6
Questions every business should ask itself
# 1 # 4
How are you different / better
Problem Definition
Why does it matter to us to have a well-defined brand ? What ’ s its purpose once it has been articulated ? Who cares ? And why ? You might be shocked at how this question has the capacity to raise corporate blood pressure .
# 2
Who ’ s our primary audience now and , possibly more importantly , in the future
Put another way , who is your ( continued ) best source of revenue ? This will elicit more angst .
# 3
What are their motivations ? than your competitors ?
This is best done as a side-by-side war game , where team members are invited to make a pre-researched 10-bullet point presentation extolling the virtues of their appointed competitor . In their temporary role as sales director or CEO of the competitor they should ‘ pitch ’ to the group . The group in turn will respond when the pitch is over , defending your own competitive competencies .
Once this exercise has been conducted for four or so competitors , it will become clear which arguments you keep reaching for to defend yourselves with . The skill is to pick the one you believe is the most own-able and the most true to you .
What ’ s the deeper human need they have when buying in your sector ? This is about getting under the skin of what ’ s really driving your customers . It might not be what you think it is . Or what they tell you …
IBM realised they were selling main-frame computers to middle-management buyers who in turn needed to report back to their boards to persuade them to buy expensive , complicated and unwieldy computers . They realised these managers needed reassurance in how to sell to their bosses , just as much as they needed the facts and figures about how the computers actually worked . And so ‘ Nobody got fired for buying IBM ’ was born , thereby addressing real customer motivations . What could yours be ?
# 5
What is your Personality ?
This is likely to be understood instinctively in a smaller business but will need to be codified and institutionalised as it grows bigger . The challenge is to reduce the list to a maximum of four words that , in combination , define the personality that captures you – at least on a good day .
This is the personality that you ’ d like to project to the world , but it ’ ll have an important internal dimension too ; your personality should be reflected in the people you hire . They are , after all , the living embodiment of all that you value . ( Aren ’ t they ?)
26 SME 2017 www . smeweb . com