About Purpose is about your purpose.
Aim: Identify and articulate your purpose.
Arm: Shape yourself around your purpose.
Act: Achieve your purpose.
Programs:
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THE Key Question
Marketing Essentials
Bob Ryan, About Purpose, Inc. ©2002
Can you answer this one, key question? If it were a test, you’d probably fail.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a business owner. Or an executive director of a not-for-profit. Or the pastor of a church. Or the manager of an in-house service bureau in a large corporation.
The key question that most often trips up leaders is this:
“Why, specifically, would someone…
…buy your product
…engage your service
…attend your event
…frequent your establishment
rather than that of your competitors?”
Oh, I know you have answers. They usually sound something like, “We have better service, lower prices, personalized attention, nicer salespeople, etc.” My response is, “How do you think your competitor would answer the same question?” Ultimately, with the same answers.
The key element of success in business is your ability to differentiate your product or service in a way that the prospective user can readily see that your product or service is THE answer to his or her need. The marketing textbooks call this your USP or your Unique Selling Proposition. You must, in one, swift and compelling statement, articulate your USP. The more competition you have, the more critical it is that you state your USP clearly and boldly.
“True for not-for-profits,” you ask? Absolutely. Every executive director feels the competition for service dollars and staff in the area. Funders prefer to match their money specifically to the principles and values for which they stand. Referring agencies will make more appropriate referrals. Staff recruitment efforts will be enhanced.
“True for churches,” you ask? More than ever. Your church will stand out among a confusing sea of sameness for the seeker. Your leadership will be energized and purpose driven. Your worship will be focused and relevant.
“True for in-house service bureaus,” you ask? Crucially so. You may think you have a captive clientele, but your users’ mandate for increased profits and decreased costs will drive them toward outsourcing unless they are convinced that you meet their needs exactly.
No matter what your business is, you need to do this, now.
So, how do you answer the key question? How do you articulate your USP? How do you perform this small miracle? Here are three steps to achieving this marketing “must-do.”
- Get into the shoes of your customer. What need has him out there looking? What pain is she experiencing that seeks a fix? What are the most critical factors that are driving his buying decision?
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Don’t be satisfied with pat answers like, “better service.” What, specifically, is the key issue in service for your customer? Does she seek a door-to-door pick up and delivery? Is he looking for pre-sale hand holding to be assured of not making a mistake?
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Don’t be duped by generalities like, “lower prices.” Identify the value proposition, that is, understand specifically how your customer perceives cost against outcome. How does she define the tradeoffs of quality for price?
- Group your answers into an “I want…” sentence. Express the key issues above in one or two sentences as if the prospective buyer were saying it. Say you’re a real estate broker and you have identified your prospective clients as higher end business people who have an ingrained mistrust of realtors; who don’t enjoy looking at endless houses; and who are very firm about what they can afford. Your sentence would look like this. “I want a real estate agent whom I can absolutely trust to show me only homes that meet my expressed needs and price range.”
Be very specific in this step.
Run your sentence by others in your office or in your field. Check it out with a few of your past and current customers and refine it with their comments.
- Consolidate your “I want…” sentence into an “ad-like” statement. Remember that the purpose of this exercise is to be able to articulate your unique selling proposition. It needs to be a simple and powerful representation of who you are to your customer. In the same instant, your customer must identify his own pain and see you as his aspirin. In the case of the realtor, the statement might look something like this. “Homes for busy executives - the right house, the first time.”
You will use this statement to guide your marketing efforts, in your advertising, in your sales scripts, in choosing your staff, in selecting future product and service offerings, etc.
You will design your office procedures around this statement, perhaps creating an in-depth profile to use in the first interview, and writing search parameters to screen MLS listings.
Agents’ commissions may be structured to reflect higher earnings to those agents who match the highest number of buyer needs in a certain “guaranteed” time limit.
There is no more important question you can ask of your business than the key question, “Why, specifically, would someone buy from me rather than from my competitors?” Take time right now, to see if you can answer it well. If you can’t you need to get to work on identifying your USP.
As soon as you do your marketing will be more focused, your advertising will be more effective, your sales will increase and your customer satisfaction and employee morale will improve. Guaranteed.