Marketing

All’s Fair When Avoiding Price Wars

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As a soldier, what main characteristic did David possess that allowed him to defeat Goliath, who was bigger, stronger and more heavily armed?

Most people will say that it was his agility or speed. Just moments before the battle, David decided against suiting up with King Saul’s armor to maintain his mobility.

More important than these things, though, was his willingness and ability to choose the terms of the fight. Even though he was very confident in his physical strength (he’d beaten wild lions and bears in the past), he picked up stones and decided to take out the giant from a distance. I’m inclined to believe David would still have been victorious over Goliath in hand-to-hand combat, but there was no need for that.

He took a weapon he was skilled with and slew the Philistine champion before the fight even began.

When your small businesses square off against entrenched competitors… ones that are bigger, stronger, better-known and better-equipped than you… you can learn a few things from the young warrior David.

Setting up Battles Where Your Victory Is Inevitable

There is a strong temptation for look at your potential customer base and think, “If I drop my prices, more people will buy from me. That’s what everyone else is doing.” In most businesses, special offers mean discounted prices. Every conceivable holiday is an excuse to offer a sale. And some of your big competitors spend thousands or even millions of dollars broadcasting these discounts.

How can you compete with that?

Make no mistake: low prices are attractive. There will always be a market for cheapness. That’s probably the biggest reason why a huge percentage of startups open their doors with plans to become the low-cost provider for the customers they’d like to serve.

But unless you have the buying power of Walmart or its equivalent in your industry, that’s a tough fight to win.

Take a page out of David’s book. Pick your battles strategically. What do you offer that’s better than everyone else who is competing for the customers you want?

Your lunch menu is healthier than McDonald’s.

Your plumbing work is guaranteed for twice as long as anyone else in town.

Your T-shirt brand has been worn by more rock musicians in concert than any other brand this year.

Force The Comparison

In general, you don’t want a potential customer to be able to make an “apples to apples” comparison between your product or service and that of the guy who insists on cutting his prices to the bone. All other things being equal, the customer will buy the less expensive option.

You can’t allow other things to be equal.

It’s essential that you create some differentiator that forces the consumer to make an “apples to orange” comparison.

Your marketing and your sales people force the comparison between your product and the competition at the point of differentiation.

“Look how healthy our lunch menu is!”

“No one guarantees their pipework for as long as we do.”

“If you’ve been to any concerts this year, you’ve noticed how popular our brand is with your favorite rock stars.”

Juxta-position your product in a way that appears unique, especially if your product or service is seen as a commodity.

Create Your Own Category

Have you ever noticed how many different choices are available for chicken eggs at your local grocery store? There are probably dozen options (yes, I thought that was funny).

What’s really interesting is the price difference between some of the choices. For example, your “average” large eggs sell for $1.79/dozen at this particular store. Eggland’s Best Vegetarian eggs normally sell for $3.79/dozen. That’s more than double the price of your “commodity” eggs.

egglands price wars

How does that happen?

Eggland’s Best has capitalized on a key differentiator. This type of egg is in a distinct category: cage-free, vegetarian brown chicken egg.

This destroys the “apples to apples” comparison and forces the customer to consider whether it’s more important for them to save a couple bucks or treat himself to this special kind of egg.

Dutch Farms (the Goliath in this example) probably sells a lot more eggs at the much lower price. But Eggland’s Best (David) is carving out a nice corner of the market to dominate.

Can you think of a way to create a special category for what you sell? 

The Low Cost Leader’s Precarious Position

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Competing on price is almost always a dumb idea. In every case I can think of, it makes more sense to differentiate in ways other than being the cheapest place in town.

I was given the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on the futility and danger of price competition (and the fear that causes business owners to adopt that kind of pricing strategy) over at the One Hour Startup blog. There are 3 articles; I hope you check them out. The feedback has been excellent.

[[ Update: The One Hour Startup blog is being merged with NinjaHobo. These articles are no longer hosted there. ]]

3 Alternatives to Competing on Price – What Dominoes Pizza, Babiators and iPhone lovers can teach us about staying out of the Bermuda Triangle of commoditization, where the only way to win is to be slash prices.

The Wife-Approved Pricing Strategy – If price is the main way to convince a would-be customer to buy, why do people regularly pay premium prices for some products? Here’s an example from my own wife. Oh, and Aston Martin.

Pick Your Battles Strategically, or All’s Fair When Avoiding Price Wars – “…what main characteristic did David possess that allowed him to defeat Goliath, who was bigger, stronger and more heavily armed? Most people will say that it was his agility or speed…More important than these things, though, was his willingness and ability to choose the terms of the fight…When your small businesses square off against entrenched competitors… ones that are bigger, stronger, better-known and better-equipped than you… you can learn a few things from the young warrior David.”

While we’re on the subject, observe Chuck McKay as he destroys the low-cost leader’s argument in 33 seconds:

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The Wife-Approved Pricing Strategy

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pricing strategy

In an age when customers research practically everything before they buy, when there are mobile apps that point people to retailers with the lowest prices on items, and brand loyalty seems at an all time low, how does a small business stay competitive without sacrificing profits?

I began answering this question in my previous post, 3 Ways to Avoid Competing on Price. I mentioned three specific ideas:

1. Making bigger, bolder promises — and backing them up
2. Work on your secret sauce. Do something no one else does or add a unique touch of excellence to the mundane (simply make what everyone takes for granted into an extraordinary experience)

3. Develop a killer value relationship with your customers. (Unique propositions are good; unique relationships are better.)

Smack dab in the middle of this conversation about pricing, my wife spent a good chunk of the day shopping.

And just like you’d expect from a good wife, she illustrated my point, albeit inadvertently, by spending over $100 on makeup. Check out the picture above.

I’m pretty sure Ulta Beauty and Sephora have higher profit margins than the average drug dealer. But, that’s where my wife shops.

She could save more than 50% by buying her cosmetics at the local beauty supply or even Walmart.

But when it comes to makeup, price is nowhere near the top of her priority list. She happily pays premium prices for higher quality and unique color palates.

The difficulty with building loyalty is a good point…in some circumstances.

But is Nike struggling to maintain its customer base? Or Apple? Or Coke? Granted, these are established market leaders and most of us are not.

There’s still something to learn from the big boys.

Inexpensive offers almost always draw attention.

But if your marketing message and positioning speak directly to the customers’ need in a way no one else speaks or solves a problem no one else is addressing, price comparison fades.

Have you ever noticed that Excedrin Extra Strength and Excedrin Migraine have IDENTICAL active ingredients in identical dosages?

But one is marketed as the solution to a specific pain. People will pay more for the confidence that comes with that kind of focus.

It isn’t necessarily an issue of loyalty. It’s Sales and Marketing 101: What’s In It For Me?

If your product or service provides a more satisfying answer to that question, you don’t have to stoop to charging lower prices than everyone else.

If your marketing answers the WIIFM question by taking possession of prime real estate in your target audience’s mind, you don’t need to be the cheapest. You set the standard for your industry.

Harley-Davidson is THE definitive motorcycle; people who buy them generally don’t balk at the price.

Here are some fresh ideas to escape price competition:

Be a safe bet. Peace of mind is more valuable than most people realize. By eliminating the risks involved with purchasing your product, you free up some of your customer’s mental and emotional bandwidth. Knowing that they’re not going to get “burned” is worth paying higher price for. Testimonials, social proof, strong guarantees and proven support after the sale make reduce risk and make it easy to buy from you, even if you’re the more expensive option.

Focus on a tight niche, like Excedrin Migraine.  A specific solution to a specific problem is always perceived as more valuable than a generic solution to a generic problem. The more painful the problem, the more desperate the desire, the more it’s worth paying someone to scratch right where it itches.

Tell a fascinating story about the origins of the product or the company. Many times customers buy your product because of the “why” that drives your business.

Associate your product with a cause bigger than a simple purchase. Breast Cancer Awareness, Boxtops 4 Schools, and even Made in America are all appeals that attract certain types of people. Become an advocate for causes your target market supports and believes in.

Stop trying to sell to price-shoppers. Charge more and be unapologetic about it. Your product or service is for an elite class of clients.  For example, consider the curious case of the Aston Martin Cygnet from Forbes Magazine:

Take, for instance, the tiny European city runabout known as the Aston Martin Cygnet. In its most basic version it sells at more than $45,000. The car is actually made by Toyota and a Toyota version (identical except for some interior accoutrements) can be had for less than $17,000. On an apples-to-apples comparison, Which? (a London-based consumer magazine) reckons the average price discrepancy is more than $31,000. Thus those who prefer Aston Martin’s badge pay an outrageous three times more for exactly the same Toyota engineering!

Is that crazy? Not at all. The social and psychological benefits of owning an Aston Martin outweigh the difference in price for some buyers.

That’s reality. Someone is going to tap into it. Might as well be you.

3 Alternatives to Competing on Price

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price war

How often do we see businesses small and large making the claim that they offer “the best value in town”?

And why is it that people assume that such a statement means that “best value” is the lowest price?

In the strictest sense, value has nothing to do with price.

A $100 bill is valued at $100 no matter how many hours you worked to get it.

On the other hand, an icy cool glass of lemonade is more valuable to a man mowing the lawn in the summer than one sitting on a bus stop in the middle of winter, even if it costs $2 in both cases.

Being the “low price leader” doesn’t (necessarily) mean your customers are getting the best value; it just means they’re paying less than they are anywhere else.

That usually makes you the lowest paid provider in your field.

I don’t know about you, but that’s not a position I’m in a hurry to occupy.

Avoid Price Wars at Any Cost

Price is not the true battlefield – or if nothing else, it’s not the one you want to fight on.

As a fun illustration, I’d like to point you to the legendary Elwood City snow shoveling war between Arthur Read and Buster Bunny.

The entire video is enjoyable, but the business-related part really starts about five minutes in, with key takeaways at about 7:20 and 8:20.

~ “He’d be crazy to compete with me at this price.”

~ “You won’t make any money that way.”

You might put a hurting on the other guy, but you’ll probably cause irreparable damage to your own business in the process, just like Arthur and Buster did.

Your customers will get used to your bottom-basement pricing and your willingness to undercut the competition.

And even if you put the other guy out of business, what happens when a new competitor comes on the scene? It’s a perpetual race for the bottom.

What’s the Alternative?

The temptation to set your prices low is strong.

You constantly hear about people shopping at Walmart because they’re cheaper than pretty much every other store. Everyone seems to be running discount sales.

Besides, you might be thinking, what’s so special about product? There are half a dozen other vendors in my zip code alone doing the same thing as me. What’s unique about shoveling snow? Plumbing? Accounting?

Consider starting here:

1) Make bolder promises – and back them up. Most of your competitors advertise like cowards. They’re too scared to make big promises. They would rather “under-promise and over-deliver,” which is marketing suicide these days.

What’s the biggest promise you can honestly make? Wrap that up with a dominant emotion your audience is feeling and/or a powerful (true) story and shout it from the rooftops.

The gutsy promise “30 minutes or it’s free” put Domino’s on the map, even though there’s nothing special or particularly valuable about their pizza.

Never promise more than you can deliver, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by under-promising either.

2) Develop a secret sauce. Even in a commoditized field, like plumbing or snow shoveling, there’s no reason you have to play by the rules everyone else abides by.

What’s stopping you from going the extra mile to provide an outstanding, memorable customer experience?

Ask your customers, or listen to other people talk about your field. What do they hate most?

What do they wish would happen that never does?

As a plumber, wouldn’t a butt-crack free guarantee be a welcome distinction?

Add on-time service and the promise to clean up all the mess before you leave, and you’ve got a major competitive advantage. People will pay more for that.

Babiators, a company that sells sunglasses for children offers the following, remarkable guarantee:

USP guarantee

As a father of four rambunctious kids, this is the sort of promise that captures my attention and makes me feel stupid for wasting my money anyplace else.

3) Work on your Unique Value Relationship. It’s really difficult to reduce relationships down to dollar amounts. Haven’t we all paid more to buy from someone we like or admire?

Haven’t we all decided to support businesses we know, even if the cost was a little higher?

When you treat you customers like people, not walking wallets, you have the potential to build relationships that remove price from the equation completely.

When they know, like and trust you, you win. When they identify themselves with your product, service or brand, when they see themselves as part of your tribe, paying less to work with outsiders isn’t even an option.

Just ask the next person you see with an iPhone 5.

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Be sure to check out the follow-up to this article, The Wife-Approved Pricing Strategy.

Why You Should Stop Thinking Big

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One of the major reasons we don’t get the results we want in life is because we’re thinking too big.

We want more than we can have. We want to do more than we can accomplish. If we’d start thinking smaller, we’d be much happier.

This may not seem like a marketing concept, but let’s explore this concept for a few minutes to see what kind of business wisdom we can pull out of it.

Trying to Make Everyone Your Customer

There aren’t a whole lot of product categories in which everyone can be your customer. Most companies are not General Mills or Fruit of the Loom. Services like people like plumbers or tax preparers have a wider potential customer base. But even in those cases, discriminating against some customer types is almost always beneficial for your business.

In order to market your business to everyone, your message has to be somewhat generic, which invariably lowers its persuasiveness. On the other hand, picking a segment of the population and designing campaigns specifically for them allows you to be much more relevant and compelling, which drives better results.

On top of that, even if you could sell to everyone, some people simply aren’t the kind of customers you want to do business with. Others are the kind of people who are a joy to work with and serve.

Think about this: Red Bull could probably sell energy drinks to most American adults and teenagers (since most of us feel short on energy at least occasionally). But do they make generic ads? To they try to appeal to every possible personality type? Not at all. They sponsor extreme sports and appeal to the risk taker.

That doesn’t keep Suzy Homemaker from sneaking one while the kids are at school every once in a while.

One more thing. Generic products very rarely generate strong loyalty or enthusiasm around a brand. Contrast that with how people feel about Harley-Davidson or Apple.

So, even if you could potentially market your product to everyone, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll get better results if you pick a core audience and really go after them. Other people will probably still come along. Nike promotes their product to athletes and those who’d like to be athletes. But people from every walk of life (forgive the pun) buy their shoes and other products.

Trying to Cover Too Many Bases

In baseball, the catcher covers home plate and the area around it. He rarely plays in other parts of the field. Imagine the chaos if he tried!

Let’s take one of my famous extreme illustrations. Imagine meeting two lawyers for the first time. They hand you their business cards; one says “Attorney-at-Law” and the other says “Attorney/Pastry Chef/Accupuncturist.” Which one are you going to take more seriously?

The natural reaction is to believe that the 100% lawyer is more qualified than one who is 33% lawyer, 33% chef and 33% accupuncturist. Who knows which one is really better. But the guy who can’t seem to decide what he wants to be when he grows up would be a less attractive choice for most of us.

It’s better for you to be world-class at just one thing than to have decent skills in five different areas.

Here’s a humorous-but-not-hypothetical example. It’s a real connection request I received on LinkedIn:

It’s going to be difficult for me to trust a financial advisor who’s also a busboy at Red Lobster.

Maybe it’d be different if he were the manager…

Know your strengths and maximize them. Market them. Know what customers appreciate and benefit from most. Concentrate on those few things.

We get it. There are so many wonderful things about your business and your product. But if you try to talk about all of them, you can over-stuff your message, making it difficult for your audience to swallow.

Stop thinking so big! Pick one thing and become the best practitioner and best marketer of it.

Other “Big Thinking” Problems

** You can get into trouble by trying to appeal to too many emotions in your sales message. It’s usually better to focus your message. I know, you don’t want to leave out anything that night entice someone to buy from you. But you may very well be sabotaging yourself. Rather than touching on every possible way the prospect could feel about the benefits of your service, consider drilling deeply into one feeling (or at least just one at a time).

** Trying to make “big money” on your first interaction with a customer is often the wrong attitude. This is one of the reasons people in sales and marketing have bad reputations.

If we’re so concerned about making a sale today and extracting as much cash from their pockets as possible without regard to his long-term well-being, we may be doing more harm than good. In most cases, we’re hurting our own long-term well-being in so doing.

** Trying to get large quantities of customers may or may not be the right way to structure your business, even if they’re all ideal customers. It may be better to think bigger about the value you can provide a smaller number of clients. Instead of constantly chasing more clients, it’s more profitable and usually easier to get additional sales from your existing customers.

When Thinking Big Is Good

1) Thinking about how to provide the biggest possible value to your customers. As much as possible, you should try to change their lives for the better.

2) Turn your interactions with clients into big, memorable experiences.

3) What can you do for your customers that no one else can or will do? What’s the most powerful transformation you can affect in their lives? Make sure to communicate those big promises.

Date Your Leads, Marry Your Customers

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In October of 2001, the prettiest girl on my college campus, a popular upperclassman, agreed to go on a date with me, a nerdy freshman.

That following February, she agreed to marry me.

Yes, it was quick and this sort of relationship often crumbles as quickly as it starts. But after 12 years of marriage, I still tell everyone that taking my wife “off the market” was one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.

The things that made the wooing process so fast and the ensuing relationship so successful work equally well in my approach to attracting leads and winning customers (taking them “off the market”): singularity of focus, clarity of purpose, selfless commitment to providing value, trustworthiness and reliability.

The Dating Game

When I was 19-years old, I was different than most of my peers. I wasn’t in a rush to jump the broom, but I wasn’t interested in casual dating, either. I was going to treat my girlfriend as my potential future wife. Never did I imagine my life would change so rapidly, but the point is clear: if you’re serious about who you date and why, you’ll move towards wedding bells quicker than those who are “playing the field.”

You have to know who you want as potential customers and why. You wouldn’t just date anyone, and you don’t want just anyone as your customer. Who is your target market? What kind of prospect is a good fit for you and your business?

Read the rest of this article in the February issue of Evolution Magazine, (it’s the Guest Editorial on page 9).

 

(The Beat Goliath System is my prescribed strategy for attracting date-worthy leads and turning them into wife-able customers and clients. Find out more by entering your name and email address in the box to the right. )

How to Be Assertive Without Making People Run at the Sight of You

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We all know one of them.

You know who I’m talking about. The “my way of the highway,” Type A personality. The ones who always seems to get his way, whether or not the people around him feel like cooperating.

We label this kind of character “assertive.” He knows what he wants and he’s not afraid to ask or even demand for it. He can be difficult to be around at times, partly because we’re secretly jealous that we’re not more like him in some ways.

Godzilla was assertive. Joseph Stalin was assertive.

But you know who else could be categorized as assertive? Martin Luther King, Jr. Oprah Winfrey. Michael Jordan. They’re magnetic. They move masses and have a huge impact on the world around them.

Obviously, we want to be more like the latter group than the former. How do those of us who need a little more assertiveness move forward without stepping into Godzilla territory?

Note: reader Arthur R. asked me to tackle this question when I asked for suggestions on topics to cover at the beginning of January. Honestly, I’m glad he brought it up. I’m not the most assertive person — my natural disposition is quite the opposite. That’s how I was raised. Thinking about this piece has been helpful for me; I hope you get something out of it as well.

Why We’re Not Assertive and How to Change

I don’t think there’s any denying that personality traits like assertiveness or passiveness are largely grounded in 1) upbringing and 2) genetics. Some of us grew up watching our role models play professional doormats; others saw dominant examples. And there are innumerable stages in between complete passivity and steamrolling. How do we get around that now that we’re adults?

Let’s look at what assertiveness is at its core.

One definition of assertive is “confident and direct in claiming one’s rights.” This gives us a big hint at the actions steps we can take to tweak our level of assertiveness.

In order to claim one’s rights, one must first know what those rights are. Then, one must firmly believe that they are intrinsic, inalienable rights — you deserve to experience and enjoy them.

My observations lead me to believe that most passive people are stuck at this point. Lack of confidence is a surface issue. The root of the problem is that they lack clarity and conviction; clarity about what they want and conviction that they deserve it as a God-given right.

Without clarity about their rights, how can anyone assert themselves? And if they “know” their rights but don’t believe they deserve them, why should they risk anything by taking initiative?

If Billy thinks no one cares about his ideas on how to improve sales, if he doesn’t believe he has a right to be heard, he’ll probably never lift his voice, even though he knows his ideas will work.

If Billy doesn’t believe he deserves clients who pay him $10,000 for his services, he’ll continue settling for ones who pay $500, even though he feels miserable doing so.

Clarity and conviction pave the way for confident action. When you get a clear vision of what you want and feel the conviction that you can have it (as Super Bowl champ Russell Wilson asked “Why not me?” The other guy isn’t more deserving than me) you can begin to assert yourself confidently. Or, you can start building confidence in your skills, knowledge and ability now that you’re free from the paralysis of ambiguity.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Assertiveness is not inherently self-centered. Being passive can be every bit as egocentric as being assertive.

Not speaking up is not a virtue. Letting other people “win” is only a good thing to do with children. Passivity based on fear/self-preservation or some twisted sense of victimization or martyrdom (“Look at me, always taking one for the team. I’m such a nice guy!”) is nothing to brag about. And it’s still all about you.

Assertiveness can be used to benefit other people. I mentioned Dr. King earlier. He was assertive, but not for egotistical reasons.

Accepting low fees is not the only manifestation of a lack of assertiveness. Many times, we mask our insecurities by sticking nice-sounding names on them.

  • Relationship marketing, a.k.a. cowardice when it’s time to ask for the sale
  • Inbound marketing, a.k.a. taking 3 years to “build trust” when people may be ready to buy NOW
  • Artificially long sales cycles, the result of letting people stay leads too long. Putting a crazy marketing idea in place can fix that.

Your Action Steps

1) Take ownership of where you are now. Regardless of genetics and upbringing, it’s your responsibility to get where you want to be. You can overcome nature and nurture!

2) Get really clear about what you want in life, in business and/or in specific situations. That clarity is the first step to establishing the right kind of assertiveness.

3) Establish in your mind that you deserve to win. There’s no reason you should forfeit anything you want (as long as it’s moral, legal and scientifically possible).

4) Expand your confidence. Work for mastery in your chosen areas.

5) Attach yourself to something bigger than yourself. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, truthfully I think, that “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” Don’t become self-absorbed with your growth and success. That’s what leadership is about.

6) Use your powers for good, as it were.

Have a productive week.

Free Kindle Books from Some of My Favorite Marketers

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I can’t help myself.

Over the past few months, I’ve been stealing quite a bit.

The guys who run the One Hour Startup have been creating so much great content, and rolling it out so masterfully, I haven’t been able to resist the urge to rip-off some of their ideas. John Breese and Ryan Healy are certified marketing geniuses.

For this weekend only, John and Ryan are leaving the door unlocked and asking people to steal from them. They’ve made their entire array of Kindle books (normally $10) FREE for decisive entrepreneurs and marketers.

Check out this too-good-to-be-true offer at http://www.theonehourstartup.com/the-10-library/.

If your business can use some breakthrough ideas, it’s time to be decisive. I can’t recommend these resources strongly enough.

Head over to the One Hour Startup $10 Library page to take advantage of this steal of a deal (which they’re calling an “ethical bribe”) before you go to bed Sunday night.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Kindle contest OHS is holding. I don’t mean to spoil the surprise, but the winner will receive a rare copy of Ken McCarthy’s final System Seminar from 2011.

My First Google Hangout

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Last Tuesday I was a guest on Lunch Money (part of The Million Dollar Trek) with Camari Ellis. It was my first experience with Google Hangouts.

For 89 minutes, we discussed marketing, copywriting, lead generation ideas and why you need to fall in love with your customers. We basically went through the 5 “smooth stone strategies” I talk about in my Beat Goliath report (which you get for free when you sign up for my weekly newsletter. Just enter your name and email address in the boxes to the right.)

We also briefly talked about the Walmart donkey meat fiasco.

For those of you who missed it, here’s the recording of the show.

Funny Side Note:

With this being my first time using Hangouts, I made a pretty embarrassing mistake when I started promoting this show. I created an event on Google+ and shared it with a few hundred people and made it publicly visible. Then, naturally, I included the link to that event in my email newsletter and shared it on Twitter and LinkedIn as well.

The problem is, the Hangout was hosted at the event Camari had created.

For some reason, I thought my Google would figure out what I was trying to do. I figured that once Camari and I were connected, our Hangout events would merge. (Don’t ask me why I thought that.) So I never corrected the problem or redirected people to the correct link.

So there were several people sitting at the Hangout I created and invited them to — without me.

Many apologies were made.

Is Your Marketing Fragile? Here’s How You Can Tell

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fragile marketing

It’s possible to know everything about marketing techniques, strategies and tools and still be a marketing imbecile.

If you don’t understand what makes people tick, you don’t have much going for you. Marketing is about people, not methods. When business people miss this fact, the marketing they produce is usually pretty fragile. Always in danger of falling apart. Susceptible to defeat in the face of opposition or competition.

Fragile marketing is all around us. Here are 4 major symptoms — do your communications suffer from any of them?

1) Price-based messages are fragile
Unless you have no mailbox, TV or internet, you’ve probably seen dozens of advertisements for Black Friday “doorbuster” sales. Doorbusters take urgency to the extreme, offering uber-low prices to drive traffic to stores (or to a lesser extent, websites).

Don’t get me wrong; everyone loves a good deal. But consider the position you put yourself in when you put all your eggs in the low price basket. You have to be cheaper than Walmart. You have to compete with the preponderance of their commercials, too. Is that really the contest you want to participate in?

While this is true all year ’round, consumers (at least here in America) are practically programmed to shop at big box retailers for Black Friday and other commercialized holidays. The retailers spend millions of dollars broadcasting their bottom-basement prices to your customers. The deck is stacked against you.

Remedy
No matter what you sell, if you don’t a) offer something unique, b) make a more persuasive appeal, or c) develop a special relationship with your customers, you lose…

Discover 3 eading “Fragile Marketing: Recognize the Symptoms” on the Chicago Brander blog:

Much thanks to Dan Gershenson for letting my guest blog!