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Dollarize!
To
me it just seems to be common sense. But somehow a couple of
simple concepts seem to escape some people. And when these
people are in the business of bringing in business, then it can
be a real problem.
Let’s take for example what I consider to be Rule #1 of
business. Ready? Here it is: ‘Having a customer is first
priority.’ Having a customer is more important than having a
great website. Having a customer is more important than research
and development. Having a customer is more important than cost
accounting. Having a customer is more important than having
fancy labels and great displays. Does that sound reasonable and
logical to you? Then why do I find that I have to constantly
remind people of Rule #1?
I
do, you know. When people get all excited and involved in
designing their website, in designing a new updated label for
their can of beans, or even when they try new promotions,
I invariably have to remind them that having a customer is
more important than their designs, colors, webpages, fancy
jingles, cute videos and dancing bears.
None of that is marketing. That’s show business or attracting
attention. While these methods will often attract
attention like a circus performer with customers ooohing and ahhhing at the trapeze
artist; no one wants to go back to the wagon with them. Marketing, on the other hand, will present the single great reason
for buying....the value of using your product or service.
And what does the customer buy? It seems that many of us forget
that also. So, let’s talk about Rule #2. Customers don’t buy
products. They buy what the products give them. Customers don’t
buy chlorine, they buy clean swimming pools. Customer don’t buy
drills, they buy a hole. And believe it or not, these
principles are a
function and responsibility of marketing. Or another way to say
this is: Customers may purchase products, but dollarized value is
why they buy.
And it is a function of the marketing department, (whether you
have a single proprietor business or a large corporation) to
dollarize the value of every product, every benefit and every
point of difference. It
is the function and responsibility of the marketing department,
(person or team) to present to the customer the real value or
the real reason to buy your product.
We have discussed this
before in previous newsletters, and you might remember my saying
that people do not buy features, they buy benefits. I am
restating this hard and fast rule here in a way to help others
understand it, because it is a non-negotiable rule of marketing and buying.
The same is true of Research and Development. That also is a
marketing responsibility. Without knowing what benefit the
customer is looking for, how can R&D possibly do their job well? If you want R&D to come up with products that sell, then first
you must know what is the result or benefit the public is
looking for in a product. Only when the result is truly known,
can research come up with something that will move off the
shelf.
Sales is a marketing responsibility, just as much as R & D. The
sales force can not sell what is not desired and demanded by the
customer. If your management does not understand that, then have
them talk to any life insurance company who tried to sell
outdated and outmoded products long after the competition was
out in the market place kicking their proverbial bottoms
with the new market based policies. Sales departments can only
sell what is given to them in the form of dollarized value.
A
good way to accomplish this is to draw the customer to you,
rather than you chasing the customer. Sound like a nice idea,
but a little hard to accomplish? Not at all. Facts are that
people are constantly using attraction to draw crowds to many
things everyday. Here’s more on this concept.
Ever hear about a great restaurant that you are dying to try? Someone told you about a fabulous movie you just have to see. It’s all in the perception of course, until the customer
arrives. Then the product or service must perform. But the
product or service will never have a chance to perform if
marketing doesn’t get the job done first. And dollarizing value
will do that job faster than anything else ever tried.
Dollarize the value of every product, every benefit and every
point of difference. Do this well, and you won’t be able to make
all you will sell! |
