It's nice to be important...

...But it's More important to be nice!

Generally speaking I avoid cliches like the plague, but in this case I'll make an exception.

It was my birthday the other day - 42 years old/young etc and anyhow, I was in a good mood as a result. I'm driving down the road and I spot a young woman cycling along the Bicester - Thame road in the hissing rain. For the next 2 miles I wrestle with the dilemma, do I assuage my conscience and risk being branded an abductor by asking her if she needs a lift or do I avoid any potential misunderstandings and keep on truckin'.

Sod it! I am not going to let my fear of embarrassing myself prevent me from doing something nice, so I perform a perfectly legal and safe handbrake turn (kidding), I spin around and dash back to her assistance. My luck was in, she knew the Gorilla Van and worked for one of my clients. My conscience was clear, and we parted ways shortly afterwards, both a little happier.

The reason for the story is that I felt good, she left with a better perception of our business (which will hopefully reverberate around their company) and it cost me nothing.

This blog is all about free marketing advice, so herewith follows the lesson:

We got our heads together this morning (I try to do an hours social media marketing each day!) and brainstormed the reasons people choose one supplier over another and we came up with four P's of the selection process:

• Price - always a major if not the only selection factor
• Professionalism - similarly important, clients want a product or service that they trust.
• Proximity - how near are you to your prospects, this might reflect a desire to buy locally or simply a need for convenience.
• Peace of mind - in a lot of cases, clients will stick with an encumbent simply because they know that they can deliver - noone ever got fired by sticking with the same agency!
• Personalities - do they like you, your people and your company?

The top four P's are undeniably important, but if you have a well-made, competitively priced product that is available in the right location for your prospects and they have no prior long-standing relationship, the only thing that is very variable is the last one - personalities.

Despite the fact that we market ourselves like mad, most of our business comes from referrals, clients and friends who like us, who recommend us to their colleagues, friends etc.

We recently won a piece of business (website design) in a pitch against four other agencies amongst whom we wouldn't have been the cheapest. Simply because he, Clint the client, thought we were nicer (although I'm sure the bar in the office helped his decision).

It's not just about winning over clients, suppliers can also be teriffic sources of business in your network so be as nice to them as you are to your clients, plus of course it helps to get involved with your local community and be nice to them too. Being nice is usually free (the community one may occasionally need a sponsorship/donation fund) and being nice always makes you feel better.

But don't be too nice!

Employing this tactic is a double edged sword. Regrettably there are people out there who will take advantage of you, so work out when and where to draw the line.

If you are nice, blog about it, put it in your newsletter, post it on your linkedIn profile, be proud of your good deeds, but don't brag about them.

Ho hum, back to work then eh!