(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)
Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:
- My Biz Quote of the week:
“Many businesses make the mistake of promoting their Brand Promise and Brand Values to their target customers before they’ve successfully ‘sold’ them to their own staff. If your staff haven’t bought into your Brand Promise and Values, they won’t deliver them to your customers…and then you’re in big trouble.”
…Donald Cooper.
- Quick Biz Tip:
Stop worrying about what ‘non-target customers’ think of you.
Many business owners worry about what everyone thinks of them. Here’s a tip. If they’re not your target customer, or a key influencer, you don’t care what they think of you.
Example: If you own a Mercedes Dealership in your community and the homeless people in town think your cars are too expense, you don’t care. You care about them on a human level…but as a business, they’re not your target customers.
But, if the doctors, dentists, lawyers and accountants in town think your cars are too expensive, you have a big problem.
Focus on amazing and delighting your target customers and let the others go.
- Who makes the best and worst cars? According to Consumer Reports Magazine 2026 Annual Auto Issue, Subaru and BMW make the best vehicles, with Porsche, Honda, Toyota, Lexus and Lincoln not far behind. Surprisingly, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are way down at #22 and #23 on the list of quality Car Brands and GMC, Land Rover and Jeep make the lowest quality vehicles.
So, where would you land on the List of the ‘Best & Worst’ in your industry or market?
- Restaurants are struggling. About 41% of Canadian restaurants are losing money, or just breaking even, facing high costs (food, labor, rent) and fewer customers as Canadians dine out less due to inflation. It is estimated that 4,000 Canadian restaurants will to close in 2026.
- AI Update: A California tech company called ‘Just Like Me’ is charging $99 per minute for users to join a video call with an AI-generated avatar of Jesus Christ.
Now, to this week’s important topic:
So, what business are you really in?
A few years ago, walking through a major shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, I came across a beautiful flower shop. Displayed outside the doorway, in the mall aisle, were mixed bunches of fresh flowers, nicely wrapped and ready to go. A great idea to make that ‘impulse sale’.
But there was just one problem. I searched everywhere for a price and there was none to be found. There was no price sign and no price tag on the flowers…nothing that would allow me to make an instant decision to buy, which is what an impulse sale is.
I nipped into the shop, chatted up the proprietor and asked her how much the flower bunches were. “Oh, they’re $12.00“. she said. “And how do they sell?” I asked. “Not very well and I don’t know why…they’re a great price.”
I asked her what business she’s in. She looked at me as if I had two heads and said, “I sell flowers. Can’t you see that?” “Yes, you do.” I replied, “But that’s not what business you’re in. You’re in the ‘love’ business; the business of helping people express caring, joy, sorrow, support or celebration…and all of that is love. And you’re in the business of making it easy for people to buy. So, what those flowers need is a sign that says, Bunches of love…only $12.00 and I bet you’ll sell out every day!”
I asked her to humour me and give it a try. I also gave her $50 to get the sign made. Then, I asked for her business card so I could call her in one month to find out how her ‘Bunches of Love’ were selling.
I followed up, as promised, and learned that sales of those ‘Bunches of love’ had immediately tripled. She reported that she and her staff were now focused on doing everything with love and treating every customer with a feeling of love, joy and gratitude…and overall sales were already up 20%!
In every market, whatever you sell, the business that figures out how to add emotional value to every customer interaction and then makes it easy for the customer to buy will become the dominant player.
What might this look like in your business? Ask and answer these two simple questions…
Question #1: “What business are we really in?” Define what you sell by how it adds functional, emotional and financial value to your customers’ lives and by how it makes emotional connections with them.
Question #2: “How can we make it easier for our customers to make a wise purchase decision? How can we become their ‘Caring Coach’?”
So, how can you redefine your business, and the products or services you sell, in a way that focuses you on helping instead of selling, while making powerful emotional connections with your target customers? And how can you communicate in words that enhance those connections and change your focus? “Bunches of Love!” did that for a flower shop in Calgary, Alberta.
That’s it for this week…
Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!
Donald Cooper
Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability. He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.
