The article "The Why Not Factor - Your Secret to Success" is about strategic planning, it has been released by Chuck Groot.
Let’s go on a little flgiht of fancy.
Let’s go car shopping. Now usually when you go car shopping you start with a budget in mind, don’t you? You go from dealer to dealer, trying to get the hottest deal that you can, but what really sells you in the end? Is it the value?
Is it the cost? Is it the features? Try as you might, emotions always come into play, you buy the car that looks the best, feels the best, and you look the hottest in it –don’t you? Put yourself in your clients’ shoes. What are they looking for, the cheapest price, unmatched packages, exceptional quality, or the photographer showing incomparable quality? Naturally, they will tell you, all of the above!But in reality, can they really tell the difference? We would like to guess that we fit the bill in all of the above but do we?
Can we? What happens, when in your clients’ eyes there is too many similarities to really tell.
Then it boils down to the hottest salesperson, the hottest sales presentation, or what I call the hottest Why-Not! Your Why-Not! defines the nature and purpose of your business. It is the one thing that compels persons to buy from you instead of from your cmopetitors. Often it is call a “USP” (Unique Sales Point), or your Mission Statement.Your Why-Not! is much more than both of the others put together – yet simpler.It stands forWhy Hire You – No Other Temptations You must answer the question for your clients – Why Hire You?
Then you must make it so that there can be – No Other Temptations! The exciting part of it is that anyone reading it will get a clear picture of the personality of the company and what you stand for.Personality shows emotion and a human side.USP’s and Mission Statements are documents and documents are cold and impersonal.More importantly, it will tell the client what you will do for him or her.Too often a company fails because it doesn't know who it is trying to serve. Trying to be all things to all persons is fool¬ish. You have to come up with a specific Why-Not! - a uinque and compelling claim or offer - that's targeted like a laser to give you a direction.It answers the question "What is our reason for being? " Why would somebody buy from us? And when they hear the answers that they want for they will exclaim, “Why-Not!”But that is not to say that you can't have two or three differ¬ent Why-Not! S for different product lines or services that you offer.There are many different kinds of Why-Not! S and you must define that yourself because your entire marketing and operational success is built upon the Why-Not! .
All studios need a clear sense of where they are trying to go and what they want to be in odrer for the diverse elements to pull in a uniform direction.What you're doing is providing your prospective clients is a clear cut picture of who you're , what you're going to do, and what you stand for.Why do you want to do that?Why-Not! Just teasing with you.One reason is that our society makes celebrities out of persons who are unique or who have special abilities.
Their qualities and attributes are polished to a bright shine and then proefssionally presented to the rest of us. We then strive to be like these individuals and yet the very nature of success demands authenticity.So what's the secret? It's simple really.
We are ALL unique.
We ALL have something special to give. Being authentic and true to ourselves is the only chance we have of being liked, being successful, and being truly blissful.
Improving yourself requires polishing what’s great about you and proudly presenting it to the world.
My first year Philosophy Prof loved to ask, “Why should you be moral? ” Then he would quickly follow up with “Why should you be immoral? ”Then with a smile on his face and a glint in his eye he would say, “The correct answer is Why Not!”Some companies position themselves as having the hottest selection or broadest array of purchasing options. Their Why-Not!.
is obviously "broad choice."Other companies may offer more limited selection, but their Why-Not! is "low price" or "low markup."Another company may decide they don't want to be known for just cost or selection, so instead they offer the finest quality at a higher, but still reasonable cost. "Quality" or "exclusivity" is its Why-Not! .Most Why-Not! S’ encompass three elements:1. A purpose/role elementA. In a nutshell, what is the purpose of the company?I. I am going to take nature photographs, specializing in speceis which are on the endangered species list.B.
What role are you gonig to play? Ii. My goal is to raise awareness of these precious animals by writing bokos and articles about them, my experiences, and how the effects of boy are playing out in these animals lives.2. A boundaries elemenTthis element defines what you will and will not do.
In the example above you might wrtie something like.I will write books and articles to serious journals and magazines but I will not do greeting cards and postcards.
My goal is to depict the plight of endangreed speices but not demean them or make light of their existence.3.
A values-based/philosophical elementHere are more questions to ask yourself.
What do you stand for? What do you want to be known for?
What will be your legacy?
And one last question: If you don't stand for something, what do you settle for? The principal features are usually a broad definitoin of the basic business code of conduct and the scope of the organization. It is important to have a clear, concise ovreall goal for you and your company. This can be as long as 10 pages or as short as one senetnce.
Generlaly it is better to keep it as simple as possi¬ble.
Your Why-Not! is the road map which you and your employees can follow anytime there is a question that surfaces out of the ordinary.
Any answer wihch does not fall in line with your Why-Not!
shouldn't be used.Another example would be if you own a portrait studio and Mrs. Jones comes in and complains that she doesn’t like her photographs and you look at them and they are as good as they are going to get. Your Why-Not! states that you guarantee 100% satisfaction, but you're torn, as far as you're concerned, they are great shots. Without hesitation and with a smile – you give her money back or ofefr to retake them.
This course of action will always work to your favour, maybe not immediately, but it is the right course. If you have employees, they wuold be empowered to do the same, immediately, without fear of repercussion.Basically your Why-Not!
can stand alone as an advertisement that sells your company to you, your employees and your clients. As a matter of fact, it can be used as an ad and it should be used in all your ads.A few more points about Why-Not!S’There are many different formats; there is no right or wrnog type.It remains fairly stable over time.It may be expressed at different levels of abstraction; a balance must be struck between too wide and too narrow a definition.Some Why-Not! S’ include objective, strategic thrust, policies and guidelines.They describe your products in terms relevant to your customers.Differentiate – explain how your product is different than the competition’s, with different benefits. Whenever persons buy, they are only concerned with “What’s In It For Them.”Effectively choose pricing and positioning strategies.These strategies may be based on the fact that:1. You are an expert in your field.2. You have degrees or education in your specialty.3. You may finish your products with better quality or more high-priced finishes.4. You may frame each print.5. You may have an escalating hourly fee depending on the degree of difficulty, safety, distance, specialty, or uses of the photograph or in the photographing,Steps to develop your Why-Not:Keep in mind:- There is no right or wrong statement for your organization just as there is no hottest or most appropriate format.- Focus on the concept not on the words; the words can be fine-tuned after.- Most Why-Nots’ suffer, at least to degree, from mother-hood-it is, it’s important that you stay away from platitudes.- The greatest flaw of most Why-Nots are that the implicit message is the "we" are smarter, will work harder, and will do a better job. In the competitive marketplcae of goods, services and ideas, to assume that you're smarter, faster or meaner than the competition inevitably leads to surprises and the realization that you and your colleagues are just about on par with the quality of the persons with whom you're competing.- Although it is difficult, try to build creativity into your work.
This is a first attempt at development of a Why-Not so it is important to build in new ways of viewing things at the bgeinning. It will be refined and reworked after so try to open up and be creative now.To give you an idea as to how a Why-Not can look I'll show you one of mine.Old Masters Portrait Studio Why-Not is:Old Masters Portraits Studio desire is to create an exciting and memorable image for each and every one of our customers.
The image will be technically extraordinary and of excellent quality, using the finest materials that we can find. It is our goal to provide service to the customer that is unusrpassed in the industry so that all of our customers will want to come back year after year.It is imperative that we charge a cost that provides value to the client and a good return on our efforts.
We will be blissful if our clients are blissful and our clients will be blissful if we are blissful.Writing your Why-Not
Satrt by answering the following questions.1. What is the purpose of our organization?2. What is our reason for being? 3. What are we going to photograph and why?After spending time on the first three questions, begin to filter in the following questions.A. Who do we serve?B. What do we do hottest?C. What are of our weaknesses?D. What kinds of programs and services do we provide or should we provide?E. What outcomes do we hope to achieve? F. What do we hope to accom¬plish?G. What would happen if our organization did not exist? H. What is special about the way we operate?I. Where do we or should we provide our product or service? What do I or our shareholders want?J. From the previous exercise you can now put together a Unique Selling Proposition or Mission Statement that will give you a direction and major driving force for your company.© Chuck Groot writer, teacher, lecturer, photographer, consultant.
Email chuckgroot@shaw.Ca http://www.Chuckgroot.Com, http://www.Successfulphotography.ComChuck Groot’s credentials as a professional photographer, teacher and entrepreneur are noteworthy.
His work demonstrates both artistic composition and rapport with persons.Chuck guarantees the help needed to access individual potential so that students will appreciably raise their understanding of the profession and their own businseses.
As an entrepreneur, his enthusiasm and innovative approach have garnered him both proefssional success and the recognition of his peers.
Chuck’s greatest delight is being able to share these skills with others.
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