Marketplace Focus Part 1
This article is the fifth in a series dealing with the fundamentals of operating a small business, and the first of two concerning how to thrive in the 21st century marketplace.
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 was today. And as exciting and inviting as this description sounds, the marketplace, like an ocean, is rudely indifferent to our very existence, let alone whether we have a successful and safe passage.
The marketplace is at once a place of opportunity and failure, and whichever we find depends more on us than anything or anyone else.
To continue our small business course, remember that the divining rod of success in the marketplace will always twitch in the direction of our first topic: Being customer focused.
So here’s our first question: Identify your marketplace strategy for attracting and serving customers.
Here’s a clue to get you started: A customer’s attitude 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 often morphs into a mere feature when presented for sale to customers. And as we know, customers buy benefits, not features.
You must be able to make the conversion from what makes you excited to what makes your customers excited. Remember this acronym: WIIFM, which stands for “What’s In It For Me?”
Consciously or not, this is what your customers are asking every time they consider what you sell, and you must be able to provide the right answer.
Next essay question: Explain how you’re 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 from vendors.
Part of your competitive advantage strategy could come from activities such 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 that of buyers and sellers. And if you have a vendor that doesn’t have this attitude, find another vendor. Like buses, another one comes along every six minutes.
Write this on a rock… Marketplace Rule No. 1: Focus on the customer. Marketplace Rule No. 2: See Rule No. 1.
Jim Blasingame
Small Business Expert and host of The Small Business Advocate Show
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