Most small business owners and independent professionals
start their business primarily because they have knowledge
and skills that are in demand. While they understand
intellectually that they have to market and sell, often it
does not translate on an emotional level. Many business
owners tend to look at marketing as a necessary evil and in
many cases have negative beliefs toward it. They could not
stand to be hounded by those pesky salesman in their
previous jobs and do not want to "become on of them." As a
result, the tendency is to focus on the aspects of our
business that were the reason we chose to go into business
in the first place, the actual application of our knowledge
or skills.
What is a marketing mentality and how is it developed?
There are three components all that link together. The
first component is belief. What are the underlying beliefs
that affect our mentality? It encompasses our attitudes,
thoughts, fears, expectations, and lack of experience. Our
actions are shaped by what we think about, what we assume
to be true and where we choose to focus. If the thoughts
are negative or avoidance minded then we will see marketing
as undesirable and in some cases unethical. It will
manifest in self talk such as I don't deserve referrals, my
marketing won't work anyway, I will look desperate, if my
service or product is good the market will know that, I
don't like networking etc.
The second component is behavior which is generally driven
by our beliefs. The decisions we make every day are
critical and negative beliefs about marketing affect the
decisions that are made. For example, how often do we plan
for the week and tell ourselves that on Tuesday we will
focus three hours on marketing. Tuesday morning rolls
along and we receive a client call or an issue or problem
with an employee and then rationalize that the marketing
must be put off because these issues must be dealt with
immediately. The question is how often this is really
true. In my experience working with clients the answer is
rarely. Although we know that the marketing is important
we let our negative beliefs affect our behavior. Before we
know it the pipeline is dry and then some type of marketing
activity is undertaken in an unplanned haphazard manner.
The third component is relationship. In order to have
consistent lead generation and sales there must be a
relationship cultivated with an adequate amount of
prospects. This is the main function of marketing. It is
the adage of people do business with those they know, like
and trust. Without a consistent and systematic marketing
plan there will not be a sufficient lead generation process.
The linkage is very powerful. The beliefs affect the
behaviors and the behaviors affect the ability to develop
the relationships. The connectivity between these elements
is extremely leveraged in both a positive and negative
direction. When there are aligned the results are
extraordinary and when they are not the results can be
devastating.
So if you are in this quandary what can be done about it?
First sit down and make a list and inventory what your
beliefs are about marketing. Be honest and list as many as
you can. Then ask yourself about whether these beliefs are
really true or just simply a personal bias. Second, are
you really absolutely sure what you believe is true or is
it possible that it is not. Next evaluate how this belief
affects your behavior and what would happen if this belief
is changed. Try to reconstruct the thought to a more
positive mindset. The next step is to translate those new
thoughts into new behaviors. One of the best techniques
for doing so is to block out time on your calendar and
treat it as if it were an appointment with your best
client. You surely would not miss an appointment with your
best client to deal with a task that was short of an
emergency would you? After a short time these new
behaviors will become habits and the rewards will follow.
If marketing is a struggle it is absolutely critical to
engage in this marketing mentality process. Many companies
with great services and products go out of business because
they could not implement a consistent lead generation
system. Most often that failure starts with the lack of a
marketing mentality. The great news is that the necessary
mentality can be developed with effort, focus and an open
mind. You will amazed by the impact on your business.
----------------------------------------------------
David Eissman founder of Guaranteed Growth Systems and the
creator of the Growth Accelerator System - "The fuel to get
you there faster "teaches business owners and independent
professionals how to create a step by step lead generation
and sales conversion system resulting in increased revenue
and profits. For FREE content rich information on how to
accelerate the growth of your business visit,
http://www.GuaranteedGS.com
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