If You Don’t Tell Your Story, Your Competition Will
MYTH: Having the BEST tool, service, or product will make you successful in business.
I’ll say it again, being successful in business is not about what you do and how well you do it. It’s about how well OTHERS THINK you do. You could be the best pianist, the best coffee roaster, or the best real estate company, but if people don’t hear about you then you aren’t going to make any money or be successful. That’s why it is so important to tell your story and market to your clientele as often as possible. Being successful in business doesn’t mean that you have the best product or service, or even that you’re the cheapest or the most expensive. It has everything to do with how many people THINK that you’re the best. We see this proven time and time again across industries.
Biggest = BEST
We often equate the BIGGEST company to being the BEST company, but what makes us think that a company is the biggest company? Exposure. Let’s take a couple of companies, for example, that everyone is relatively familiar with - Amazon and Zappos.
Zappos is world-famous for their high level of customer service and it’s fair to say they provide the best customer service in the world, however, they are a long way from being the biggest or most successful company in the world. Amazon, however, has overtaken Zappos in their own market space (shoe sales) several times over. Although Zappos has the best customer service, which is a feature that most people look for in a company, Amazon still outperforms and dominates in that market space. Why? Marketing.
When we see or hear about a company more often in many places - the TV commercials, the billboards, on social media, in a magazine ad, etc., we consider them to be the most successful and therefore the BEST in the market.
Take attorneys for example - Have you seen a mega-firm on a commercial or on a billboard? Can you recall their name or perhaps their catchy slogan or phone number? I can think of several from memory. There are probably other smaller firms out there with just as good, if not better, attorneys who may even be experts in exactly the type of litigation you need, but who do you think of first when you need an attorney? Most likely it’s the mega-firm.
Tell Your Own Story - Over and Over Again
Let’s face it, we aren’t all Amazon or one of those mega legal firms, but we can still carve out our piece of the market by marketing consistently. Whether you have a small to medium-sized business or are a real estate broker or agent, it’s necessary to get your name and story out there to your audience.
Often we find this difficult. Sending messages out in the universe and sometimes with little or seemingly no response. You have to remember that there is not one magical marketing plan or message that will work overnight. It takes time.
Just when you think you are beating a dead horse and you sound like you are repeating yourself, just when you are getting sick of what you are sending out there...that’s actually the precise time that your ideal customers are just starting to pay attention to what you are putting out there. It’s a proven fact. There are studies and studies that have proven that it takes at least 7 times and up to 20 times of someone hearing, seeing, reading something before they start to recognize and remember that something.
You cannot expect that that one postcard, that one Facebook ad, or that one business card you get out to your clients will make them remember you. You need to judge your marketing efforts not just one time, one month, or even one year. It takes a long gradual build up of recognition and exposure to build credibility in the market space. So you have to stay consistent.
Set Yourself Apart, Don’t Sell Yourself Short
Every company in the world is probably the greatest at something. So, when you are thinking about marketing for your company you need to identify what you do the best and what story you want to tell your ideal customers.
Speaking from experience in different industries and different companies, it’s really hard to identify that one thing that we do better than others. We sell ourselves short. That’s why you need a mentor or consultant from the outside to see what’s actually in your “blind spots”. They will help you sort through your messaging and see what makes your company special. They can even help you formulate a marketing plan to gain exposure in your market.
Recently, I was talking to a client about their phone system and how it uniquely handled calls, which was just another service they offered in the client’s mind, but all of sudden this phone system become a differentiator for them in the recruiting space in real estate - the way they are using their phone system absolutely changes the experience for their agents and makes their life easier and there was that Ah-ah moment!
I know for myself, I struggle a lot with marketing and being consistent with my messaging. Sometimes you need to consider having someone help you, even if it’s someone from the outside of your company, to get your story and your name out there. Remember, just get started, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t let the competition tell your story.
