MARKETING STRATEGIES: STEP FOUR
Write Your Own Rules.

If you own or manage an established business, do you think it's important to know what your customers (clients, prospects, patients, etc.) want? If so, and you play by the rules, how to you get this information?

Well, the obvious answer is hire a big-ticket research firm to conduct surveys and assemble focus groups to find out, right?

Unfortunately, this by-the-rules approach is often a waste of money.


Well, how do you accomplish this task as a RULE-BREAKER?

While there may be times when hiring a research firm is necessary, why don't you just ask your own staff ... salespeople ... tellers ... customer service support team ... or those that are in constant touch with your customers.

If you are the president or general manager of your company, when is the last time you put on a disguise and went on a sales call with one of your salespeople?

Do you frequently man the customer support phones (or listen in) for a day?

Do you travel along incognito with your service people to hear what the customers are saying?

Do you have a managed eavesdropping program? No, we're not talking about anything malicious or privacy invasive, but a more informative tool than the standard mystery shopper concept.

For instance, if you're a hospital administrator, do you have people (even unpaid volunteers) who are not in medical attire who routinely sit in your waiting rooms reading a magazine and listening to the comments of those whose loved ones are in your hospital's care? But, how informative would this feedback be if you are TRULY interested in being responsive to constituents?

"But," you contend, "that would be breaking the rules." O.K. Let's think about that. First, who wrote the rules? Next, why don't you write your own rules that encompass many of the other directions that you'll find in the Strategy Overview and these STEPS?

In the example above (or for any already-established business) write a rule (and a plan) ... that requires you to to LISTEN. INTENTLY.

If you presently have a PLAN in place for consistently listening to your customers ... clients ... patients ... constituents, then you already have a significant lead on your competitors -- maybe!

The reason why we say maybe is because simply listening intently to your customers is valuable ONLY if you act on the feedback you get! Shunning it or saying things like "They're so demanding." ... "What do they know?" ... "We could never make a profit if we did what they expect." ... "We're more progressive than they are." ... or any similar remark simply undermines the reason for even listening in the first place.

This kind of corporate or personal arrogance can be the death of your efforts. Someone else who is smaller ... faster ... more hungry ... better connected (to the wants and needs of the customer) WILL listen and respond. In almost all cases, they will part of the BRAINeLINK™ process that helps people and companies around the globe learn ... manage ... and discover ways to better position their business in the marketplace.

The whole strategy of Writing your own Rules is the CRUX of effective marketplace differentiation.

It is what we emphasize the most with our clients and what seems to be most desired service that we provide. Why? Well, not only from our own experience but from the evidence that continues to pile up in the business writings of countless others, companies (and individual consultants, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and sole proprietors) are often too close to their industry to see the big picture.

Our role, in most cases, is to almost "levitate" above the industry or company with whom we're working. This permits us to see The Big Picture - how one effort or opportunity relates to another.

We then can help them devise ways to STAND OUT that are meaningful to their clients and/or prospects.

The other benefit is that we aren't constrained by a corporate or industry culture that suggests that you do certain things certain ways. A classic example of that is the project that we worked on for the ISCI (International Society of Cardiovascular Interventionists). This Society is comprised of some of the busiest, most conservative (except Dr. Joseph Galichia, their president at the time who hired us), most affluent heart physicians in the world.

By nature, they usually have business cards that are "standard" - even boring. At the very minimum, they don't break the mold with their marketing identity and materials. As is typical with our strategy, we helped them "Write their own Rules." See, in part how we accomplished it.

MORE EXAMPLES, PLEASE!


Another great example occurred recently with one of our consulting clients (they're consultants, too - to family-owned businesses.) They had an opportunity to advertise in a "Consultants & Speakers Directory" sponsored by one of the leading associations in their industry. Their research showed that a number of inquiries each week came in from the media, prospective clients and others requesting information about possible Consultants and Speakers.

We noticed several things when reviewing the Directory. First, all the ads (mostly half-page ads and some full-page ads) looked VERY similar. Except for the occasional spot color, the ads were black, many text-dense, and without any flair. (Get it? Everyone was playing by the "rules," both in the layout and the content of the ads.)

We also observed that the ads were alphabetized, which would put our client in the middle of the publication. As you probably know by now, we don't believe in spending a lot of money on mass advertising. But, this case was different as reflected in the research noted earlier. This WAS NOT a mass media effort. Significant inquiries were made each week from our client's TARGET audience. But, being buried in the middle of the publication with a 1 or 2-color ad (even with a different layout) would probably produce minimal results.

What to do?
TA-DA!!
Write our own Rules!


It was obvious that the cover of the directory was a very plain-Jane looking 2-color (black plus one other color) with a generic ad on the back for the sponsor. We approached the Directory's publishers and asked if it was possible to advertise on the back cover? "Nobody has ever asked" was the response. We inquired "Could you produce the cover in 4 colors?" "It's way too expensive," they responded.

So, here's how we proactively wrote our own rules. First, we forgot for a moment "What's in it for us." (Remember STEP 3?).

We looked at the publication's design from the publisher's perspective. How could we enhance the professionalism of their publication, integrate some "branding" for their own firm that they hadn't recognized was possible and accomplish our goals as well.

We proposed (and created for them even before they agreed to let us participate) a new 4-color cover that integrated their existing logo into the cover design. We then offered to print and provide all the covers they needed for their printer's use in completing next year's directory. We would include our 4-color ad on the back and pay a placement fee for that.

In return, we charged them no design or printing fees and have a first-right of refusal to use the ad for the next 3 years. All of this happened in a 3-day period.

Were they gracious and responsive to our requests? VERY! But, we proposed a win-win situation by thinking differently about the process, the product, and the positioning than ALL of the other 70+ firms that have been advertising with them for years.

Now, (our clients) will had the ONLY 4-color ad in the entire directory ... with prime placement ... and a completely different content approach than anyone else. And the publisher gets a premium-looking directory that should attract more attention in subsequent years and boost ad revenues in the process.

Granted, this was a small example of how "Writing your own Rules" can make a huge difference in the impact of your Market Positioning Strategies. But, overnight, our clients went from not even being exposed in this highly-targeted directory to having prime placement and exposure to a highly-targeted audience looking for consultants and speakers in THEIR industry (another way to generate credibility and clients).

If you need help with this entire process, let us know. If you have compelling stories of your own, please share those with us and the others who come here for inspiration and practical ideas.

STEP FIVE: Develop a BrainTrust.