Examples of firms retreating further into their niche seem to increase with every day of the recession. Most companies will realize too late, however, that they’ve lost the opportunity to expand their scope and increase their revenues by being there for their customers in their time of need. The reality is that being too precise or too general eliminates your opportunity to grow and forces your firm to depend heavily on only its existing clients, many of whom may be looking for ways to cut costs that might include severing relationships with companies like yours. In today’s market, companies don’t need an engineering company any more than they need a consulting firm. What they really need is a company that can offer real value by solving a core business problem, aligning that solution with the firm’s goals, and implementing it in a way that ensures its acceptance by the company’s existing culture.
Continue reading “What’s Your Firm’s Perspective?”
In Sunday’s post, I mentioned that being a Purple Cow is about delivering exceptional value to your customers that exceeds their wildest expectations. It’s also about conveying that value through the kind of marketing that really lets customers know you’re something special.
Take a look at The Engine Is Red. I stumbled across this company when reading an article from my news feed about 8 entrepreneurs who are defying the risk-adverse economic faux-wisdom of the times by starting companies during the recession. Each startup has its own story, and several have very interesting ideas. But despite the fact that The Engine Is Red was, perhaps, the least original concept of the eight, it was the only company that really stood out. One look at the company’s website makes it clear that the firm is not an average design company. Marketing with most firms, the site quips, is like a one night stand; marketing with The Engine Is Red is about solving core business challenges, driving sales, and increasing profits. Red is about creating value.
In short, The Engine is Red is quickly becoming the Little Red Engine That Could.
Spend some time thinking about what your marketing says about you. In a time when most firms–even banks and insurance companies the self-proclaimed giants of experience and reliability–don’t really live up to their names, it’s time to focus on value, not tradition. When potential customers are looking at the herd, is your cow easy to spot?
No matter who you are and what business you’re in, you don’t know your customers well enough. I can’t overemphasize this. You don’t know your customers well enough. What makes matters worse is, your customers are always changing, so you never will.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Understanding this concept and integrating it into the heart of your bussiness operations always yields powerful results that can increase sales, eliminate waste, and connect you with your customers, suppliers, and employees in ways you’ve never imagined.
Continue reading “You Don’t Know Your Customers Well Enough, and You Never Will.”
