I see lots of businesses, and business owners all the time.
Some of them are remarkable and extraordinary when I first
see them, but they don't realise it, and don't know how to
tell people about themselves. Some of them are rather dull,
staid businesses, but by the time I've finished with them,
they've got that extra something that gets people talking
about them.
Setting out to make your business remarkable can have
amazing benefits. If you're struggling to attract customers,
or to make enough money, you need to think again about how
people see your business, or if they notice it at all.
What's a remarkable business?
Think about some remarkable businesses and how they've achieved
it. Below are some examples:
Innocent drinks have established a great brand for
what is really a quite unremarkable and very expensive product.
They even make a meanie like me want to buy them. Not only
do they have fantastic packaging - they've created a whole
story about the drinks which has tapped into exactly the right
demand from consumers for natural and healthy products - Innocent
now has 62% of market share which is enormous in their sector.
Swatch threw away the rule book when they started
out. They found a way to make very desirable, stylish watches
for a fraction of the price that Swiss watches usually cost -
by using new technology and selling a lot of watches, Swatch
are still around, and I'm wearing one right now. Swatch were
remarkable because their products have such fantastic designs
(many are now collectors items) but didn't need to be made
to last forever. They even have their own club for regular customers.
Recently Jennifer Michelle lauched a garter belt holder
for a mobile phone. She has an online
lingerie store which has been selling a lot more because of
the media coverage of an unusual and slightly saucy product.
Why would I bother?
In the old days you could set up a business, place a few
ads, put your name in the yellow pages and tell your friends
about it. If you had a shop, you could depend on people walking
past to come in and buy something. In the 21st century, things
don't work like that any more.
We have all become more sophisticated as consumers. We take
less notice of ads, we're suspicious of anything that isn't
recommended to us, and we'll drive to the shops we like, rather
than go to the one down the road.
Promoting your business is a lot harder than it used to be
in the good old days. Now, the only businesses that do
well, are ones that are a bit different. If you're selling
the same old stuff in the same old way, you might not even
survive.
How you can be remarkable
Have a good think about your business and why people should
bother to buy from you. Unless you've got a big business,
don't even think about trying to be cheaper than the competition
- the big boys have the deep pockets to run you out of town.
Amazon will always be able to sell books more cheaply than
a small bookstore. Tthe small bookstore that makes a whole
experience out of shopping there and makes their customers
feel excited about buying from there, will still be able to
do well against the bigger firms.
You should be thinking about what you're selling and what's
exciting about it. What would make your customers bother to
tell other people about you. Are you nicer, funnier, healthier,
more ethical, more knowledgeable? Could you be?
Work out what your story is. You want people to be able
to tell a story about you. That's what Innocent did -
they have lots of stories about how great it is to work there,
how they did their initial market research, and even how good
the drinks taste …and we believe their stories.
Next, you need to think about how you're promoting your business.
How do you get people to come to you? You want to make sure
that people are talking about you, and traditional advertising
usually can't achieve that. You need to use the media to get
attention, encourage people to recommend you and talk about
you and your story.
If you'd like some help to make your business remarkable
(and remarkably successful) get in touch now and see how we can help.
Julia Chanteray
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