Use the Wrong Bait — Catch No Fish!

POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS ARE LIKE FISH USE THE WRONG BAIT — GET NO BITES!!

Fish don’t care how good a fisherman you are,  what great equipment you have, how many years you have been going fishing, or how big a fish you caught last time.  They are only attracted to the right bait — if they are hungry.  When you use the right bait, a hungry fish will respond very quickly!
 
One more thing about fish, if there is a lot of bait in the area, then you need to be using unique, different bait from all the other fisherman that have their rods in the same pond as you.

Just like fish, customers only care about their needs - not yours.  They generally don’t care who you are, what you have, what you can do, how you do it better or how you sell it for less.  They only care about fulfilling a need, feeding a hunger pang — and to do that they are attracted to the right bait.
 
Change Your Thinking - Reframe Your Focus

The first step in changing the direction of your business is to change the way you think.  When you reframe the way you think and shift your focus from telling customers what you have, to instead present something that interests them, then you will be tapping into strategies used by the world’s most successful businesses.
 
To communicate something of value to your potential customers (to entice them with the right bait) you first have to take the time to understand exactly who they are, what they want, and why they want it.  Sometimes, they don’t know they want something until you help them see the unfulfilled need in their life.
 
When you get ahold of the fact that customers only care about what they get, you can become very comfortable in shifting away from talking about you and your company, and instead focus first and foremost on serving the customers’ interests.
 
When you start to do that - an amazing transformation will happen.  Your customers will actually begin to listen, read and pay attention to your message.  Why?  Because it is now all about them and what they want.  This is the point when you really begin to find your branding concept.
   
If you want a quick way to separate yourself from 85% of the competition - get this one right.  The right bait presented to a hungry prospect nearly always causes them to bite!

An Extraordinary Reframing - From Fishing Boat to Floating Fish Factory  
Since we started this message with fish and bait, let’s end it with fishing boats.  Take a look at the three photos below - the one on the left is what you might typically picture when you think of a commercial fishing boat.  The photo in the middle depicts a vessel with more speed, more power, more capacity, more everything — a competitive advantage over the first photo.  However, the photo on the right is an extraordinary reframing - an industry shifting - a competition busting floating fish factory!

A floating fish factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish.   Not only do they catch much more fish, but while they are still offshore, they are processing all of that fish and packaging it for markets.  They even process the typical waste products from the fish and make it into cat food - on board!  When they dock - the distribution channels and end users can take the product without any further processing or handling.
 
Think about it - they reframed the commercial fishing business from just catching and selling fish - to instead selling finished product.  Wow!  How do you compete with that, even if you have a nice shiny fishing boat like the middle picture?

DAILY PRAYER  
Lord help us reframe our thinking and our focus so we bring a better bait to our fishing endeavors.  Reveal to us the needs and wants of those that we serve.  Help us take bold steps to innovate a floating fish factory in our own industry.  In Jesus name, Amen.
 
Become fishers of men and women.  Seek the best bait, distinguish your bait from your competition, and stretch your mind to contemplate what a floating fish factory might look like for you, your business and your industry — be a breakthrough seeker!
 
Grace and peace multiplied to you.