“A merchant who approaches business with the idea of serving the public well has nothing to fear from the competition.” – James Cash Penney, Born Sep. 16, 1875.
Well, J. Cash, I think times have changed.
Service is still key.
But you no longer need to be concerned with serving “the public” at large. We aren't tied to geography. We aren't limited by local foot traffic.
Instead, we can laser focus on a specific audience segment, united in their common interests, as opposed to their location on the globe and proximity to our physical retail location.
So, catch up to now, grandpa!
I digress. Point is, businesses today don’t need to focus on “the public” unless you’re Amazon.
But we do still have the focus of building that targeted clientele, and like J. Cash said, our aim is serving them WELL.
And if that is your focus – truly SERVING people what they want and need – then it's true… Serve your audience well, and competition is no longer a concern.
Because customers who are well served have no need to wander. So they don't even look for another provider, as long as you keep them satisfied.
How to keep customers satisfied? Fulfill your sales promises.
How to fulfill sales promises? Make ones that are easy to keep.
How do you do that? Undersell and overdeliver.
It really is that simple.
Create good solutions that work.
Promise people they work.
Fulfill that promise after they buy.
Repeat to create loyal lifetime customers.
But let’s give one final twist – if you can frame what you offer as unique, exclusive, rare, scarce, elite, and/or in demand… then your buyers have no choice but to buy from you.
You serve them well by simply being available to take their order for whatever it is they cannot get from anyone else, because no one else carries it.
Only you.
And you’re there, at their service.