‘We’re good at what we do. We’ve been doing it for a gazillion years. We like talking about ourselves. We know what we’re doing and what our clients like. We are amazing!’
I have heard these things so often during my 20 odd years working in marketing.
The questions I always ask when going into any business are ‘Who really cares?’ and ‘What does it mean to your audience?’.
So many businesses I have worked in look from the inside outwards, and not the outside inwards.
We should always try to see ourselves as others see us, to find the things that our customers really value us for. It’s dangerous to assume that the values that are important to us are shared by our clients. Are they the same values for which our customers hold us most in esteem?
Does the customer care that you have just spend half a million pounds on a new piece of machinery, for example? Not unless you tell them how it is going to benefit them. Will it mean they receive their orders more quickly? And do they really care that you won that business award a decade ago? What have you been doing since then to build on that success and deliver tangible benefits to them? And what are these benefits?
What does the customer see when they look through the window into your business? Do they see a close-knit team, an elegant, well-considered, client focussed business proposition, a company that cares on every level, and resonates with their customers’ needs?
If you’re not sure then take some time to put yourself in their shoes and work through every element of your proposition. Look through that window, dig deep and see what you can uncover through each and every layer of your business. BE YOUR CUSTOMER for a moment, take a long hard look at yourself from their perspective and stop being self-obsessed with those things that aren’t relevant.
Apricus Marketing can help you with this. Contact us for a chat!