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Recently I posted on facebook asking for tips on getting the best deal on leasing a vehicle. Simple right? Oh boy, apparently not.
I didn’t expect to be reprimanded by fellow marketers for considering such a ridiculous thing as ‘leasing’. By the comments you’d swear I was committing a federal crime! I was thrown off because I didn’t ask if I should lease or not, I asked for tips on getting the best deal. I’m confident it’s a smart decision, for me. Yet most people seemed to just hammer how bad leasing apparently is.
So why should this topic end up in a marketing podcast? Well, I think there’s a hugely important lesson to be learned. One that might be stunting your own growth and potential as a marketer:
If someone mentions leasing and you immediately want to respond with “LEASING IS BAD, DON’T DO IT!”, you’re not really analyzing the situation much are you? And most likely you’re doing the same when you work with clients. You just assume the marketing they might be doing that isn’t yours is dumb. But everyone has different needs, wants, and situations. How would you feel if you went to the doctor with neck pain and he just walked in, glanced at you from a distance and diagnosed “muscle strain, take tylenol” and walked out?
You definitely wouldn’t consider him a professional would you? He didn’t look at your chart, he didn’t listen to your problems, he didn’t even check you over. Yet that’s what MOST local marketers do. They just think they have the one-size answer for all. They act like everything else anyone’s doing is dumb and should be doing XYZ and all will be fine. When really, (especially in situations where you’re being paid for consultancy and working with high budget spenders), you should be using your marketing knowledge to analyzing their situation, history, experiences, desires, goals, And then coming up with the best solution. Or at least making an educated decision of whether your services or which service will be a good fit.
I want you to think of this …
Say you sell social media services and the moment you mention it to a prospect they instantly snap back with “social media is a stupid thing to do”.
THAT’S EXACTLY HOW MANY OF YOU ACT IN YOUR MARKETING BUSINESS!
If you find yourself thinking your service is the answer to every problem, then stop. I love direct mail, I love printing, I love postcards. But that doesn’t mean it’s the perfect choice for everyone. Some businesses it’s not a good choice becuase of their situation. When I’m paid for my knowledge or when it’s someone I’m giving advice to I have to look at that and then decide.
When you want to become a real professional (something lacking these days), then start being willing to look deeper into your client’s history, goals, desires, problems, and unique situations. This is what they EXPECT from us. Not to just throw around blanket statements of “this marketing channel is bad, this channel is good.”
If you don’t, you’re going to be selling little tiny deals forever.
You can learn more about higher level local marketer from my masterclass on local marketing here.