People don’t respond to WHAT you do. They respond to WHY you do it.

When it comes to marketing their products, most companies are structured like this:

Draw three circles, one inside the other. Label the outside circle, WHAT; the middle circle, HOW; the inside circle, WHY. Most companies design their marketing programs from the outside, moving inward. For example, WHAT they do is often clearly understood and the easiest to explain. HOW they are different from the competition is the next step in developing a viable marketing approach. But by the time they get to the inside circle of WHY they do it, things usually start getting a little fuzzy and most hope that no one notices. They hope that the WHAT and HOW will be enough to successfully market their product.

The most innovative companies in the world do not operate from the outside, moving inward: what → how → why. They operate from the inside, moving outward: why → how → what.

Every company or working person knows WHAT it is they do. Most know HOW they’re different or HOW their product might be better than the competition. However, very few really know WHY they do what they do. WHY do they get out of bed every morning? What is their ultimate purpose? And no, making a profit or a living is NOT linked to the WHY. Making a profit or a living is hopefully the RESULT of what you do or the RESULT of why you do it.

• WHAT do I do?
• HOW am I different from the competition? HOW am I better?
• WHY do I do it? …What is my ultimate purpose?

An example of a commercial failure:

The company was called TiVo. From the time they started, they had what was perceived to be the single, highest quality product on the market. They were well funded and market conditions could not have been better. TiVo even became a verb that most people understood (“I TiVo’d the game last night”). But today, TiVo is considered a commercial or business failure. Why? When TiVo first introduced their product, they told people WHAT they had.

“We have a machine that pauses live TV, skips commercials, rewinds live TV, and memorizes your viewing habits.”

Some people bought it, while most didn’t believe them and even considered the product a little scary, a little too Big Brother-ish. What if TiVo had instead said something like this, starting with the WHY instead of the WHAT:

“If you are the kind of person who likes to have TOTAL CONTROL over every aspect of your life, boy, do we have a product for you. It pauses live TV, skips commercials…”

People don’t respond to WHAT you do, they respond to WHY you do it.

An example of commercial success:

Apple Computers, Inc. is one of the most successful companies in human history. However, what if Apple Computers had structured their marketing strategy as something similar to this:

“We make great computers that are beautifully designed and easy to use. Wanna buy one?”

The response would have probably been: “Eh, maybe, but probably not.”

Instead, Apple Computers, under the inspiring leadership of Steve Jobs, did something closer to this, starting with the WHY, moving to HOW, and ending with WHAT:

“Everything we do is designed to challenge the status quo. We’re rebels. We strive to think differently. The way we challenge the status quo is to make machines that are beautifully designed and easy to use. Oh, and we also just happen to make great computers. Wanna buy one?”

Do you see the subtle difference between these two marketing approaches? …Why does one fails and the other succeed? How TiVo had a WHAT and a HOW but lacked a WHY. How Apple started with WHY (challenging the status quo) and then introduced the HOW and the WHAT.

People don’t respond to WHAT you do, they respond to WHY you do it.

So, WHAT do you do? Do you do mortgages? …Do you do real estate financing?

Or do you HELP PEOPLE OBTAIN their piece of the American Dream of owning a home by offering great customer service? Oh yeah, you also happen to do mortgages. (WHY, HOW, WHAT) Your loan officer marketing should do the same thing.

Do you just do mortgages? Or do you HELP PEOPLE STRUCTURE THEIR FINANCES so that they will be able to retire comfortably someday? …Something they probably could not do on their own. Is your ultimate purpose to HELP PEOPLE with their finances? And sure, you happen to do mortgages, too.

Do you do mortgages? Or do you HELP PEOPLE ORGANIZE their finances in such a way that they will be able to someday send their kids to college?

WHAT do you do? The answer to that question doesn’t really matter. What matters most is WHY you do it.

Of all the different mortgage marketing programs out there, we at Exodus Marketing do mortgage newsletters because they work. Mortgage marketing newsletters provide the necessary platform for you to most effectively communicate to your most valued clients. Our mortgage marketing newsletters enable you to build and maintain a lasting relationship with your clients. The brief personal message you craft each month should focus on not WHAT you do, but WHY you do it.

There is any number of reasons that will contribute to any number of mortgage marketing ideas. These mortgage marketing nuggets don’t always reveal themselves without a little pushing, prodding, and collaboration. This is why we offer the free Discovery Call.