I finally changed my windscreen wipers the other day.
In truth, they’d been deteriorating for some time now - doing less and less of the job they’re designed to do.
But over the summer, during that generally good weather, it was a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’. I didn’t need them, so I didn’t consciously notice just how bad they were.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that their condition really shone through.
I was driving to Hertfordshire for a couple of hours, and had heavy rain all the way down, with the return journey even worse.
It’s fair to say that at that point, it really hit home that my wipers were not fit for purpose, and I resolved that I’d change them the very next day.
However, the next day brought bright, brilliant sunshine, and after a quick check of the forecast, it looked like it wasn’t going to rain for the next week.
With a million things on my ‘To Do List’, a special trip to Halfords wasn’t hugely desirable - it was hugely tempting to put it off. After all, it wasn’t going to rain for a week, so I wouldn’t need them anyway.
In the end though, I resolved to just do it – I drove to Halfords that evening and acquired a new pair of all bells and whistles Bosch wipers.
Job done.
As it turned out, the forecast wasn’t as good as suggested, and later that week I found myself in torrential rain again, this time with a pair of world-class wipers expertly clearing my windscreen. (Picture smug face 😉)
Had I waited until I ‘needed them’ - i.e. when the rain began - it would have been too late; I’d have been subjected to another journey with less visibility and more risk.
But because I’d got organised ahead of time, I was in the clear, while the sky was anything but.
And this principle of taking action before you ‘need’ to, is hugely relevant in the world of kitchen marketing.
You see, the truth is that a lot of kitchen retailers only get around to focusing on marketing when they need customers this month.
But it’s simply not an adequate way of advertising in this sector.
If you run a restaurant, you can get away with reactive marketing – a free bottle of wine to come in and dine tonight, for example – but not with a kitchen company.
And the reason why is simple: buying a kitchen is a highly considered purchase, with prospects at all stages along the buying journey.
Which means that you need to be in your prospects’ consciousness well before they decide to buy.
Become known, before you’re needed.
By marketing consistently, regardless of how full your order book is, you can fill up your sales funnel with people who know who you are, like what you offer, and trust what you say … all ahead of time.
Waiting until the rain comes is a sure-fire way to miss out on a huge proportion of potential customers. And if you’re looking to build a profitable, sustainable business, that’s the last thing you’d want to happen.
We’re due for rain later this week. What are you going to do today?