Becoming Essential   How marketing really works.

If your marketing efforts are to impact sales, you must understand this: every company has two product lines.

The first product line is the ACTUAL product: If you are a ski retailer, it’s a pair of skis. If you are a dentist, it’s a root canal. If you are a web designer, it’s a website.

The second product line is how you TREAT your customer before, during, and after the transaction.

If you are a ski retailer, it’s:

• the speed with which the customer is able to make their purchase
• the ability of your salespeople to match customers with the best pair of skis
• the flexibility of the return policy

If you are a dentist, it’s:

• your patient’s physical comfort during the root canal
• how the patient is put at ease by the environment of the dentist’s office
• how clearly you explain what a root canal is, why the patient needs it, and what they will feel like the next day

If you are a web designer, it’s:

• how quickly you can deliver the design
• how you are able to satisfy client whims and still produce an outstanding site
• what kind of help you are to the client, after deployment

It is especially crucial to remember this fact if your ACTUAL product can’t realistically be differentiated from the product of the competition. If you are a coffee shop or a consumer electronics store or a lawn care company, there’s a limit to how much you can differentiate your ACTUAL products. There’s a limit to how easily you can differentiate the taste of the coffee, your selection of TV’s and stereos, and the greenness of your lawns.

That means, you’ve got to concentrate on how you TREAT your customers.