Family business – yes or no?
I recently was in conversation with Davender Gupta about his Blog Talk Radio Show where we talked about marketing and the family business. Here is part of our pre-interview…
D: First, let’s challenge the stereotypes… one is that to be a family business you must be small.
S: Absolutely family businesses come in all shapes and sizes, while most are privately held, many are public held – many call Wal-mart a family business. Family businesses in the US account for over 3/4 of all new job creation, over half of all employment that’s staggering.
We are a family owned business – my son and I own and operate Impression Engineers which is the company behind the brand sharonsayler.com
D: Self promotion and the family owned business is very similar to promotion of any business with the notable exception of "Do you want to brand yourself as a family owned business?"
S: That is a strategic move that needs to be carefully considered. By that I mean deciding to put your family (and privacy) with that the emotionally charged term "family values." Putting family values front and center can be a balancing act.
Connecting with those family values, mom and apple pie and you can have a loyal following. The downside is that if your company doesn’t walk the walk and talk the talk… choosing that strategy can actually harm your business. If clients think you are out of integrity, your business can go downhill rapidly… so before you take this strategic move, carefully consider the strength of the family.
Do you and by you I mean personally and the rest of your family members know how to keep business – business and family matters- family matters… that is only a question you can answer. But it is one of the first questions you should ask yourself when deciding to brand yourself as a family owned business.
D: That’s understandable, now lets look at some of the positives.
S: In this uncertain time, the traditional family values, all-for-one and one-for-all, honest hard work, loyalty strong relationships are, to be blunt popular. Notice how well it has worked for the Obama’s with Mom (grandma) moving in….
We’ve had enough hype, so use the opportunity to build strong customer relationships built upon your company’s mission, vision and values. In my coaching practice I see a lot of the entrepreneurial family businesses overlook the important piece of clarifying the company and family mission, vision and values. That’s why I wrote the work book "Beyond Marketing. Building Relationships." It walks you through the process of defining who you are, why you are in business and helps build that firm foundation that Book Yourself Solid is grounded in.
D: The Foundation is the basic building block of Book Yourself Solid….
So once we have that foundation how do we work that into the BYS Sales Cycle and Self Promotion strategies?
S: First, I think we both agree that very simply… keeping loyal customers is a lot cheaper and smarter than trying to find new ones. Having a sales cycle and a promotion strategy that is based on integrity and trust are primary no matter if you are a family-owned business or not. And when the name of the game is "trust the brand," the image of a family business pops to most minds. By long-standing tradition the public, both customers and shareholders see family-run companies as more humane, more nurturing and more ethical, especially in these days of bankruptcies and failures that many appear to be based on greed and deceit.
Your customers (and the public) become emotionally invested in your success yet, be aware the family values are not the only enhancer for your brand. You must sell your product or services based on the benefits and value they offer. Know that features and benefits are not the same. We generally don’t buy a product for its company, why buy a product because we need or want what it does.
As a customer, we may take a closer look and give the business a positive intention if we identify with their values but we still only buy a product if it fills our need and is priced fairly. You still have to market on the features and benefits. In any business you need a well-thought-out marketing plan, family or no family." Consider Columbia Sportswear from right here in my backyard of Portland, they have a slogan they use every so often "One tough Mother," in one ad they have Gert with a tattoo, and in the next they show the jacket, or whatever the are promoting, being wore in rugged, tough situations, so you get to laugh and identify with Gert and see the features and benefits of the products. Just a side note, humor works well family promotion or not…
Listen into the Radio Show, now.
Have a great day whatever your adventure.
Sharon
