An old man fell into a raging river. Onlookers watched in horror, powerless to save him as he disappeared into the raging waters. A few moments later, the old man popped out of the water downstream unhurt and calm. When asked how he could possibly have survived the raging water, he simply said, “I accommodated the water and did not try to control it. It delivered me peacefully here.”

What does that little story have to do with marketing? Quite a bit. So many businesses knowingly or unknowingly force their customers to accommodate their way of doing business instead of the other way around.

The problem with control is that your customers are growing less patient with things that don’t make sense or work immediately. So, they give up faster than ever. Why? Because customer customization is the biggest trend in the past decade. That means your competitors are accommodating your customers better and better, on your customers’ terms, as they want it, changing when they change.

If you were to visualize the market today, would it not look a lot like the river that old man fell in? Would your business be the old man, or are you trying to change the direction of the river? The best answer to this question will come from the customers you lose and the competitors that win them.

Ninety Seconds take away:

Build in feedback mechanisms that keep you in constant touch with your customers’ changing needs, and build flexibility and consistent improvement into your offerings by using what you learn. Be open, curious and vulnerable to the truth about your company, your services and what you offer. Don’t force your customers to do it your way; find out what they want, be willing to change your position, and see from different viewpoints. Flow with the change and you will never know obsolescence.

I am CMO-at-large for several companies. One of most important things I am doing for each company right now is finding the absolute greatest impact for the least possible investment – in some cases, no investment. If ever there were a time to put on the Zen monk hat, this is surely it.

So, with this hat on (or head shaved – whichever you prefer), let’s look at the essence of what we are dealing with right now: Less. Much less. You could say scarcity is our most abundant resource this year. Scarcity is your raw material, so get real, dump waste and focus like a laser beam on what matters most to you and your customers. If you handle this resource well you will not only survive, but you’ll also have a far better, more meaningful business in the long run. Here are a few thoughts for using scarcity as a marketing resource:

Ninety Seconds take away:

• Look at every line item in marketing. If you cannot tie it to something that addresses a fundamental need or shows a specific return greater than the investment, eliminate it.
• Consider dumping traditional advertising altogether. For example, opt, for more targeted and measurable social media and online marketing tools(such as the eBlast/blog you are reading now) over expensive, hard-to-track print ads instead.
• Look at your customers, potential customers and those with whom you do business. Focus on your lowest cost to acquire sales and new leads: your existing customers and those with whom you do business.
• Zen Master take away: “Pay it forward” with your clients. Think of what your customers are facing in this market and find a way to help them. Don’t worry about making a sale – just help. If you take this approach, the goodwill you generate will find its way back, especially if you don’t weigh your efforts down with expectations of how it will return to you. Just know that it will. Everyone I know who has run a successful business for more than 20 years knows this is true. It not only feels good, but it is a way to take scarcity (something we have always thought of as lack) and turned it instead into goodwill – the stuff that long-term companies are made of. And yes, sales, too.