According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is the organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer [customer] relationships in ways that benefit the organization [practice] and its stakeholders.
Selling professionals and entrepreneurs alike must understand they are in the relationship business. Clients invest in those they trust and those they respect.
So what is brand and what is its importance? Brands offer instant recognition and identification. They are also promise consistent reliable standards of quality, size, or even psychological attraction. Several national and regional surveys typically illustrate that consumers choose brand not because of price but simply name alone! People will make a purchase and choose a vendor solely for brand.
The value of a brand is that consumers will purchase for the brand’s own sake and not with the usual amount of analysis, cynicism or caution. Mary Kay Cosmetics gives Cadillac’s to top selling representatives with a purpose. I was in Dallas to receive my PhD in 2005. I will never forget the faces, the aggressiveness and the desire of those attendees to receive that pink Cadillac!
A brand creates a response among the public. Think of brands that you use. When you want to copy you Xerox. When you require a personal computer you purchase IBM or Dell. And, if you thirst you desire Coke. These responses create emotion and get customers to act. Simply put individuals make emotional decisions not rational ones. When your brand creates that emotion that says, ” I want Dr. XYZ,” you have created customer allure. Research shows that it costs 200 to 400 times more to build brand equity but the long term effects are worth it.
For you to begin to build a personal brand you must have several items in your marketing toolkit. It is vital that when building a brand you focus is outward. Your intent is how you improve the condition of your customer. You must prove value since this will provide competitive differentiation.
Your marketing toolkit must include:
- Market- Building a niche is helpful to establish differentiation. Target marketing is very effective for both client volume and differentiation. Review market conditions and demographics prior to establishing yourself in a particular market segment.
- Value Proposition – Simply put, a value proposition is a pithy statement that promotes the practice to customers using outcome and results. This brief statement denotes the benefit(s) that a customer receives from working with you. It is outcome based and focuses all attention on outcomes not process, method or anything further. Be mindful, this is not an elevator speech. The value proposition succinctly addresses the concern. Dependent the offered results the statement might also help with brand!
There are other reasons for writing a value proposition:
- Distinguishes you from the competition
- Distinguishes you and the organization in distinctive markets
- Accomplishes quicker time to market
- Testimonials – Can you prove what you say? Testimonials and statistics that articulate results help prospective customers understand your value from the prospective of others in a similar position. Most imperative is that customers do not want to hear from you but from others that have received similar results others seek.
- Marketing Acceleration© Tools – You need to create a gravitation pull to you so that you spend less time attending free events, conducting sidewalk seminars and trade shows. You need to invent magnetism so that customers gravitate to you. Stop the advertisements in the Yellow Pages and the use of other tools that pay little if no return. You must 1) network aggressively, 2) speak and conduct your own informational seminars, 3) write booklets on health management, 4) produce audio techniques on health 5) attend and become active in community events 6) seek referrals and finally 7) join associations. Those chiropractors aggressively active create thriving practices with less labor.
