I gave this book 5 stars in my GoodReads review. I do like a book that is high in principles, tools, techniques, and knowledge, and relatively low in allegory and stories of how other people have achieved results. Or perhaps it was because I read this book at a key time in our business when we are looking at our offering and increasing the value of our services to our clients. It ticked quite a few boxes in that regard.
Priestley sets out 7 principles for becoming oversubscribed. Why become oversubscribed? Because when you are oversubscribed you can concentrate on delighting your high valued clients and generate compound attraction from the results. I won’t list all of the principles. I want you to read this book. Here is some of what I took away from my reading.
Create your own market who value what you really offer. For this you need to know your customer & what you really offer. You can begin creating your own market by determining not to focus on the average. Like another book I read recently, The 10x Rule, if you focus on average you will always be average. Create your own market and serve them better than anyone else can.
Similarly, seperate your business from your industry. If you don’t, you will always compete on price with everyone else.
Look to your existing market, serve them well and create a loyal following. Seperate them from the industry to become a market of your own. If you cater to the masses, the market will force you down on price and want more for it.
Dedication to your customers. Deliver a remarkable service. This will seperate your market from everyone else and protect you from competition.
Become well known for it. Be everywhere (another 10x Rule principle), and authentic. Build your corporate and personal profile, reputation, via engagement and trust.
Create market imbalance in your favour via innovation, relationships, convenience, and price. This is spelled out plainly in the book and can be summed up as delivering something no-one else can, delivering via strong relationships with the customer, making it easy to access, at a price that reflects it’s exclusivity and value.
Create a buying environment. Some big quotes here that some might argue with. “People don’t buy what others want to sell. People buy what others want to buy.” Reward your customers, thrill them and celebrate them for purchasing your service or product from you. “People don’t buy what they need, they buy what they want.” So tap into their emotions, deliver what they want bundled with what you know they need.
It’s OK to be different. Again, trying to fit in with the crowd will get you nothing more than the crowd. So break the rules, just as the guys from 37signals talk about in Rework. Don’t be afraid to say no, that you are too busy to deliver the quality you stand by, the customer isn’t always right, what is right is the value in what you provide and being able to deliver it in the most effective and remarkable way for your clients.
Create an ecosystem of value and be remarkable. Value add to your offering to lift it by packaging in other high-value services that assist delivery. Concentrate on outstanding quality in what you offer. Become personally and professionally known for it.
The strategy Priestley offers is the Campaign Driven Enterprise Method. Turning your offering into a series of moments, promotions, or important events that attract large numbers of customers rather than winning them one by one. The book contains easy to digest steps on how to do this and each contains the detail required without fluff or too many allegories. It makes them easy to see them into your own business. There is critical depth here and marketing knowledge that solidly reinforces the principles into actionable tools.
Lastly the book looks at the business environment, and the team and culture required for a business to succeed with the applying the principles and methods. This includes a look at the self, and getting the self in the right gear to succeed with balance. And here is where my next book review might emerge …
