Do your clients ‘get’ what you do?
I don’t mean if they know what you sell. I’m guessing that they know that already. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be customers, right?
I’m not talking about whatever product or service your business sells. I’m talking about the reasons why they should buy from you, as opposed to the hundreds or thousands of others who, in their eyes, offer something similar to what you do.
What I mean is: do your customers know your story? The reason why you’re in business?
You’re Not Selling What You Think You’re Selling
Oh, and by the way the reason as to why you’re in business is not to make a profit. Making a profit is simply a result of why you’re in business (well, hopefully at least). When I say ‘why’, I mean the passion, cause or belief that caused the creation of your organization in the first place.
Let me give you an example. We launched KEXINO because we feel that companies and organizations of all sizes – from mumpreneurs to SMEs – should have access to next-generation marketing resources in the same way that the big guns do.
Why? Because, increasingly, customers expect a certain experience when they interact with a company, and if you don’t meet that expectation it’s unlikely that the customer relationship will go much farther. The rules of that game are being controlled by behemoths like Apple, Starbucks, Nike, BMW, Coca Cola et al, meaning that “Liz and Saskia’s Organic Coffee Shop” needs to play along – while adding their own twist along the way.
In a nutshell, that’s why we do what we do. We’re waving the flag for startups and small businesses.
In the same vein we created Qarto because we’ve seen that while (thanks to the internet) any business is now a global business, communicating business value in languages other than your own is often a long, slow, tedious, drawn-out process – when it no longer has to be. why of Qarto is to give companies of all sizes a way to better and more affordably communicate with their audience.
See what I mean? I’m not talking about what you sell. I’m talking about why.
Customers Buy (Into) What They Believe In
The world’s major brands all have that compelling story that’s invisibly woven into everything that they do.
Apple is about user experience, design, and not letting the hardware/software get in the way of whatever you need to do. Starbucks wants to raise the quality of the ‘average’ cup of hot brown water that’s billed as being coffee to something special and consistent. Nike’s passion is to create products that help athletes (or would-be athletes) to achieve their potential.
Customers today have a wider choice of where to buy products and services than ever before – that’s a given. The luxury of all of this choice has resulted in an environment of commerce where it’s no longer enough for customers to simply buy whatever it is that you have. What you choose to believe – about your brand, product, service, and even the world in general – can have an effect on whether a customer chooses you against your competitor.
It’s as much to do with what you stand for, as what you actually sell. Maybe more.