Marketing Success in a Down Economy #6 - Snackification

In tough economic times we lose the ability to see much further than tomorrow.

Recently I successfully bid on project work for a law firm that needs a broad spectrum of marketing services. They had talked with several other marketing firms and even started down the road with one, but that firm put a proposal of services on the table that was so encompassing of everything they needed to do over the next many, many months that it was just too large to swallow (economically).

I "snackified" my proposal -- I broke up the work into short, prioritized, manageable, measurable projects and proposed clear starts and stops. So far no project will last longer than six weeks and each project will get them one, comfortable step closer to their larger goal.

Snackification (my word for this approach) has been around for a while. Look at mini-Oreo's, key-chain flashlights, cafe plan health care and the IPod Nano. If people cannot afford or relate to a larger choice, re-size intelligently and try again.

The same principle can apply at any professional services firm proposing work. Stop shooting for the whole shebang concentrate on selling steps toward a goal.

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