I've just read Tribes, by national margeting guru Seth Godin. I'd seen numerous mentions of this book online, the last of which is a recommendation by Thomas Nelson President/CEO Michael Hyatt. It's an interesting book, worth the read.
We've talked a lot about marketing here on Forensics and Faith. It's a subject I continually seek to learn more about--and pass on to you what I discover. If you're interested in reading a thought-provoking blog on marketing, I recommend Godin's blog. (He had a very interesting post on election day about how the two candidates built their "tribes.") In Godin's November 7 post, "The Sad Lie of Mediocrity," he notes:Doing 4% less may very well get you 95% less ... That's because almost good enough gets you nowhere ... Big organizations have the most trouble with this, because they don't notice the correlation. It's hidden by their momentum and layers of bureaucracy. So a mediocre phone rep or a mediocre chef may not appear to be doing as much damage as they actually are ...
Which leads me to my how-not-to-market story.
Recently my husband, Mark, spoke to two companies about a service they provide for airplane owners. After talking to Company #1, he called Company #2 and spoke to a phone rep:
Mark: How much does your service cost?
Rep: Twenty-five hundred.
Mark: Oh. Your competitor charges two thousand. Why do your services cost more?
Rep: We have bigger offices and more employees, so our overhead is higher.
3 comments:
LOL!!! That how-not-to-market story was funny! Thanks for the chuckle this morning.
Have a great day!
Hmm... and it probably never occurs to the company with the bigger offices and the more employees, that they would be much better off with one employee less!!!
You just want to say, "Do you hear yourself?"
That story's a good example of how not to market from both ends. As the exec, yes, that "mediocre" phone rep was costing them. But as the phone rep ... HELLO! Does he seriously think he'll have a roomy office to keep coming to if he has nothing better to say about his company? Of course, there's always the possibility there WAS nothing better to say!
(Does it always come back to the writing?)
Becky
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