There are hundreds, if not thousands, of reasons why a company gets its behind handed to it out in the marketplace. I’m going to focus on just three of them that most business owners will just ignore, because they think they know it all. And that’s number one; thinking that you know it all.
I’ve heard the excuses. I’ve been involved in businesses all my life and cherish the memories of sales, marketing, and financing discussions at the kitchen table of the home I grew up in.
Thinking you know it all is right up near the top of a stubborn businessman’s faults.
No one can tell him anything, because he knows it all. He doesn’t need (in his mind) anybody to tell him or advise him on how to go into business. He doesn’t want anyone to tell him how to do it or benefit from their short-comings in business through listening to their mistakes.
Do you know it all? I don’t. I admit that I’m learning every day and am glad that I am still learning.
Saying you know everything about business is as stupid as saying that you know what the biggest number is. Both of these can easily be added to with no end in sight.
Smart businesses, the real competitors in the marketplace, know that they don’t know everything.
Not knowing is powerful, it turns your receptors on, and turns your brain into a sponge, rather than a hermetically sealed blob of gray-matter. So, admitting that you don’t know everything that there is to know about business will put you a few steps ahead of the crowd in business.
Thinking that you know everything about business is a tool that a competitor can use against you, to beat you. The competition can get the edge on you by knowing how to define what their business does.
Can you clearly define in a one sentence answer what it is your company does?
This doesn’t matter if you own the business, manage the business, or are just an hourly employee of the business.
Not being able to define what your company does in a clear and concise manner is an invitation to a competitor to eat your lunch for you.
You shouldn’t even call yourself a business if you can’t tell a complete stranger in one or two sentences what it is that your company does. This sounds so obvious, so trivial, but it’s a basic building block of any business.
Those who can not define what their businesses do, so that the average “Joe” can understand it, are missing out on hundreds, if not, millions of dollars in business, business joint ventures, and business mergers. Think about it, would you feel comfortable doing business with someone that you just met that is unable to define, in a clear and concise manner, what it is, that their business does?
Confused minds usually say “NO” to what ever is presented to them.
Talking in the jargon of your industry to a complete stranger, will not only confuse them, but more than likely alienate them from referring business, doing business, or believing that you are in business.
Yes, it’s a little bit of work, but since we have already established the fact that you do not know everything, you can get help.
Write it out longhand at the kitchen table. Don’t worry about the grammar, spelling, or the industry jargon that you use. It’s o.k. if it’s a few sentences long, but read it out loud to someone and see if they understand what it is you’re trying to tell them.
There are usually some suggestions to include, especially if you’re running it by your spouse, but you want it so simple that any high school student would understand what your business does as a business.
Your advantage will be that most companies never do this, they just come up with some slogan created by an advertising agency that really has no grasp as to how you ring the register.
If you don’t believe me, start paying attention to company slogans printed below the name and logo of companies. Some of these are so stupid and what’s worse, many don’t tell you a thing about what the company does.
If you still don’t believe me, just read the slogans to friends and see if they can tell you which company or line of “work” that the company’s in.
You’ll find that the slogans that can easily be identified, are the ones that have been advertised for years or are heard on radio, TV, and the internet repeatedly. (You’ll have to excuse the grammar in many of them, fragmented sentences are very common in slogans.)
So, the second of these three reasons as to why companies get beaten by competitors is that they can’t clearly define what it is that they do.
If you can’t define your business to someone, how do you expect to get their help to grow your business through association, purchase, or referral.
This third reason is a shocker, and over-looked by so many companies, I’m surprised that it’s been a secret competitor killer for so long.
If you are a company owner, here’s something to do unannounced that will open your eyes to how you are missing sales.
Pick 6 of your “key” people and another 6 support staff and support staff includes the person who sweeps the floor.
Don’t let them talk to each other, before or after this little experiment until you have gotten an answer from all 12.
Very casually ask; what is it that you do here Smith?
Smith (example name only, no offense to any Smiths) will probably breakout in a sweat, thinking that his job is on the line. After hearing some stammering and some mumbling you’ll get an answer.
The question is this; is this the way you want an employee of yours to answer a potential customer when asked what they do at your company.
By the way, “I’m in sales” is not an answer, it’s a cry for help to get to work on training your employees.
Remember, clear, concise, and most of all, easy to understand. Everyone should be able to define what it is that they do at your company.
The second question, after they’re totally flustered by the first question, should be for them to tell you what it is that the company does. A few of the reasons for this second question are; you may uncover a word, phrase, or an idea (hints) as to how you should define your company.
Three traits of a strong competitor; 1)knowing that they don’t know it all and are open to suggestion and guidance, 2)having the ability to define what the company does in a clear and concise way, and 3)having your employees capable of defining the company and which part they play in its success.
There you have it; 3 reasons why companies get beaten by the competition, and I have plenty more where these came from.