!!

You can see now, I'm sure, why it's such a good example of Bananarama Syndrome. His initial thinking is absolutely right but it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it that gets results and, he has thrown away a huge opportunity by not 'doing' his billboard properly.

What would I have done?

Well, I'd never spend money marketing my business without incorporating an offer. You see, offers give people a reason to respond. He had some sexy, interesting services that he was marketing on this billboard and, I think it would be relatively straightforward for him to entice lots of calls and enquiries into his salon if he'd put an offer on there.

Of course, every offer has to have a deadline - which would have tied in with the end of his lease on the billboard. Simple really. There's plenty of room for all of that, as well as a phone number! And, I'd wager a hefty sum that those simple changes would have an exponential impact on response.

"It ain't what you do…it's the way that you do it - that's what gets results"

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