WEEKLY COACHING TIP #139

ARE YOU MARKETING YOURSELF?

I’ve been thinking a lot about marketing this week.  At first I found I was just thinking about my business but after a while I realised we are all in the business of marketing.  Even if you don’t own a business you work for someone else, you are still marketing yourself.  The only difference is you do it either consciously or unconsciously.  Let me explain,

In business the concept of marketing is: Supply What’s Missing

“What’s not being met by your competitors” or “how can I do/provide x…”

You can use these questions even if you work for someone else. You may find that it could actually make your job much more satisfying and/or enjoyable.  You may even get promotion for it!

A friend of mine is a consultant, and in the last year he has been promoted twice, won a trip abroad and is generally enjoying his work much more.  When I asked him what changed, he told me “I started to listen, really listen to my customers and I asked them more about their needs”. He also did this with his colleagues and boss, and of course, it didn’t go unnoticed, hence the promotion and the trip abroad.

If you use the statement Supply What’s Missing, it forces you to put yourself into your customer/client/colleagues/boss’s shoes.

 What could you do that no one else is doing?

• When business is good there is a tendency to get complacent – be a step ahead.  What can you do to see possible opportunities?

• Do you have the foresight to nip challenges in the bud before they become real problems?

• Are you working on your business or in it?  Are you working on yourself or just walking around unconsciously reacting?

• Challenge yourself and/or your team to look past the ‘now’.  What can you see that others might have missed?

• ASK, ASK, ASK, your customers: How you could better your service to them?

• What is the one thing they would appreciate in your product/service, e.g. faster delivery, accuracy, etc?

• Encourage complaints!  e.g. “What do we do that you dislike about our service/product”? They don’t expect such a question, it’s a pattern interrupt and you’ll either get lots of praise or they will be very nice about telling you what they would prefer. This can work very well, especially if you take it as if it was a compliment and promise to do something about it, if you can. Then get in touch with them and let them know when you have.  This makes people feel very valued.

• How could you surpass their expectations?

 Remember all the time you do something like this you are increasing your own ‘soft skills’ with people.

 So whether you are marketing your business or yourself, make sure you are giving 100%, it ALWAYS comes back to you!

 Until next week Onwards and Upwards!

© 2005 INSPIRIT & Denise Bosque All Rights Reserved