Committing to change is not easy; it could be giving up sugar, working out, or writing a blog.  What needs to happen is a mind shift and learning how to change one’s priorities.  Once you accept the change, the results will start.  Without taking charge, you will never hit your marketing results.

In baseball, we have what we call the shift. The shift is when the third baseman and shortstop shift and move towards the right field.  The pitcher now pitches the ball to the outside of the plate forcing the batter to hit the ball where 90% of the team is standing.  The outcome is typically an out.

I have personally found that if I want to make a shift in my life, I need to stack the odds in my favor to win. It may mean tossing out all the sugar in the house, giving up TV for a workout, or prioritizing my time better in the workday to advertise.

To become a better marketer, you have to incorporate the mind change and become proactive.  That means going to network meetings, calling clients, and increasing communications with past and future clients.  The marketing shift should be focused on solving customers’ core conflicts, not trying to sell them.

My father taught me that it is easier to sell to their needs, not to their wants.  We all have wants, but our desired requirements overwrite most of those wants.  This is true in business.  Show the client a solution to their problems, and they will listen.  Appealing to the clients wants only gets lookers, not sales.

My mind shift changes when I stop looking at a client as “How can they help me?” to “Can this person help somebody I know?”  When I did this mind shift, I found that I listened more intently to the client’s conversation, and listened for their needs.  This allowed me to connect with the client and offer a solution to their problem.  I found that looking closely to the client’s core needs allowing me to target my marketing better.  No longer was I solving all their problems, but seeking to address their core issues.

Did I win all of them as a client and make them a sale?  NO!  I’m marketing — which for me is the process of developing a relationship with the client. When the client calls to buy, that’s when I become the salesmen and take their order.  Getting an immediate sale is not the mind shift I’m looking to achieve when marketing.

Understanding the role of marketing is a mind shift.

 Like the 3rd baseman who finds himself in the mid-right field, the goals have not changed, its how we go about getting the results, which has changed.  If solving a client’s problem leads to sales, then the marketing goal is to focus on problem-solving.

Make the mind shift from sales to problem-solving, and your marketing ads will write themselves.