A particular bug bear of mine is negative marketing.
Negative marketing is about building a case for your product or service by belittling the competition. A little bit like playground bullying, it’s using the concept of belittling someone else to make yourself seem more impressive. And like playground bullying, there is usually something a bit unhappy and empty behind it, and it smacks of inadequacy.
I certainly wouldn’t say I’ve never engaged in negative marketing myself, but over the past 12 months or so, I’ve tried very hard not to provide a negative comment on my competition in any of the businesses I am involved in. Where I do have to pass comment, I try really hard to provide a balanced and respectful view.
Sometimes your competition will charge a bit more to deliver a better service. Sometimes they’ll compromise on end product so they can keep the price down. Either way, it’s very easy to pick fault in a competitor if you don’t understand their business model. Ultimately most business owners are hard working, honest people trying to deliver a fair service for a fair price and develop a positive reputation. I take the view that if I (and all of the competition) are busy criticising each other, we are collectively building a negative reputation for our respective industry as a whole.
I am invovled in web design, company formation, immigration and online marketing. In each of these companies I hear lots of criticism and get the chance to deliver it too. I can honestly say that during the last year my more positive approach to sales has made me focus more on the benefits and strengths of my own business. As a result, I’ve found that I now concentrate solely on explaining the benefits of my own businesses and making each encounter with a potential customer a positive one.
I don’t beleive that complimenting (or being neutral) about any of my competitors has cost me a single sale, and my customers appear to be happier than ever.
With the general election pending, never has the macrocosm of negative marketing been so prevalent. To my mind, the campaign strategies of the big 3 seem to be built on “That party is rubbish” as opposed to “My party is good”. The reputation of politics and politicians would appear to be at an all time low, and when I ask people who they are going to vote for, they only seem to know who they aren’t going to vote for.
I’m not turning this into a political rant, I’m just highlighting that I, and my customers, prefer to operate in industries and with companies that concentrate on outperforming each other, not beating one another down.
