So What 'Is' Common Sense Marketing?

Ok, so what do I mean by Common Sense Marketing?

Marketers will often tell you that the first thing you have to do is define your Mission Statement.

In other words, define what your business is all about, what your core values, beliefs and purpose are?

Well, this is kind of true. You can't hope to develop any kind of successful business activity without first having an absolutely clear understanding of where it is your going? And being sure that everyone in your business is in harmony with this goal.

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll just keep on 'going' there" as the old adage says.

But I believe there's actually a step prior to this which is even more important.

And that's a fundamental focus or even re-focus on the mindset of you and the people in your business.

If the mindset of everyone involved isn't right to start with, then no matter what you put in place, you'll still be doing the 'going there' and not actually getting to your destination.

"What do you mean the right 'mindset'?" I hear you say. "I'm in business. We're profitable. I know what I'm doing. We have the right mindset, I'm just looking at how I can do it better."

Well, let's first take a look at the difference between Selling and Marketing.

At it's most basic level, Selling has been defined as 'pushing what you have to your customers'. A bit limiting maybe, but in essence it captures the fundamental drive behind many businesses activities when it comes to getting customers.

For a lot of companies, it's a case of "We have these products or services that we want to sell to people. Let's have a Sales department/Strategy that gets us out there and 'sells, sells, sells."

And every bit of activity, of marketing, of advertising and so on is then geared around the brilliant attributes these products have. The features that make it so brilliant you couldn't possibly not want to buy it. Just to get that sale and get the money off the customer.

By contrast, I believe Marketing, well Common Sense Marketing anyway, is very simply, about figuring out what customers are actually going to need and finding a way to get a solution to them on terms that are satisfactory to both of you.

Are you a Product driven business or a Customer driven business? This is the mindset I mean.

And the problem here is that too many businesses 'say' they are customer-focused but don't actually do it. In other words, how many businesses include customer-focused as part of their 'Mission Statement' but don't really, truly, honestly believe it or 'really' put that into practice as a mainstay of their business? Word's not action. Talking the talk, but not walking the walk. Whichever way you want to look at it, it's just words.

'Being' customer-focused is a mindset. Deep in the heart of your business.

In this way, how you 'market' yourselves to the people you are trying to reach, becomes a fundamental, integral part of what you are all about as a business and the 'sales' function actually becomes a part of that marketing. It's the part charged with managing the interface and relationship with your customers. While the bits before it are what attracts people to coming to you in the first place.

"So all we gotta to do is change our marketing to be customer-focused then huh?"

Well not exactly, but in the next post I'll talk about the customer's perception versus the company reality and how you can start to change that mindset.