Stop Marketing, Start Solving

There's a coffee shop in Lincoln, Nebraska that's doing something remarkable. Rose Cat Coffee serves excellent coffee, but that's not what makes them special. Their baristas are individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities – people who often struggle to find employment. While they use some traditional marketing tactics, their real focus is on telling their story and inviting others to find their place in it.

This isn't just another feel-good business story. It's a perfect example of what happens when a business stops trying to "do marketing" and starts solving real problems instead. They've created something that matters deeply to their community while delivering a product people want. That's not just good marketing – it's good business.

The Marketing Trap

Most business owners aren't marketers by nature, and that's actually a good thing. The problem starts when they look around at what other businesses are doing and try to replicate it. They see the social media posts, the email campaigns, the advertising strategies, and think "I should be doing that too."

This leads to bloated marketing budgets, elaborate campaigns, and a whole lot of noise that doesn't actually serve their customers. It's the business equivalent of buying an expensive gym membership without having a clear idea of what you want to achieve or how you'll use it.

What's worse, this approach often creates a dangerous disconnect between marketing and reality. When businesses pour resources into marketing campaigns before perfecting their core offering, they're essentially making promises they might not be able to keep. This erodes trust with potential customers and creates a cycle that's hard to break: more marketing to compensate for decreased effectiveness, leading to even less trust.

Excellence Is Your Best Marketing Strategy

Here's a radical idea: the premier lead measure for marketing success isn't your social media engagement or email open rates. It's getting really freaking good at what you do.

I recently worked with a business coach who started out offering a vast array of services. But as he listened to feedback from clients and other professionals, he discovered something crucial: his true strength lay in business operations and operational strategy. More importantly, this was exactly what his clients needed most.

Instead of sticking to his original marketing plan, he adapted his entire approach to focus on solving this specific problem. That's not just good marketing – it's good business. By narrowing his focus based on real feedback and demonstrated expertise, he's able to deliver more value to his clients and generate more authentic word-of-mouth marketing than any campaign could achieve.

This is what I call "reality-based marketing" – where excellence in your core business becomes your primary marketing strategy. It's about understanding that the best marketing isn't something you do; it's something you earn through consistent, excellent service.

The Power of Active Listening

Marketing doesn't start with messaging; it starts with listening. Before you can solve problems, you need to understand them. And before you can understand them, you need to ask good questions and really hear the answers.

This isn't just about customer surveys or feedback forms. It's about creating genuine conversations with your customers and being willing to evolve based on what you learn. A problem well stated is half solved, but you can't state the problem clearly until you truly understand it.

Active listening in business means:

• Engaging with customers beyond transactions
• Paying attention to the problems they're trying to solve, not just the solutions they're asking for
• Being willing to challenge your own assumptions about what your business does or should do
• Creating systems that make it easy for customers to provide honest feedback
• Most importantly, being willing to act on what you learn

The Growth Mindset in Marketing

Think of this as the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset in marketing. A fixed mindset says, "This is who we are, this is what we do, and this is how we market it." A growth mindset says, "How can we better serve our customers today than we did yesterday?"

Excellence isn't a destination – it's a continuous effort. It's listening to your customers, iterating on your products and services, and keeping problem-solving as your north star. When businesses get dogmatic about their identity or offerings, they become boring and ineffective. When they stay focused on solving problems, they create natural momentum that no marketing budget can buy.

This mindset shift changes everything about how you approach business growth:

• Instead of asking "What should we post on social media?" you ask "What problems are our customers facing that we haven't solved yet?"
• Instead of worrying about your brand voice, you focus on speaking clearly and honestly about how you help people
• Instead of chasing marketing trends, you chase excellence in your core offering
• Instead of trying to stand out through clever marketing, you stand out by solving problems better than anyone else

Finding Your Place in Your Customers' Story

Remember Rose Cat Coffee? Their success isn't just about their mission – it's about how that mission creates a place for their customers in the story. When you get your morning coffee there, you're not just buying a drink; you're participating in something meaningful.

This is what happens when you focus on solving real problems instead of "doing marketing." You create something worth talking about. You build something that matters to people. And paradoxically, that's the best marketing you could ever do.

The key is understanding that your business story isn't really about you – it's about the role you play in your customers' lives. Rose Cat Coffee isn't just telling their own story; they're creating a way for customers to be part of a larger narrative about inclusion, opportunity, and community. They've found a way to make their everyday business operations meaningful to people beyond the transaction.

The Path Forward

So how do you put this into practice? Start by asking yourself these questions:

1. What problems are we really solving for our customers?
   • Beyond your product or service, what difference do you make in their lives?
   • What would they miss if you disappeared tomorrow?
2. Are we listening to feedback and evolving our solutions?
   • How do you gather customer feedback?
   • What was the last significant change you made based on customer input?
   • Are you making it easy for customers to tell you the truth?
3. Are we telling our story in a way that invites customers to participate?
   • How do customers become part of your mission?
   • What role do they play beyond just buying your product or service?
   • How do you make them feel part of something larger than a transaction?
4. Are we focused more on marketing tactics or on excellence in our core offering?
   • What percentage of your time and resources goes to marketing versus improving your product or service?
   • Are you making promises in your marketing that strain your ability to deliver?
   • How much of your growth comes from word-of-mouth versus paid marketing?

The answers might challenge your current approach to marketing. They might even challenge your understanding of your own business. But that's exactly the point.

Because when you stop trying to market and start trying to solve, you create something remarkable. And remarkable things have a funny way of marketing themselves.

The best part? This approach not only leads to better marketing results – it leads to a better business. One that's more sustainable, more meaningful, and more likely to create lasting impact in your customers' lives. And isn't that why you started your business in the first place?

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