The only vote that really matters

Published: Mon, 06/12/17

Hi

There have been numerous examples in business history of two competing products vying not only for market share but for survival. VHS and Betamax, Sky and BSB, etc. The winner is rarely the one whose product is the best. The victor is usually the one who communicates their message better and gains the confidence of the buyer.

And so it was on Thursday; although Teresa May 'won', I suspect it doesn't feel like it. Although Labour did worse than in 2010 their leader emerged grinning like a Cheshire Cat. This isn't over yet.

So what can entrepreneurial business owners learn from this?

You need a compelling vision

It was Simon Sinek who said ‘In business it doesn’t matter what you do it matters why you do it.’ Without a vision you won’t attract followers. Create an inspiring vision and you’ll attract customers and a great team.

It's all about the message

As business owners we know that Market, Message, Media is the mantra for any successful campaign. Did the party of business really forget this? Their marketing message couldn't have been worse. Contrast this with the focus in Labour's market (younger voters) and message (fairness).

People buy from people

Do you remember my blog last year about the so-called 'logic sandwich'? Whenever we buy something we start with emotion, choose using logic and validate our choice by emotion. We need to feel we've made the right choice. Teresa May called an election we didn't need and only she wanted and suffered the consequences.

Technology is your friend

I've the coming days and weeks we will start to learn about how the Labour Party leveraged technology to do so well. With the help of NationBuilder, they implemented the strategy, first used by Barak Obama, to get their message out on social media, tablets and smartphones. Think about the first phone you gave to your children. It was their friend, they should look after it, it would keep them safe and they could call you if they needed you. We taught them to trust the phone in their pocket. When that phone told them to vote for caring Corbyn they trusted it.

There are a lot of lessons to take and apply from this election campaign and integrate into your marketing. Perhaps the most powerful is that as an entrepreneurial business owner it's up to you to make a difference in your market and to your customers - no one will be doing it for you. The only vote that really matters is the one in yourself, your business and your future...

To your success



Noel Guilford

Noel Guilford is the principal of Guilford Accounting a small business accountancy practice specialising in advising owner-managed businesses on current accounting, finance, and tax matters. You can reach him via email at noel@guilfordaccounting.co.uk or by phone at 01244 660866. He is the author of the 'Figure it out - an entrepreneurs guide to understanding your business numbers' which you can obtain by visiting http://guilfordaccounting.co.uk.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ His latest book, How to Build a Successful Business' will be published in 2017.