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I really hate strongly dislike my dry cleaners. I’ve written about them before, but in a nutshell…
- They don’t acknowledge that they have any idea who I am, despite having seen me at least weekly for a couple years
- When I walk in, rather than asking if they can help me, they act as though I am interrupting them
- They have lost 4 of my shirts and never apologized (they’re sure they are in my closet)
- They break a button on one of my shirts about every 3 weeks
So by now, you are saying "Geez Drew. I have a solution for you. Go to a different dry cleaners."
Ahhh, there’s the rub and the marketing discussion. You see, I have said the same thing to myself many times. But I don’t. Why not?
This dry cleaners is 3 minutes from my house. It is in my traffic pattern. They even have a drive thru window. The commodity I value most is time. So, I endure them.
So here’s the marketing question in all of this — do you understand what hooks your competitors have set into your prospects? By all impressions — I should be an easy win for another dry cleaners.
- I am very dissatisfied with my current provider
- What they sell is a commodity
- There is a low cost of entry — doesn’t cost me a lot to switch
Yet, I (so far) am staying put. A coupon or sale isn’t going to lure me away. Telling me about the latest and greatest equipment — no such luck.
This is one of the sticky wickets we don’t talk about very much in marketing. You can do all the right things, aimed at the right people…and still not win their business. Unless you understand the hooks.
What are the common hooks in your industry? If you know — what are you doing to remove those hooks? If you don’t know — how could you find out?