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Making Smallness an Advantage
by Marcia Yudkin
Suppose you're launching a
business in which you serve as president,
marketing director, customer service specialist,
chief financial officer and everything else. To
foster the impression of a large organization,
you can give your company an impersonal
corporate name, spend your retirement fund on
"Here we are, world"-type advertising,
and install a voice mail system with a lot of
extensions. Or you can proudly let people know
that the whole business is you. Which option is
preferable?
This question came up when a
career counselor who mostly worked on her own,
with a referral network as a backup, asked my
opinion of her new marketing piece. The spiffy,
professionally designed purple and beige
folded-over postcard brought to mind a firm with
branches in high-rent office districts,
oversized plants and original art as decoration.
It did not make me think about personal
attention, customized services or value for the
money I would spend - all qualities that I, at
least, would expect in hiring a career
counselor.
If I wasn't going to get all
the trappings of a corporate- style company in
becoming this woman's client, and I would
receive personal, customized services that
represented good value for her fee, then her
marketing materials had to be changed to attract
clientele who'd best appreciate her, I said.
"Add a photo. Use your name. Include a warm
and friendly message from you that inspires
trust - along with quotes praising you from
people you've helped. Explain how you tailor
your program to what each individual client
needs."
She didn't feel comfortable
with a photo, but went home and created a warm
and friendly message signed by her, convinced by
my argument that if the personal relationship
she developed with each client counted as an
advantage corporate entities couldn't match, she
should feature that in her marketing rather than
mask it.
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Suppose that in contrast to a
service business, you sell products by mail
order. Chances are, you can't compete with the
glossy catalogs, 24-hour customer service,
brand-name recognition and enormous selection of
a nationally famous firm. I would suggest that
rather than claiming those characteristics, you
stress advantages like these:
-
merchandise personally
tested and selected by you
-
purchases personally
packed and shipped
-
purchases personally
guaranteed by you
-
simple, reliable ordering
procedure
-
no voice mail jungle or
long holds when you call
-
knowledgeable
recommendations about specific products
Or let's say that you own a
family business. I've seen "family owned
and operated" emblazoned on panel trucks,
in Yellow Pages ads and on brochures from smart
companies who know that that implies competitive
strengths like these:
-
the family honor is on the
line with each transaction
-
hard workers who care
-
hands-on management
-
deep community roots
-
build long-term
relationships with customer base
-
routinely go the extra
mile for customer satisfaction
Instead of apologizing for or
hiding your smallness, make it an attraction
that helps bring you business!
Copyright 2006 Marcia Yudkin.
All rights reserved.
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