The Importance of Understanding Your Customers – Howard Wolpoff

Wondering why branding is so crucial in today’s world? Our guest will tell you everything you need to know.

Meet Howard Wolpoff. Howard is the Chief Marketing Strategist of Profit Master Business Solutions and a profit acceleration coach who works with small business owners to help them redirect operations and accelerate performance while making them love their business again. He’s a marketing executive with over 25 years of experience helping hundreds of companies create profitable solutions to drive sales, attract and maintain customers, and build a solid corporate brand. Howard has helped launch three businesses: Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment, the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team, and GRIDIRONNOW.COM, the premier site for SEC football.

Howard believes that branding is critical to success, especially during tough times. That’s why you should have your own brand messaging and put your customers at the center of your brand’s story.

In this episode of the Think Business with Tyler podcast, we discuss the importance of brand messaging, why you should analyze your competitors, how to understand your customers’ needs, and the undeniable power of branding.

If you want to learn more about marketing and branding your business, make sure you tune into this episode to hear what Howard has to say.

Guest-At-A-Glance

💡 Name: Howard Wolpoff

💡 What he does: He’s the Chief Marketing Strategist of Profit Master Business Solutions.

💡 Noteworthy: Howard has over 25 years of experience in the industry. He’s now an international speaker, podcaster, and author who brings new levels of success to his clients.

💡 Key Quote: “People do not fully understand that they have a developing relationship and that the most important person in that relationship is the other person.”

💡 Where to find Howard: LinkedIn

Key Insights

What is brand messaging, and why it’s important? Brand messaging allows you to stand out in a crowded market. It helps you communicate your story, give your brand a voice, and build customer trust. If you want to distinguish yourself from the competition, you need to have strong brand messaging.

Howard explains, “You definitely should have your own messaging. Everyone has their own story. So let’s break it down to the basics. It’s storytelling. You are telling your story, whether it’s in actual storytelling, so you made videos, and you’re doing different things in that respect, utilizing social media utilizing on your platform, or you are trying to create a message for your audience because, in truth, everyone is on a journey.”

Analyze your competitors. Competitor analysis is an essential part of every business. Not only does it help you gain a better understanding of the market, but it also helps you improve your own business strategy. If you want to build a compelling and outstanding offer for your customers, make sure you analyze your competition.

Howard explains, “You have to make sure that you are putting your best foot forward and stepping away from the line. If you are a storefront in your city and there are seven other people that do the same exact thing that you do. What is going to make you stand out more than them? […] So it’s an analysis of what is your competition doing? What makes you stand out? What added value can you provide to really make that a really wonderful experience for your customer?”

Understand your customers’ needs. Your customers are at the center of your business. So it’s vital to identify their pain points and understand their needs. Then, you should create an offer around their needs and deliver on what you promised. According to Howard, the key is to have a great understanding of your customers. He says,

“To me, it always starts with having a great understanding, not just a good understanding, of who your customer is. And if you have a great understanding of who your customer is, you have a pretty good understanding of what they want. So now you’re building your offer on what your avatar, your general customer needs.”

Brand yourself. The power of branding is undeniable, especially during tough economic times. So instead of stressing about the future and the state of your business, focus on building a strong brand instead. Howard says,

“When you have challenging times, what you need to do is brand yourself. First and foremost, focus on your branding, get your name out there. Those that did extremely well when the pandemic hit didn’t hide into a corner even if they weren’t revenues weren’t coming in; they were focusing on branding themselves even more so that when people were ready to move forward, they were the first thing on their mind.”

Top Quotes

“There was always that one moment that we script it in; that was that big laugh moment. And I’d sit there at the premiere of the video, just waiting for that moment. And then you’d see the reaction from the fans. And you really can if you can script a message, whether it’s a marketing message or story message, the right way you can get a response, and that was one of the biggest lessons I learned at that time.”

“If they’re searching to buy something, they’re on a journey. And so when they come to you, your goal is to speak to them about that journey, because there’s a problem they have, they don’t want a result they want they don’t have, and if you can speak to that, then they’re going to want to learn more about you and hopefully become a prospect and then a client. So it’s a process, so you have to make sure that your story is engaging.”

[market dominating position] It’s really the differentiator. It’s how are you different from other companies? What is it that makes you special? What is it makes you stand out, but really the concept that really defines you and provides added value to your customers.”

“I think a lot of it starts with assessing what the pain points are, addressing who the audience is and getting a better sense of really who the audience is and then really messaging to them directly so that you’re addressing the two questions that they have in their head on a regular basis: there’s a problem I have I don’t want and a result that I want that I don’t have.”

“Don’t look back, someone might be gaming on you. So as you are building your business, there’s no time just to say, ‘Okay, I hit the moments. This is exactly what I want.’ Because just the same way that you’re assessing what the other businesses in your industry are doing, so too it they’re doing it right, they’re doing the same thing with you. So business is still going to be developing over the course of time you really want to be the leader in your industry, the leader in your segment of where you’re working or your community. And sometimes you look back and take your foot off the gas, people might pass you, and then you’re losing market share.”

Links

Profit Master Business Solutions Website