Companies spend a lot of time talking about their products and how they stack up to the competition. They strategize about the need to reduce their cost or add a bell or whistle to set them apart. Now, I don’t want to discount the need to have a strong product offer. But at the end of the day, customers won’t care as much about your products as you do. What they care about is your ability to deliver. Do you know what you’re talking about? Do you do what you say you’ll do when we say you’ll do it? Do you care about them?
In many cases, products are not purchased because they are different from your competitors — its because you are different from your competitor. You win when you demonstrate the right combination of expertise and credibility. You win when you win your customers’ trust.
If you want to be successful, focus more on sharpening your skills and less on waiting for the perfect product that will “sell itself”. You succeed when people make a connection with you that they value. It’s that simple. And that hard.
Looks like you also have your best thoughts in the wee-hours of the morning! Nothing like a good cup of joe, a laptop, and wordpress.
My take… This is EXACTLY why, IMHO, more executives need to be blogging professionally. It’s a whole lot easier to manage a product than a corporate profile, to hide behind an “ivory tower” than to be out on the street with the buying public. Come on insurance exec’s – follow Doug’s lead and start blogging. We need to hear your voices. Be part of the solution instead of part of the problem….
Thanks, Mike. The key is to share and engage. A blog is one way, there are others. But, at the end of the day, what people think of us as an organization has more to do with how we interact with them than anything else.