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Hi and welcome to the podcast, this week I'd like to share the audio of a presentation I did asking who is the leader in your market and how will you create the top-of-mind awareness you'll need to dominate... in a good way! If you'd like to see the video that goes with it, you can go to topsecrets.com/tmd. That's topsecrets.com/tmd. Let's roll!
Hi, I'm David Blaise from TopSecrets.com, and I have a tough question for you today, if you're a business owner or a salesperson...
Who is the leader in your market for the products and services you offer? Is it you or someone else? I hope, for your sake, it's you. But if it's not, then please pay close attention to what I'm about to say.
Here's something you already know is true:
In every market, there are leaders and followers.
The leaders are those who dominate their markets. They're well known, they're recognized, and people tend to think of them FIRST whenever they're in need of the products and services they offer. The followers, on the other hand, are those most often left fighting for the scraps, after the leaders have had their fill. That creates a very uncomfortable situation for everyone, except the leaders.
Now ask yourself this:
How would your life be different if you were viewed as the leader?
What if you could create that all-important top of mind awareness among the most influential and successful people in your market?
What would it feel like to have the very best prospects - the most highly profitable clients -- chasing you, instead of the other way around?
Essentially what I'm asking is, what if you could really lead and begin to dominate your market... in a good way.
Here's what I mean...
To some people, the idea of dominating their market sounds impossible, like it could never happen. To some, it sounds controlling -- a little too "Fifty Shades of Grey" perhaps. Some people just want to do a good job for their customers, and not really think in terms of dominating anything. And that's fine. This material is definitely NOT for everyone.
But before you decide whether or not it's for you, remember...
There are leaders in every market. And they rarely end up leading... by accident. Regardless of your business or industry, there is very likely a company or two that leap to mind when prospects start thinking about buying the products or services you offer. Those who leap to mind immediately have that "top of mind awareness" I mentioned. These are the people who are generally considered to be the market leaders. They're also the ones who tend to dominate their markets.
On the flip side, those who don't leap to mind are at a huge disadvantage, because they're effectively shut out of the decision-making process before ever having a chance to be considered. This is what leaves them fighting for the scraps.
But here's something interesting to consider...
Who do YOUR very best clients think of first when they need the products and service you offer?
Well, if they're your very best clients, then it's likely they think of YOU first. That means you have already achieved top of mind awareness, and therefore some level of market domination, among the core group of clients you serve. Nothing wrong with that, is there? They still choose whether or not to do business with you. They still choose whether or not to consider alternatives. They still maintain ultimate buying authority over their purchases.
So just to be clear, when I talk about dominating your market, I'm not talking about controlling, exploiting, manipulating or bullying other people. I'm simply talking about creating an environment -- a level of awareness -- in which all the best prospects in your target market know who you are, know what you do, and have the ability to make a thumbs up or thumbs down, yes or no decision about whether or not to do business with you. The same way your current clients do. Only bigger.
When I talk about market domination, I'm addressing those who operate real businesses and offer real value to their clients.
I am specifically NOT talking about get rich quick schemes, shady investments or completely underfunded startup operations on one end....
Or monopolies, crony capitalism or government-mandated purchases on the other end. This material is for smart, focused, ethical business owners and salespeople who want to do well in the world, by providing products, services and solutions that actually help their customers.
So if that's you, then consider this; Market Domination is an inside job. It ultimately takes place in the minds of your prospects and clients. So the better you get at claiming that mind-share, the more customers you'll have and the more successful you will be. Market domination is about leadership. It's about setting the standard for what's good, what's great or even what's possible in a market. It's about standing out.
As you begin to dominate your market, you'll also find that the job of selling becomes a lot easier, because people already feel like they know you. They recognize you as the expert and they trust you to do the job they believe you're best suited to doing. When this happens, you're far less dependent on coercive, brute-force selling tactics and hard-core closing techniques. Which means people will also tend to like you better. It means you're far more likely to get repeat business, and it also means your clients are far more likely to refer you to people they like. Because no one ever wants to refer a pushy, obnoxious salesperson to someone they actually like.
Make sense so far? If so, then let's take a look at why so many professional, hard-working, consciences business owners and salespeople - who might have exceptional skills and exceptional products and services - still fail to create that top of mind awareness and dominate their markets.
If you're not currently leading your market or creating that level of awareness...
If you feel like you're largely unknown or perhaps just an afterthought among the people you most need to reach...
If new, high-value, prospects aren't giving you the time of day because they don't know who you are, don't know what you do, and don't have any idea why they should care... That's a big problem. But it's not surprising.
So here's the first problem you need to overcome. You're invisible. Like a ghost. Meaning, the people who would most benefit from your products and services don't even know you exist.
You see, the world of sales and marketing has changed. Smilin' and dialin' will no longer cut it. Typical sales approaches are no longer effective. Pushy salespeople are now the first to get pushed out. And manipulative closing techniques alienate more prospects than they convert.
That means it's time to change the approach, to fit with what's working now. It means NOT just doing what everyone else is doing, because those traditional, outdated approaches are no longer effective. They don't work like they used to. So if you want to keep up, sell more of your products and services and dominate your market, it's time to learn some new skills and new approaches. Because if you don't catch up with the times, you will almost certainly get left behind.
As you probably know, being successful in sales or even business in general is becoming harder by the minute for some, while becoming far easier for others.
But that's just part of the story. There are many hobbyists in business -- people who just dabble, and never take the time to get good at what they do.
The bad news is that they give selling and small business ownership a bad name. But the good news is that it's very easy to outperform them. That means you don't have to be the absolute pinnacle of performance to dominate, you just need to be better than average at creating awareness.
So how do you become known in your market?
In a recent podcast series I talked about three levels of awareness: Entry-level, Comfort-Level and Top of Mind. If you start from the premise that you're actually invisible - meaning that you're not known in your market and that many of your best prospects have absolutely no idea who you are or what you do - then it becomes clear that you have to create an environment in which that is no longer the case.
This involves creating entry-level awareness. The type of awareness that simply lets people know you exist.
Will they buy from you at that point? Probably not! Before that can happen, they need to feel comfortable with you. And comfort-level awareness requires a different level of engagement. We don't have time to get into all the specifics of this in our brief time together today, but your own experience will tell you that if they don't know you exist, they can't buy from you and if they DO know you exist, but they're not yet comfortable with you, they won't buy from you.
So if entry-level awareness is what allows them to know who you are, then comfort-level awareness is what allows them to feel good enough about you to place that first order with you.
Beyond that, top of mind awareness is what's required to create that environment in which the best prospects for your products and services can easily decide whether or not they want to do business with you. Remember, those who succeed in creating top of mind awareness in their markets dominate, while those who don't are left fighting for the scraps.
And even though business has changed, you can still build a wildly successful business or sales career by simply changing your approach.
Here are 3 Action Steps you can take right now to help you wrap your head around this and start making progress with your career.
Action Step 1) Create Entry-Level Awareness with Those Who Do Not Yet Know You
You've probably heard the old saying, "it's not what you know, it's who you know." But that is outdated thinking. It's no longer true. Today,