Should You Be in the Business of Changing Minds?
Is it worth trying to capture a market that’s already having their needs met adequately?
Just adequate? Maybe not such a huge hurdle to overcome.
What’s the difference between adequately served and content?
Between not looking, and loyal?
Could be hard to spot.
I’d rather look for
underserved
discontent
searching
waiting to bail
Or unserved. And have the field to myself.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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17 February 2009, 7:44 am
“I think I’m going to start a business… I KNOW! I’ll become a freelance writer!!!!”
“Um… You’ll have a lot of competition, y’know…”
“YES! But that’s okay because I’ll be DIFFERENT! And SPECIAL!”
“Aren’t we all special?”
“YES! But I’ll be more special than special! It’ll be a success!!!”
“Yyyyeah, okay. G’luck with that.”
17 February 2009, 8:28 am
My first inclination is of course find an unmet need (that people are willing to pay cash to fulfill) and serve that market. Yet, there is value in the taken market – clearly identifiable, no need to create or convince of need, if you do something better, different or offer an equally valuable add-on you can create competitive advantage. Depending on the size of the market, you could do just well with a tiny piece of it, no domination required.
17 February 2009, 9:37 am
@Kelly – Wow, echoes of my favourite post. So what you are saying basically is “Look for the Open Box”.
Shamwow to that.
~Graham
17 February 2009, 9:41 am
*bursts out laughing and falls off chair*
17 February 2009, 10:41 am
Graham-Score! LMAO… needed that.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Beauty And The Buck
17 February 2009, 10:56 am
Big fish little pond, little fish big pond?
At the risk of mixing all kinds of metaphors and fracturing a few fairy tales… maybe like Goldilocks we look for the one that fits just right.
And then there is the Duke of Wellington, not Duke Ellington, but he would do the same thing, choosing your ground is the most important decision in winning any battle. Duke the first, retreated to a little field near a place called Waterloo. The other Duke, won our hearts by putting his heart and his soul into collaboration instead of going solo. So picking your ground and picking your tactics…highly important.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Beauty And The Buck
17 February 2009, 2:27 pm
Awe, you’re taken? All that stalking for nothin’. Sham-dang!
Anyway, what is the difference between not-looking and loyal? Does loyalty imply fanatic, non-thinking or is it a positive fascination?
Why do people buy some things religiously? Maybe they were open minded at one time and every time they tested the product it was better than any other product… So they stopped testing. They became loyal. But would they switch again if a better product came along?
It seems that a consistently good product is the required baseline for both “not-looking” and loyalty. But I think there’s something more here too: there’s got to be a human connection or emotional tie somehow to create loyalty.
It could be as simple as knowing a customer’s name. My health food store not only remembers my name, but remembers what I want when I come in. Sometimes they give 10% discounts when you buy enough stuff, but the check-out lady who works there often gives me extra 10% cards just because. Do you think I’d go to another shop when that’s the way they treat me there. They make me feel special.
Todd Smith’s last blog post…Animals – Do you really know how they feel?
17 February 2009, 2:32 pm
James,
‘Zactly. Unless you know what triggers those folks who are searching, to finally bail, and unless you can become top-of-the-mind right before they do, you’re gonna spin your wheels. A lot.
Karen,
If you’re doing something different enough or that’s an add-on, not head-to-head competition with providers who have contented customers, then you are finding an unserved/ underserved market, right?
Graham,
Shamwow, indeed.
Janice,
Again, Wellington or Cartier, if you’ve found a pond no one else is in, then you aren’t attempting to poach happy-enough customers, because whoever’s there either isn’t being served or is being served in some completely inadequate way.
Think about your own buying habits. Something we all use—how about paper towels? You don’t even notice if a new brand scoots its way onto the shelf. You pick up the same color package, in the same place, every time you run out. It takes a lot to move somebody who hasn’t had a falling out with their default provider of a product or service.
& Ellington? He just reinvented the world. If you can do that, don’t worry about markets. Even the content are hungry for Earth-shattering innovation.
Regards,
Kelly
17 February 2009, 2:44 pm
Hehe, Todd, you sneaked in under my slooow typing.
To me, loyalty is a lower level than being a fan, but still beyond the reach of any “one of the crowd” providers to entice.
And I agree, there’s a very high cost to get even a loyal customer to change. Could a new health food store offer you occasional 15% coupons to get you to change from your occasional 10% store? Probably not enough incentive.
So they’d be better off finding a pond of customers that isn’t loyal to your local place (as Janice said), or making their focus so laserlike on something that place doesn’t currently offer, that it’s the clear choice for X other thing (as Karen was said).
Until later,
Kelly
17 February 2009, 3:43 pm
Ok, I see what you mean… A fan being someone who raves about your business to everyone, a loyal customer will just keep coming back.
No I wouldn’t go to the other store even for 15% coupons. In fact, I switched away from the other store because I did a cost analysis of what I buy and it was 17% more expensive at the other store. And since I often get a 10% discount at the new store it makes a big – 27% – difference (the more expensive store gives only $10 off when your points add up not 10%).
But most people still go to the old store just because they always have – also the older store has a cafe that may be a unique draw for some people, and it has a bit more ambiance – the new store looks and feels more like a vitamin shop that was converted to a health food store (which it was).
Todd Smith’s last blog post…Animals – Do you really know how they feel?
17 February 2009, 4:11 pm
Todd,
Do you know the story of a young woman who set up house and decided to cook a ham?
She pulled the ham out of the fridge, cut the ends off of it, put it in the pan, and set it in the oven to roast. When her mom arrived for a housewarming dinner a couple of hours later, she set the beautiful ham in the middle of the dining table. Mom said, “Why have you cut up the ham like this?”
“That’s the way I’ve always done it, Mom. You taught me that.”
Mom laughed. “I only cut the ends off the ham because my oven was too small to fit it in our old apartment!”
Moral of the story: People will do things for a long time just because they always have, without any thought as to whether what they are doing makes sense or not. Like going to the old health food store.
Better to find customers without such an established routine!
Later,
Kelly
17 February 2009, 4:19 pm
Kelly – good story! Yeah, I hear that… find customers from a new pool.
Todd Smith’s last blog post…Animals – Do you really know how they feel?
17 February 2009, 4:50 pm
Kelly- I was rereading your list and it reminded me of ” the few, the proud, the marines…
I just copied your list down to think it over. Again, you just help us do what we do so much better. Thank you.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Beauty And The Buck
17 February 2009, 5:26 pm
17 February 2009, 6:46 pm
Maybe then a good idea is to ask people who use a particular service what could be improved by their current provider – see what you can do better – or maybe, just maybe they’ll give you some clues.
Do some research before you start a new venture, or enter a new market?
(Hey, I could charge for this!)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the mind and the heart.
17 February 2009, 6:53 pm
Brett – Good idea. You can learn a lot by asking. We could stand outside the other store!
17 February 2009, 7:02 pm
@Todd,
I figured why not? And I think that it was already said in other words by some of the other folks, or in a roundabout way.
Usually, when I sit down and think about the things I would like to do (some of which I am in the midst of right now… patience, young Jedi…), I try hard to remember the principle of abundance.
One person has done something successfully. That means I can do it too.
Now. The trick is to find some customers that the other person *is not* serving.
So. I could clone the service you offer in the United States (or wherever), and then offer it in India.
Sound good?
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the mind and the heart.
17 February 2009, 7:09 pm
Brett – Makes sense to me. Why reinvent the wheel? I think most successful people don’t end up doing something new… just trying to do it better.
Todd Smith’s last blog post…Animals – Do you really know how they feel?
17 February 2009, 7:12 pm
Yeah – do it better. Take what already works, and apply it somewhere else. Take what already works, to save yourself time, too. Right tool for the job and all that.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the mind and the heart.
17 February 2009, 7:20 pm
What’s the difference between adequately served and content?
Between not looking, and loyal?
Price, I think.
You get what you pay for.
If you overcharge or give lousy service, you get lousy unhappy customers.
If the price is too cheap, then the customers are happy, but the business owner feels ripped off, and might tend to get complacent and grumpy.
If profit margin is an issue, there are other means to attract loyal customers.
For example, (wait for it…)
….20-FOOT INFLATABLE GORILLAS.
Friar’s last blog post…Avoiding Procrastination: How NOT to do it (*)
17 February 2009, 7:23 pm
Okay.
“You get what you pay for” is absolute rot (sorry, Friar). I know this because we price ourselves at half what other designers charge – and offer the same as they do. I know this because many US writers asking $50 for what someone else in another country charges $5 cannot write as well as the lower-priced provider. I’ve paid $350 for a winter jacket this year and f***ing froze, but my $60 Ungava crap parka keeps me toasty warm.
No no. Price is NO indication of quality, ever, ever.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Are You An Abusive Person?
17 February 2009, 7:24 pm
@Friar,
Yeah, but I bet that in many ways you and I could take some of the overcharged adequately served customers of The Factory and make them content for half the price.
Which of course is the reason why the “old boys club” exists in that industry, to give the retired consultants something to do and prevent the young whippersnappers from stealing away the market…
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the mind and the heart.
17 February 2009, 7:38 pm
@James
“No no. Price is NO indication of quality, ever, ever”
Ummm…how can you say that?
Price isn’t always an indication of quality, I agree. But to say it’s “NO indication”, ever…I’m sorry, that’s just bullsh*t.
Tell me the more fancy restaurants don’t ever serve better food than the local truck stop. That a $60 bottle of Scotch isn’t ever better than the $19.95 rot-gut. That a BMW dosen’t ever drive better than a Dodge Omni.
Tell me that the dollar-store crap Made in China is just as good as the more expensive stuff we make here in North America.
Oh well…I think you just want to debate today. If I said “We need oxygen to stay alive”, I suspect you’d disagree.
Friar’s last blog post…Avoiding Procrastination: How NOT to do it (*)
17 February 2009, 7:45 pm
Price may or may not be an indication of quality – the customer has to be educated, and the vendor charging a fair price for the product or service in that particular market, perhaps that is fair?
What James says can be true for some services or products or markets, and what Friar says can be true for other things.
“It depends” is maybe the only thing that is right, for as surely as I’ve gotten great – AMAZING – service from folks who charge half what others charge, I also know that my VW GTI drives a heck of a lot better than a Chevy Cobalt.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the mind and the heart.
17 February 2009, 7:51 pm
In either case, I think the bottom line for loyalty is: “Do I, the buyer, feel like I’m getting good value for what I’m paying?” It can come from lower price or it can come from lots of extra perks (like the store knowing my name). In either case, I’m satisfied. The more satisfied I feel, the more loyal I become.
Todd Smith’s last blog post…Animals – Do you really know how they feel?
17 February 2009, 8:00 pm
Todd,
Exactly! I may be willing to pay for a particular brand of computer (for instance) because for me it provides better value than something else.
Or I may get something really cheap because it is “good enough”.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the mind and the heart.
17 February 2009, 8:20 pm
@Brett @Todd, interesting story – the gentleman who started 7-11 stood outside the grocery store at 5pm (after work) and polled the men coming out with just a few items. He got the idea after noticing his wife always asked him to stop by the store for milk, bread, or some other staple on his way home from work. He asked other men what they had come for and his questioning led him to open a little store that sold the basics where men could pop in on their way home to grab milk or bread because the wife had asked.
On being taken – I love to look like I’m taken even though I’m not. As a result of not looking available, interest is heightened. Interesting parallel to the market.
Karen Swim’s last blog post…How to Sing Like a Canary without Being a Blowhard
17 February 2009, 8:45 pm
@Karen,
That is interesting… and judging from the typical customers I see at the local variety store, that fellow was on the money then and it is still true.
And your parallel – another good point. The “forbidden fruit marketing” concept.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the mind and the heart.
17 February 2009, 9:05 pm
@ Friar – I fail to see how I suddenly “just want to debate today”. I didn’t agree with your statement, and I think that my statement still stands.
Price is, very often, an arbitrary decision. Yes, it takes cost of goods into account, but there’s very little else to determine why BMWs cost a mint when their cost of goods isn’t as high as the price tag.
The short line is that business and companies charge whatever they want for their products and services unless registered by laws or agencies.
Price is never an indication of quality. Does it influence our perceived satisfaction and perception of quality? Absolutely. But the last time I checked, human beings were terrible sources of being accurate about reality.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Are You An Abusive Person?
17 February 2009, 9:13 pm
Hehehe.
@ All,
Yes, research is good. Essential, in fact.
No, you don’t always get what you pay for. Goodness knows I’ve bought shoes for way too much that haven’t lasted at all… but (to continue the example) I’ve also bought shoes for cheap, in frustration at big prices, and had them last bare hours. So inexpensive is not necessarily a badge of honor, either.
I feel I’ve been down this road before….
& on that other kind of “taken”—men pushing strollers always attract ladies, women with a ring attract guys… but maybe it’s the air of confidence and joy that comes from being taken or not caring if you aren’t?
Or maybe, it’s just that there are a lot of folks who think they should be in the business of changing minds.
Later,
Kelly
17 February 2009, 11:25 pm
Oh, yes….price in NEVER an indication of quality.
People just charge whatever they want…and customers pay whatever we want. There’s NO correlation to the cost of a product or service, and the quality of the work that gets put into it.
Now, I’m going to see if I can by a Ferari for $5000. And then maybe see if I can hire a web consultant for $5.00/hr.
Because theoretically, I should be able to. (After all, isn’t it all arbitrary, anyways?)
18 February 2009, 2:41 am
Even in an over-saturated market like personal development, there’s always a new way of spinning the message to create something new and I’m sure it’s the same in every market.
“Searching” clicked for me from the list because people will keep buying different things until they find the one that works for them, then they’ll stick with it until they need something slightly different and begin searching again.
The good business will anticipate that change so that loyal clients don’t go searching elsewhere.
@Friar & @James
You’re BOTH right.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post…Is your business beatnik? Mine is.
18 February 2009, 5:00 am
@ Friar – The Ferrari, no. The web designer, yes.
@ Alex – Thank you.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Are You An Abusive Person?
18 February 2009, 7:52 am
@James
If I went over the top with my comments, I apologize. I didn’t intend to get personal or disrespect your web design business.
Perhaps I took our debate too seriously. I think I need to retreat back to the Deep Friar and write about Lucky Charms cereal or inflatable gorillas or something.
Friar’s last blog post…Avoiding Procrastination: How NOT to do it (*)
19 February 2009, 1:51 pm
@ Friar – There was no disrespect shown my business, so no need to apologize for that.
My apologies to Kelly for the small fire as well.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Three Men (with Pens) and a Lady