I just spoke with someone with a 100 year old business. He explained to me that I didn’t understand the way his industry worked. In his industry, you don’t use marketing, you use long time relationships. You don’t show what you do that’s different from your competition, because everyone does the same thing. You don’t tell your customer about new ways you can help them, because the same customers use you in the same ways. That’s the way they’ve done it for over 100 years. But business is pretty slow these days.
I told him about an 87 year old business that just closed it’s doors. They lost out to a competitor who hadn’t been around as long, didn’t have decades long relationships, and didn’t wait for long time customers to place orders.
The competitor innovated. They found out what problems their customers had and tried to come up with solutions. They used every opportunity to inform their customers and prospects about what they do that’s different from their competition, about how they could make their customers’ lives easier. (You might notice that cutting prices wasn’t part of the strategy)
They’re still in business, and selling more.
If you’re still in business that’s great. How do you do it? It is just that your business is 100 years old and so you expect it to last another hundred? Or you’ve still got some momentum left? Or are you innovating, solving problems, and helping in ways your competition doesn’t?
For monthly ideas on how to innovate, solve problems, and help people in ways your competition doesn’t send me an email with “Send me ideas” in the subject line.