Apple with its iPhone has outsold RIM, the maker of blackberry smart phones, in just 15 short months. It positioned Apple as the third highest in cell phone revenue after Nokia and Samsung. Apple had predicted they would sell 10 million iPhone by the end of December 2008. They sold 10 million iPhones by the end of September 2008. There were plenty of critics and naysayers along the way and Apple proved them wrong. Here is what Steve Jobs had to say about the coming days and the place where Apple stands:
“We don’t yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple. But we’re armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt.”
That is what market demand does for you. I work with a variety of local businesses. Even though they are not Apple, once we position them for market demand; instead of running each day to make sales, they are running to keep up with sales. My clients have had some dramatic success stories. If their business requires face-to-face selling, the sales come much easier and faster. If they advertise or use some other form of online or offline marketing they get a much better and more reliable response.
Market demand is a very powerful concept. It positions you so that your customers are eager and “begging” to do business with you instead of you having to be eager and beg people to do business with you. It’s a power shift to you being the one who is sought after.
Market demand makes it easier to grow faster. One high tech company we work with had a great product and service and yet found it very difficult to get and close sales. We explored and discovered what was driving the demand for his services and he put it into his sales and networking script. When I called him a month later he told me that it is much easier now to make sales, however, they were challenged to keep up with all of the work they are getting. Before I tell you what he told his prospective customers that inspired market demand, I want to walk you through a process for discovering your own market demand. To create market demand you must start with differentiation.
Differentiation
You know the saying “differentiate or die.” Inspiring market demand requires a clear strong differentiation. College courses on marketing as well as popular marketing books and seminars emphasize the importance of differentiation. Differentiation goes by several different names:
- Competitive Advantage
- Unique Selling Proposition
- Irresistible Offer
- Blue Ocean Strategy
O.K., you know differentiation is important, but how do you do it? You have to identify you’re unique value.
Unique Value
How do your customers decide to do business with you? They make their decision based on the value you offer. If they want something and you offer that something they are generally willing to buy. However, your customer has choices. Are you the only place where I can get what I want? Is there another business that offers the same or better value for less money? Customers tend to decide based on your “unique value.”
Here are 4 scenarios based on your customer’s perception of your unique value:
1. Business Failure – If customers perceive that you have a low level of value and a low level of uniqueness it results in business failure.
2. Fad – If customers perceive that you are unique, but they are disappointed in the value, it’s like what happened to the Pet Rock. They only buy once.
3. Price Wars – If customers perceive you have high value, but you are not unique they go for the lowest price. The only company designed to win in a price war is Walmart. Everyone else goes out of business eventually.
4. Unfair Advantage – If customers perceive that you offer high value and high uniqueness you are become their #1 choice.
Start by listing out the value you offer and what is unique about you. This is an easy exercise; however, it does cause you to think deeply about what makes you unique. After you make the list, boil it down to the top 3 or 4 things that give you an unfair advantage.
Unfair Advantage
An unfair advantage is an advantage you offer to your customers that is so good that it is actually unfair to your competition. If your customers have several choices and they understand your unfair advantage they will choose you every time.
Several of my clients have become market leaders in their geographical area by starting to promote, sell, and advertise their unfair advantage. It really focuses your message and gets the attention of your market place.
Being crystal clear about your unfair advantage is good, however there is more to it, you must communicate your unfair advantage in terms of your demand context.
Demand Context
What is demand context? I think of it in terms of what conditions are happening in your market that causes a demand for your products or services. Think of context in terms of a song. I compare context to the music, beat, and rhythm of the song and I compare the content to the words of the song. Context is what surrounds your message and makes it relevant. Demand context is another powerful concept for shaping the message about your unfair advantage.
Here’s an example:
Geico can save you money on your insurance. How do they communicate it at the end of every commercial you hear 10 or 20 times a day? “15 minutes can save you 15% or more on insurance.” So what is their demand context? What conditions are generally true for most of their market that is driving demand? People are generally concerned they are paying too much for insurance. That is why they are able to have a consistent focused message (that never ends) that grabs their potential customer’s attention. When I see a business’s marketing message I can get a pretty good idea of what they believe their demand context is (just reverse engineer it).
It is important to know your customers and what is creating a demand for your services. Talk to your customers, read books, articles, and blogs about your industry, attend trade shows, and find specialists that can give you insights into customer behavior. Your research will be rewarded.
I came across an article about Trader Joe’s founder, Joe Coulombe, who ran convenience stores in California in the 1960’s. His stores were threatened by the well funded 7-Eleven franchises coming into the area. He came across some information that indicated that wine consumption increased with education level. He began stocking his stores with a variety wines and products that appealed to more educated customers and located his stores to be more accessible to that demographic. The rest is history. You never know when a small piece of information about your customers will help you generate a bigger market demand.
In addition to your unfair advantage and the demand context make certain that your message is unfair to your competition.
Unfair to Your Competition
What did Sun Tzu teach us? “Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated.” What do you know about your competition? What other choices do your customers have? It is important to list out the messages and choices your customers have when they are ready to buy. You can learn a lot from your competitors. The internet makes it very easy to research and analyze them.
Your goal is to position your message so that when given a choice, the people who should be your customers choose you. The final step of your quest to inspire market demand is to take all of the information you have so far and put it into a core message.
Core Message
Create a simple, central message that is the big idea you want your audience to know. This core message may end up as your elevator speech, a tagline, or an introductory statement. It should put everything into perspective for your audience. One of my favorite places for a core message is in the tagline.
Taglines are important. You know Nike’s tagline, “Just do it.” What is the tagline for Nike’s two biggest competitors, Adidas and New Balance? I’ve looked them up and I still can’t remember. Taglines can drive market demand.
Here is a small business tagline success story:
I was working with a yarn shop owner that was getting no response to her newspaper advertising and wanted to try one more thing before she gave it up. She had been paying for the ad for one year with no discernible results. I introduced the idea of inspiring the market demand and developing a core message. We brainstormed for 2 hours and came up with a rough draft tagline. She took our idea to her customers and told them what she was trying to do. They reshaped the core message to be “Feel the Fiber.” (Get the point? Let your customers help you.) Everybody loved it (knitters love the feel of the yarn going through their fingers). She put the tagline on her website, business cards, newsletters, and newspaper ad. As a result, sales started coming from the ad and her sales improved from her website and newsletters. It even gave her the confidence to advertise on TV. Her sales continue to increase month-by-month (even in this recession).
What is the big thing your customers need to know about your business? What is the one thing that kind of says it all? Here are some national and local examples. I’m certain you can think of more:
From the Dairy Association – Got Milk?
From Taco Bell – Think outside the bun.
From a local bookkeeper – We turn your passion into profit
From a local CPA – Build Wealth. Go Play.
From a Virtual Assistant – Make more money. Do less work.
A core message gives your market the biggest reason to do business with you.
Test for Market Demand
Before you make a big investment in a marketing campaign, test your core message in small ways. You can test it informally with your customers or with prospective customers. Ask for feedback and make improvements before you use it in your day-to-day marketing. You can also test your core message by creating a mock web page, brochure, or postcard. You may also want to test it by mailing out to a small sample of your market, conduct an email survey, or try something in your email newsletter before you fully commit to it.
How do you know if you have inspired market demand? Your target market buys from you with little or no hesitation, your sales are increasing from the same or less marketing effort, and your customer base is growing by word-of-mouth. Most important you are reaching or exceeding your sales goals.
Let the Fun Begin
Once there is an indication from your testing that your core message works, start promoting and expanding your marketing and sales efforts to reach your revenue goals. Rework your core message as necessary to inspire market demand. Use your core message in all of your promotional efforts.
At the beginning of the article I mentioned a high tech company that was having difficulty making sales. For this client we borrowed an idea from the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. He began telling his prospective customers that his “technology accelerates growth.” That simple phrase made all the difference.
You know you have your core message right when it becomes easier to make sales and you are running to keep up with sales instead of running to make sales.
Action Plan to Create Market Demand
Here is your action plan:
1. Decide and write down the top 3 or 4 things that comprise your “unique value.”
2. Decide and write down what gives you an unfair advantage.
3. Decide and write down the demand context for your products and services.
4. Decide and write down how your offering is unfair to your competition.
5. Decide and write down your core message.
6. Test your core message to make certain it inspires market demand.
7. Put your core message in all of your marketing materials and scripts.
8. Have more fun and make more money!
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