SBSC and Marketplace Fundamentals - Part I
This is the fifth article in the Small Business Survival Course, or SBSC, which is designed to help you operate your business better this year, and the first of two articles about helping you become a better marketer.
There are thousands of words in the English language, but a few are particularly powerful; not because of how they sound, but because of what they stand for. One of my favorites is marketplace.
To me, the marketplace is like an ocean: alive with productivity, creating waves of energy, different tomorrow than it is today. And as exciting and inviting as this description sounds, the marketplace, like an ocean, is also rudely indifferent to our very existence, let alone whether we have a successful and safe passage.
The marketplace is at once a world of opportunity and failure, and whichever we find depends more on us than the influence of anything or anyone else.
As you grow your small business, remember that the divining rod of success in the marketplace will always twitch in the direction of our first topic: Your marketplace strategy for attracting and serving customers.
Here's all you need to know about your customers: A customer's life is beautifully simple -- it's all about them. Any questions?
Unfortunately, because of the process we use to acquire and develop products and services to sell, this rude truth can be counter-intuitive. In that process, you're the customer buying benefits for your business from a vendor. But a benefit that excites you is nothing more than a feature when presented for sale to customers. And as we know, customers buy what benefits them, not you.
The best way to make the conversion from what makes you excited to what makes your customers excited is to remember this acronym: WIIFM, which stands for "What's In It For Me?" Consciously or not, this is what customers are asking every time they consider what you sell, and you must be able to provide the right answer.
Next SBSC topic: Leveraging vendor relationships to serve customers.
One of the keys to success in the 21st century is to develop strategic alliances, including those with vendors. These are relationships that go beyond merely buying stuff from suppliers.
Part of your competitive advantage strategy could come from such activities as co-op advertising, joint calls in front of customers to introduce a new product or provide technical assistance in a customer application. If you need inventory but are short on capital, ask about vendor financing or even a consignment plan.
In the 21st century, your relationships with vendors must be more like partnerships than merely buyers and sellers. And if a vendor doesn't have this attitude, find another vendor. Like buses, another one comes along every six minutes.
Write this on a rock... Marketplace Rule #1: Focus on the customer. Marketplace Rule #2: See Rule #1.
Jim Blasingame
Small Business Expert and host of The Small Business Advocate Show
©2008 All Rights Reserved
