The "Why Not Factor", Your Secret to Success

The Why Not Factor Your Secret to SuccessbyWhat do you stand for? What do you want to be
Chuck Grootknown for? What will be your legacy? And one
By Chuck Grootlast question: If you don't stand for something,
Let's go on a little flight of fancy. Let's go carwhat do you settle for?
shopping. Now usually when you go car shoppingThe principal features are usually a broad definition
you start with a budget in mind, don't you? Youof the basic business code of conduct and the
go from dealer to dealer, trying to get the bestscope of the organization. It is important to have
deal that you can, but what really sells you in thea clear, concise overall goal for you and your
end? Is it the value? Is it the price? Is it thecompany. This can be as long as 10 pages or as
features?short as one sentence. Generally it is better to
Try as you might, emotions always come intokeep it as simple as possi­ble. Your Why-Not!
play, you buy the car that looks the best, feelsis the road map which you and your employees
the best, and you look the best in it -don't you?can follow anytime there is a question that
Put yourself in your clients' shoes. What are theysurfaces out of the ordinary. Any answer which
looking for, the cheapest price, unmatcheddoes not fall in line with your Why-Not! shouldn't
packages, exceptional quality, or the photographerbe used.
showing incomparable quality? Naturally, they willAnother example would be if you own a portrait
tell you, all of the above!studio and Mrs. Jones comes in and complains that
But in reality, can they really tell the difference?she doesn't like her photographs and you look at
We would like to think that we fit the bill in all ofthem and they are as good as they are going to
the above but do we? Can we?get. Your Why-Not! states that you guarantee
What happens, when in your clients' eyes there100% satisfaction, but you are torn, as far as
are too many similarities to really tell. Then it boilsyou are concerned, they are great shots. Without
down to the best salesperson, the best saleshesitation and with a smile - you give her money
presentation, or what I call the best Why-Not!back or offer to retake them. This course of
Your Why-Not! defines the nature and purpose ofaction will always work to your favour, maybe
your business. It is the one thing that compelsnot immediately, but it is the right course. If you
people to buy from you instead of from yourhave employees, they would be empowered to
competitors. Often it is call a "USP" (Unique Salesdo the same, immediately, without fear of
Point), or your Mission Statement.repercussion.
Your Why-Not! is much more than both of theBasically your Why-Not! can stand alone as an
others put together - yet simpler.advertisement that sells your company to you,
It stands foryour employees and your clients. As a matter of
Why Hire You - No Other Temptationsfact, it can be used as an ad and it should be
You must answer the question for your clients -used in all your ads.
Why Hire You?A few more points about Why-Not!s'
Then you must make it so that there can be -There are many different formats; there is no
No Other Temptations!right or wrong type.
The exciting part of it is that anyone reading it willIt remains fairly stable over time.
get a clear picture of the personality of theIt may be expressed at different levels of
company and what you stand for.abstraction; a balance must be struck between
Personality shows emotion and a human side.too wide and too narrow a definition.
USP's and Mission Statements are documents andSome Why-Not!s' include objective, strategic
documents are cold and impersonal.thrust, policies and guidelines.
More importantly, it will tell the client what you willThey describe your products in terms relevant to
do for him or her.your customers.
Too often a company fails because it doesn'tDifferentiate - explain how your product is
know who it is trying to serve. Trying to be alldifferent than the competition's, with different
things to all people is fool­ish. You have tobenefits. Whenever people buy, they are only
come up with a specific Why-Not! - a unique andconcerned with "What's In It For Them."
compelling claim or offer - that's targeted like aEffectively choose pricing and positioning
laser to give you a direction.strategies.
It answers the question "What is our reason forThese strategies may be based on the fact that:
being?" Why would someone buy from us? And1. You are an expert in your field.
when they hear the answers that they are2. You have degrees or education in your
looking for they will exclaim, "Why-Not!"specialty.
But this is not to say that you can't have two or3. You may finish your products with better
three differ­ent Why-Not!s for differentquality or more expensive finishes.
product lines or services that you offer.4. You may frame each print.
There are many different kinds of Why-Not!s and5. You may have an escalating hourly fee
you must define this yourself because your entiredepending on the degree of difficulty, safety,
marketing and operational success is built upon thedistance, specialty, or uses of the photograph or
Why-Not!. All studios need a clear sense of wherein the photographing,
they are trying to go and what they want to beSteps to develop your Why-Not:
in order for the diverse elements to pull in aKeep in mind:
uniform direction.- There is no right or wrong statement for your
What you are doing is providing your prospectiveorganization just as there is no best or most
clients is a clear cut picture of who you are ,appropriate format.
what you are going to do, and what you stand- Focus on the concept not on the words; the
for.words can be fine-tuned later.
Why do you want to do this?- Most Why-Nots' suffer, at least to some
Why-Not! Just teasing with you.degree, from mother-hood-it is, it's important that
One reason is that our society makes celebritiesyou stay away from platitudes.
out of people who are unique or who have special- The greatest flaw of most Why-Nots are that
abilities. Their qualities and attributes are polishedthe implicit message is the "we" are smarter, will
to a bright shine and then professionally presentedwork harder, and will do a better job. In the
to the rest of us. We then strive to be like thesecompetitive marketplace of goods, services and
individuals and yet the very nature of successideas, to assume that you are smarter, faster or
demands authenticity.meaner than the competition inevitably leads to
So what's the secret?surprises and the realization that you and your
It's simple really. We are ALL unique. We ALLcolleagues are just about on par with the quality
have something special to give. Being authenticof the people with whom you are competing.
and true to ourselves is the only chance we have- Although it is difficult, try to build creativity into
of being liked, being successful, and being trulyyour work. This is a first attempt at development
happy. Improving yourself requires polishing what'sof a Why-Not so it is important to build in new
great about you and proudly presenting it to theways of viewing things at the beginning. It will be
world.refined and reworked later so try to open up and
My first year Philosophy Prof loved to ask, "Whybe creative now.
should you be moral?" Then he would quicklyTo give you an idea as to how a Why-Not can
follow up with "Why should you be immoral?"look I'll show you one of mine.
Then with a smile on his face and a glint in his eyeOld Masters Portrait Studio Why-Not is:
he would say, "The correct answer is Why Not!"Old Masters Portraits Studio desire is to create an
Some companies position themselves as havingexciting and memorable image for each and
the best selection or broadest array of buyingevery one of our customers. The image will be
options. Their Why-Not!. is obviously "broadtechnically perfect and of excellent quality, using
choice."the finest materials that we can find. It is our goal
Other companies may offer more limitedto provide service to the customer that is
selection, but their Why-Not! is "low price" or "lowunsurpassed in the industry so that all of our
markup."customers will want to come back year after
Another company may decide they don't want toyear.
be known for just price or selection, so insteadIt is imperative that we charge a price that
they offer the finest quality at a higher, but stillprovides value to the client and a good return on
reasonable price. "Quality" or "exclusivity" is itsour efforts. We will be happy if our clients are
Why-Not!.happy and our clients will be happy if we are
Most Why-Not!s' encompass three elements:happy.
1. A purpose/role elementWriting your Why-Not
A. In a nutshell, what is the purpose of theStart by answering the following questions.
company?i. I am going to take nature1. What is the purpose of our organization?
photographs, specializing in species which are on2. What is our reason for being?
the endangered species list.3. What are we going to photograph and why?
B. What role are you going to play?ii. My goal is toAfter spending some time on the first three
raise awareness of these precious animals byquestions, begin to filter in the following
writing books and articles about them, myquestions.a. Who do we serve?b. What do we do
experiences, and how the effects of man arebest?c. What are some of our weaknesses?d.
playing out in these animals lives.What kinds of programs and services do we
2. A boundaries elementprovide or should we provide?e. What outcomes
This element defines what you will and will not do.do we hope to achieve?f. What do we hope to
In the example above you might write somethingaccom­plish?g. What would happen if our
like.organization did not exist?h. What is special about
I will write books and articles to serious journalsthe way we operate?i. Where do we or should
and magazines but I will not do greeting cards andwe provide our product or service?What do I or
postcards. My goal is to depict the plight ofour shareholders want?j. From the previous
endangered speices but not demean them orexercise you can now put together a Unique
make light of their existence.Selling Proposition or Mission Statement that will
3. A values-based/philosophical elementgive you a direction and major driving force for
Here are some more questions to ask yourself.your company.