Small Business Marketing Tips
The Power of Why
January, 2008
In this column we're going to explore the in's and out's of building a successful business here in the White Mountains, with the emphasis on customers. Who are they, how do we find them, how do we keep them, how do we satisfy them and actually make a profit, too? Most of us realize pretty quickly when we open our prized new business that no one really cares except a few of our long suffering friends and family members. Business without customers is pretty lonely, so we're going to reveal the elements of a process that makes strangers care about your business. We call that process Marketing!
This month we're going to start at the beginning and do some work on you, the owner. After all, we know that organizations, big and small alike, take on the character, personality, vision and values of the top dog, so we want you to generate things that fully support your business.
Let's start with the most important question you can ask yourself about your business. That question is, "Why am I doing this?" Most of the time when I ask people this, the first answers I get are things like " I always wanted to be my own boss" or "I got a good deal on it" or "I was told it was a good money maker" or " I always kind of liked (whatever) so I thought I'd give it a shot." Guess what - there is no power or purpose in reasons like these. That lack of purpose will contaminate everything you do. Many business owners try to compensate for this lack of purpose by working harder, often ending up stressed out, exhausted and broke. That's not the best approach.
For your benefit and everyone else's you need to identify a higher purpose for what you do than just earning a living. As Alan Cohen has written, "If all you're getting for what you're doing is money, you're being grossly underpaid." When you have a purpose that transcends just "earning a living" you can use that to create an exciting vision for the business, and identify powerful goals to move you forward.
Try this format to answer the "why am I doing this" question: "Because I want to help people by ……….." Fill in with how you help them. Take a moment and do this for your business and see what you come up with. Just changing the format from "what you do" to "how you help people" adds powerful emotional energy to the statement. Can you feel the difference? Now look at it again and see if you can refine it to identify the real emotional, inner needs of your customers that you want to meet.
Here's an example - a real estate agent might start by saying "I sell real estate." Ho, hum, no power there. She might take the next step and say "I want to help people to find the home of their dreams." Much better, eh? Then she might take it even farther by saying "I want to help people by taking the stress, worry and complications out of the biggest financial transaction of their life, and help them move in to the home they've always wanted but never thought they could have." Wow, can you feel that? A business built around a purpose that powerful is unstoppable.
You may wonder what this has to do with marketing. Well, a strong, powerful, customer-centered purpose makes marketing so much easier. When you and your employees run every part of your business from that purpose, customer satisfaction, referrals, word-of-mouth, and repeat business all go way up. Purpose attracts customers like iron filings to a magnet and keeps them loyal. Everybody wins.
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