Alan Weiss, author of 37 books including Million Dollar Speaking and I are getting ready for our The Odd Couple Marketing and Strategy Seminar in Las Vegas June 25-26, 2011.
Here is an issue in one of Alan’s newsletter. He has one of the most brilliant consulting minds in North America.
Competition opens markets, but you still must stand out in that market. Wendy’s and Burger King try to create very different identities from MacDonald’s, even though they’re all selling hamburgers.
What can you do to stand out in a vibrant but crowded market?
■Be insightful. Don’t maintain that teams should be developed, but take the position that most such groups are actually committees, not teams.
■Step out of the hackneyed and mundane. Tell people that “talking the walk” is equally important with “walking the talk.”
■Be contrarian. Assert that leadership doesn’t originate at he top or the bottom, but in the middle.
■Use examples. Most approaches are far too conceptual and theoretical. Use examples, preferably from the daily business headlines, to make your particular points. (“Today’s purchase of T-Mobile by AT&T illustrates my point of consolidation inevitably following frenzied growth.”)
■Don’t keep citing the thought leaders. If you use the dominant figures in the discipline to try to prove the legitimacy of your approach, the natural question becomes: “Then why shouldn’t I as a client go directly to the source?”
■Don’t merely copy. You need original intellectual property and models. Wendy’s doesn’t have a burger called “The Big Wendy” like the Big Mac. It establishes proprietary offerings (The Baconator).
■Use testimonials. Nothing sets you apart like a delighted client. Exploit your client list and try to obtain both video and textual testimonials.
Unlike fish in a school for protection, you want to be caught!
Why not check out The Odd Couple? While you are at it my one day speaking school the day before.
