Business Briefs |
Martial Arts And Marketing Part 2
In Part One of this three part series, we discussed how my Aikido master instructor revealed the secret to his amazing effectiveness when he said, “It’s not about being faster than my opponent, it’s about anticipating and being where he is going first, so I can short circuit and redirect the attack to create a positive outcome.” It’s better to be first than fast.
It's Better To Be First Than Fast
We said there was marketing wisdom to be found in this concept, and there are at least three specific aspects you can adapt to make your marketing more effective:
In Part One, we discussed the importance of Anticipation. In this article, let’s examine the second aspect - Getting There First - and in the final article, we’ll look at the intriguing Aikido concept of Creating Instead of Competing as it applies to the design of effective marketing strategies.
Five Levels of Response
My Aikido instructor says there are five levels of response to an attack:
1. Getting hit. Obviously, the defender’s response was too slow.
2. Defending just in time. If you think about blocking a strike right before it hits you, there is quite a crash that occurs. The speed of the blow is at its maximum and your block will take the full impact. It’s likely to hurt one or both of you. It beats getting punched in the face, but the defender is still reacting late and is rarely positioned to take control of the engagement. The advantage is still to the attacker.
3. Countering as the attacker physically begins the strike. This is pretty good as your response is initiated before the attack is fully commenced, so you can take the attacker’s balance and assume control of the engagement.
4. Moving on the attacker’s intent to attack. This is clearly an advanced response and is in the domain of a master. It is magnificent to observe, as the defender assumes control of the engagement before there is even much visible sign of engagement at all. The master is able to see, what is not obvious to the casual observer or the untrained. This is the safest defense for both parties, as a defender with a good heart is able to direct the encounter gently to a positive outcome.
5. Moving into leadership even prior to the intent to attack. This is an extreme level of mastery and this article is not the place to attempt to describe how it’s possible in martial arts…except to say that artists at the highest form of their practice do it. Every once in a while practitioners at every level get a little experience of this level of connection, insight and anticipation – and it’s wonderful. When it happens, the relationship and the outcome of the interaction are directed by the “defender” and there is no visible evidence of an attack.
What This Has To Do With Marketing
Each one of the five levels of response has an equivalent in marketing:
Getting hit means you are in the thick of a competitive fight and you are taking blows in the marketplace from direct and indirect competitors.
Defending just in time is like winning back a client that announced they were shifting their business to one of your competitors. You might have saved the client for the moment, but at what cost? Margin? Posture and power with the client? Confidence? Saving business at the last minute definitely comes at a cost, and you are still off balance and in a defensive posture.
Countering as the competitor begins the strike is a lot like a competitive bidding situation where you are marketing and selling head to head against other vendors. Most businesses owners consider this kind of fighting a “fact” of business life, and the survivors get very good at competing at this level.
Generally, businesses live in these first three levels…and it’s not much fun after a while. Getting hit is painful. Surviving competitive threats by last minute maneuvering and blocking is exhausting. “Winning” the level three battle is exciting when we are fresh and young, both in age and in a business, but eventually (perhaps you’ve noticed), constant fighting wears on your spirit.
Maybe I’m dating myself, but this situation makes me think of a song and a movie. Perhaps you recall Simon and Garfunkel’s hit song “The Boxer,” in which “he carries a reminder of every glove…” And there’s also the old Monte Python film about the quest for the Holy Grail…where as the valiant hero systematically loses arms and legs he nevertheless bravely proclaims, “I’m not dead yet!”
Just as a martial artist must move out of the first three levels of response in order to continue to practice for many years, businesspeople must move to higher levels of marketing mastery in order to protect themselves and their companies and thrive over the long term.
How Do You Get There First?
First of all, it requires a shift in thinking. Most people, including most junior martial artists, think the martial arts are about fighting. Masters have moved beyond this. One thing fascinating about Aikido, which was founded by a man many consider the greatest martial artist of all time, is that it is an entire practice centered on the concept of not fighting. Remember my description from the last article? “Aikido has been described as the study of the resolution of violence without conflict and also the resolution of conflict without violence.”
Most people in business hold a competitive fighting model in their minds as the “reality” of business. “Business is a struggle, it’s hard, and it’s a contest – that’s just how it is.” Many books have been written using fighting and war as a metaphor for business.
But what if the metaphor is flawed? What if it loses its effectiveness eventually as you move up the ranks of your martial arts and business practice? What if by “getting there first” you could succeed in reaching a positive outcome – without a fight?
This is the job of effective marketing.
It starts with anticipating and being ahead of the market in your thinking, which we discussed in the last article.
Then it requires proactive movement. Everyone speculates about the future, but only leadersmove from speculation to interpretation to strategic planning and then act on their assessments in order to invent and declare the future for their vendors, customers and employees. The martial artist who gets punched in the stomach and then proclaims in a gasp, “I saw that coming!” is like the business owner that speculates on the future, sees the potential for a blow, but does not act. There is little solace in proclaiming great foresight on the steps of the bankruptcy court. We must act early. As my martial arts master says, “It’s not about being fast, it’s about being first.”
Marketing mastery is about telling your story of the future to your prospects and customers so they can organize around it and follow your lead. This is well beyond the punch, block, counterpunch of “features and benefits” marketing. When prospects and customers reach the conclusion that you are leading them in a unique and safe and compelling direction, resistance fades, cooperation grows, price objections vaporize and you are no longer in a “commodity” business.
You “get there first” through marketing messages that are presented regularly to the proper target audience. Messages that tell your story of how your customers can avoid pain and have a better future. Messages that build your case over time in a cost effective way, so that prospects and customers are drawn to the inescapable conclusion that the best thing for their future is to do business with you.
This takes us to the next and final article of this series in Business Briefs, in which we’ll look at the concept of “Creation Instead of Competition.”
Martially Yours: Michael Sipe
It's Better To Be First Than Fast
We said there was marketing wisdom to be found in this concept, and there are at least three specific aspects you can adapt to make your marketing more effective:
- Anticipating Instead of Reacting
- Getting There First
- Creating Instead of Competing
In Part One, we discussed the importance of Anticipation. In this article, let’s examine the second aspect - Getting There First - and in the final article, we’ll look at the intriguing Aikido concept of Creating Instead of Competing as it applies to the design of effective marketing strategies.
Five Levels of Response
My Aikido instructor says there are five levels of response to an attack:
1. Getting hit. Obviously, the defender’s response was too slow.
2. Defending just in time. If you think about blocking a strike right before it hits you, there is quite a crash that occurs. The speed of the blow is at its maximum and your block will take the full impact. It’s likely to hurt one or both of you. It beats getting punched in the face, but the defender is still reacting late and is rarely positioned to take control of the engagement. The advantage is still to the attacker.
3. Countering as the attacker physically begins the strike. This is pretty good as your response is initiated before the attack is fully commenced, so you can take the attacker’s balance and assume control of the engagement.
4. Moving on the attacker’s intent to attack. This is clearly an advanced response and is in the domain of a master. It is magnificent to observe, as the defender assumes control of the engagement before there is even much visible sign of engagement at all. The master is able to see, what is not obvious to the casual observer or the untrained. This is the safest defense for both parties, as a defender with a good heart is able to direct the encounter gently to a positive outcome.
5. Moving into leadership even prior to the intent to attack. This is an extreme level of mastery and this article is not the place to attempt to describe how it’s possible in martial arts…except to say that artists at the highest form of their practice do it. Every once in a while practitioners at every level get a little experience of this level of connection, insight and anticipation – and it’s wonderful. When it happens, the relationship and the outcome of the interaction are directed by the “defender” and there is no visible evidence of an attack.
What This Has To Do With Marketing
Each one of the five levels of response has an equivalent in marketing:
Getting hit means you are in the thick of a competitive fight and you are taking blows in the marketplace from direct and indirect competitors.
Defending just in time is like winning back a client that announced they were shifting their business to one of your competitors. You might have saved the client for the moment, but at what cost? Margin? Posture and power with the client? Confidence? Saving business at the last minute definitely comes at a cost, and you are still off balance and in a defensive posture.
Countering as the competitor begins the strike is a lot like a competitive bidding situation where you are marketing and selling head to head against other vendors. Most businesses owners consider this kind of fighting a “fact” of business life, and the survivors get very good at competing at this level.
Generally, businesses live in these first three levels…and it’s not much fun after a while. Getting hit is painful. Surviving competitive threats by last minute maneuvering and blocking is exhausting. “Winning” the level three battle is exciting when we are fresh and young, both in age and in a business, but eventually (perhaps you’ve noticed), constant fighting wears on your spirit.
Maybe I’m dating myself, but this situation makes me think of a song and a movie. Perhaps you recall Simon and Garfunkel’s hit song “The Boxer,” in which “he carries a reminder of every glove…” And there’s also the old Monte Python film about the quest for the Holy Grail…where as the valiant hero systematically loses arms and legs he nevertheless bravely proclaims, “I’m not dead yet!”
Just as a martial artist must move out of the first three levels of response in order to continue to practice for many years, businesspeople must move to higher levels of marketing mastery in order to protect themselves and their companies and thrive over the long term.
How Do You Get There First?
First of all, it requires a shift in thinking. Most people, including most junior martial artists, think the martial arts are about fighting. Masters have moved beyond this. One thing fascinating about Aikido, which was founded by a man many consider the greatest martial artist of all time, is that it is an entire practice centered on the concept of not fighting. Remember my description from the last article? “Aikido has been described as the study of the resolution of violence without conflict and also the resolution of conflict without violence.”
Most people in business hold a competitive fighting model in their minds as the “reality” of business. “Business is a struggle, it’s hard, and it’s a contest – that’s just how it is.” Many books have been written using fighting and war as a metaphor for business.
But what if the metaphor is flawed? What if it loses its effectiveness eventually as you move up the ranks of your martial arts and business practice? What if by “getting there first” you could succeed in reaching a positive outcome – without a fight?
This is the job of effective marketing.
It starts with anticipating and being ahead of the market in your thinking, which we discussed in the last article.
Then it requires proactive movement. Everyone speculates about the future, but only leadersmove from speculation to interpretation to strategic planning and then act on their assessments in order to invent and declare the future for their vendors, customers and employees. The martial artist who gets punched in the stomach and then proclaims in a gasp, “I saw that coming!” is like the business owner that speculates on the future, sees the potential for a blow, but does not act. There is little solace in proclaiming great foresight on the steps of the bankruptcy court. We must act early. As my martial arts master says, “It’s not about being fast, it’s about being first.”
Marketing mastery is about telling your story of the future to your prospects and customers so they can organize around it and follow your lead. This is well beyond the punch, block, counterpunch of “features and benefits” marketing. When prospects and customers reach the conclusion that you are leading them in a unique and safe and compelling direction, resistance fades, cooperation grows, price objections vaporize and you are no longer in a “commodity” business.
You “get there first” through marketing messages that are presented regularly to the proper target audience. Messages that tell your story of how your customers can avoid pain and have a better future. Messages that build your case over time in a cost effective way, so that prospects and customers are drawn to the inescapable conclusion that the best thing for their future is to do business with you.
This takes us to the next and final article of this series in Business Briefs, in which we’ll look at the concept of “Creation Instead of Competition.”
Martially Yours: Michael Sipe