If you want to really improve your marketing and business development results, today’s post is just for you!
As a marketing professional, I’m always fascinated to see the way different people respond to the same situations. In my experience, it is usually a person’s perception of a situation that governs how they feel about it (and what action they take), rather than the actual situation itself.
For example, you see a headline in a newspaper about an announcement your government has just made. If you are a supporter of that government, you will probably see value in the announcement, but if you are opposed to that government, you will probably be against it. The announcement is the same, but it’s perceived differently by different people. As they say, one guy sees ice outside and starts complaining about how cold it is, the other guy sees the ice and enthusiastically grabs his ice skates!
Our perception of how things are is exactly that: OUR perception. It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong, it’s just the way we see things.
Your perceptions of your business and the marketplace
What perceptions do you have right now regarding your business and your marketplace, which may need to be reviewed? Here are a few questions, which may help:
- Are you attending great networking events, which generate high quality clients for you… or are you doing like 99% of small business networkers and meeting the same ineffective contacts month after month?
- Is your website a 24/7 lead generating machine for your business or an under-performing site that is little better than an online brochure?
- Are your taxes and accounts being handled by a great accountant, who will ensure you are not paying a penny more than you should, or are you “saving money” with a cheap accountant and losing thousands?
- Does your social networking activity have a commercial strategy, or are you sharing funny videos and chatting with old school friends on Facebook; wondering why “all that social networking” isn’t advancing your business?
- Does your marketing clearly demonstrate the unique value of working with you, or do you seem very similar to your competitors, so prospective clients only have your fee as a way of differentiating you?
- Are your fees or prices a true reflection of the value you bring, or are you promising a premium service for a bargain basement fee? Your fees have to match your promises if you want people to take you seriously.
- Are your negotiating skills convincing genuine prospective clients to work with you, or is there room for improvement?
- Is your customer service genuinely excellent, or is it little different from your competitors?
- Is your glass half empty or half full? The correct answer by the way, is that your glass is 100% full: 50% with water and 50% with air!
In short: It’s too easy to confuse our perceptions with reality. This is why you need to check your progress regularly, to ensure you’re moving forward in all the key areas of your business.