You Are Not A Water Bottle
The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique.
- Isaac Bashevis Singer
I was at the CPB Canada Ignite Conference last September, and another conference, Accountex Canada, was a vendor there. I had the pleasure of working with the Accountex Canada team over the last few years, so I spent some time at their booth chatting them up.
Joanne tried to give me a water bottle each time I visited, but I told her I already had more than enough. Of course, like many of the trade show vendors, Accountex did not want to drag any extras back to the office. It was a cute bottle and a little different than most of the ones I had seen around. It had a wide mouth, an opening that was probably four or five inches across, a neat wooden-y cap, and the bottle itself was clear plastic. I rolled it around in my wee handies a few times, tempted but still trying not to bring home something I didn’t need.
And then it hit me: I wouldn't use it as a water bottle, but it would be a perfect salad dressing jar!
Now I needed it! Bad!
We make all our salad dressings, and my husband is always in search of the perfect salad shaker jars. I told Joanne about my thinking switch, and she instantly embraced it. Once she re-framed the water bottle to a salad dressing shaker, people started to want the promo item way more than in its previous iteration (I bet you are with me that we see a lot of water bottles at conferences).
The way we market our services is often “water bottling”. We have lulled ourselves into selling bill pay, reconciliations, reporting and government filings. We sell bookkeeping and tax preparation. We sell compliance work. You know, the services that every bookkeeping and accounting firm provides.
And we sell that we are going to do a damn fine job of them, that everything will be on time and compliant.
But what if you engage in some navel-gazing of yourself and your firm and figure out your unique qualities? What makes your firm more than just compliant and timely? How can you be of value to someone who needs a salad shaker way more than a water bottle*?
Of course, some of this will come down to niche or how you define your 5-Star Client. You can bring greater value to someone with whom your services and uniqueness fit. Some folks do not need the Accountex salad shaker; they buy pre-made dressings and have no interest in making them from scratch. That’s cool; you don’t need to be needed by everyone. But we need to market more purposefully to those we do fit. It is much more effective to market to those we want to do business with, but an equally key component is knowing what sets us apart and makes us needed or wanted by our target audience. We need to create relatability; we need them to want the salad shaker us.
Even as I peck out this article, I am trying to figure out how to be the salad shaker to my niche - which may be you. I want accounting and bookkeeping firms to have books they are proud of. But I’m still working on my value statement and how to get that across in my messaging.
I’m having a grand ole time telling you to make sure you get your unique message out there so it resonates with your target, yet here I am not clear enough about my new niche messaging.
Back to you…
Is your vibe warm and compassionate? Is it corporate-y? Is it a broad team effort or a tight firm-owner grip? Do you offer a boutique firm's individual touches or a large firm's benefits? Are you social responsibility-focused or relate deeply to a demographic? Do you have a niche in an arena that you are a part of - can you understand their wins and solve their woes? Are you a bit on the wild side, have an office full of dogs, encourage work from anywhere, or do you embrace a more refined culture?
It doesn't matter who you are, how you operate, or who you are relatable to - genuineness is the key. Be who you are, and then let the world know about it. Craft the messaging so whoever needs your uniqueness knows that’s who you are.
Be the salad shaker, not the water bottle.
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*The “salad shaker us” really means “our value statement”, but the water bottle analogy is way funner, no?
