Listen instead on your Monday Morning Drive:

Marketing is probably the last item on your priority list, yet your prospective customers are deciding whether they want to do business with you before you ever meet them.

If that doesn’t wake you up, I’m not sure what will.

If you’re in business at all, you’re doing marketing. If you’re not thinking about it, you’re probably doing it badly.

You’re Already in the Marketing Business

The average buyer is under 40 years old. Before you meet them, they will:

• Visit your website
• Check your LinkedIn profile
• Review your social media presence
• Google your name

They’ll know more about you than you know about them. That ought to concern you.

Your brand, marketing, digital presence, and personal presence affect everything you put into the universe, including proposals. A proposal is not the only element a buyer will consider.

What’s it like to stand in your office? What do your advocates say about you? How do you deal with ambiguity? These elements matter more to buyers than flowery words and pretty pictures in a proposal that looks like everyone else’s.

Three Necessary Mindset Shifts

1. Accept That You’re in the Marketing Business

Whether you like it or not, you’re in the marketing business.

Prospects make assumptions about you before meeting you in person or learning what you can do for them. They look at your marketing and see it for what it is — and what it isn’t.

2. Marketing Works for You 24/7

Stop complaining that you don’t have time for marketing. Whatever you put in place starts working for you right away.

Salespeople take days off. They sleep. They only talk to one room of people at a time. Marketing works when your salespeople don’t. It’s your workhorse — the least expensive way to get new business.

3. Marketing Is an Investment

The more you put into marketing, the more you get out of it. You can put more into it poorly and get worse results than someone who puts more into it wisely, but you will get more out of it.

Three Bare Minimum Marketing Practices

Let’s create your entry-level marketing plan with three bare minimums:

1. Be Findable

Being findable means being online. Get your name in front of people and drive them to your website so they can learn more about you. Show up where your potential buyers will search.

If it’s simply a Google search for “AV company in Dallas, Texas,” find a way to appear on the first or second page. When you pop up, look very clickable.

Don’t stress about SEO right now — that’s just a distraction. It may matter later. You’re in a service business with a very small target audience. SEO isn’t vital, but it can make a difference.

People find your website because you handed them a business card, someone mentioned your name, or they were referred to you. If they find you in a search, that might be because of SEO. It might also be because you’re unique.

2. Be Understandable

Your website needs to speak to people who don’t understand what it takes for you to do what you do. Don’t teach them what you do and how you do it, or how hard it was to learn. Nobody cares.

Explain what you do for clients in customer-friendly terms. Remember your audience. If your customer is an event planner, don’t talk like an AV tech.

I look at hundreds of AV industry websites every year. I often visit 30 or more websites before a workshop… and I still have no idea what many companies do.

The problem might be that they don’t know either. They just want revenue and will perform any task for anyone. That’s not a good look.

Make your website clear about who you want to work with and what outcomes you’ll provide. Use customer-friendly terms — that means no jargon, no equipment names, and no manufacturing alliances. Nobody cares about all that.

Think about your ideal customer. What do you do for them? What helps them sleep at night? Lead with that.

3. Focus on Outcomes

We’re tactical people who look at process after process. But clients only care about outcomes.

The outcome is that the client finishes the show happy, their customer is happy, and everyone goes home happy. How you do it is your secret sauce. You don’t have to tell people.

Don’t talk about how you work. Instead, talk about what outcomes you provide. Pages upon pages about your processes don’t help customers understand what you do.

Talk about outcomes instead. What will you do for your customer? Make them the focus, no matter what niche you’re in.

The Difference That Matters

If you’re in the dry-hire rental business, talk about how easy it is to rent from you and the security of the rental agreement.

If you do shows, focus on different aspects. Rental customers want to know what the equipment does for them. Show customers expect you to bring the right tools — it’s not their job to approve your equipment choices.

There’s a huge difference between being a rental provider and a show provider. For show providers, it’s simple: everyone sees, everyone hears, everything works, cues are hit, presenters are comfortable on stage, and the event planner is happy.

Don’t avoid marketing any longer. You’re already in the marketing business. It’s time to get good at it.