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Answer You - Becoming The Obvious Choice In A Sea Of Competition
People think of summer as a time to leave work early, take vacations, visit the beach and read a good book. Summer is good for all those things. But it is also the perfect time of the year for evaluating your professional life and addressing areas in need of personal development.EvaluateThe first and most important step is to evaluate where you are versus your career and professional goals. Are you on track? Falling behind? Ahead of your peers? These apply not just to titles and compensation but also experiences and responsibilities. Where to you see yourself in a year? Five years? Are you on track to meet those career goals? If not, identify, as specifically as possible, the gaps and what steps you must take to address the gaps.EducationEducation, whether a college degree, an advanced degree or a professional certification is one of the most common gaps identified during the evaluation process. Young professionals and junior executives are often too busy and put off taking on additional coursework. This is a huge mistake. If it is not done early in the car
See if this scenario sounds familiar. When you get home from work, your spouse asks you how your day was. What do you usually say? Fine, okay, I'm tired, great, it stunk. Do these words actually communicate anything? What about when you see someone you know at the store and you ask, "Whatcha doin'?" (as if you really care or can't tell by looking) and he answers, "Fine," which is actually the answer to the other question he was expecting, which is "How ya doin'?" We are a society of lazy communicators...we are on communication autopilot. Don't
The dilemma that most HR managers face, is that their staff want cash as bonuses and not gifts or gift vouchers. But why is this a dilemma?Well it has long been established that companies need to give their staff not necessarily what they want, but what they need. This way companies can start to reap the reward of giving rewards by getting their staff churn down, and by their sales /service increasing.How many of us have had a cash bonus and it has gone into the overdraft, been used by the partner on the weekly shop, been given to the kids as pocket money…the list can be and is endless! My favourite one is “gosh – did I have a bonus last month? I did not look at my bank account or payslip!”Companies need to realise that giving staff gift vouchers or gifts for that long service award, promotion, bonus, retirement pressie or giving their customers the potential to earn rewards can be hugely successful.Give them something they remember. Give them an experience – let them purchase something and think of you every time they use it or remember it. Don’t just chuck
But what do these words really mean to you in your business? Usually they mean that a business will attempt to sell a product or service that is somehow different than the competition's to a certain, specific target market. In theory, this is a great idea. If you could just reach that one segment of the market with your great, new, innovative product...
Welcome to reality. If your company is innovative enough to develop a truly unique product or service that is earning you a profit, the following inevitably happens: competition springs up from nowhere to imitate your product or service, undersell your price, and steal your market share. It's immutable.
So as your next line of defense, you choose to position yourself as the quality leader within your field. Or as the low price leader. Or as the service king. You soon find yourself in a battle with four other companies - all claiming to have the largest selection, lowest prices, highest quality or best service.
A marketing free-for-all usually ensues. Each competitor tries in vain to shout with the loudest voice that his business is superior. Headlines get bigger, radio ads get more obnoxious, advertising agencies get richer. More significantly, customers begin to discount any claim made by any of the companies.
Is niche marketing the way to go then? Obviously, different is better than "me too." The question isn't whether or not to be different, but rather how to communicate those differences in a way that your customers will believe and embrace them. Your Real Opportunity for Innovation Lies in the Marketing.
Here's What Marketing Really Is...
You need to realize three things about business to understand marketing. These three things are always true, regardless of what industry you're in:
1) All businesses do just one thing: They Woo Customers - Period.
2) All customers want just one thing: The Best Deal - Period.
3) Your marketing should do just one thing: Articulate Why You're The Best Deal - Period.
You can build confidence if you articulate your advantage.
This is not a complicated thing. If you dispute any of the three points, please call me to discuss it at once. I don't want to be wrong about such simple stuff. But if this is such simple stuff...then why do most businesses have so much trouble executing a decent marketing plan? I say it's because, in general, we are lazy communicators.
See if this scenario sounds familiar. When you get home from work, your spouse asks you how your day was. What do you usually say? Fine, okay, I'm tired, great, it stunk. Do these words actually communicate anything? What about when you see someone you know at the store and you ask, "Whatcha doin'?" (as if you really care or can't tell by looking) and he answers, "Fine," which is actually the answer to the other question he was expecting, which is "How ya doin'?" We are a society of lazy communicators...we are on communication autopilot. Don't t
What do you do when you have an innovation, which is somewhat unique in the specialty industrial equipment business, but there are already others with similar equipment out there, which are not capitalizing on your target niche? Well you simply out market them and look for ways to add revenue, while adding value to the customer in the form of piece of mind.Let’s take a case study of a wastewater filtration system for the car wash industry; a system capable of treating the water for reuse, but rather than go head to head with superior systems, which have been in the market for decades, let’s go after another market. Paula Chavis a business marketing student explains; We will recycle the water for use on the property for landscaping, pressure washing and even toilets.This will help carwash owners without any recycling keep peace since they are high water users in specific target regions, which are drought ridden. Another possible revenue builder will be to also set up a maintenance program insurance policy. This will be sold with the equipment like with copy machines and will provide t
So as your next line of defense, you choose to position yourself as the quality leader within your field. Or as the low price leader. Or as the service king. You soon find yourself in a battle with four other companies - all claiming to have the largest selection, lowest prices, highest quality or best service.
A marketing free-for-all usually ensues. Each competitor tries in vain to shout with the loudest voice that his business is superior. Headlines get bigger, radio ads get more obnoxious, advertising agencies get richer. More significantly, customers begin to discount any claim made by any of the companies.
Is niche marketing the way to go then? Obviously, different is better than "me too." The question isn't whether or not to be different, but rather how to communicate those differences in a way that your customers will believe and embrace them. Your Real Opportunity for Innovation Lies in the Marketing.
Here's What Marketing Really Is...
You need to realize three things about business to understand marketing. These three things are always true, regardless of what industry you're in:
1) All businesses do just one thing: They Woo Customers - Period.
2) All customers want just one thing: The Best Deal - Period.
3) Your marketing should do just one thing: Articulate Why You're The Best Deal - Period.
You can build confidence if you articulate your advantage.
This is not a complicated thing. If you dispute any of the three points, please call me to discuss it at once. I don't want to be wrong about such simple stuff. But if this is such simple stuff...then why do most businesses have so much trouble executing a decent marketing plan? I say it's because, in general, we are lazy communicators.
See if this scenario sounds familiar. When you get home from work, your spouse asks you how your day was. What do you usually say? Fine, okay, I'm tired, great, it stunk. Do these words actually communicate anything? What about when you see someone you know at the store and you ask, "Whatcha doin'?" (as if you really care or can't tell by looking) and he answers, "Fine," which is actually the answer to the other question he was expecting, which is "How ya doin'?" We are a society of lazy communicators...we are on communication autopilot. Don't
Before you give a nickel to a designer you want to make sure you’ve thoroughly gone through her/his creative portfolio. Make sure that you’re impressed in what you see, if you’re not move on. If you see average design and quality, expect the same if you hire them for your project. A designer’s skill set and talent will gradually improve over time, if you see average work, be careful not to hope that she/he will hit a flash of brilliance and design something spectacular for you.Keep in mind that designers have different creative styles. Some designers are better with photos, some illustrations; some are edgy while others are soft and elegant. Ultimately you want to ask yourself, “Based on this designer’s portfolio, can she/he design in the style that I want and the quality and creativity that I am expecting?” If your answer is “no”, run like heck, if your answer is “yes”, you should hire them, right? Well, the answer is actually, “maybe”.Looking at a designer’s portfolio is a good place to start your evaluation, but there are often (I mean almost always)
Is niche marketing the way to go then? Obviously, different is better than "me too." The question isn't whether or not to be different, but rather how to communicate those differences in a way that your customers will believe and embrace them. Your Real Opportunity for Innovation Lies in the Marketing.
Here's What Marketing Really Is...
You need to realize three things about business to understand marketing. These three things are always true, regardless of what industry you're in:
1) All businesses do just one thing: They Woo Customers - Period.
2) All customers want just one thing: The Best Deal - Period.
3) Your marketing should do just one thing: Articulate Why You're The Best Deal - Period.
You can build confidence if you articulate your advantage.
This is not a complicated thing. If you dispute any of the three points, please call me to discuss it at once. I don't want to be wrong about such simple stuff. But if this is such simple stuff...then why do most businesses have so much trouble executing a decent marketing plan? I say it's because, in general, we are lazy communicators.
See if this scenario sounds familiar. When you get home from work, your spouse asks you how your day was. What do you usually say? Fine, okay, I'm tired, great, it stunk. Do these words actually communicate anything? What about when you see someone you know at the store and you ask, "Whatcha doin'?" (as if you really care or can't tell by looking) and he answers, "Fine," which is actually the answer to the other question he was expecting, which is "How ya doin'?" We are a society of lazy communicators...we are on communication autopilot. Don't
I really enjoyed the feature film Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah. In the movie the character Georgia Byrd, played by Queen Latifah, finds out that she only has a short time to live. She changes her outlook on life and becomes determined to enjoy every moment she has left.One of the first things she does is quit her retail job. She stops in at her manager’s office and knocks, but the manager is too busy listening to a greedy self-help tape (Hip and Rich). When Georgia enters his office, the manager growls at her for not knocking. He recently barked at her for offering food samples in her popular cookware section. As Georgia tries to talk to him, he takes a call on his cell phone even after she asks him not to. When she gets completely fed up and quits, he is aghast. He tells her that she can’t quit. Her area is the only bright spot, profit-wise, for the store. She quits anyway. The manager tries to entice her with little, piddling raises of fifty cents an hour and then boosts it to a dollar and then a dollar and a half . . . she is too busy leaving this part of her life behind to
1) All businesses do just one thing: They Woo Customers - Period.
2) All customers want just one thing: The Best Deal - Period.
3) Your marketing should do just one thing: Articulate Why You're The Best Deal - Period.
You can build confidence if you articulate your advantage.
This is not a complicated thing. If you dispute any of the three points, please call me to discuss it at once. I don't want to be wrong about such simple stuff. But if this is such simple stuff...then why do most businesses have so much trouble executing a decent marketing plan? I say it's because, in general, we are lazy communicators.
See if this scenario sounds familiar. When you get home from work, your spouse asks you how your day was. What do you usually say? Fine, okay, I'm tired, great, it stunk. Do these words actually communicate anything? What about when you see someone you know at the store and you ask, "Whatcha doin'?" (as if you really care or can't tell by looking) and he answers, "Fine," which is actually the answer to the other question he was expecting, which is "How ya doin'?" We are a society of lazy communicators...we are on communication autopilot. Don't
There used to be a time when outstanding performance on the job was reinforced, recognized and rewarded by employers. Nowadays, employees are expected to perform “above the line” in terms of their performance. The reward, if any, is the employer’s expectation that the employee should be glad to have a job at all. Sounds pretty cynical doesn’t it?Think about it. Oftentimes, good work is rewarded by more work or not rewarded at all. It’s been shown that the reason why most employees quit their job has less to do with money and more because they (employees)perceive their sense of value within the organization is not being recognized.Doing a good job and building a reputation as being competent at something means that anytime a similar project surfaces within the organization, you are the one being called. Instead of cultivating others, employers continually “go back to the same well” when it comes to recognizing talent.Consider also the employer who professes their selection of project managers is based upon the level to which the employee will be “challenged to grow” by leadi
See if this scenario sounds familiar. When you get home from work, your spouse asks you how your day was. What do you usually say? Fine, okay, I'm tired, great, it stunk. Do these words actually communicate anything? What about when you see someone you know at the store and you ask, "Whatcha doin'?" (as if you really care or can't tell by looking) and he answers, "Fine," which is actually the answer to the other question he was expecting, which is "How ya doin'?" We are a society of lazy communicators...we are on communication autopilot. Don't think, just talk.
These communication habits spill over into marketing and advertising all the time. Show me 99% of all marketing material created and I'll show you a huge jumble of hyperbole, fluff, platitudes, and yawnably unbelievable, black hole nothing words. Words like cheapest, professionalism, service, quality, speedy, convenient, and best. These words do absolutely nothing to communicate why you're the best deal. NOTHING. Claude Hopkins, the greatest advertising man in history, summed it up: "Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave no impression whatever."
Consider an example. The city I live in has just over 150,000 people. The local yellow page directory lists a whopping 81 companies that repair air conditioners. Of those, 34 spend from $300 to $5,000 a month for space ads in addition to the regular category listing.
Some of the advertisers claim to be "the" experts. Most tell me in bullet points that they only charge one low rate, even if service is needed after hours or on weekends. Almost all of them tout that they fix all major brands. None of them, however, give me a compelling reason why I should call them instead of their competitors. The "unique" claims of each company have become generic, unappealing, and meaningless to the prospect...who is just waiting to be sold.
Surprisingly, very few businesses really make more than a token attempt to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Once a company stakes out a position in the marketplace, the usual strategy is to foolishly proclaim to all potential customers, "Here we are, now give us all the business that you have been giving to our competition...for no justifiable, rational reason."
Fortunately, you can cash in on what your competitors are doing wrong. The most powerful tool you can use to stand head and shoulders above your competition is the Articulated Sales Argument (ASA). Your ASA is the singular, unique benefit that your customers can expect to receive when they favor your business instead of your competitor's - stated in specific, graphically illustrated terms.
An air conditioning repair company I know of in Las Vegas harnessed the power of the ASA and tripled the size of its business in less than a year. Before developing and implementing an ASA, the company had been guilty of running "me too" advertising. Their yellow page ad (where 90% of their business came from) had the company name plastered across the top in huge letters. Bullet points let
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