The Market only wants 50% of what you offer.

I was having a chat with the very clever Alan Rae today and he came out with that statement.

Clients only want 50% of what you sell and they will tell you what other stuff they want to go around it. Your other 50% is of no interest, Bye

I think Alan is being optimistic. I think the market only wants 20% of what you offer. Think about any piece of software you use, I bet that you only use up to 20%, the rest is of little value to you.

So the question is do you give people an 80% discount or maybe offer on your products and services in bundles or even unbundled?

Here’s a suggestion why not ask the market before one of your competitors does?

The hard thing about blogging

It's not the content, the content is easy, just answer the common questions that clients ask.

It's not the writing, it doesn't take too long and it doesn't have to be Jane Austen.

No what's hard is the discipline to write your blog every day, every week.

Action is easy, Discipline is hard.

So come on if I can commit to doing this every day, so can you.

You clients need to hear from you.

The hard thing about blogging is that it isn't that hard at all really.

Come on!

Can your business survive without email?

I have been having email problems this month, software falling over, lost messages and a large amount of wasted, frustrating time. At it’s worst earlier this week I was in effect without an email service.

But I survived. It’s easy really.

Rather than email I picked up the phone

Rather than email I used twitter and other social networks

Rather than email I sent a text message.

Rather than emailing me, people called me.

Somehow being without email, brought me closer to those who I wanted to make contact with and those who wanted to contact me.

So could you get by without email? Would you thrive or crumble?

I’m fully back on email now.

Your stuff is too complex

Your products are too complex

Your solutions are too complex

Your website is too complex

Your blog is too complex

Your organisation is too complex

Your book is too complex

You get the picture.

Make it simpler, I want to see if you can help me, I don’t acre how clever you think that you are.

I only care about me, stop being so complex!

What business are you really in?

Theodore Levitt famously asked this question to the owner of railway companies in the 1950’s in the US and they all said “We’re in the railroad business!”

Wrong

As Levitt pointed out they were in the transportation business competing with cars, planes and boats. Not each other.

So what business are you really in?

It probably isn’t the legal business or the printing business or the restaurant business.

I’m not even in the marketing business!

Here’s a clue. What problems are your clients and prospects attempting to solve coming to you and how else could they solve it…that’s the business that you’re in.

Forget about your stuff and solutions, keep focusing on what your clients want to achieve. That’s the business to be in.

Is Marketing just an unnecessary cost?

Times are hard aren’t they? Revenue’s down. The phone’s not ringing as much as it used to. Fewer people are attending your favourite networking events.

This marketing stuff seems to work in the boom years, but in the lean years, isn’t time to batten down the hatches and get into the bunker? Mother, where are you when I really need you?

OK, maybe I have laboured the point, but during tougher times it requires you to think harder about what you are attempting to achieve. Maybe, it’s pure survival. Maybe, you want a bit more.

Two tips:

Get closer to your best clients. Closer than you are now. If you phone them once a month, make it every two weeks. If you call them once a week, make it twice. Double the frequency. Ask what else they are working on. Try and be a resource not a supplier.

What’s your best marketing tactic? You know, that thing you enjoy doing that brings in the results. Simply get better at it and try and do it more often. If it’s networking, then when did you last brush up your skills in that area? Out of 10 how good are you and your business at it. Get better.

So, stop telling me marketing’s costly and focus on what you are good at.

Leave the expensive marketing to those other guys!

The difference between selling and marketing

When you’re interacting with a prospect or client are you selling or marketing?

Let me explain my take on this.

Selling is when you go out with your catalogue and solutions and try to get people to buy your stuff. You are a representative of the business. You represent the business. Your job is to get a client’s signature on a piece of paper. Or get their money. Selling is hard

Marketing is when you step outside your business and examine the market place you’re in. You then try to understand how the market perceives your business. You then may change your business to have a better perception in the marketplace. Marketing is harder still.

However, if you find that you are struggling selling your stuff it’s probably because your marketing is lousy.

Improve your marketing and it will make your selling a lot easier.