We are always looking for a better, faster, more efficient way to do marketing and generate sales. The pressure seems to be never ending. And with every new marketing idea comes additional tactical work to complete. For small businesses this becomes so overwhelming. I watch them flounder and stress out over it all. Limited resources, lack of technology knowledge, etc. can instantly derail many into throwing in the towel and saying “It didn’t work.” Sound familiar?
I’ve “been there-done that”, especially having worked with consultants and coaches who gave me so much expert advice:
“If you don’t do what I tell you to do, you won’t succeed.”
Well, in some cases that could be true but the reality is that only the business entity knows itself best … unless it doesn’t.
Here’s the rub. My big epiphany, which led me to create a training session (and now this article) around it, is this:
If you don’t know who you are, marketing becomes painful and unproductive.
And when I say “you”, I’m referring to the business entity as a whole, which is typically based on the founders who envisioned it, which could very well be “you”. Somewhere along the way you as the individual business owner or leader or “you” as the business entity lost sight of the mission and vision. “You” got so wrapped up in day-to-day execution and survival that the purpose, goals and core values all got put on a shelf. At least that’s the story of my company.
I felt like I was on a hamster wheel, continuing to produce and market “stuff” and while I’ve been extremely successful at it, it was exhausting and eventually confusing for me, my team and our potential clients. When I started to hear, “We’re not really sure what you do” from prospects, I knew I was in trouble. I stepped back to figure out how to stop the runaway train.
With some great coaching, it became clear to me that both of my companies needed clarity around their missions or the more-trendy “why”. (I love me some Simon Sinek and Start With Why, by the way.) The reality was that I no longer knew my “why”.
It seems so simple now – know your company’s purpose and build from there.
Back to the marketing thing, if you’re clear on your mission, marketing becomes pretty simple. Create your message from your mission statement and then find the right channels for authentically connecting with the right audience (customers and employees).
This is how you make your marketing “juicy” to attract people who want to “sink their teeth” into what you’re serving. I’m getting all cliché here, I know, but your audience wants more than sizzle. They want the meat (or tofu) substance. YOU are the substance.
Prospective customers and employees are attracted to who you are and why you are. Get clear on this and it just gets easier. And there are all kinds of books you can read about how our brains are wired to make buying decisions based on emotions versus facts, etc. Another favorite of mine is Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff.
So, here are a few tips from a recent training session I created about this topic.
Five steps to “fixing marketing”:
- Review/Redefine/Create Your Mission Statement (“Why”)
- Determine Your Unique Selling Proposition
- Seek To Understand Your Ideal Clients
- Create & Share Your Brand Message (based on your mission statement)
- Inspire A Repeatable Experience
These steps can (and should) be applied to building a culture that attracts and retains the best clients and team members.
Build the right culture and the right ones will stay.
Let’s connect on LinkedIn or on twitter @GinaSalesCoach. Remember my story about my own marketing challenges? The exciting news is that we’re officially launching our new brand Pivot10 Results in the next few weeks.
If you feel like you’re stuck in place in your business, it may be time to learn how to improve your ability to pivot from Company Culture to Team Engagement to Sales Story to FANtastic Customer Experience™. Let’s talk about shifting your business from people problems to performance results, which is our mission, by the way.
