I’m often involved in conversations with small business owners regarding their marketing materials, and lately I’ve notice a disturbing trend. There’s an ever increasing gap between companies who hold integrity dear, and the companies that they compete with. Reputable companies competing with their unscrupulous adversaries leave the consumer/client with little to go on but what’s provided in promotional material. Now your potential customer has to dig pretty deep to know who’s good for what, and you’re left with two large responsibilities–business ethics and conveying them.
When you provide a service or product that exceeds client expectation, you increase your competitive edge by a wide margin. When they can see it coming because of the way you present yourself, it’s an even wider gap.
Conversely, if you haven’t taken the time to update your service or product offerings and then market them to the best of your ability, you cheat both your client and your company.
The conundrum in the world of writing copy appears to be the same as in the IT staffing business. Getting your audience to understand your message is the key. Not just ‘putting it out there’ by using the right words and phrases, (of course, that is what we do here at ZTSM!), but taking that extra step to ensure your potential client ‘gets it.’ That actually involves quite a bit of internal communication to accomplish.
I was talking to Mike Hanes, President of ProVisionTech Group , about this just the other day. He stands strong against unethical business practices in the IT professional staffing circuit.
In an effort to boost quota, many recruiting/staffing agencies will pass along unqualified candidates for IT positions. Looking the other way is fairly common within the IT staffing community because:
- There are fewer and fewer qualified professionals to choose from, and
- Filling positions accurately depends on every member of the recruiting team understanding the same evolving language.
Mike and I bonded over that element. We both feel our companies operate with integrity and fill a lacking need–effective communication both internally (between co-workers), and externally (from our services to our client base). We agree that one of the largest barriers to serving our respective communities exists when the people we know we can help, have been burned by previous experiences.
How do your potential customers/clients know they can trust you?
Make sure your clients know exactly what you stand for through your presentation. If as a nation we’re ever going to re-establish trust in the marketplace, we’d better make sure we’re holding fast to ethical business practices, and we’d better make sure our clients know it!
Photo Credit: @N03/2987872496/" target="_blank">eeekay’s photography on flickr
