Insight #15: Do You Own Your Market? If Not, Learn How

Here Are The Three Possible Reasons Why Your Prospects Buy Elsewhere And How To Fix It.

When we talk to people about how to Monopolize Your Marketplace, most initially think we’re just trying to be catchy and cute with the title. On the contrary, we’re deadly serious. When we say “separate yourself from the competition...then eliminate them from the minds of your prospects,” we mean it, literally.

One of our clients is an auto repair shop that regularly puts three to four competitors out of business every year. His business operations are run so flawlessly, his marketing is so compelling, and his customer satisfaction is so high, customers are irresistibly drawn in and drawn back, time after time. They’re helpless. In their minds (and in reality), they would be stupid to go anywhere else to get their cars fixed.

Understand that this client doesn’t go around gloating about killing his competitors. He doesn’t hate their guts or put big X’s on a map at their location after they quit the business. He just has a big problem with the idea of anyone taking his or her car to get it fixed anywhere else. And, it’s not just because he wants to make the money. It’s because he knows if they go anywhere else, there’s a good chance that they’ll pay too much, their car won’t get fixed right, and the customer will get mad at ALL auto repair shops and tarnish his reputation by lumping him in with the rest of them.

Most business owners don’t realize that complete market dominance is an option. They just figure there’s always going to be competition in business. And they’re right - and wrong. Just ask Bill Gates if he has any competitors in operating software. Or ask our client from the above example if he has any competitors. The answer in both cases is yes. But if you think that anyone else has half a chance at cracking their “empires”...it’s not going to happen. They MONOPOLIZE their marketplaces. And so can you. So, why don’t you?

We’ve found that there are really only a few reasons why competition even exists in the first place. You would think in every product and service category there would be one provider that was so good, so aggressive, or so large, that they would smother their competitors. But it just doesn’t happen very often.

The following is a short explanation of reasons why you might not own your marketplace, along with prescriptions to fix the problem. See if you can identify and remedy your situation. If so, there’s no question that you’ll beat your competitors into a demoralized, quivering pulp.

Reason #1: Somebody Else Has A Better Deal: We’re not talking about price. There’s a competitor who is offering more value to your prospects than you are. The prospects recognize that fact, and they don’t buy from you. This sounds simple enough. But, if you’re not offering “the best deal” possible, you shouldn’t expect to win.

Why do you think traditional sales training exists? It’s designed for companies with sales mentalities believing all competitors are equal. They believe your only chance of landing any business is to out-sell, out-trick, out-technique, out-cold call, out-persist, and out-luck all of your competitors.

Prescription #1: INNOVATE YOUR BUSINESS: Don’t consider innovation as being too difficult. Innovation simply means figuring out a way to offer more value than any of your competitors. There are literally thousands of ways to do this. We explore some of these in our MYM On-Demand Training Workshop. However, just ask yourself one simple question: “If I were a customer of my business, what would compel me to buy from me instead of my competitors?”

If you can’t answer that question and you aren’t willing to work your guts out figuring out the answer, do yourself and everyone else a favor and just quit right now. Remember you’re looking for real, quantifiable, interesting, exciting, and compelling reasons for customers to buy from you. Don’t rely on intangible platitudes such as, “We’ve been in business for a zillion years”. Don’t consider special things you do that are also done by your competitors. Forget about status quo things that your customers have come to expect from you or your industry. What is it exactly that sets you apart from all your competitors? If you don’t know what it is, YOU MUST INNOVATE.

Reason #2: People Perceive Someone Else Has A Better Deal: Let’s assume you’ve innovated and you’re now “The Best Deal” around. Anyone in your target market would be a fool to buy from your competitors. But, the reality is they still shop elsewhere. Why? The only possible reason is that your marketing plan doesn’t effectively nurture and coddle prospects through what we call the Educational Spectrum. You may attempt to communicate your obvious advantages. But, your prospects either don’t believe you or don’t think about you in the moment of truth.

Prescription #2: BUILD YOUR CASE AND EDUCATE YOUR PROSPECTS: First, identify all of your prospective clients and gather their information in your database files. Next, create a series of compelling, well-articulated marketing messages that target each of the possible areas of concern. Identify the problems, frustrations, and annoyances they typically experience in your industry. In doing so, you make sure your marketing materials hit your prospects’ emotional hot buttons. Then Explain how your product and service solves these problems. Build trust over a period of time by periodically contacting and educating your prospects with decision-facilitating information until they are ready to do business with you.

If this sounds a bit confusing, it’s because we’ve condensed the underlying principles of the Monopolize Your Marketplace System into a few sentences. Just realize that the whole key to effective marketing is to let your target market know in a consistent, compelling way they would be a fool to buy from anyone but you. You do that by building a Case for your business and supporting the Case with evidence. If you have truly innovated as discussed in prescription #1, then it’s just a matter of time before you’ll win all the clients you want.

Reason #3: Your Prospects Don’t Know That You’re An Option: Either the message you’re broadcasting to the marketplace is not articulated properly (see Prescription #2) or you’re delivering it to the wrong places. Let’s say you provide emergency plumbing services. Putting an ad in the newspaper is a waste of time and money. People needing immediate help with a burst water pipe aren’t going to read the paper and look for your ad. They’ll go immediately to the most common reference book for a solution, the listings in the Yellow Pages. The Yellow Pages is primarily for highly motivated NOW buyers. Conversely, if you manufacture and sell a new revolutionary soft drink, your target market could be basically anyone. Therefore, a newspaper or TV ad to the general public would certainly be two of several appropriate mediums. You need to consider who your target market is.

Prescription #3: ADVERTISE IN THE RIGHT MEDIUMS WITHOUT BREAKING YOUR BUDGET: If your target market is very narrow and easy to identify (a defined target market of which you can obtain a list), then this problem is correctable. For instance, if your market consists of all of the meeting planners for the top 500 businesses in your city, these 500 people should all know who you are because you’re able to obtain a list of their contact information and contact them directly. If, on the other hand, your market is very general (undefined) and consists of many possible customers in all walks of life, then you need to cast a wide net and advertise using general publication mediums, such as the newspaper.

One common approach is to buy a ton of media impressions to get what is commonly called “name recognition”. If you’re not a Fortune 1000 company, forget this strategy. Image advertising is not appropriate. There are over a dozen different broad categories of mediums to choose from to broadcast your marketing message. Depending upon the type of product and the type of target market you have, 3 to 5 of these are probably most appropriate. These are discussed in detail in the MYM On-Demand Training Workshop.

Learn Proven, Innovative Marketing Strategies & Tactics To EXPLODE Your Revenue And Grow Your Business...
In Just 7 Days!

The MONOPOLIZE YOUR MARKETPLACE system is a step-by-step program for innovating and marketing your company. We’ll show you how to first, BE better than the competition and second, DO marketing better than the competition so that you become the obvious choice to do business with.
MYM On-Demand is the latest in eLearning technology featuring broadcast quality video, stereo quality sound, and fully-synchronized slides in a complete, interactive rich streaming multi-media presentation. This is the first and ONLY online marketing resource of its kind. It teaches you step-by-step how to enhance your marketing efforts through a proven method called the Monopolize Your Market System. It shows you how to win more business and to make more money.
CLICK HERE to begin
Monopolizing Your Marketplace Today!

<<< Previous Chapter RETURN To Table Of Contents Next Chapter >>>

This ebook is brought to you by:
[={yourcompany}]

email: [={youremail}]

web: [={yoururl}]

phone: [={yourphone}]

Copyright © 2005 MYM Marketing & MYMOn-Demand.com. All rights reserved. This publication is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.