YOU’RE JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE!

YOU’RE JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE!
What prospects think about you

I used to sell advertising for a broadcast station. It was assumed that the dress code was a sport coat and tie or suit and tie. I never cared for that formality much. When I started I followed the status quo.

I looked like every other media rep in the field. Then, I began to drop the coat. The shirt and tie was my look. When my new look wasn’t corrected, during the summer, I went down to an airy button up, untucked, short sleeve shirt and dress pants.

As long as my sales were good I guess it really didn’t matter to management. I also learned that no matter what I wore, when I walked into a prospects place of business they would know in a heartbeat that I was a MEDIA REP!

For some reason, more times than often, they didn’t want to meet with me. Why was that? They didn’t even know me! Didn’t they realize that my station was number one? We garnered the best ratings for women 25-54, which was their #1 target customer. Didn’t they realize our anchorman was rated number one in the market by a gallop poll, or that my station’s website was superior in unique visitors than my competition? Why won’t they talk to me?

Prospects don’t like the pitch! I was just like my competitors. I was the same, identical… just like them. You see we all have a radar that says, “That’s an insurance person” or as they roll their eyes, “Tell the sales guy to go away.” Truth is no one wants “fill in the blank” insurance, media, and printing. No one wants your company!

We all know that but we don’t admit it. We say things like, “Oh, not me! My company is different!” And yes, even Prophit Marketing… as much as I believe we are state-of-the-art, cutting edge, we are just another tree in a massive forest to prospects who have never heard of our company. The only way you can break out of that rut is to make a real connection with someone.

Your business is very similar to every other business in your business category, however, YOU are not! You have a uniqueness about you that resides in your personality and your past life experiences. You have a grandpa that taught you this or that. You have unique stories about your past that led you at the prospects door. Until you figure out how to connect faster with a person, you will just be another annoying sales person who is fighting to get a meeting.

Lead with you, then your company. You are always more important than the company because we all buy from people, not from companies!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: If you’re trying to differentiate yourself, enroll in our upcoming classes offered by Prophit Marketing Institute in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Green Bay’s Small Business Development Center!