In 1978, my father, Jack Slater explained to my wife and me about one of the basics principles of business.
At the time, we were clueless about the idea he explained to us, but we were growing our wholesale bakery called Rachel’s Brownies, and his wisdom was invaluable. We needed a coach to help us see things clearly. We were building and expanding and trying to manage our little enterprise that often felt out of control. We needed a sherpa to lead us up the mountain.
Dad explained a simple business concept to us.
Every business needs a Mr. Inside & a Mr. Outside.
Of course, today that person could be Mr., Mrs. Or Ms.
Mr/Ms. Inside has to manage the day to day operations of your work. In our case, it was running the business, making the brownies, overseeing the production staff, ordering chocolate, paying the bills and on and on. This person was facing inside the four walls of an office or in our case, a bakery.
Mr/Ms. Outside was responsible for sales and marketing. That person was managing the commercial enterprise dealing with new customers, lead generation and business development. This person was out in the marketplace calling on new customers, reaching out to new distributors and raising awareness of our brand through public relations.
One person is facing inside. One person is facing outside.
Inside Out
This idea of one person managing operations and the other managing sales and marketing never occurred to us. We just thought we both should do everything. And, that is what we had been doing until we started to understand dad’s simple advice. Each of us should focus on either inside or outside.
Many businesses who hire me as a marketing advisor need to focus on business development and marketing their offerings. They have proficiency on the inside. They need a Mr/Mrs/Ms. Outside.
They are good at making stuff, but not as good as marketing it. Typically, most entrepreneurs and small to mid-sized business are proficient at operations, manufacturing, creating apps, etc. but aren’t sure what to do to get in front of new customers and how to tell their story.
Marketing Is
- Reminding current and new prospects how your product/service is a solution to their problems and needs.
- Frequent and regular reminder of why choose you. It is staying top of mind without being annoying, but instead being helpful.
- Being empathic and caring so that you understand a customer’s pain point and you can bring them a solution to help them achieve their goals.
- Marketing is explaining your “only we” to customers. What is it only your business does for clients and customers?
Most businesses need help climbing the ladder of success. When you can have one person focused inside and the other outside, you can get to higher ground.
If you are doing everything by yourself, maybe it is time to find your own sherpa.
Are you wearing two hats – Ms. Inside and Ms. Outside? Need help? You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
Photo by Deva Darshan on Unsplash
