Dear Biz
Whiz Friend,
You pound
the pavement each and every day and I know you’re hurting. You’re hurting real
bad. The sole of your business has got no
soul. And that’s what I’m going to help you fix today.
I remember
the lesson like it was yesterday though it was well over a decade ago. As usual
I was pouring over a few select marketing books that I’d stumbled upon. Then
all of the sudden the light clicked on and hit me like a ton of bricks.
The question
of “why some businesses struggle and some seem to prosper almost effortlessly?”
tormented me for quite some time. I knew the answer was there somewhere but
just couldn’t seem to latch on to it . . . until that fateful day.
A good buddy
told me, “Em, you need to adjust your altitude.” It’s true. We as mere mortals
oftentimes fly low, do the minimum and just scrape by. Likewise we get minimum
rewards and . . . just scrape by.
And in my humble
opinion your attitude sets your altitude. To take it a bit further your
attitude towards your prospects can be the fine line between just
scraping by to flying high in the lap of prosperity.
Take a
serious look at your competitors and peers. Are they really 100 times smarter
than everyone else? Probably not. And if you really check the stats, most
businesses do not possess any significate technical advantages, or special
connections nor any other real advantages.
So what’s
the difference? What makes some businesses flourish and others flounder?
It’s a small
but powerful strategy that’s practically hidden by most business. It involves a
simple twist in attitude. It’s what marketing mastermind Jay Abraham calls the
“Strategy of Preeminence.” It’s the difference between a customer and a client.
How do you
define “customer” and “client?”
Checking in
with old man Webster (you know the word guru dude that started the whole
definition thang) you’ll find this:
Client: “one that is under the
protection of another”
Customer: “someone who buys goods or services
from a business”
Can you see the
difference?
Pay particular attention to how
client is defined. What does under the protection
of another mean, anyway?
For our purposes here it means to
act in your client’s best interest. You learn exactly what her needs, problems,
and struggles are and you find a solution.
You don’t sell them stuff just to
fill up your coffers. Yes, I understand we as biz owners are in business to
make a profit. I’m totally cool with that. But in this client relationship our
goal is to become their go-to source.
On the other hand, it’s your duty; it’s
your obligation to provide your clients with the proper solutions . . . and
nothing less to cure their pain. You want to be their trusted advisor.
But in order to do this you must be
tuned in to their needs and wants. Top shelf marketers make it a point to find out
this information out and use it to provide excellent service to their clients.
Get on the phone, go out in the
field and talk to your prospects, customers and clients. Get to really know
your clients and ask them about their business, their operation and their life.
Act like you really give a damn
about your client’s well-being and you’ll soon see a huge shift in your
business relationships. This leads to huge profit breakthroughs as well.
Be
Different . . . It Pays
I’m fairly certain that I’ve talked
about how you can separate your biz from all your competitors (if not, the
shame on me).
But part of bringing your A game to
the plate is figuring out what unique advantages or benefits you provide your
customers. These should be things that no old else can provide.
What I’m hinting at here is called a
unique selling proposition affectionately referred to as a “USP”.
You must figure out what the most
powerful benefit or advantage you can offer your clients. A great way to do
this is simply finding out what benefit or advantage your clients want most.
Then position your product or service as having a unique benefit that they are
not getting from your competitors.
Once you nailed your USP down make
sure you incorporate into all of your marketing messages so your prospects will
know the advantages of doing business with you.
These are just a couple subtle
tweaks to ramp up sales and create massive amounts of goodwill. Your clients
will love it and you’ll reap the rewards.
Till next time . . .
Keep on Truckin’
Emette Massey
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