Don’t Dismiss The Small Things
Very few businesses are immune to the effects of a competitors in their marketplace. Although the real entrepreneurs are the ones who are always seeking to invent something unique that will change our lives. Walt Disney, Bill Gates and Sir James Dyson spring to mind. But for the rest of us competition and their activities are something we must all be alive to.
Therefore, we should not dismiss any potential competitive advantage as insignificant. I read a post last week that asserted “being likable doesn’t close deals.” Which is sort of true.
In an absolute sense, likability, by itself, won’t win new clients or patients for you. I mean, it’s possible, it could. But it’s not very probable.
On the other hand, it is also quite wrong to say that ‘likeability’ won’t win you new clients. Because, when everything else is equal in the mind of the prospective client / patient being likable might just be the difference between winning and losing.
So, how often is everything else equal?
A lot. All the time.
Consider these stats for Warwickshire from the ‘Office for National Statistics’. It shows the number of companies in each of these categories.
- Motor Trades: 860 companies
- Accommodation & Food Services: 1350 companies
- Property: 965 companies
- Healthcare: 865 companies
- Finance and Insurance: 425 companies
If there are over 100 companies offering virtually the same product and services with similar capabilities at roughly the same price. There is little chance that prospective customers will be able to differentiate between them.
The point is that in highly competitive situations you can’t dismiss any potential advantage as being insignificant or unimportant. Like being likable.
Because at the end of the day being likable might give you the fraction of a percentage boost that wins that client for you.
Sir Dave Brailsford, of the INEOS professional cycling team in the Tour de France, is famous for his gospel of “marginal gains.”
He examines every possible aspect of his riders’ equipment and performance no matter how small and seemingly insignificant. If it can be improved to help his team’s performance, and its probability of winning a race, by even a fraction of a percentage point, then he works to make it better.
In winning patients these “marginal gains” that spell the difference between winning and losing are almost all about what you. By that I mean what a person brings to their experience.
It’s when who you are is more important than what you know. Consider this: Cian McLoughlin and his team at Trinity Perspectives in Australia have conducted thousands of interviews with people.
He summarized their findings from these interviews into the 9 Reasons You Win clients and the 9 Reasons you don’t win clients.
Only one of the 18 combined reasons had to do with price, and that was where the price was too cheap and was seen as a risk.
The primary reasons cited by people for why they were attracted (or not) to a business was because of human issues.
And what was one of the 9 most frequently cited reasons people gave for not engaging with a business?
They did not ‘feel an emotional connection’ with the people they were dealing with. You know. Like being likable.
To win clients you still have to offer a competitive product at a competitive price.
But when all else is equal, it often is, the slim margin of victory (or defeat) will often come from those things that too many ‘experts’ dismiss as insignificant. Like being likable. So be prepared to use your watch, listen and talk in that order.
Your ability to win clients is a direct reflection of your prospect’s opinion of the value of their experience with you.
This article was written by Chris Mayor, Commercial Director of Lily Head Dental Practice Sales . It was first published in the February 2024 edition of The Probe.
If you would like to talk about anything to do with buying, selling or financing a dental practice anywhere in the UK then Contact Us today.
