I wanted to take a moment to post a very important statement on our blog. Advertising agencies are not miracle workers. The best ad in the world can't deliver a sale if the sales department isn't online. The cost of poor selling skills, is, by all means, a very big factor in this particular scenario. Everyone in any company regardless of what position they hold, are first and foremost salespeople.

Advertising is not sales and sales cannot cover the ground that advertising covers. They're not mutually exclusive. They need each other to make the equation work.

This is why, in periods of economic expansion, few salespeople, businesses or ad agencies consider themselves brilliant. Yet, in periods of economic contraction, such as the times we are currently living in, poor results are always the fault of other factors, and the ad agency is always the first one on the chopping block.

The kneejerk reaction of discontinuing advertising efforts when sales are declining is human nature for most business owners. I don't know who coined this phrase or where I read it, but cutting off advertising to save money is akin to trying to slow or stop time by not wearing a wristwatch. We always tell our clients, "if you don't talk about yourselves you'll be forgotten." Advertising reminds the public that a business is in existence, is viable, and is doing good work. Advertising can entice, inform, persuade, and motivate a sale, but then it's up to the salesperson to ask for that sale, follow up and close the sale.

In a nutshell, use effective marketing to draw the clients in, find out what they want, give it to them, and then follow up with an excellent sales force. But don't expect advertising in and of itself to do the all of the work.