Studio Note #36: You Can Know Too Much About Your Own Business.

You know what’s below the surface. Your customers don’t.

I had a meeting today with someone from one of my networking groups about term life insurance.

I was pretty clear going in about what I needed, but nonetheless, another person joined the conversation and things expanded. Suddenly we were talking about VNDR Studios, Vendorfied, business insurance, exit planning and some of the other things they could potentially help us with down the road.

They were learning about my business and, naturally, looking for needs I might not realize I have.

The funny thing is, the meeting worked both ways.

As they explained more about what their firm does, I started realizing there was considerably more depth to the business than I would have guessed from the way it presents itself.

So while they were listening to me thinking, there are some things we could probably help this guy with, I was sitting there thinking exactly the same thing.

Just about their brand.

This happens all the time.

When you work inside a business every day, you know everything behind the logo and website. You know the experience of the people involved. You know the relationships you've built, the complicated problems you've solved and all the things your company is capable of doing.

So when you look at your brand, your brain fills in the gaps.

Everyone else only sees what's actually there.

That's how a sophisticated business can end up looking considerably less sophisticated than it really is. The business evolved. The expertise grew. The services expanded.

The brand just never evolved.

And that's a particularly expensive problem because you probably won't know how many people underestimated you.

They'll just move on.

I went into today's meeting thinking about what I might need from them.

I left thinking about what they might need from me.