Leveling the Digital playing Field
Small companies playing big in the virtual space.
“Muggsy” Bogues at 5’3” is the shortest player to ever play in the National Basketball Association. I remember watching Mr. Bogues over his 14-year NBA career in absolute amazement as he took on the likes of Michael Jordan and other NBA greats of his time without fear or trepidation. Mr. Bogues was a play making point guard who averaged 7.6 assists and 7.7 points per game over a very long professional career. Even at 5’3” Muggsy Bogues was considered an above average player, in a league where the average height is 6’6” and may one day be enshrined in the NBA Hall of Fame.
I relate the story of Muggsy Bogues to make the point that size, or the lack thereof, can be overcome. It’s possible to compete against the “big boys” in business if you’ll only follow the playbook of the greatest 5’3” basketball player to ever live. So, what’s exactly in the Muggsy Bogues playbook? What tools did he use to make such an incredible accomplishment and how does any of it apply to me and my business?
Muggsy Bogues success began with his mindset and the belief that he could compete. The vast majority of small business owners that I work with don’t necessarily have a defeatist attitude - they just don’t consider playing in a bigger arena, at a higher level. When I talk to them about the possibilities that lay at their feet, the ability to compete with their larger competition and grow revenues substantially with little effort or investment, they look at me like a deer in headlights. Job #1 for me is to change the mindset of the business owners I work for and get them to believe that they have the tools and the skills necessary to play and earn at a much higher level.
Online - the field on which we must compete.
The greatest area of potential and sometimes exponential growth for almost all of my clients is online. So now that we’ve defined the game and the field on which it’s played, what are the lessons of Muggsy Bogues”? The key to Muggsy’s success was simple: he did all the things that his competition did only he did them better. He ran faster, dribbled, and shot better and most certainly leaped higher. There’s no magic to his overwhelming success nor that of my super successful business owner clients. We compete using the same tools as our competition, but we use them more efficiently and effectively.
We use our small size to our advantage. Knowing your online customer, anticipating their needs, providing exemplary customer service, and most importantly getting to them first are the keys. Properly and consistently managing online customers gets more difficult as their numbers go higher. Because my small business owners have a smaller number of customers compared to their oversized competition, we do a much better job of managing the process and the customer. We rarely, if ever, drop the ball and a well-cared for customer is a customer for life.
The virtual world doesn’t know size, only offerings.
The difference between us and Muggsy is that in the virtual world our size is only a perception and has no meaningful effect on our ability to compete. When someone researches your product or service, they see you right alongside your bigger competition and you both have the equal opportunity to manage the process from that point forward. The tools exist for you to both see the customers visit in real time, to discover what that customers’ needs or interests are, to anticipate what those customers’ next move will be and to contact and provide a level of customer service that wins the moment and possibly the customer for life.
Take a moment to review with us exactly what’s taking place in your market, what tools are being used by your competition and how you can effectively use those same tools to play at a much higher level. The first consultation is free, so you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.
If you would like to connect with Joy, please email her at joy@npmarketinggroup.com