How Marketing Is Risk Management

Written by Eric Petersen, CIC

Yes, you read that title correctly. The marketing your company is doing to attract new customers and employees is actually a form of risk management. In a previous article, Building a Risk Management Mindset, we discussed how a business intentionally creates opportunities and avoids problems by installing a risk management mindset. Those same principles are very true when looking at your marketing. 

Let’s first define what I mean by marketing. Marketing can be any outward action or impression of your company that is released into the world that will either attract customers or employees to your company. Most people think of marketing in an active sense only, where the sales flyer or social media post that is created is marketing; however, many times marketing happens in a passive way without the business owner truly knowing that it is occuring. The appearance of who you are sets the stage for the customers and employees that will be drawn to your company. 

We are going to explore marketing from a risk management perspective to help you intentionally create the business you desire by looking at both external marketing (for customers) and internal marketing (for employees). 

External Marketing – This is what most people think about when they use the word “marketing,” which is the action taken by a company to attract new customers or sell more products/services to existing customers. All too often we see tree services advertising or promoting a unique one-time job that they did for someone, that, while they are really proud of that job, chances are they won’t be doing it again for a long time. This could be a removal job on an island or large crane job or a project in a remote area. Whatever the job is, when the company advertises it, their potential customers begin to connect that unique job to the expertise of the tree service. 

Those unique jobs typically are not ones that you want to rely on as a business and more often than not don’t fit into your Sales Sweet Spot. Your Sales Sweet Spot is where your Specialty Service intersects with your Ideal Customer. (To learn more on the Sales Sweet Spot read our article here). When you are operating outside of your Sweet Spot, the risk to your company increases dramatically. 

Therefore, it is the goal of your marketing to showcase the type of work that you are truly experts in and the type of work that you want more of so you can continue to operate within your Sweet Spot. To help your marketing team utilize a risk management mindset, ask yourself these questions: 

• Have you defined the Sales Sweet Spot? (For one-on-one help in developing this, enroll in our Thrive Sales & Marketing Package)
• Does your entire team, including the marketing team, understand your Sales Sweet Spot?
• What type of jobs are you attracting through your marketing materials? 
• Do your social media posts talk about and show the type of work that you want more of? 
• Does your website accurately depict what type of work you want more of?
• Have you ever run a marketing campaign that focused on a product/service that was outside of your Sales Sweet Spot? If so, how did the results end up?

Internal Marketing – Internal Marketing is the action or inaction to get new, quality employees interested in your company. This can be more difficult than external marketing, because it often happens without your conscious thought, yet is one of the main drivers for whether or not you are actually attracting quality employees. It goes without saying, but the better, more professional employees you have, the lower the risk of injury and accidents happening within your company is. 

Therefore, by intentionally marketing to the type of employee that you want, you are practicing risk management. To subjectively look at the internal marketing that is happening within your company today, ask yourself these questions:

• Have you defined what your ideal employee’s characteristics are? (For one-on-one help in developing this, enroll in our Thrive Hiring & Recruiting Package)
• What type of employee are you attracting through your external marketing? The adrenaline junkie or a professional arborist? 
• Are all of your marketing pictures and messages focusing on projects or jobs outside of your Sales Sweet Spot? 
• Does your messaging align with your staffing needs, today and into the future? 
• What do your trucks, equipment and uniforms say about the professionalism of your team?
• Do you promote employee appreciation in your social posts and on your website? 

Simply put, marketing, both external and internal, is happening every day within your company. How intentional you are about getting your desired customer and employee is what separates the good companies from the great ones. Employ a risk management mindset when thinking about your marketing and your company will be miles ahead of others in your area. 

If you’re struggling trying to implement a risk management mindset within your marketing, reach out to an ArboRisk team member today or enroll directly into our Thrive Sales and Marketing Package for one-on-one help.