Many people believe that the basic issue in marketing is convincing prospects that you have a better product or service. This is not true. If you have a small market share and you have to do battle with larger, better-financed competitors, then your marketing strategy was probably flawed in the first place. You probably violated the first law of marketing. There are 13 laws of marketing and each week I'll send you one in the series to help you bring a new perspective to your marketing and how you can grow your Realtor© business
The Law of Leadership
In marketing, it is better to be first than to try to convince someone that you have a better product than the one that did get there first. Everyone knows that Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly the Atlantic solo. Do you know the name of the second person to fly the Atlantic?The second person to fly the Atlantic was Bert Hinkler. Hinkler was a better pilot than Lindbergh, he flew faster and consumed less fuel, but he certainly doesn't have the name recognition of Lindbergh.The Lindbergh approach to marketing is obviously superior, yet most companies go the Hinkler route-wait for a market to develop and then do it faster, cheaper, or more efficiently. But being second does not make you a household name.
The Lindbergh approach to marketing is obviously superior, yet most companies go the Hinkler route-wait for a market to develop and then do it faster, cheaper, or more efficiently. But being second does not make you a household name.
The leading brand is almost always the first brand into the prospect's mind. IBM was first in mainframe computers, Coca-cola the first in Cola, Harvard was the first college in the US, all remain leading brands.
Another reason the first brand tends to maintain leadership is that the brand name often becomes synonymous with the product and is used in a generic way. For example; if I asked for a Kleenex, most people would give me a tissue.
What do you do if you weren't first in the marketplace? Even if you didn't know the name of the second person to fly solo across the Atlantic, you probably know the name of the third. It was Amelia Earhart. What Earhart did, from a marketing standpoint, was to create a new category-the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo.
After IBM became a big success in computers, everybody jumped into the field-Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Sperry-jokingly known as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Which dwarf grew up to be a world-wide powerhouse, "the second largest computer company in the world"? None of them. The most successful computer company in the seventies and eighties, next to IBM, was DEC. IBM was first in computers. DEC was first in minicomputers. If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category that you can be first in.
There are different ways of being first. Dell got into the crowded personal computer market by being first to sell computers by phone. Charles Schwab didn't open a better brokerage firm, he opened a discount brokerage firm.
Traditional market thinking is brand-oriented, and prospects are on the defensive when it comes to brands. Everyone talks about why their brand is better. But prospects have an open mind when it comes to categories. Everyone is interested in what's new. Few people are interested in what's better.
Marketing Activity.
To move your business forward you must constantly think about turning prospects into clients. Using what you now know about the first law of marketing make a list of new and innovated services you can offer prospects that would turn them into clients. Once you have short list put a priority against each one base on how innovative you think it is. Then implement!
The leading brand is almost always the first brand into the prospect's mind. IBM was first in mainframe computers, Coca-cola the first in Cola, Harvard was the first college in the US, all remain leading brands.
Another reason the first brand tends to maintain leadership is that the brand name often becomes synonymous with the product and is used in a generic way. For example; if I asked for a Kleenex, most people would give me a tissue.
What do you do if you weren't first in the marketplace? Even if you didn't know the name of the second person to fly solo across the Atlantic, you probably know the name of the third. It was Amelia Earhart. What Earhart did, from a marketing standpoint, was to create a new category-the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo.
After IBM became a big success in computers, everybody jumped into the field-Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Sperry-jokingly known as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Which dwarf grew up to be a world-wide powerhouse, "the second largest computer company in the world"? None of them. The most successful computer company in the seventies and eighties, next to IBM, was DEC. IBM was first in computers. DEC was first in minicomputers. If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category that you can be first in.
There are different ways of being first. Dell got into the crowded personal computer market by being first to sell computers by phone. Charles Schwab didn't open a better brokerage firm, he opened a discount brokerage firm.
Traditional market thinking is brand-oriented, and prospects are on the defensive when it comes to brands. Everyone talks about why their brand is better. But prospects have an open mind when it comes to categories. Everyone is interested in what's new. Few people are interested in what's better.
Marketing Activity.
To move your business forward you must constantly think about turning prospects into clients. Using what you now know about the first law of marketing make a list of new and innovated services you can offer prospects that would turn them into clients. Once you have short list put a priority against each one base on how innovative you think it is. Then implement!
