Jim Connolly Marketing

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

I’ve had enough!

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“I’ve had enough”. There’s real power in those 3 words.

Think about it.

It’s what we say when we’ve reached a tipping point. When we’re no longer prepared to allow a bad situation to persist. When more of the same is simply not an option any more. When we know it’s time for action.

I've had enough

I’ve had enough: The change agent

“I’ve had enough” is also the precursor of all meaningful, lasting improvement. It’s what every business owner who turned their fortunes around said, just before they shifted gears and did what was required.

I was prompted to write this, when I noticed that three of my five most recent clients used those words, somewhere in their initial email to me. One even used it in the subject line. “Jim, I’ve had enough”.

Interestingly, in each of those three examples, it was a different issue that motivated them to take action.

  • One said she’d had enough of the famine and feast cycle.
  • Another said he’d had enough of making a living and wanted to make a fortune.
  • And the guy who used it in the subject line, said he’d had enough of waiting for things to improve.

Those are different motivations (at least on a surface level). From people of different ages, in different locations and different industries. But they’re unified by a desire for something spectacularly better. United in the belief that more of the same is no longer an option for them.

Often when things are not going the way we want, and we feel that we’ve had enough, we try to improve how we feel about the problem, rather than fix the problem. Some use positive self-talk. Others keep telling themselves that things will surely turn around next month or next quarter. And there are those who choose to ignore the seriousness of their situation or simply ‘hope’ it goes away. Hope is essential. But it’s a lousy marketing strategy.

Instead, we need to accept our reality. And face the problem, which causes us to say “I’ve had enough”. Only then is our motivation given the fuel it needs, to generate the desire we need in order to take action and put things right.

Hold on to what’s working and let go of what isn’t!

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hold on whats working, let go whats not,

A friend of mine regularly appears as an expert on business news programs. She called me with a question. You may find my answer useful, so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s all about the need to hold on to what’s working and let go of what isn’t.

Okay. Here’s my friend’s question.

I need a piece of business advice, which would work as a very short sound bite. I’m live on air in just over 30 minutes. Can you help?.

Honestly, that’s not the kind of thing I would usually be able to do with so little time. Especially as she specifically wasn’t looking for a famous business quote.

Fortunately, I had been working the day before with one of my clients and shared something, which he found really useful. I figured it might be what she was looking for. She loved it and used it.

It was this.

“Hold on to what’s working and let go of what isn’t”.

Allow me to explain.

Holding on and letting go

Much of what we do as part of our day-to-day business is habitual, at least to a degree. Here are just a few common examples.

  • We have certain providers we go to for particular challenges.
  • We rely on key people for professional, expert advice.
  • We use specific software and hardware for certain tasks.
  • We have a particular set of business strategies, which we’re comfortable using.

Over the months or years, these providers, people, technologies and strategies become a key part of how we operate our business.

However, the most successful business owners regularly review these habits.

They keep their eyes open for better alternatives all the time. They know that meaningful improvement is only possible by looking closely at what you do, holding on to what’s working and letting go of what isn’t.

Is it working or not?

The challenge with adopting this approach is that we can get comfortable with what seems to be working. And after all, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it! The thing is, we can only be certain that something isn’t broken if we check for better alternatives.

A laptop you spent a fortune on a decade ago, that’s now too slow, too heavy and has terrible battery-life, didn’t become antiquated overnight. If you’d just carried on using it, assuming it wasn’t broken because it was still powering-up, you’d be at a huge commercial disadvantage today.

The same is true of the providers we rely on. Their service may have been outstanding a year or two ago, but better providers and alternatives enter the market all the time. In many industries and professions, what was outstanding a few months ago is just average today.

And what about the assumptions we make? For instance, consider the assumptions we make about the market we serve. Are these assumptions working for us? If not, we need to let them go and make better decisions with better data.

Why not take some time to review the things you’re currently holding on to. Especially those you are comfortable with, but haven’t reviewed in a long time.

Check if they’re still optimal or not. Then hold on to what’s working and let go of what isn’t.

Business success is a decision

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Business success is a decision, decision making, marketing

At it’s core, business success is a decision. A decision from which everything else flows.

I was originally prompted to write this, after taking my friend to his chiropractor. As we arrived, I asked him if he was sure he had the correct appointment time, because the place wasn’t open. “Oh, it is open”, he replied. “It always looks like it’s closed”. There were no lights visible from outside, the door was closed and the ‘open’ sign was tiny. It looked to all the world (and every prospective client) as if it was closed.

I was introduced to the chiropractor and as always when I meet a business owner, I asked him how business was. He explained that business was slow. Hardly surprising. He’s paying a premium rent for a high street location. But he’s losing the vast majority of the passing trade he’s paying for… because they simply pass by unaware he’s even open!

Like the chiropractor in that example, most small business owners are genuinely unaware of the marketing mistakes, which are needlessly losing them a fortune. They wrongly assume their poor results are due to a lack of demand, a quiet period or aggressive competition. Instead of the reality: They never made the decision to succeed in their business.

What is the ‘business success decision’?

It’s the decision to do the right things, correctly.

Poorly performing businesses are not provided with the expert help they need, in order to grow and thrive in a competitive marketplace.

Instead, the business owner chooses to dabble.

Why?

  • Much of the time, the reason is fear. Their fear of investing in professional help is GREATER than their fear of failure. That’s what happens when a non-entrepreneur starts a business. They’re guided by fear from day one.
  • Sometimes the business owner lowered their expectations after years of sluggish growth, so slow growth or no growth is now acceptable to them.
  • Other times, they have no idea what effective marketing looks like or what it does, so they suffer in ignorance.
  • And in some cases they are so used to dabbling with their marketing, that they have a mental block about getting expert help.

A mental block?

Yes.

They insist on using experts to style their hair. However, they will watch their business stagnate because they insist on treating it as a DIY project.

Business success is a decision we make, to provide our business with the expert help it needs.

If your website is a sales generating machine, if your contact forms are a regular source of high quality enquiries, if your newsletter is a gold mine, if the profile of your business is rising like a star, if you’re attracting attention from all the right people and if your business is thriving… you’re good to go.

I hope that’s where you are right now.

If not, remember that business success is a decision. A decision to do the right things, correctly.

How to be utterly irreplaceable

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marketing, irreplaceable

How hard would it be for one of your clients or customers to replace you with an alternative provider?

I was thinking about this recently when a salesman came to my home. He asked if he could quote me a price to look after the trees and hedges, which surround our house. I said that I wasn’t interested. He then said that if I told him what my current guys charge, he’d beat their price. I explained that I still wasn’t interested. I thanked him for his time and he left.

Just think about that for a second. Because it contains a massively powerful marketing lesson.

Imagine being so valuable to your clients or customers that they send competitors away, uninterested in hearing about their lower prices or ‘better’ deals.

Let’s look at how this applies to you and your business and what you can do, to be (or remain) utterly irreplaceable.

Being irreplaceable

If that salesman had been a little wiser, he’d have asked me what made my current provider irreplaceable. If he’d asked, here’s what I’d have told him.

The team who look after my hedges and trees have worked for us for years. They know exactly how we like things. They are extremely reliable and when we needed them in an emergency, they responded fast; removing a tree that had fallen down in a storm. They provide a great service, which they are well paid for.

They’re happy and we’re happy.

They’ve made themselves irreplaceable by building trust. They’ve earned that trust by doing great work over the long haul and being extremely reliable. I have recommended them dozens of times over the years to friends, all of whom are equally delighted with them.

There are 2 pieces of gold dust in the previous paragraph.

  1. The best way to become irreplaceable is to earn trust. It was during our first year with the tree company that they came out to remove that tree, which was blocking a road on a dangerous corner. They were here in 40 minutes and charged us their normal rate, when they could have exploited the situation. Their attitude to service has remained every year since.
  2. When a provider earns our trust and does great work, it’s easy to recommend them to our friends.

Clearly, every business owner should strive to make their business irreplaceable. It improves customer retention, whilst also generating a regular flow of word-of-mouth referrals.

It’s not about one huge action. In the above example, my tree problem gave them an opportunity to shine. However, it was followed by years of excellent customer service. It’s certainly not about being the lowest priced.

How do you become irreplaceable?

It’s about the daily interactions you have with your customers and your marketplace. It’s the compound effect of many positive experiences. You earn the position of being irreplaceable over the medium and long haul. Every interaction should be viewed as an opportunity to increase your value to your customers.

That’s how you earn (then re earn) the position of being irreplaceable. Yes, you need to re earn the position. If you earn trust and then casually assume you’re permanently irreplaceable, you’ll soon be replaced by someone who out manoeuvres you. A casual approach causes casualties.

Now let’s look again at my opening question. Ask yourself, how hard would it be for one of your clients or customers to replace you? If you don’t like your answer, do something about it today. Then make the process of being irreplaceable, part of the rhythm of your business.

Your reward is a business built on a rock solid foundation. A foundation of clients who regard you as utterly irreplaceable.

Your prospective clients are always right. Seriously!

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customer always right, prospect, marketing

Seriously. They’re right every single time.

  • They’re always right about what constitutes value for money.
  • They’re always right about their past experiences of the type of product or service you provide.
  • They’re always right about the last experience they had with someone from your industry.
  • They’re always right about their attitude to risk (real or perceived risk).
  • They’re even right about whether pineapple belongs on a pizza or not.

They’re always the most informed person in the world regarding what they think and how they feel. And as their thoughts and feelings are what determine their actions, you need to discover them fast!

This might include; what they value most (low price or premium quality), what their past experience of your industry was, how they feel about risk… and every factor connected to what you’re offering.

If you try to get them to make a purchasing decision without you knowing that information, your chances are radically reduced.

  • You’ll be making assumptions based on what you know about your service and what you feel are the most important points.
  • You’ll be focusing on things that don’t motivate the prospect.
  • You’ll be ignoring things that they need to hear from you.

In short, you’ll be relying on instinct rather than what they need to hear or see from you.

How to get it right

The key is to quickly uncover their thoughts and feelings.

Here’s a broad outline of how to get it right.

Put a list of questions together, which will provide you with an accurate picture of the person you’re speaking with. Make the list as small as possible, with your most important questions first. Explain that you value their feedback. Then, work the questions into the flow of your conversation and give them plenty of time to answer.

Only when you have a good idea of how they think and feel from their answers to your questions, should you start to explain how your service will benefit them.

By matching the focus and tone of your conversation (or presentation) to your prospect’s thoughts and feelings, you’ll be fully aligned with them. Yes, this makes the sales process a great deal smoother and easier. But more importantly, it can dramatically increase your sales results.

Using an asterisk can ruin your sales results

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asterisk, small print, marketing copywriting, copy writing

You’re reading about a product or service.

It sounds amazing.

Then you spot it!

You spot the dreaded *asterisk. And your heart sinks.

You know you’re about to be disappointed. You’re about to discover the exclusions, restrictions and conditions, which means that offer isn’t as good as they said it was.

They could have told you the truth without hiding it behind the asterisk. However, they deliberately chose not to. They intentionally concealed it from you. And in a split second, they’ve totally changed how you feel about them.

You wonder what else they’re hiding from you.

Your guard is up.

You’ve switched from eager buyer to sceptic.

Eliminate the asterisk risk

If a business owner feels they need to hide something behind an asterisk, there are always better alternatives.

The most effective alternative, is to make the product or service as good as you said. This eliminates the need for an asterisk. Plus, it simultaneously pumps more value into your offering, making it more attractive and giving you a huge competitive advantage.

Another powerful alternative is to state, in honest and clear language, exactly what you’re offering. And include whatever would have been behind the asterisk, out in the open.

For example.

Imagine it’s an introductory deal, offering your service at a reduced price for the first 3 months. Rather than quote the introductory price (and hide the fact it increases after 3 months, behind an asterisk), tell them up front. Let people know that you’re so confident they’ll love your service, you’re offering it at a super-low discount, so they can discover for themselves, why it’s outstanding value at the regular price.

Everyone has a social media megaphone

Social networks give your prospects a powerful voice. That voice can either be used to tell everyone how great you are, or how disappointed they are. Thankfully, you get to choose the kind of experience that’s being shared.

That’s why the smartest brands aim for honesty and transparency at every opportunity. It’s also why they refuse to hide the truth behind an asterisk.