Have you ever thought Goldilocks was a tad self-centered?

• First, she breaks into the three bears’ home
• Then she complains about too hot or too cold porridge
• Next, she breaks the baby bear’s chair

How rude.

You’d like to think that your customers are not so self-centered. However, although most are pleasant, your clients typically base their decisions on a single question.

What’s in it for me?

Think about it. Imagine you are the customer and now decide if any of the following rings true.

• How will this solve my problem?
• Will this make me look good to my boss?
• Can I find a better (or cheaper) solution someplace else?

We are bombarded with marketing advice – every single day. Some welcomed. Some, not so much.

Makes you wonder what Goldilocks would have to say about all the advice.

Okay, so maybe it only makes me wonder. I never said my brain was normal.

It’s Too Hot

Remember when the phrase – that’s hot – meant something positive? Then along came Paris Hilton who dumped that phrase on its ear.

Marketing can be too hot, too. And not in a good way.

Hot It’s Not

Some marketing advice is about as hot as that same tired phrase.

Self-professed gurus exclaim they have the answer.

• You’re doing it all wrong
• Do it this way
• And I’ll – oops, I mean – you’ll get rich

Not only are they gurus, but psychics. They are able to give this hot advice without ever talking to you about your business.

Recently, I had a ludicrous example of hot marketing advice.

This Helpful Hanna offered a quiz to determine if you were setting up your business for failure.

Apparently, you fail if ~

• Your desk is ever cluttered
• You don’t have a newsletter (oh, there’s a hot idea)
• You don’t get over 100 new subscribers to your newsletter every month

That is a small sample of all the ways you set your business up for failure. If your response did not match Helpful Hanna’s hot marketing tip, your entry was marked Incorrect.

What if ~

• My desk is sparkling
• I send a newsletter monthly
• I get 1,000 new subscribers – daily

And NOT a single subscriber buys even one of my services or products.

Sure sounds like success to me. Good thing I was offered a 15-minute (you read that right) free consultation.

Not so hot after all.

It’s Too Cold

Marketing advice that leaves customers cold may do more damage than just being ignored.

There are multiple ways to chill a business relationship.

• Offering robotic, cookie-cutter advice
• Exhibiting a superior, know-it-all attitude
• Never asking questions about a customer’s business

What are we communicating to a customer when we declare we have the answer when we don’t even know the question?

• You are all the same
• There’s nothing unique about your business
• Oh, by the way, I accept all major credit cards

You’ll have my business when hell freezes over.

Cold enough for you?

It’s Just Right

I love writing case studies. It’s like having two clients in one.

• My client who got it right
• And their customer who is happy to tell their story

With each case, my client got it right. How?

1. They understood their customer’s problem
2. They customized a solution that fit their customers’ needs
3. My client took the time to learn their customer’s business so they got it right

Perhaps what’s in it for me is self-centered, but your customer’s business is personal.

When you take the time to customize your marketing advice to the needs of your customer, you’ll get it just right.

And that makes Goldilocks smile.

What marketing advice have you received?  Good or bad – share why you think so in Comments.

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Helping you Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours – contact me for help with your business writing needs.

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