Kilian Jornet is the greatest athlete you’ve never heard of. He competes in niche sports that require enormous effort and endurance: ski mountaineering, sky running, and ultramarathons. When I say “competes in”, I mean he acquires championships the way you and I acquire gas bills: so regularly and with such certainty that they become almost […]
It was nice today to see the Whale Hunters Wisdom blog included in the list of top blogs covering sales efficiency announced by Docurated, a sales and marketing productivity platform. If you want to find some outstanding sales blogs to follow, I highly recommend this list. Several of my colleagues from Sales Shebang made the list, including Jill…...
I am so pleased to be included among the “brand ambassadors” helping to launch Gini Dietrich’s new book, Spin Sucks. Especially so because I think you will find the book extremely valuable. As a brand ambassador, I received a free galley copy of the book, pre-publication, in order to help with the launch. But in…...
No, I am not rushing the holiday season. I am talking about products and how they can represent your brand, in the continuing series on branding that started with this post on crafting your brand promise. It’s a series of 31 various ways of building your brand, finding authentic, unique ways to associate your company […]
In my continuing series on brand differentiation, today’s post focuses on the value of case studies in building your brand. Prospective customers really like to read compelling case studies about how your customers have engaged with you and achieved certain desirable outcomes–more money, less hassle, greater efficiency, higher profit margins, higher quality, etc. But case […]
Testimonials from customers or supply-chain partners can serve as powerful differentiators. Building your brand on testimonials means you stand out from your competitors in customer loyalty and customer delight. Doing business with you makes people happy, or solves a big problem, or gives them new opportunities–or all of the above and more. And whatever product […]
If you have what Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan calls a “Unique Process,” you are way ahead of your competition in differentiation. Your brand promise IS that you will deliver the outcomes that your process inevitably produces. The illustration to your left is a replica of The Whale Hunters Process™. It consists of three stages–Scout, Hunt, and […]
Great brands are built through focus. It’s often very hard for a small company, especially a young one, to limit its concept of “who is our customer” and “what do we sell.” But trying to market all the things you might do or could do to all of the people who might use your products or […]
What is it that makes your company special? How are you different? Why should a customer buy from you rather than from someone else? Learning to express your distinct value proposition is a key requirement for growing business with bigger customers–especially if you are a small company going after customers that are significantly bigger than […]
Whenever you hold the position of “the best” for a period of time, you become vulnerable to many kinds of attacks. You can’t afford for your team to become complacent about your #1 position.
Is your company too modest? Before the customer makes the final decision to buy from you, they want to know in some detail what sets your team apart from those of your competitors. Don’t make this story hard to find!
I’m up to #6 of my Ten Ways to Lose . . . Even When You’re the Best. Here’s one that I see far too often: You are out of touch with your changing market.