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I Met Your Biggest Competitor Today and They Are Laughing at You

by joe golfer
10 replies
I met your biggest competitor today. Your biggest competitor is the STATUS QUO.

Around 60 percent of the identified prospects you have in your funnel will NEVER close due to inaction.

The client just doesn't want to do anything. It's natural. They'd rather keep things the same. The status quo is the "pain they know."

We humans are funny. We'll put up with annoying hassles because we just don't want to deal with fixing them. Show your client that is why they need to hire you.

They don't have to DO anything except say yes to you.
#biggest #competitor #laughing #met #today
  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    Excellent, next meeting I will go in dressed as Rick Parfitt, and say 'whatever you want, whatever you like, whatever you say you pay your money you takes you choice!' .

    That should close the deal ;-)
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    Mike

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  • Profile picture of the author joe golfer
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    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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  • Profile picture of the author Talltom1
    Joe, I think your observation about challenging the status quo is 'spot on'.

    Awhile back I did a presentation to a large group of attorneys at a national convention about marketing strategy and how to survive in a hyper competitive market/industry, which to this market segment is a dicey proposition on a good day. For some reason this group has the same regard for marketing people, as joe sixpack has for lawyers.

    But I opened the presentation by asking, with a show of hands, how many people were familiar with the Pareto Principle. A few hands went up. Then I asked how many people had heard of the 80/20 rule. Nearly every hand went up.

    My followup illustration was that 80% of the people in that room would be leaving in 45 minutes, if not earlier, with the attitude that I was another one of them marketing quacks selling snake oil and that nothing I'd said made them change their mind.

    The other 20% would be legitimately interested in what I had to say that day. Of that group, I indicated that 80% of them would file this information away to await some future epiphany, and the remaining 20% of this group would actually take action - actually DO something to be competitive in their economic world.

    I went on to say that if there were 500 people in this room, 400 of you will leave with no change in attitude toward marketing, 80 people would think I had some interesting stuff to say, and 20 people would take my concepts to heart and actually DO something with it.

    My conclusion - if you truly want to move to the front of the herd in a hyper competitive market, JUST DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING. 96% of the competitors have already fallen behind you.

    Talltom
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    • Profile picture of the author joe golfer
      Originally Posted by Talltom1 View Post


      My conclusion - if you truly want to move to the front of the herd in a hyper competitive market, JUST DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING. 96% of the competitors have already fallen behind you.

      Talltom
      I was just listening to Tim Ferris on a podcast. He said he is always amazed at the lack of action in people. He said on his blog (or in one of his books, I can't remember) he explains step by step how to create a bestselling book. He lays it out in detail!

      Yet people still come to him a week before they launch a book and ask for some help promoting it. He asks them if they did any of the work he outlined, and they say no. But they STILL want him to pimp them to his tribe.

      He said if you just do a few of the steps to success, you are way, way ahead of the majority of people on the planet.
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      Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
      - Jack Trout
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      • Profile picture of the author Talltom1
        Originally Posted by joe golfer View Post

        I was just listening to Tim Ferris on a podcast. He said he is always amazed at the lack of action in people.
        That's an interesting concept or dynamic as it relates to marketing or to sales. What's your opinion? Is it because a risk averse nature, a fear of failure, too deeply rooted in their comfort zone?

        Then the obvious followup question...how do we structure our marketing message / communication to pass over this 'objective'?

        Or, as marketers, do we ignore the 80% that will never connect with us, and script our messaging for the 20% that would be receptive to our proposition?
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        • Profile picture of the author joe golfer
          Originally Posted by Talltom1 View Post

          That's an interesting concept or dynamic as it relates to marketing or to sales. What's your opinion? Is it because a risk averse nature, a fear of failure, too deeply rooted in their comfort zone?

          Then the obvious followup question...how do we structure our marketing message / communication to pass over this 'objective'?

          Or, as marketers, do we ignore the 80% that will never connect with us, and script our messaging for the 20% that would be receptive to our proposition?
          He said it's because most people underestimate themselves and overestimate others.

          Also, people don't take action because, "If I fail, I will lose self respect." Or I will look bad. Or I will lose hope.

          He also said many people misunderstand him, thinking the 4-Hour approach was about shirking responsibility. When they find out that you have to work to meet goals, they bail.

          Check it out--he explains it here (fast forward to the 29:45 mark):
          SPI 110 : Tim Ferriss on Podcasting, Productivity, Experimentation and if He Had to Start Over
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          Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
          - Jack Trout
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  • Profile picture of the author internetmarketer1
    I do agree to some extent that business owners are very much like this. They want to stick to where they are, and that they are fine with what they are doing. It is hard at times because this is a common problem most business owners, especially because of the fact that they haven't done much online marketing. The goal as an offline marketer is to convince them of what you can do for them online. If you show them that they don't have to be afraid of the unknown, they'll be more at ease with the situation.
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    Tired of Google?! Exhausted from all the rehashed trash?!
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    If status quo is anyone's competitor than that person has very low standards.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Hensley
    Its true Joe, people just really wanna stay in their comfort zone, considering this while writing promotions or sales copy is a good idea. Our copy should address their current situation and compel them to seek out alternatives.
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  • Profile picture of the author KloudStrife
    Awesome advice, The status quo is a business mans worst enemy
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