Don't assume people know what you do

Have you ever experienced the following conversation? It starts with your friends, family, and clients saying, "I did not know you sold clothing, assisted with marketing, or did embroidery, we just purchased from XYZ. "You get a stunned look on your face and have to explain that you could have saved them money and provided better service and quality. It all adds up to lost business because you assumed that everyone knows what you do.

My father passed down some communication wisdom by taking the word "assume" and breaking it down into three parts. The first three letters "ass" the fourth letter "u" and the remaining "me". The saying goes as follows: if you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. He was not talking about marketing, but general communication skills. He is a practicing attorney and believes you never assume the facts, that you must clearly state your position without assuming.

Marketing follows the same principals of never assuming that people know what you do. Marketing communication with emails, direct mail, websites, twitter, facebook, blogs, linkedin, etc. must all be used to communicate what you do. Tell success stories of how your clients have successfully used your products and services and avoid lost business.