Madness subsiding

Corporate excesses may have contributed to the insanity of the markets. Survive and thrive, and use this time to tune your offer to lock in customer value. MARCIA GRIFFIN

By Marcia Griffin

I have been noting the changes in the marquees at Flemington for the Melbourne Cup next month. A number of companies are apparently cancelling the amazing marquees – actually two storey abodes, they have been competitively setting up over the last few years trying to outdo the other like certain streets in Melbourne.

For those of you who have been in the last few years to the Birdcage area, it was sort of reminiscent of the madness of Wall Street. It used to be fabulous. But then it got too excessive, corporate and competitive.

What were those companies thinking? Myer or other fashion stores are an exception because the racing season is a critical part of their sales.

But had I been a shareholder of say Macquarie, I might have been tempted to question the wisdom of this expenditure and also question the outcomes a little more closely – what did all this do for sales?

Who were the marquees really for? Where else could the money have been spent?

At one marquee the cost of catering was reportedly $900 per head – sounds a bit like the excesses of the Roman empire and we know what happened there.

Had these companies not been so excessive perhaps the cutbacks in business now may not need to be so severe, and my argument is always that in tougher times we need to spend more effectively on sales and marketing, not less.

For the rest of us trying to focus on making better business decisions and better products and services for customers wanting value, the world is actually our oyster right now.

The madness is subsiding and we can look more clearly at what our customers needs are and what is important to them – and what they are prepared to pay for.

To read more Marcia Griffin blogs, click here.

High Heeled Success is Marcia Griffin’s latest book, and is a frank account of building a business from a solitary sales person to a multi-million dollar business with 4700 sales consultants around Australia and New Zealand. It recounts successes and failures along the way and was written to inspire entrepreneurs-particularly women to triumph in business.

High Heeled Success (Kerr Publishing) is available directly from Marcia (marcia_Griffin@msn.com.au) or Domain Books www.domainbooks.biz.