But We Have Always Done It This Way!!

If your business has been going for some years and appears to be doing well, it is easy to settle back and believe everything in the garden is rosy. But when someone from outside of your company or business comes along and points out that perhaps you should be further ahead than you are, what are you to do?

They point out that you must embrace change and state that the business is not advancing as fast as you should be but are just ticking over, and you are in danger of slowing down and perhaps stopping altogether in the not too distant future.

They also may point out that your methods are out of date, and what once worked for you, is now holding you back.

When faced with this situation, you may answer with the classic reply “But we have always done it this way” And this is usually where the problem lies.

Are you stuck in a rut?

The “We’ve always done it this way” (some of the most expensive words in business) has been the mantra of many businesses that have fallen into a rut and is best illustrated in the following story.

A little girl was watching her mother prepare a fish for dinner. Her mother cut the head and tail off the fish and then placed it into a baking pan. The little girl asked her mother why she cut the head and tail off the fish.

Her mother thought for a while and then said, “I’ve always done it that way – that’s how Grandma did it.”

Not satisfied with the answer, the little girl went to visit her grandma to find out why she cut the head and tail off the fish before baking it.

Grandma thought for a while and replied, “I don’t know. My mother always did it that way.”

So the little girl and the grandma went to visit Great Grandma to find out if she knew the answer.

Great-grandma thought for a while and said, “Because my baking pan was too small to fit in the whole fish”.

The point of the story is that the great-grandmother had limited resources and had to trim the fish, although she would have rather left the head and tail on.

The following generations of cooks just followed her, although over the years bigger and better baking pans must have become available.

When you began your business you may have started with a limited budget. But with your energy and determination, you made it work and enjoyed a lot of success regardless of the restrictions on your resources. Because of this success, you have kept on running your business the way you started; doing it the way you always have.

And this may have allowed you to fall into a rut, and be unaware of the opportunities you have missed that would have made your business grow quicker and be stronger than it is now.

Are you listening to the wrong advice?

If you have been using leaflet distribution to promote your business and you feel you may be in a rut, it may be because you have been using the same leaflet with the same layout and design with the same copy and offer.

You could also have been listening to the wrong people and taking the wrong advice and resisting changing your ways.

You must embrace change

The reason the Beatles career lasted as long as it did while Elvis Presley’s career stalled, is because the Beatles realised they could not stand still and churn out variations of their songs. So they experimented with new recording techniques.

They were also lucky in having an excellent mentor in George Martin who helped and advised them, and they took his advice.

Elvis did not embrace change and spent wasted years churning out formulaic films and below par records. His advisor was Colonel Tom Parker who was happy just to advise Elvis to keep doing what he had been doing for years.

Every Home Has A Letterbox

Leaflet distribution is one of the most cost-effective, targeted marketing solutions any business can use to promote their business.
But it isn’t just about putting leaflets through letterboxes, much more goes into a successful campaign than simply putting colourful pieces of paper onto doormats.

At Hallway Distribution we provide an honest, reliable, professional and unique service. With over 10 years in the industry, we have the knowledge, expertise and ideas to ensure that your leaflet distribution campaign achieves the best response and generates a maximum return on your investment.

We know each customer is different, so we’ll work together with you to develop a solid strategy and put a plan in place to create a campaign that has the best chance of success for you.