You Are The Best - So Why Don't New Clients Beat Down Your Door?
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Depending upon how you arrived at this site, at the end of each article, you will see either 'Posted by Ian Denny 23:00' followed by a 'Comment' link you can click. Or you will see comments already made and/or a link you can click with the text 'Post a comment'.
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12 comments:
Ian,
Being the "best" is a place already claimed. From a marketing standpoint, you need to stake a claim on something that's makes you remarkable in the eyes of your clients and prospects.
Focus on what makes your service remarkable and unique. What one thing or combination of things do you do that your clients find valuable that no one else in your market can claim?
Discovering this unique value takes work and looking deeply at your business... and understanding what problems your prospects are struggling to solve.
Also when you focus on being remarkable and unique rather than the best, price comparisons are impossible.
Business flows to those who are "best" at marketing.
Sometimes the internal belief in being the "best" is the biggest roadblock in creating an external perception in the eyes of your prospects that you are unique.
So you see, if your message is "we're the "best", you end up saying nothing unique to prospects who are already comfortable.
What do you do uniquely that solves a big problem your prospects have?
Perhaps your competitors are quick on service, priced competitively, but your service is more pro-active. Perhaps you dig in and understand your clients' businesses better and prevent that emergency IT call from happening in the first place?
If so, focus on telling this story and finding clients who value this service.
To Your Unique Success,
Walt
Ian,
I "get" what you're saying. I like my comfort zone. I don't like change and even if someone offers me "a better deal", I'm so skeptical because I've "fallen" for those better deals before, and they weren't better...sometimes in the end they cost me more money.
I agree with what Walt is saying. It does come down to marketing, and nowadays, good is not good enough. You have to be different and memorable.
I do know your "forfeits" got you lots of attention, however I haven't seen you write about any since November (?). Wasn't that working good for you?
Even if you are getting all "greens", would another attention getting forfeit (for lack of a better word), get attention back on your business?
Just an idea...
Hi Ian - people often have a "better the devil you know" attitude too. I certainly do because I've switched to other services in the past and had horrendous experiences.
You really need a USP - something you can communicate in one sentence, that makes you stand out and is unique to you? Can you guarantee to fix their problem in one day or something?
The thing is with these USP's - you've got to guarantee to do these things - you can't just say you'll try, or manage it 80% of the time, so it has to be something you can achieve.
For emergencies we guarantee to be there within 2 hours or it's free. The customer feels safe because they know we wouldn't be offering free if we couldn't get there in 2 hours. And we've never had to do a free emergency job.
You really need to know what your customers want, then guarantee to do it.
So much for the better mousetrap
Why don't people switch?
This is a subject I feel just as frustrated about as you. We repeatedly - in fact in about 97% of cases, as far as I can measure it - improve results. But the world is not beating a path to our door.
Because it is not enough for you to be better; mostly they want a quiet life. They have to be really pissed off or desperate before their inertia is overcome. Also, they prefer to stick with the devil they know.
I might add that there are different types of product or service. Yours is like insurance or buying tyres; nobody needs it day to day; something has to happen to trigger action.
We are in a not dissimilar position. Repeatedly I see clients who have got far better results from us, yet who don't switch.
Best
Drayton
@Walt - you're so right. It's really difficult to see your own business the same way an outsider can. I really struggle seeing some of the unique things we do differently - because they're almost part of the furniture. I'll go into a trance and try and separate myself for a bit! And write that story about the stuff I see that's unique.
@Barbara - yes the forfeits were working for us. I think we ran out of steam and ideas on that when we got really busy - especially when we got a complaint that we were wasting time when we could have been fixing more problems! I think we'll have to revive that though.
@Cath - we have some guarantees which are pretty unique. And I agree that "better the devil you know" is the inertia we need to overcome.
@Drayton - good point on the trigger. I need to find out what the trigger is and focus on that to stimulate action. Or perhaps it's just a case of persistance? Keeping the message going out until we hit them when the timing is right for them to switch. I must admit I've been focusing too much on the product of late, but now it's the way I want it to be, I need to make sure I keep the marketing activity high.
This is a great posting with fantastic comments everybody.
I would suggest finding the trigger that only you can uniquely solve. Then get the word out there whenever you can.
How about something mundane like, "Has your internet failed? Call us we can get you back online like magic?"
You have solved this problem for me in the past and magically connected me to internet (remember?!). There's bound to be tons of people out there who, like me, rely on internet for their business.
Jayne,
Thanks for that - it's a great suggestion. I know we can get Internet up and running for a client quickly. Even if BT has cut a cable.
Jayne I only wish we could have kept you as a client last year - I knew when we were reforming, we couldn't hae matched the standards you needed, and because we valued your custom and friendship, I hope you appreciated then why we suggested you find someone else.
So thanks for remembering some of the good stuff we used to do!
We're miles better than we were, and dare I say it, exceeding the service of our rivals.
It's an excellent idea - and I suspect aggregating a shared broadband service is something we can offer.
Ian - this is a tough bird to roast and there's been some great suggestions. The biggest tossers who screw this up for many of us are the phone companies.
I've changed my business line a few times after their false promises - but they're ripped me off so much that I'm now back with BT. Now BT are one shit company, so I'm guessing you know how scared I've got.
The question is, how can we reassure potential clients that we're not going to be one of these companies who give false promises then screw you?
Another real pain is the switching over process from one company to another - that has to be hassle free and painless.
It's not easy though - i know from past experience. The one thing in my favour with the plumbing business is that many people don't call us until they're in the crap and often it's because no bugger else will even answer the phone!
Cath,
Thans ever so much! You've just reminded me of a dormant thought.
I once realised the same thing - people think it will be hassle to switch. So I examined what it would take for them to do so.
It turned out, that we need very little to take over as though we'd always been in charge (except we'd obviously be superior! Forgive the arrogance, it isn't, I really know it's true now!).
And then I thought "I know, what if I wrote a standard letter they could use to get the information we need?".
And I never wrote it - something else came up.
Maybe I should write it and send some prospects an email telling them how easy it is to change, and offering them the letter?
Thanks Cath. I'll go do that.
Ian, you've done a remarkable job building a business that can deliver such a high level of service.
Cath's advice about a one line USP is great.
I also like Walt's advice on claiming a unique position.
My suggestion would be to change marketing from focusing on being the best to instead being a response to an emotional need of the client.
We did this with my fiancee's site at www.longokura.com and she's been getting new client contacts from the website everyday.
The IT industry is like law and usually cold and impersonal. By making it people and emotional oriented, you will really stand out from the competition.
So maybe have images of business people smiling. Content could be something like how network was down before an important presentation and the one-hour turn-around saved a new sale. Make it positive and have testimonials of why your clients are glad they switched.
I'd then advertise on search engines using keywords & ads that target people frustrated with their current situation. When they find your website full of happy, successful clients they'll know they found the solution to their frustrations.
You'll have a much higher sales conversion if you focus on people who are currently unhappy and looking for new solutions rather than trying to convince the general public that they should switch when they're fine with their current service.
Good luck Ian, and keep us posted on your marketing efforts.
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Hi Ian - good for you. I know it will be a good letter. And I'm glad you deleted that anonymous dickhead.
I was just coming back to reply to him. I gave myself some breathing space after I first read his worthless comment, incase I went to OTT.
What a coincidence - I've had the same kind of crap on my blog. I wouldn't care if the spammy idiots knew the slightest thing about business, but they don't.
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