One struggling restaurant owner said to me, “My customers are getting older and I’m
not attracting a young crowd. It worries me. In a couple of years many will die
off. Then what?” I suggested he do a couple of focus groups with younger people in
the neighborhood who hadn’t visited the restaurant recently. His response was,
“What will they tell me? That I should lower my prices or change my menu.”
Perhaps that is what they’d say. I don’t really know because he was too stubborn to
look at the situation objectively. Maybe they would have said the restaurant décor
was too old fashioned or the lighting was dim and depressing. They might have said
that they remembered the food wasn’t very good when they visited the restaurant
umpteen years ago. Maybe they would have said something simple like they wish the
menu would offer less than the elaborate 6-course dinners they featured because they
always left the restaurant feeling stuffed.
What prevents Guerrilla’s from using research is usually a case of misplaced ego.
Most Guerrillas’ are entrepreneurs or small businesses. They tend to hold strong
opinions of what will or won’t work. They are not accustomed to looking outward for
answers and prefer to think they know best.
Ask yourself these questions, the next time you’re likely to go it alone:
1) If I’m wrong, how much will it cost me?
2) How long can I afford to be wrong before I run out of money?
3) Have I asked for input from my customers or prospects that have no stake in
whether I succeed or fail?
4) Have I asked my customers and prospects what they need and want from me and my
business?
5) Do I know if my customers think I’m giving them what they need and want?
6) Do I know what else I can provide my customers so that they’ll pay me more…and be
happier about it?
7) Do my customers and prospects know the benefits of buying from me?
8) Do I know with certainty why my prospects go to a competitor rather than me?
Open your mind. You aren’t in it alone and it needn’t cost you a fortune to tap
into the best advice you’ll ever get. Start listening to your customers.
At least once a week ask yourself this question. Can you stand to know your
customers and prospects might be smarter than you in helping you business grow?
You can contact Bob at:
The Kaden Company
6677 N. Lincoln Ave.
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
(847) 933-9400
Fax: (847) 679-2101
Jay
Jay Conrad Levinson
The Father of Guerrilla Marketing
The Key to Leadership
By: Brian Tracy
The Foremost of the Values
Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it all others depend." The systematic development of the deep down quality of unflinching courage is one of the fundamental requirements for leadership in any field. Fear, or the lack of courage is more responsible for failure in management, and in life, than any other factor. It is always fear that causes people to hold back, to sell themselves short, to settle for far less than they are capable of!
Eliminate Fear and Doubt
I firmly believe that you can do, have or be far more than you now know if only you could eliminate the fear, doubts and misgivings that consciously and unconsciously interfere with your realizing your full potential.
Unlearn Your Fears
If there is anything positive about fear, it is that all fears are learned, that no one is born with fears, and that having been learned, they can be unlearned. If you want to understand the role of fear in shaping the course of your life, just ask yourself, if you had a magic wand that would absolutely guarantee you success in any one thing you attempted, what goal would you set for yourself.
The Great Question
"What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?" If you had no fears at all with regard to money or the criticism of others, what would you do differently? Most people can think of all kinds of changes they would, or could, make in their lives if they had no fears to hold them back.
The Origins of Fear
The development of courage begins with understanding the psychological origins of fear. The newborn child has only two fears; the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All other fears that we experience as adults are learned as we are growing up, primarily as the result of well-meaning but destructive criticism from our parents.
How Fears Develop
When the curious child gets into things and makes a mess, the parent scolds and punishes the child, eventually building up a pattern of fear connected with trying or getting into anything new or different. As adults, we experience this as the fear of failure, the fear of risking, of making a mistake, of losing.
Action Exercises
Here are two steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, imagine that you had no fears at all. What would you set as a goal for yourself if you were guaranteed of success?
Second, decide exactly what you want and then act as if it were impossible to fail. You may be surprised at how successful you are.
The Foremost of the Values
Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it all others depend." The systematic development of the deep down quality of unflinching courage is one of the fundamental requirements for leadership in any field. Fear, or the lack of courage is more responsible for failure in management, and in life, than any other factor. It is always fear that causes people to hold back, to sell themselves short, to settle for far less than they are capable of!
Eliminate Fear and Doubt
I firmly believe that you can do, have or be far more than you now know if only you could eliminate the fear, doubts and misgivings that consciously and unconsciously interfere with your realizing your full potential.
Unlearn Your Fears
If there is anything positive about fear, it is that all fears are learned, that no one is born with fears, and that having been learned, they can be unlearned. If you want to understand the role of fear in shaping the course of your life, just ask yourself, if you had a magic wand that would absolutely guarantee you success in any one thing you attempted, what goal would you set for yourself.
The Great Question
"What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?" If you had no fears at all with regard to money or the criticism of others, what would you do differently? Most people can think of all kinds of changes they would, or could, make in their lives if they had no fears to hold them back.
The Origins of Fear
The development of courage begins with understanding the psychological origins of fear. The newborn child has only two fears; the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All other fears that we experience as adults are learned as we are growing up, primarily as the result of well-meaning but destructive criticism from our parents.
How Fears Develop
When the curious child gets into things and makes a mess, the parent scolds and punishes the child, eventually building up a pattern of fear connected with trying or getting into anything new or different. As adults, we experience this as the fear of failure, the fear of risking, of making a mistake, of losing.
Action Exercises
Here are two steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, imagine that you had no fears at all. What would you set as a goal for yourself if you were guaranteed of success?
Second, decide exactly what you want and then act as if it were impossible to fail. You may be surprised at how successful you are.
