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How to Make Your Products and Services Stand
Out
Part 2
by Dov Gordon
How
to Make Your Products and Services Stand Out – Part 1.
In Part 1 we
pointed out that your customers will
flock to your products and services only if they feel that you really
get it;
you understand them better than anyone else.
We noticed that
many companies never create such a
passionate following because they rely on surveys and focus groups
which, even
when well designed, are limited. There is a distinction, we observed,
between
Market Research and Market Understanding.
Today, we share
some more insights for you to consider.
--The
hands-down most powerful way to develop a deep
understanding of your customers is to get out there to listen and
observe. As often
as not, the customer will say one
thing, but their behavior will show something else. This
isn't malicious;
they probably aren't even aware of the discrepancy.
--Psychology
speaks of the difference between our
Espoused Theory of Action and our Theory In
Use.* We often
talk
about what we want, and do something else. So
both listening and
observing give you a full picture.
Ask
open questions and then watch their behavior.
Sam
Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, was known for his non-stop visits to
retail
stores; his own and competitors. He
would get down on the floor and measure the width of aisles,
take note of the lighting
and so on and try to understand how that affected the shoppers.
When
Google was developing the now ubiquitous Gmail, they would sit and
watch how
different people used their email, taking notes.
The
CEO of a local company that was going to soon be offering software for
call
centers, took a part time job at a call center so he could understand
what the
lowly rep really needed to do a better job.
Proctor
& Gamble has learned that they will gain a deeper understanding
by just
following and watching a handful of typical customers over several
weeks than they
can by surveying thousands of people.
Does
your company do anything comparable?
--Peter Drucker observed that knowledge is the “one and
only distinct resource of any business. Other resources, money or
physical
equipment, for instance, do not confer any distinction.
What does make a business distinct
and what
is its peculiar resource is its ability to use knowledge of all kinds –
from
scientific and technical knowledge to social, economic, and managerial
knowledge…”
Your knowledge,
or understanding, of your customer
will give you a distinct advantage.
--What is it that you
want to
understand, anyway? You
want to be able
to write a page in their diary. It isn’t enough to say that you are
looking for
women between 40 and 65 or teenagers who like clothes or companies
looking to
save money on their operations. If
you
really want to be able to speak their language, to get them to sit up,
take
notice and say “That’s interesting.
Tell
me more!” You need
to understand much
more than how they use your product – or your competitor’s.
--In my own consulting business I’ve come to understand
that the client whose business I can really help is not just the CEO of
a
growing company. I’ve
come to see that I
can be far more valuable when the owner or CEO:
-
Has their
attention focused on one business at a time.
-
Has a track
record of both successes and failures.
-
Has the
maturity to appreciate that the wise thing is not to pinch pennies and
do everything in-house, but to focus on results.
And where those results can
be achieved faster and more reliably with outside expertise, that’s a
wise investment.
-
Loves what they
are doing and deeply believes that their company is a vehicle to
improving lives.
-
Has a healthy
ego, not a big ego.
-
Isn’t obsessed
with growth for growth’s sake. Understands
that if the company makes a bigger positive impact, the customers will
reward them financially.
-
Understands
that it isn’t about big hits and big wins, but about small steps,
consistently and persistently, over a prolonged period of time.
-
Isn’t looking
for a free lunch. Honestly
and deeply believes in setting up win-win relationships with everyone
they deal with.
--At the end of
the day, the degree that
your company
stands out will be in direct proportion to how deeply your market feels
you
“get it.” Everything
else can be copied
rather easily. Acquire a deeper understanding, continually
deepen it and
you'll always be a step ahead.
Is
your market understanding deep and nuanced enough?
What are you doing to continuously
deepen
it? To stay current
with changes? Is it
enough?
What will you do
differently from today?
Dov
Gordon
+972-2-992-0396
dovgordon@gmail.com
www.GordonGroupEC.com
PS – If you are
involved in Pay-Per-Click marketing, Google Adwords and
the like, you should check out Glenn Livingstone’s 17
FREE AdWords
Cheat Sheets, Videos, and MP3s.
I’ve
learned a lot from Glenn and sent some of his free materials to
grateful
clients.
Glenn
has a very strong business background consulting for dozens of
companies like AT&T, Lipton, Novartis, Whirlpool,and many, many
more. And, also
unlike many of the Internet
marketing “gurus,” Glenn successfully built 17 of his own AdWords
projects in
markets having NOTHING TO DO with internet
marketing. Glenn’s emails are one of the few I always read.
* These
terms were coined by Chris Argyris of Harvard Business School in the
context of
his decades of research into “learning organizations” and “action
learning.” Get his 17
FREE AdWords
Cheat Sheets, Videos, and MP3s.
+++++++++++
Archives of The CEO Thought-Provoker™ are
here:
http://www.gordongroupec.com/articles.html
+++++++++
Dov
Gordon
helps senior
executives at small and mid-sized companies around the world to earn
the respect and admiration of their marketplace. Clients
benefit from clarifying their strategies, sharpening their focus,
better decision making, improved teamwork and growing into great
leaders.
Management and
Strategy Consulting.
Executive
Coaching.
+++++++++
You
may republish and redistribute this article provided that you
include (1) the full article with the attribution at the end, (2) a
link to
www.GordonGroupEC.com
in the attribution and (3) You must notify us before
you use this piece to confirm this
is still available.
Please
email me your
thoughts and feedback.
See our
recommended reading list at:
www.GordonGroupEC.com/books.html
Copyright 2009
© by Dov Gordon. All rights reserved.
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