Sunday, June 19, 2005

MAKING DECISIONS

About a month ago my wife and I decided we wanted a second cat. We went looking at all the pet shops to find the right kitten. After a couple of weeks, we fell in love with a face. I had doubts about how our five year old Calico would handle the adjustment, so it was not on an impulse that we decided to adopt Gizmo. Still, that moment of making the decision would affect so many lives.

If we hadn’t, the kitten would surely have been adopted by some other loving family. And maybe we would have found another somewhere. But we did, and that set into play an entirely different set of actions, feelings, and emotions. I suppose it’s like The Butterfly Effect. You can apply that principle to almost everything in your everyday life. It’s not something that one would obsess over, but It does pose interesting questions.

What if a consumer made a different choice than your product? What if a number of them did? How can you sway those opinions? Can you directly sway the opinions of the consumers who matter most to your business, or do you take a shotgun approach? I see so many businesses who decide to take the latter approach, and then later fault the process rather than the decision for their failure.

We have a plan for integrating the new kitten into the family. And we are planning to consult a professional. I believe that we’ll be successful.

How do you insure that your message will reach the right consumers? Do you have a plan? Will you consult with someone who specializes in relating your message to the right customers for your business? Or will you go it alone?

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