The other day I was sitting in Starbuck's coaching a prospective client who was sharing her concerns about marketing. "It makes me feel greasy" she said while scrunching up her face and wiping off her arms as though she literally had slimy, sticky animal lard all over them. "I also believe that people should just know I'm great and there is nothing more to it! They should just know that I'm going to help them get where they want to go with my services. If they don't see how fantastic I am, well then they can just walk!" She paused for a moment and then stated, "I do realize however that I have no choice, and must market if I want to gain more customers, make more money, and keep my business open but how do I do it without having these nasty feelings?" I shared with her that if we altered her present perspectives on marketing and got her more connected to how she wanted it to be, it actually could feel easy, fun and less "greasy."
"First things first," I told her, "let's come up with a new definition of marketing for you." This seemed to jazz her up and get her excited.
"What if you look at marketing as an opportunity to educate, inform, invite and give something to the customer rather than schmoozing? The reality is that your customer cannot read your mind therefore they need to be educated and informed as to who you are and what you have to offer them."
She seemed intrigued, "How do you mean?"
"Well, if you knew that you needed to educate your customer about your services, inform them of how you can help them, invite them to be your customer and give them the gift of your services, doesn't that feel more sincere rather than trying to sell them?" I noticed the perspective-shift immediately on her face. "Wow, that does feel so much better! It does not feel like selling at all and certainly doesn't leave me feeling like I need to take a shower," she giggled.
So through a few simple questions and the permission to change her definition of marketing, a perspective-shift came about rather easily. Further, I can guarantee you that her business is really taking off now!
If marketing is as scary or daunting for you as it was for my client, you may want to do as we did: give yourself permission to change your current definition of marketing. Here are some simple questions to get you started:
1. What is my current definition of marketing? Which part of it feels good and which part does not? If the word "selling" is in your definition and you don't like it, take it out!
2. What would I like my definition of marketing to be? Recreate it! Choose words that resonate with you and evoke positive feelings.
3. How could marketing feel better?
In my opinion marketing should do four (4) things:
1. Educate the customer: educate the customer about your product/service (the details, statistics, etc.)
2. Inform: inform the customer how your product/service is different and how it will help them
3. Invite: invite them to be your customer
4. Offer/give: offer them something they cannot find elsewhere. Give them a gift, a promotional item or discount.
These days where the market is really competitive and you must have the "edge" in order to thrive in the business world, it is important to be really clear on your personal perspective of marketing. If your current perspective is one of "schmoozing," guaranteed you are going to lose enthusiasm for this important feature to business-owning, not-to-mention, money and clients. However, if you have the perspective that you are here to educate others and invite them to be your customer, guaranteed you are going to win at the marketing game!
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