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Subject: Profitably Linking Your Business, Profession & Purpose Part 5

Author: Dennis S. Vogel

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 22:10:50 03/31/07 Sat In reply to: Dennis S. Vogel 's message, "Profitably Linking Your Business, Profession & Purpose Part 1" on 15:37:34 11/26/06 Sun Trying to satisfy multiple groups puts a business out of focus. If a business isn't focused on a profitable niche’s desires & needs, business resources will be dissipated over a too broad selection. There won’t be enough critical mass (marketing budget, ability to learn & retain product knowledge, etc.) on each product/service to satisfy consumers. (In other posts, I explained reasons Wal-Mart & others succeed with little product focus.) Plus, for those who still think Word-of-Mouth (as opposed to referral marketing) will save your business, what will customers say about your business? “It has a little of this, not much of that & sometimes has these.” It doesn’t seem compelling, does it? In “The New Market Leaders,” Fred Wiersema divided markets into groups I hadn’t considered before. The groups are searchers, streamliners, delegators & collaborators. Though each type may buy essentially the same things for seemingly the same purposes, they buy those things for different reasons. He faults marketers for trying to reach each group, even if they use different messages. It confuses people when they hear conflicting messages from the same sources. My example to explain the groups (Wiersema uses different examples)- Burger King was more successful when it was differentiated from McD’s, instead of trying to be a better version of McD’s. One way it was done is the “Have It Your Way” campaign. Delegators may’ve bought burgers from BK, because they could have a standardized burger & not have to spend time thinking about it, then describing it to order takers. Collaborators may’ve bought burgers from BK, because they could specify what they wanted & how they wanted it. Searchers want a variety of choices. Streamliners want to decide, then they don’t want to see a menu anymore. This was so successful; McD’s changed to be more like BK. That’s a switch. Keep It Simple & Straightforward This is especially true for streamliners & delegators. They have many things to think about, so they want to decide, then move on. As much as McD’s is criticized for being unfocused, I don’t think it could be successful if it reduced its product-line or target market. It invested billions of dollars in a few decades to be known as a vendor of many things. It’s gone too far to turn back now. To achieve focus, you may have to narrow your product-line & make the selection deeper. Example: If you sell clothing, you may discontinue clothes for one gender or age group. You could specialize in children’s clothes or men’s clothes. You’d stock a deeper selection of colors, styles & sizes. Otherwise, to have a full range for everybody, you’d probably have a middle-of-the-road selection to try to appeal to everybody. When you try to appeal to everybody, you’ll find everybody is nobody, or at most is small minority who are satisfied with average things. But be aware, if you change your business, it may take some time for people to get used to your new business model. Successful marketing is vital, but it’s hard to overcome. I know it’s easy to think consumers should be able to figure some things on their own. But when they’re distracted they may not receive the whole message & when they’re busy, they may not invest enough effort to think about the content & context of those messages. A Flood Of Messages Can Be Just Trickles I could bark out individual commands to 100 people, “Harry, pick up your socks. Mary, bring in your dog. Sara, wash the floor…” It may seem like a verbal deluge, but for each person, it’s a trickle if s/he only pays attention to the command after his/her name. For a consumer to receive & respond to your message, s/he has to realize it’s intended for her/him, almost as if you called her/his name. It’s one reason headlines/opening statements must have a clear benefit for recipients & be stated how a recipient would say it. “Pursuant to your supplication, our organization undertook the task to provide two carbonated beverages for the expense of a single unit.” isn’t apt to get as many responses as “Because you asked for it, we’re offering 2 soda bottles for the price of 1.” People are comfortable with messages they expect; but if it looks or sounds too routine, they’ll barely notice or ignore it. “Oh, it’s just that, so what? Been there, done that.” Back To The Main Subject Trickles of marketing won’t overcome McD’s strength, especially if marketing messages are diluted over a broad range of stuff. This would also require a different business model (even if the products are the same), because the lower initial profits wouldn’t support a McD’s business model. Nobody will beat McD’s with a McD’s business model. Nobody will “out-Wal-Mart” Wal-Mart. But giant companies tend to defeat themselves & let others replace them. Strong focus tends to be narrow like the power of laser beams. Stars release a lot more power than lasers. But light & heat from stars are spread widely. In effect, stars have larger “target markets.” You Won’t Get Customers To See The Light, If You’re Out Of Focus You may offer a better solution for some consumers, but they won’t agree if your business isn’t accurately focused on their needs & desires. When businesses aren’t focused, lack of focus doesn’t only affect the owners & staffs. It makes the businesses blurry for consumers. Example: If you noticed a business offers cosmetics, you may think it caters to women only. Later, if you heard it offers auto supplies, you may be confused or think it caters to women who perform maintenance on their vehicles. Even if you buy cosmetics & auto supplies, you may choose specialty stores to be sure you buy the quality you expect & find the selection you want. Focusing Marketing Messages Your messages should promote what customers are most apt want—destination/primary products. Example: You may sell a lot of ties, but only to those who go to your store to buy shirts or complete suits. If competitors promote the same destination/primary products you offer, you may need to promote accessories/secondary products as part of a complete set. You should find what a significant, profitable niche wants & how they want it. Then focus on providing what they want, how they want it & when. Dennis S. Vogel thrivingbusiness@email.com Focus on what people need/want, then offer it how they want it. Use these URLs to learn how to design & deliver your messages. http://www.voy.com/31049/ http://www.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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Subject	Author	Date
Side Bar—Create & Build Your Chain Of Success	Dennis S. Vogel	22:48:48 04/28/07 Sat