Last week I was speaking with someone I had met at a networking function. He was just getting into sales and wanted to build a competitive advantage that would reflect positively on him as someone who brings growth opportunities to the organizations he works for.
He asked me how he could do this, how he could build a compelling competitive advantage.
Question: "Ryan, sales is a difficult business. It's cutthroat most of the time and driven by the numbers. I can pull great numbers, I'm not worried about that. What I'm worried about is not being taken seriously. I want to affect change for more than just myself. I want to be an agent for growth for all those around me...what would you suggest as a good approach for doing this?"
Answer [Growth Strategy]: "One thing I would recommend you do is become life-long friends with a little guy called the "Add On."
Add ons are additional items or incentives we add on to a purchase. If you want to build a competitive advantage, you need to find ways to provide additional value for your clients and add on's are a great way to do this.
Every company you work for, ask them to consider add-ons as a way to differentiate themselves by adding more value, here are a few examples to get you thinking more creatively:
- If you sell shoes, suggest insoles, shoe horns and powder
- If you sell professional services, include free training as an add on
- If you sell televisions, include cable cords and a few DVDs
- If you sell food at the mall, include a drink as an add on
- If you sell suits, include a high quality tie or dress shirt
As a CEO or business owner, these changes can be made quite quickly. If you're not at the top of the totem pole, you may have to fight a bit to get stakeholder buy-in for the add-on strategy.
However, I can promise, that if you are able to focus on adding more value as you begin your career (more value in this case being add on's) you will stand out from the crowd because you're finding ways to add more value which will put the buyers bias in your favour.
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
When it comes to being a professional in any industry, it's incredibly difficult to stand out from crowd and get noticed. Whether you're applying for a job, running a business or working for yourself, you need to build a preeminent image for yourself in order to stand above the masses.
This is a growth strategy for an accountant looking to establish herself as a market leader.
Question: "There are so many accountants graduating every year and they all can do the same thing that I do. So if I want to work as an accountant focused on small businesses how can I become well-known in this area?"
Answer [Growth Strategy]: One approach you could take to building that reputation is writing for a respected publication that would bolster your reputation just by being associated to them.
But you can't just call someone in a newsroom and get them to publish your articles, you need to build that following first. So begin by building a blog and getting used to social media tools that will help you connect with entrepreneurs and small businesses who may be interested in your content. Begin following people on Twitter and ask for their opinions on your blog posts. Also make use of LinkedIn Groups and do the same in that setting. This is a great way to begin building your following.
Don't stop there though! Take it a step further and ask people more influential than you to share your posts with their network by cross-promoting. You can also look to your local chamber of commerce or other industry related associations to share your posts with their membership.
All these steps are essential for building your foundation as an expert before your go to a news publication. But there is one more thing you need to do - write good content that people will want to read and share!. Challenge well-known beliefs, introduce new ideas, become a problem solver, write in a different format. Just don't write boring informative posts...but then again, that's for another post!
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
What if you're a small player in a big pond? What can you do to play in the big leagues. And by playing in the big leagues I mean, increasing the size of your network, enhancing your reputation and improving your chances of growing your business by unlocking new opportunities for growth.
Below is a Growth Strategy an entrepreneur can use to take up more space in that pond.
Question: "I'm trying to get more people interested in my training programs, my problem is that my network isn't large enough to be really successful at getting people into my marketing funnel. Any guidance on how to do this?"
Answer [Growth Strategy]: "One approach you could take to remedy this situation is find someone who is well-known, has a good reputation, has been around for a number of years and has a decent-sized network. Go to them and ask them offer your training program to their membership.
To address the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) factor, you could offer them a cut of any registrations accrued from their list or offer their products/services to your list/membership. Chances are you will likely give them a cut since your network is likely not that impressive.
Keep in mind that you could give 50% of the profit to your partner because the introduction, the credibility you leverage from their endorsment and the opportunity to have fresh prospects in your marketing funnel is worth a great deal to you. If you get a paying client from this strategy, you could then upsell or cross-sell thereby increasing their total lifetime value. So what I'm saying is, don't worry too much about capturing as much profit from the initial opportunity, focus on programs to capture it on the backend...but that of course, is another strategy.
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
For a company specializing in furnance installations and maintenance they are always looking for a way to gain a compelling competitive advantage over their competitors.
After some guidance they extended their service capabilities to air conditioning and duct cleaning services which helps to strengthen their company, but they still had a problem with breaking into the market.
Question: "I'm having a difficult time breaking into our markets because there are so many players already in this space. Everyone has their chosen provider already who put in their furnance or air conditioning unit and we don't really want to get into advertising since we don't feel there is much value and we're not going to entertain social media, email or anything like that. So as you can see, we're sort of stuck trying to find a way to break into our market and start building that relationship."
Answer [Growth Strategy]: "You're right, this is often a difficult game to play in. However, there are many options that will help you gain a leg-up on the competition.
For example, what you could do is instead of buying advertising for brand awareness, buy ads to generate leads. First develop a short report on the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and talk about how you are dedicated to protecting families from such a dangerous element.
Use your ad spend to encourage people to visit a site, download the report and get their free carbon monoxide detector. Once people sign up, send someone from your company down to install the carbon monoxide detector while at the same time building that relationship by asking about their furnance, their air conditioning unit, when they were last inspected, etc.
When leaving be sure to leave your business card and pamplet with all your services and prices on it."
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
On a recent episode of Shark Tank, two entrepreneurs Aimee Miller and Megan Carrecker, inventors of the Hip Chixs Blue Jeans were looking for help on how to grow their business. They wanted an investment from the Sharks so that they could scale their $12,000/year business.
With sales not high enough no shark wanted to invest in the company, however, this didn't stop savvy multi-millionaire Damond John from offering a growth strategy of his own to the two entrepreneurs.
[Growth Strategy]: "You have a great product but I think if you want to grow your business you should go to 100 different female celebrities and ask if they would be interested in trying out your jeans. If anyone bites and likes your product then perhaps they will endorse it or support you with an investment."
This is a great growth strategy from Daymond and one that I hope these two women follow through with.
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
When it comes to advertising, it's one of the most hated of all the marketing tactics because it's seen as a wasteful use of budget because it's highly ineffective.
This couldn't be further from the truth.
While many social media pundits would put their life on the line and say advertising is dead...well...they would be the ones who are dead because advertising still works.
It's just easy to follow the herd and say advertising doesn't work and ridicule those who continue to use it. This occurs simply because they don't know how to use it effectively.
Question: "Ryan I have taken a number of advertisements on a Sirius XM business news channel and I have received no results from my ad spend. I sell human resources strategies and I'm struggling to get any leads from my investment. My approach is pretty simple, I tell them about the course, the benefits and then offer a discount promotion as a call to action. What am I doing wrong?"
Answer [Growth Strategy]: Advertising can be difficult if you are expecting your first run to be a homerun, but like anything in marketing it's all about measuring, testing, readjusting and executing.
Without actually reading your copy I will offer some bits of guidance that will make your advertisement a little better.
- First, make it direct response driven. This means that you require a response from your listeners. This will also give you an opportunity to actually see how many people listened and took action as a result of your ad.
- Secondly, it's nice to focus on benefits over features but people are bored with benefits. Give listeners an actual story of success that you have experienced with clients using your approaches. This is far more effective than benefits.
- Thirdly, don't expect to grab people's interest and turn that interest into an immediate sale. Give them something for free first, this way you will cast a wider net of people interested in what you do. Give away a free report as a low barrier for entry offer. Once people sign up, nurture them with more stories and calls to action for your program. This way they are a little more familiar with you and what you do. Never expect someone to go from early interest to purchase intent right away. Does it happen? Of course, but I wouldn't count on it.
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
I recently had a conversation with a marketer in an SMB who wanted to learn how to add more value to their company through marketing.
First off, in small to medium sized businesses there are two types of marketers - the smoke & mirrors marketer and the growth-minded one.
Smoke & mirror marketers are diligent workers who know a lot about marketing tools and tactical execution. Growth-minded marketers are ones who have the ability to execute, know the tools, but more importantly are able to generate top-line revenue, measure performance and forecast results.
The path for any marketer should be towards becoming growth-minded, but it's easier said that done.
Question: "I'm always quite busy doing something in our company and I feel I'm delivering value, but I know it's not generating real growth. What do I need to do in order to make that shift?"
Answer [Growth Strategy]: "This is a loaded question so I will give you a few thoughts. It's important to start off where you are as getting to the point of a growth-minded marketer is a often a natural progression. So feel good knowing that you're exactly where you need to be at this moment.
What you need to do is begin focusing on growth metrics such as Leads generated, Revenue Generated and ROI. Learn not to put so much emphasis on the vanity metrics that make you feel good, such as number of Facebook Likes, Tweets or website visitors. While those should still be reported, you need to focus on more important metrics.
Next focus on the marketing funnel and how to get people from not knowing about your company to getting them engaged with sales. This will require your tactical execution but an overall strategy that will have you generate mutliple types of content and different offers of varying value that gets someone more deeply engaged with your company.
Next, it's important to understand how to get people who are already buying from you and how to add more value by educating them on the other products and services you have to offer them. This is a great opportunity for growth.
Those are just three ways out of many that you can use to become more growth minded in your daily execution of marketing tactics."
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
What would you do if you were trying to break into a market and didn't have a great deal of credibility?
This is what one entrepreneur faced when he came to me to ask...
Question: "Ryan, I want to enter into a new market but no one in this region knows who I am. I have been marketing myself, by educating the market quite a bit, but I'm getting no bites. I'm at a loss. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated."
Answer [Growth Strategy]: "In this case I would be sure that I do one thing very well, and that's tell your makret what you have done for others so that others will know what you can do for them.
This seemingly simple strategy is often placed at the tail end of the marketing funnel in the form of a case study. I suggest you flip this approach to a top of the funnel activity and target the stories of your completed work towards those companies that are similar to the companies you have worked for in the past.
Everyone wants to know what others are doing in similar industries. If you have successes that they have yet to reach, seeing this story makes for one hell of a compelling argument.
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
What is The Shift?
The Shift is about changing an element of your business to become more advantageous to the marketplace. An example of such could be providing an advantage through a new pricing model, increasing the speed of delivery, or reducing the amount of risk within a transaction.
Making The Shift is about adding more value and becoming more valuable in the minds of the marketplace.
You only need to look to Netflix’s monthly subscription for movie rentals or Domino's old promise of pizza delivery in 30 minutes or it’s free to see what making The Shift can do for a business.
Here is a question from an entrepreneur looking to make The Shift.
Question: "My professional services firm is just like all the others. How do I differentiate myself from them to grow my business?"
Answer: "There are many ways to do this. One of the lesser known ways is in making The Shift. If an entrepreneur was to start a professional services firm, everyone would expect the same thing: good service, skilled, knowledgeable professionals and, for the most part, paying fees on a per hour or project basis. That would be the status quo.
But what if instead of getting compensated on a per hour basis, the model shifted to a performance-based payment scheme accompanied by a lower cost retainer fee? Would that make doing business with that entrepreneur more favourable? Would it make it more valuable for customers? Does this provide an advantage to the marketplace?
Being results driven is a significant Shift from the status quo and is a strong compelling competitive advantage.
But the only way to find out if this is any good is to test it. Introduce a new Shift to a small segment of your clients and gather feedback. If the feedback is favourable, you might have hit a home run that you’ll want to roll out to the rest of the marketplace. If not you will have to go back to the drawing board and reconceptualise a new innovation."
If you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.
A burger joint in San Antonio, Texas used a growth strategy when they were on the hunt to learn how to grow a business.
They knew they could just be like all the other burger joints and offer a good meal for a good price...but that wouldn't be enough.
No! They had to be remarkable. They had to develop a compelling reason to exist. They had to give people something to talk about. They had to do something that would attract people from all over the world!
And they did, by building a compelling competitive advantage called The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
They claim to have made THE spiciest burger in the world containing four of the hottest items on the planet: Serrano peppers, jalapeno peppers, habanero pepper sauce, and the infamous bhut jolokia. The burger is so spicy you are required to sign a waiver before you can even touch it. Some people are so worried about the juices from the peppers they request gloves before they eat it.
To pull people in, they put out a challenge to try to eat the burger in under 25 minutes and go five minutes after that without liquid. The prize for completing the challenge? A photo on the wall of the restaurant and the burger is free. Sounds like a fair deal for a self-induced overdose on capsaicin.
They weren't content with making a really hot burger. If this was the goal, the restaurant would have been just another burger joint with no compelling impetus to make it stand out. Instead, they created a compelling competitive advantage by putting together the hottest burger it could possibly make. It enjoys a steady line of customers, it received lots of free promotion and stories told around the globe because of it.
You might not be a restaurant, but if you're an executive, entrepreneur or marketer reading this, how can you use this strategy and many others just like it to grow your business?
Most companies only have 2 or 3 growth strategies they are using to drive their business. This blog post provided one. To build a strong business you should have at least four in each of the four critical areas of growth.
Join a group of entrepreneurs, executives and marketing professionals and receive a monthly release that outlines a creative growth strategy that an SMB has used to generate a new level of growth in their company. The Growth Network: Genesis is about learning what others have done to achieve a level of success so that you may be able to do the same in your business.