Dangerous Assumptions

Being human, it is easy to assume that the advantages we have are available everywhere. That the rules of marketing and business are the same everywhere. I’ve been guilty of making those assumptions, and I’ve been on the receiving end of many of them.

We’ve had some suggestions made for marketing our business which made assumptions. If we lived in a metro area, or in 80% of the other locations in the US, the assumptions would be true. But we live in an isolated area, and the rules are different here.

Local advertising does not work, due to the particular demographics of our business in relation to the areas we have to market into. Someone suggested we use a cell phone to overcome the limitation – fine and dandy, but a cell phone won’t work where we live – no signal.

I think the cell phone suggestion was the real eye opener. The person who suggested it could not imagine a place where there was no cell signal. It never would have occurred to them.

There are other things that can be unique to a particular region, business owner, target market, talent pool, etc. Assumptions are made with the belief that everything fits in a box. It doesn’t.

Consultants, coaches, and service providers have to really listen and find not only how their clients fit the rules, but how they DON’T fit the rules. Then they can give good counsel that tailors the solution to the client in a way that is successful.

It is in the exceptions that truly personal service is found, and where success is found for those who have to deal with those exceptions.