400 years
Posted by Troy Forrest on September 11th, 2009 at 11:30am
Been there, done that, got the scars to prove it.
I drove past a church school the other day that’s got a big new sign out front – “400 years of global experience”. Not at this campus, but from its parent group’s educational origins.
Why advertise how old you are? (my wife tells me she’s trying to forget… oww!)
Maybe;
- 400 years worth of people thought we had something valuable enough to keep us in business this long (market forces would have crushed us if we weren’t great at what we do)
- We’ve done plenty wrong, but we took the hits, learnt from them and improved (and we know where the traps for young players are)
- We’ve got a long-term perspective (so when you’re running around thinking about your short-term worries, we’re keeping an eye on the horizon for you)
- Because it makes us seem less scary, less risky, more trustworthy than the Johnny-come-lately’s
- Because your problems, goals and dreams, while always unique, won’t be completely foreign to us
Whether you’ve been in your business for 3 months or 30 years, you have accumulated experience and wisdom. Why not share it with current and prospective clients?
Take 10 minutes to review where your positive track record in helping others lies, how you’ve done it and what your professional scars have taught you. Now advertise it in a conversation with a potential helpee – “One of the ways we recently helped a client in a similar situation was to …. One of the things we learnt was …”.
Less scary. Older. Wiser.
There is a flipside to “older” though. It’s mentally associated with “stodgier”. More conservative. Inflexible. Take that into account. By all means point to a track record that says “We know what we’re doing…”, but counterbalance it with “… and we’re constantly looking for new, better ways to help our clients.”
(And the most youthful means of finding those better new ways? Ask questions like a 5-year-old. Show you’ve got an inquisitive young brain in old experienced scone!)
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