You have to be bigger than your product

An interesting article by Dave Fleet discusses how within the marketing and advertising industry the lines are blurring. Previously one could determine what services an ad agency offered and what a digital agency would provide. They were quite distinct disciplines.

Recently these lines have started to blur with agencies offering a more holistic service to their clients. With other words let’s work out a solution for the client rather than just providing a limited service within ones own specialist field.

This could possibly be a reflection of the times. In order to be more competitive we have to offer more services or a more rounded approach to the industry we operate in. We need to expand on our expertise within our field so that our clients may benefit.

It fits in with the idea that we lose customers because they can click to find the competitor. Google and other search engines have forced us to be more accountable to our clients. If we’re not, they will move on.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to bring on board a greater range of products. But sometimes it is just what is required. The accounting profession is a great example of this.

Many years ago, I don’t know when exactly the shift happened, but accountants started to offer more than just an audit service. They started to offer a greater function in that they brought specialists on board to help businesses with a range of problems.

Accountants were now called in to resolve productivity issues, detect internal fraud, trace data fraud brought on by intranet and internet access, offer management and leadership advice and a host of other non-auditing services.

Suddenly the accounting firms such as Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoppers who took on this business model became huge global  business empires.

It’s not that I advocate a similar sort of broad stroke approach to business so that you as individual business person can grow a huge empire. Although of course, if that is what you dream, then go for it!

But look at your business. See what value you can add to your service or product that you are offering so that your client is overwhelmed. Too often we are totally underwhelmed by what businesses are offering.

Remember how you feel when you receive great service or buy a product that is exactly what you had hoped for.  Check what you can offer your client that makes her feel like she has gotten a huge amount more than she bargained for and if you don’t know, it’s never too late to ask.

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