Use What You Got
Use What You Got
“We are at a disadvantage because we are not in a major retail area of our community.”
“ We cannot buy at as low of a price as our competition.”
“ We are too big to change quickly with market shifts.”
“We are too small to offer the customer what they want.”
“Advertising costs prohibit us from adequately penetrating the market.”
When my clients tell me what they don’t have I tell them how I “Used What I Got” to become very successful in the appliance business.
For one period in my live I weighed 350 lbs., (I am now a mere shadow of my former self at 200 lbs) and I had just entered the appliance business. In order to make an impact I advertised myself as the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania.
As sales steadily rose for 6 months I increased my advertising to include other communities. One day I received a letter from a company that considered themselves to have the largest dollar amount of sales in appliances sales in the state of Pennsylvania. You may have heard of them, Sears and Roebuck. Their letter informed me I was not the largest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania, they were. They very nicely asked me to stop my advertising claims of being the biggest. Of course being young and a bit rash, I threw their letter away and continued growing my business. A few months later another letter arrived from Sears and Roebuck. This time their tone was a bit more stern, reminding me again that they were the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania and insisting I stop all such advertising. Again I filed the letter in the round filing cabinet and pursued my successful advertising theme. A third letter arrived, this time with threats of court action if I did not cease and desist my advertising claim of being the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvanian. Of course you know what I did with this letter. Right, and I found myself in court a few months later facing 3 of their attorneys. After 2 ˝ hours of them proving they commanded the top sales position in appliances in the state of Pennsylvania the magistrate judge turned to me and said, Mr. Janet, what do you have to say?” I stood up, all 350 lbs. of me and said, “I never advertised I had the largest sales in Pennsylvania. I advertise that I am the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania. If they have anyone in their organization selling appliances that weights 350 lbs or more I will stop that form of advertising.” The magistrate judge turned to the Sears and Roebuck attorneys and asked, “Do you?” They huddled together and then answered, “No. Not as far as we know.” I continued to “Use What I Got” and grew my business. I was the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania.
Are you hung up on worrying about what the competition has and you don’t, or are you increasing your sales by using “What You Got”?
Finding out what you got
If you don’t you will be missing a lot.
A story I heard Peter Low tell a few years ago.
Sometime in the early 1900’s there was a very talented unemployed printer in Europe. Unable to find work he wrote, a letter to his relatives living in America asking if there were any opportunities for him. Months later when a return letter arrived he very frantically opened it. You see he was about to lose his home, as he could not pay the taxes or the many loans he had made against it. As he read, tears came to his eyes; his American relatives indeed would help him. In fact he had a job and home with them awaiting his arrival. The only problem remaining was ship fare to America. For two years, desolate, living on the streets, he scrimped and saved every penny until one day he had enough money to pay his fare to America. As he boarded the ship with his only belongings, a few pieces of clothing and what scraps of food he found in garbage cans, his dreams of a new life in America danced in his head.
As the weeks wore on aboard the ship his food supply dwindled and ran out. For days he had nothing to eat. As he watched other passengers enjoy fine dining he was starving. He even thought of breaking into the kitchen at night and stealing the leftovers, but his honesty precluded that. Then one day this starving, dwindling man made his way to the captain’s deck, approached the captain and pleaded, “Captain, please, I will do anything, I will clean the decks, work in the engine room, anything just for a few scraps of food.” The captain looked at the starving man and said, “Sir, I am so sorry. Didn’t you know all your meals are included in your passage fare?”
In the book Speaker’s Library of Business Stories Anecdotes, and Humor Joe Griffit relates this story.
Bill Walsh, former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, is recognized today as an offensive wizard. So how come pro football, with all its finesse and intelligence, allowed Bill Walsh to grow gray before recognizing his skills? How come he had to serve an apprenticeship of twenty-one years as pro assistant coach, in the colleges, in the semi-pros before there was a head NFL job for him? How come he was forty-seven years old before a rookie owner named Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. rejected the counsel of other owners and hired Bill Walsh?
It is one of the most curious accidents in all sport that is devoted to the perfection of its coaches.
Walsh said “I was forty-five before I even had an interview for a head coaching job in the NFL.”
And then he didn’t get it. He was turned down. He was told he and his unorthodox ideas weren’t wanted.
He was interviewed by the Bengals. Rejected
He was interviewed by the Jets. Rejected
He was interviewed by the Rams. Rejected
The pros had Bill Walsh labeled: “Good technician. Not a head coach”
Three Super bowl victories later, Bill Walsh proved that we need to recognize people’s unique abilities.
You need to recognize your unique abilities, recognize “What You Got” and make sure your prospects and customers recognize “What You Got”.
Are you making sure your prospects and customers are recognizing your Uniqueness. Are you using your unique abilities, your unique selling propositions, to make your company, business, and yourself more successful?
Weather you are a ditch digger or the president of General Motors. You must use your Unique Selling Value, Your Unique abilities to tell prospects how you can solve their needs and problems better than your competition
Determining your Unique Selling Value (USV) - Finding What You Got
It is a list about you or your business that focuses on what makes you or your business special and different from your competition. In short, it is the one explanation that you give your customers to buy from you instead of from the competition. In order to successfully market you must have a USV.
I. List all the things you do for your customers.
Every service you provide (large & small)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
II. Cross out the ones that are last important to your prospects
III . Cross out the ones that are easily imitated by your competition.
IV. Cross out the ones that are not easily communicated and understood by your prospects
Use What You Got - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Everyday, in my consulting and speaking business, I hear things like:
“We are at a disadvantage because we are not in a major retail area of our community.”
“ We cannot buy at as low of a price as our competition.”
“ We are too big to change quickly with market shifts.”
“We are too small to offer the customer what they want.”
“Advertising costs prohibit us from adequately penetrating the market.”
When my clients tell me what they don’t have I tell them how I “Used What I Got” to become very successful in the appliance business.
For one period in my live I weighed 350 lbs., (I am now a mere shadow of my former self at 200 lbs) and I had just entered the appliance business. In order to make an impact I advertised myself as the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania.
As sales steadily rose for 6 months I increased my advertising to include other communities. One day I received a letter from a company that considered themselves to have the largest dollar amount of sales in appliances sales in the state of Pennsylvania. You may have heard of them, Sears and Roebuck. Their letter informed me I was not the largest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania, they were. They very nicely asked me to stop my advertising claims of being the biggest. Of course being young and a bit rash, I threw their letter away and continued growing my business. A few months later another letter arrived from Sears and Roebuck. This time their tone was a bit more stern, reminding me again that they were the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania and insisting I stop all such advertising. Again I filed the letter in the round filing cabinet and pursued my successful advertising theme. A third letter arrived, this time with threats of court action if I did not cease and desist my advertising claim of being the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvanian. Of course you know what I did with this letter. Right, and I found myself in court a few months later facing 3 of their attorneys. After 2 ˝ hours of them proving they commanded the top sales position in appliances in the state of Pennsylvania the magistrate judge turned to me and said, Mr. Janet, what do you have to say?” I stood up, all 350 lbs. of me and said, “I never advertised I had the largest sales in Pennsylvania. I advertise that I am the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania. If they have anyone in their organization selling appliances that weights 350 lbs or more I will stop that form of advertising.” The magistrate judge turned to the Sears and Roebuck attorneys and asked, “Do you?” They huddled together and then answered, “No. Not as far as we know.” I continued to “Use What I Got” and grew my business. I was the biggest appliance dealer in Pennsylvania.
Are you hung up on worrying about what the competition has and you don’t, or are you increasing your sales by using “What You Got”?
Finding out what you got
If you don’t you will be missing a lot.
A story I heard Peter Low tell a few years ago.
Sometime in the early 1900’s there was a very talented unemployed printer in Europe. Unable to find work he wrote, a letter to his relatives living in America asking if there were any opportunities for him. Months later when a return letter arrived he very frantically opened it. You see he was about to lose his home, as he could not pay the taxes or the many loans he had made against it. As he read, tears came to his eyes; his American relatives indeed would help him. In fact he had a job and home with them awaiting his arrival. The only problem remaining was ship fare to America. For two years, desolate, living on the streets, he scrimped and saved every penny until one day he had enough money to pay his fare to America. As he boarded the ship with his only belongings, a few pieces of clothing and what scraps of food he found in garbage cans, his dreams of a new life in America danced in his head.
As the weeks wore on aboard the ship his food supply dwindled and ran out. For days he had nothing to eat. As he watched other passengers enjoy fine dining he was starving. He even thought of breaking into the kitchen at night and stealing the leftovers, but his honesty precluded that. Then one day this starving, dwindling man made his way to the captain’s deck, approached the captain and pleaded, “Captain, please, I will do anything, I will clean the decks, work in the engine room, anything just for a few scraps of food.” The captain looked at the starving man and said, “Sir, I am so sorry. Didn’t you know all your meals are included in your passage fare?”
In the book Speaker’s Library of Business Stories Anecdotes, and Humor Joe Griffit relates this story.
Bill Walsh, former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, is recognized today as an offensive wizard. So how come pro football, with all its finesse and intelligence, allowed Bill Walsh to grow gray before recognizing his skills? How come he had to serve an apprenticeship of twenty-one years as pro assistant coach, in the colleges, in the semi-pros before there was a head NFL job for him? How come he was forty-seven years old before a rookie owner named Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. rejected the counsel of other owners and hired Bill Walsh?
It is one of the most curious accidents in all sport that is devoted to the perfection of its coaches.
Walsh said “I was forty-five before I even had an interview for a head coaching job in the NFL.”
And then he didn’t get it. He was turned down. He was told he and his unorthodox ideas weren’t wanted.
He was interviewed by the Bengals. Rejected
He was interviewed by the Jets. Rejected
He was interviewed by the Rams. Rejected
The pros had Bill Walsh labeled: “Good technician. Not a head coach”
Three Super bowl victories later, Bill Walsh proved that we need to recognize people’s unique abilities.
You need to recognize your unique abilities, recognize “What You Got” and make sure your prospects and customers recognize “What You Got”.
Are you making sure your prospects and customers are recognizing your Uniqueness. Are you using your unique abilities, your unique selling propositions, to make your company, business, and yourself more successful?
Weather you are a ditch digger or the president of General Motors. You must use your Unique Selling Value, Your Unique abilities to tell prospects how you can solve their needs and problems better than your competition
Determining your Unique Selling Value (USV) - Finding What You Got
It is a list about you or your business that focuses on what makes you or your business special and different from your competition. In short, it is the one explanation that you give your customers to buy from you instead of from the competition. In order to successfully market you must have a USV.
I. List all the things you do for your customers.
Every service you provide (large & small)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
II. Cross out the ones that are last important to your prospects
III . Cross out the ones that are easily imitated by your competition.
IV. Cross out the ones that are not easily communicated and understood by your prospects
Use What You Got - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
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