3 Mindset Changes To Increase Your Sales And Profits
Consumers Are Individual Customers
The idea of mass marketing to consumers is outdated. Consumers
are individuals and deserve to be called customers. The days are
gone when marketers can think of consumers as a mass audience to
"push" advertising out to. In fact, wise marketers will remove
the word "consumers" from their vocabulary all together. You
can't have a relationship with a consumer, you can with a
customer. Customers are individuals. The fact is that these days
they're more demanding than ever.
They expect more from you. They deserve your respect and expect
to be treated like equals. The old fashioned general store knew
how to look after their customers. The trick for the modern
marketer is to take those old "values" and use the new
technology to build a relationship that treats each customer as
an individual.
Be First In The Mind Or The Marketplace?
It is better to be first in the prospects mind than to be first
in the market place. Once somebody else gets into your prospects
mind you can't take away their position with money alone. We're
all quick to pass judgement and it's difficult to change a mind
once a mind is made up. You have to blast your way into the mind
because people don't like to change their minds.
Once they perceive you one way, that's it. They put you into a
category and file you away in their minds as a certain type of
person or business. The only way to change that perception is to
become a different kind of person or business in someone else's
mind so that the majority overwhelms the minority. You haven't
changed their mind, somebody else has.
Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of
perceptions. It does not matter if you have the best product or
service, it's what people think that counts.
Think Of Your Product As A Service These days there's no
shortage of "me too" products and short lived technological
advantages. It can be difficult to find a point of difference
for your product to own in your customers mind.
So, here's a thought. When thinking about competitive
differentiation for your product don't consider only the
physical aspects of your product. Instead think of your product
as a service. What is the service it provides? What are the
"experiences" it offers to a customer? The answers to these
questions will be more fruitful in developing your marketing
strategy than just focusing on the physical aspects.