As a bootstrapped small business owner marketing has to live in every part of your process.
By building marketing into our processes, into our delivery, into our support, we are able to out-compete those with bigger ad spends in a very real way.
Think about this example — how much would it cost to hire a strong outside sales person? Then what would that person’s task be? Essentially you would have to outlay cash to hire the person, then time and energy to train them, then you’ll have natural turn-over which is very expensive for any organization to keep up with.
At the end of all of this expense (time, energy, cash) that sales person then has to go out and fight a massive uphill battle — explaining to potential customers why they should buy from her/him. After all, he or she is trying to “sell” something, an approach that can be difficult even in the very best circumstances.
Instead, let’s imagine a “service as marketing” approach. In this approach our marketing spend is not with outside sales, but with inside support and operations.
A customer signs on and has an amazing experience the whole way through. Deliverables are sent on time or early. Communication is super clear through the entire process. Every expectation is exceeded. Upon final delivery there is a snag with a part of the product/service, but your support team hops in and delivers another A+ experience, making the customer thrilled to have chosen you and your company for their need.
Let’s now compare that customer and an outside sales person in terms of delivering new customers back to the company.
Outside Sales:
– Have to Train on Process, Differentiation, Pricing, Etc.
– Expensive Base + Commission
– Built In Friction with New Potential Customers
– Very Difficult to Scale
Happy Customer:
– Understands Process, Expectations, Pricing, Delivery, Etc.
– Zero Ongoing Costs
– Third Party Objective Viewpoint Means More Trustworthy to Other Potential Customers
– Totally Scalable
When you compare these two models is actually pretty crazy to focus anywhere but on the customer’s experience and deliverables. At my company we are committed to Service as Marketing as one of our Ethos, but it’s something we constantly need to be reminded of and investing in, just like all other bootstrapped small businesses.