I learned this today. Hope you learn it too!

Let's talk about something a mentor of mine
calls The Platitude Trap. You need to read this
post very closely if you're in business for yourself.

Platitudes and generalities roll off the human
understanding like water off a duck's back. They
make no impression whatsoever. No wonder your ads
aren't working... you're not paying attention to what
you're doing. You think people are going to
magically call you or stop in your store?

Here's what he wrote. Read it very carefully as
this is the type of auto service I'd like to do to
because it's the best of the best.

One time I consulted with an auto repair facility
that had taken the concept of innovation to heart and
was by FAR the most awesome business of its kind I've
ever seen.

Talk about "Captain Obvious." They had 63 bays,
11 mechanics who were fully ASE certified in all 8
areas of specialization, and twice as much hi-tech
equipment as any dealership, and floors so clean you
could eat off of them.

They turned out 95% of all jobs in less than 24
hours, and unconditionally guaranteed all repairs.

If you ever called in to check the status of your
car, they would patch you directly through to the
TECHNICIAN working on your car via 900 mhz phone and
he'd tell you personally how things were going.

They had a waiting room that included a play area
for your kids, free drinks and snacks, magazines that
were actually current, and bathrooms cleaner than you'll
find in your house. Their customer service people who
greeted you at the counters all wore white shirts and
ties.

The counters were rounded on the edges so they
were more comfortable to lean on.

He thought of everything.

But they had a big marketing problem: Even though
nobody could even come close to performing at their
level, their advertising looked virtually identical
to all of their less-competent competitors.

Their newspaper ads, their brochures, their mailers,
their yellow pages ad… they were all virtually
indistinguishable from other auto repair facilities.

They ended up coming to a seminar we did, and
requesting a follow up consultation.

During the consultation, I brought up the idea that
their marketing made them look basically identical to
all of their competitors.

I told them in no uncertain terms that because of
their generic ads, as far as the auto repair buying
public was concerned, they weren't any better or any
different than anyone else.

Apparently, that little comment didn't sit well
with the service manager-he nearly went postal on me:

"There's nobody else that can even touch us.

The dealerships bring cars to us that THEY can't fix.

Our mechanics are far and away the best in the state.

Nobody... and I mean nobody can say what we say."

I was a little nervous. The guy was all bent out of shape.
He was screaming and flailing around; snot was flying out of
the guy's nose he was so mad.

It's about the closest I've ever come to getting in a
fistfight during a consultation!

So finally, to try to prove the point in a civil way,
I told the owner to pull out the Yellow Pages and see what
all of his competitors were saying. There it was in black and
yellow, the same generalities and platitudes as everybody else:
"ASE certified mechanics. Foreign and Domestic Cars Serviced.

And then a long laundry list of services performed....
ranging from air conditioners to brakes to transmissions and
get this - they accept Visa and MasterCard.

Holy smokes. Let's just say, his jaw hung open for about
two minutes.... before he pointed at the page and said to
the service manager...

Look. I know this guy. His shop is terrible. His ad says
the exact same thing that ours does. In fact, I think he
copied our layout and verbiage... word for word."

He looked at the page and saw that all of the ads were
virtually identical to his.

There was no way to deny it, not when you're staring at
the evidence. Remember, right now we're not talking about who
can do what you do; who can SAY what you say?

If I were you, I'd take a hard look at your marketing, your
websites, your auto responders, everything you can. If you
don't, you're missing out on lots an lots of additional money.

That's what I mean when I tell you to market to the market
that is RIGHT with you.

I wish you the best.

Dr. Carney

P.S. Hey, I'm a chiropractor, but anything on this blog can
be used by anyone, anywhere. I don't have all the answers, but if
you read most of what I've posted on the blog, you're going to make
more money. I love doing outrageous marketing, and sometimes it
doesn't work, but you know what, at least I'm doing something and
taking ACTION. Like I said, if you're a chiropractor, you need to
start doing something that works.