We spend a lot of time and effort to communicate our marketing message to the marketplace and to get others to believe in us. We want our potential clients and customers to respect and believe in us, and we want that from our current and past customers and clients as well. We also expect that the strategic partners that we select to work with us to help achieve the solutions that we design and want to implement will believe in the work that we are doing and in the integrity of us personally.
So should it come as any shock that we must believe in ourselves, too?
We say that we do, but our actions could belie our words. Do we use the services, products, or strategies that we represent or advocate to our clients? If we don’t, how can we expect them to do what we are not willing to do? They will find out somehow that this is the case and not believe we are sincere when talk with them about what we offer.
Regardless of what we sell, even if we don’t have a direct need for it, we still should be one of our biggest customers and absolutely the largest fan. We have to make sure that we are buying from ourselves – we must set the example for the marketplace.
Why would we intentionally (through our actions or lack of belief in what we offer as demonstrated by not using our our products, services, or solutions) give our business to a competitor? Why would we want to help them make their quotas or bottom line?
Frequently this happens when someone has a brand loyalty or business history with another product line or business before beginning to represent what they have now. While loyalty is good, remember the old expression “charity begins at home.”
Let’s face it. If we won’t use the product we sell – at least in some form – how can we reasonably expect someone else to purchase it or hire us to recommend a solution for them?
When we go to a restaurant or a retail store and we ask the wait staff or the clerk how something is or how it works, we don’t want to hear that they have never tried it. We want them to speak from experience, and we might expect them to have good things to say about it although they may recommend something even better for us from what they offer.
Even our federal government seems to forget this principle. As unbelievable as it might seem, they have has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to have American flags made and imported to the US for use on government buildings. This definitely shows a lack of belief in the American worker and manufacturer and is unthinkable. Talk about forgetting to set a good example for American commerce and showing respect for American business!
If we want to be successful with our business, and we want our customers to believe in the products, services, and solutions we offer, we must make sure it starts with us and in our commitment to stand behind what we offer. What better way to demonstrate this commitment than by actually using what we offer – at least the items that are feasible for us to use? When we use what we offer, we can know first hand that they will do everything that we claim and then some.