Be Different or be dead

July 20, 2015

Why ‘servant’ marketing is way better than flogging products

Source: Unsplash

Why ‘servant’ marketing is way better than flogging products.

Flogging is about ME; servant marketing is about YOU.

My regular reader will know that I rant about the need to banish the flogging mentality in business; to move away from pushing stuff at people.

Flogging is ‘It’s all about me’, supply-oriented marketing where the focus is on what is supplied rather than on what people demand.

Flogging is ‘presumptive marketing’ where businesses decide what will satisfy us and will make us happy.

Because they have a supply mentality they presume to know what is best for us.

Furthermore, flogging presumes that products they create for the ’average’ customer will fit the needs of everyone.

The flogger has a limited life span.

People have more choice today than ever before. Their wants and desires are complex. They lead busy and varied lives. And they are looking to organizations to be responsive to their particular wants and desires.

They are empowered. If they can’t get their special needs satisfied by their current company they will leave them in a heartbeat for another.

Successful marketing tomorrow will be built from ‘It’s all about you’.

Marketing that serves rather than flogs. Marketing that seeks to discover what individuals want rather than presuming that what is produced for the masses will work for them.

With an abundance of choice it’s pretty obvious that people will go where they are heard and where they will get special personalized attention; where they are served.

To get on the serving marketing track, ask these three questions:

▪️Who am I paying attention to? — This is not about a mass market, it’s about an individual. You can’t effectively serve markets (too many people with diverse wants). You can only produce for markets. Serving requires that you look at each person separately. One size never fits all.

▪️What are the unique characteristics of this person? — How are they different? What makes them special? What are their secrets? Be prepared to invest the time to discover what makes them tick.

This is not a quick process. Earning trust and the right to know her at a more intimate level is not a wham-bam-thank-you-mam process.

▪️What personalized ‘thing’ can I create or do to for them to reflect their distinctiveness? — What is the specific thing I can do for them to make them happy? The key here is not to think about whether or not your thing applies to anyone else. It doesn’t have to. It shouldn’t.

Remember: serving and flogging part ways here. Flogging always tries to find a solution that applies to as many people as possible.

Serving, on the other hand, tries to deliver a unique solution for each and every person.

Serving increases the relevance factor.

It’s DiFFERENT.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 7.20.15 at 05:42 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink