A couple of weeks ago I was visiting with a marketing executive friend of mine. I was excitedly telling him all about the new marketing course I just developed and how awesome it was. He patiently sat and listened to me.
He could see that I was really enthused about what I created. After I finished my boasting and gloating, he got up to leave, and said, “That’s great David, now the real trick will be getting people to buy it.”
My first reaction was, “What do you mean? Of course people are going to buy it. It’s the best work I’ve done to date.” But I soon realized that I had fallen into an age-old small business mistake: forgetting the principal objective of my business. My marketing friend subtly reminded me that my principal occupation is not marketing consulting; it’s the marketing of consulting services.
SELL THE SOAP
An old advertising adage goes, “Any fool can make soap. It takes a clever man to sell it.” This is as true today as when it was first uttered many years ago. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can make a bar of soap. But even if it’s the most advanced soap on the planet, it won’t matter if no one buys it.
It’s the same with my marketing courses and your construction or landscaping business. And failing to understand or accept this principle is so poisonous that it can kill any small business fast. You see, to make a small business successful, you need cash flow. To get cash flow, you need customers. To get customers you must sell your product or service.
You might be a great craftsman, but so are many of your competitors. No matter how great your skills are, your business will wither away and die like 80 percent of all small businesses if you can’t sell it.
Let’s suppose you agreed today that your most important function is marketing your products and services. What would you do differently tomorrow morning? Would the contents of your daily to-do list change? Would you allocate and prioritize your time differently? Would you consider changing your role in the organization? Would you change the criteria for hiring new employees?
If you really believe deep down your primary business objective is to market your services, your to-do list, the way you allocate your time, your role in your company and the hiring process would be radically different than it is today.
