Step One - What do you sell?

Ok, before we get started on your plan I have more bad news for you. If you want this to work, you have to write it down. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is. Thinking about it is fine and important but if you sincerely want to make a difference in your business, you need a written plan.

Writing it down does three things.

1. Helps you focus your thoughts
2. Makes it easy to change and adjust as you learn what works and what doesn’t
3. Allows you to refer to your plan later for direction

Whether you type your plan directly into Word, or similar program, or make notes and transpose them later, commit to getting your plan on paper!

Now that’s out of the way, we’re ready for step one. At first glance "What Do You Sell" sounds like a ridiculous question but dig deeper. People compartmentalize everything. We assign labels and stick things in boxes. Your customers do this to you, you do it to them and on it goes. What label do you want them to apply to you?

Here are some label examples that your customers apply to you –

• Marketing consultant
• Apparel expert
• Trinkets and trash
• Pens and pencils
• Swag
• Corporate store provider
• Free lunch
• Brand builder
• Eco product expert
• Chotsky
• Free golf
• Guy to avoid

I’m not passing judgment on any of these labels, well maybe the “Guy to avoid” one isn’t so great but there are people in our industry, in our company, that function under each one of these labels.

Which one are you? Which one do you want to be?

Taking the time to define what you are and your label is powerful. Think about it. Once you do, look at how much easier it is to communicate with your customers and prospects. You now have a filter to apply to every marketing message you send. You don’t need to reinvent yourself every time you send a flyer or place an ad. If you’re labeled as the Chotsky guy, how receptive do you think your customers will be to a flyer marketing high-end apparel? It’s likely they’ll ignore it but they would be very interesting in a blowout sale on overstocked caps.

What do you do if you don’t like your existing label? Change it! Brands change all the time. Does your existing label paint you into a corner and limit what you can do? I would argue that if your current label is built around price, or trinkets or free stuff, you’re going to be challenged as buyers get younger, more purchases are driven to the web and your competitors get hungrier. If your label is broader and based on your unique skills or expertise, it’s much harder for someone to knock you off.

Some labels are broader than others. If you don’t like your label or it’s too confining, I’d use this as an opportunity to change it. Build your marketing plan around re-educating your clients on who you are and what you sell.

So here’s assignment one. Answer the questions below and based on your answers, write a one or two sentence statement that describes what you sell. (Hint, it’s ok to have multiple statements for multiple audiences. You just have to remember to be consistent within each audience.)
You can record as much background information on your plan as you want but the key nugget that you need to develop is the brief statement that defines what you sell!

Questions
What do you love to sell, what do you feel most passionate about?
What do you say to people that ask you what you do?
What’s your specialty?
What’s your style, products, programs, solutions, recognition?
What will you use to open doors?
What label do you want your client’s to use on you?

Later today or tomorrow I’ll post some statement examples so you can see what I’m talking about.