Most Businesses Are Average At Best The brutal truth is that the vast majority of businesses we encounter every day do only the minimal amount necessary to be average in their market. They might make all sorts of claims about their superior products and commitment to the customers, but in reality they don’t deliver. A clever slogan or advertising campaign is cannot hid the fact that they don’t “walk the walk.” Think I am wrong about that? When is the last time that you went home from some experience with a business saying to yourself “WOW that was incredible!” I seriously doubt that you can recall such thoughts off the top of your head. We have become accustomed to patronizing businesses that at least don’t make us angry. Think about that as the standard to beat! Yeah they often give us good enough food at a restaurant that we don’t go home hungry, or manage to check us out of a store without too long a wait. But let me ask you this: If another business came along that was minimally better/cheaper/more convenient would you hesitate to eat somewhere else or buy your products somewhere else? Most probably not. The businesses we frequent most of the time do not have our loyalty. And why should they. What have they done to earn our loyalty? Most businesses have been lulled into the false security of “customer satisfaction” , which in most cases means that at most they try not to do anything really horrible that makes you angry. In fact, sometimes they don’t even do much to avoid making you angry. Think about the last rude waitress who didn’t even acknowledge your presence until she eventually got around to taking your order. Think about that last sales clerk that was so busy socializing that he didn’t bother to try and assist you until you had to go ask for help. Think about the last time you tried to buy a car without feeling like you have been manipulated. OK, that was cruel to make you think about that .. but you get the point. Fact is no matter what kind of business you have the opportunity is immense. You have a pool of potential customers that is so used to poor service that they would be astounded if you rose above the the mass of mediocrity! They currently have “satisfied customers” who are just waiting to become your Raving Fans! The only thing that keeps us going back to mediocre businesses is habit and inertia. You need only to overcome the reluctance of a potential customer to try something new and they are yours for the taking! Our BizRave system is designed to help you exploit the opportunity presented by rampant mediocrity in your business niche.

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If you are to grow your business to it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s greatest potential, you must understand that marketing at the core is a way of thinking about all aspects of your business to maximize your ability to meet the needs of your customers better than any of your competitors. Marketing is in it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s most simple form a complete commitment to excellence in the quality and delivery of your products or services. It is a way of thinking that should permeate every aspect of the daily conduct of your business.

The reputation of your business is the greatest factor determining the long term success of any and all of your marketing efforts. You reputation is recreated every day with every person who interacts with your business. In reality you have not one business reputation,  but many reputations which are created in the minds of  everyone with whom you interact in the course of your business activities. Equally important to understand is that you have a reputation with people who have never done business with you but have heard about you from others.

There is a famous song by Joan Jett from days gone by called “Bad Reputation.” Joan was a great rocker of her time,  but she was also a cunning marketing person. She positioned herself as the bad girl of the rock world,  and the song “Bad Reputation” was a huge hit.  In the ever rebellious world of alternative rock,  a woman proud to flaunt her bad reputation was a hot commodity. She  probably lied a little in the song when she sang “I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation” as she likely care a lot about her bad reputation, it was her marketing strength! She rode that image to perpetual fame.

Unfortunately for most of us, a bad reputation is not a viable marketing goal to grow our business. The only exceptions outside of musicians might be trial lawyers, repo men,  or  bail bondsmen who are known and valued for their aggressiveness and sometimes abrasive personalities . For the rest of us it just doesn’t work.

You need to be very aware that everything you do, and everything your employees do, in the course of your business contributes to your reputation. There are no Mulligans in business. You can try to make things right that might have contributed negatively to your business reputation. In fact, correcting problems appropriately can be a real opportunity. However, you can never undo the memory of things that have caused someone to think negatively about your business.

Every interaction you have with people you encounter  in your business has one of three outcomes in relation to your reputation. Two of these outcomes are not good, the other one is great!

The first one is an experience you have with a customer, or potential customer, in which you don’t to anything really wrong, but you also don’t do anything to stand out from anyone else. This may not be the worst outcome, but it is close. You have managed to be at best ordinary in the mind of a customer. You will likely be  either forgotten in the future, or thought of as someone that “did OK” last time.

The second outcome is when you, or your employee, has screwed up something bad enough to make sure the customer is really mad at you. This is the worst outcome for your business. Not only have you lost a customer, you have made sure you have lost anyone who happens to talk with that person about your business. The negative potential is exponential. If you as a business owner have knowingly allowed this to happen, then you certainly deserve the impact it has upon your business. However, a great many times the business owner is completely unaware of what has happened if the problem occurred with one of their  employees,  or out of their personal interactions with the customer. You can’t assume that dissatisfied customers will bother to make the effort to let you know what happened.  Often they just never come back and there is no opportunity to make it right. If you do become aware of the problem, and then fail to make it right, then again you deserve the negative reputation it creates. However, if you take the opportunity to go above and beyond to correct the situation, you will have made use of one the greatest opportunities in business – to show a customer that you care about their loyalty and are willing to do what it takes to demonstrate concern.

The third outcome is what all business owners should seek in every interaction they have with others. You want to convince the customers, and potential customers, that not only do you provide first rate products or services, but that you care deeply about how those products or services meets a need of the customer. It is about establishing a trusting relationship with your customers  so that they know you are competent, fair, and focused on meeting their needs. If you accomplish this goal  you have cultivated a loyal customer who’s value goes way beyond any purchase they  may make today.

Helping you learn to create such loyal customers is the focus of the services we  provide. Hopefully if you are interested in growing your business based upon this approach you will consider subscribing to our services.

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Well there it is, the most basic brutal truth you must understand to develop and grow a successful business. I thought about calling this post "Don't Call Me Mommy", but both titles mean the same thing. It never ceases to amaze me how many business owners seem to take for granted that the world owes them a living just because they are there. Who can even count the number of businesses that have failed every year because the owners believed all they had to do was open the doors and of course the customers would come flooding in throwing money at them.