People have a personal inclination to what style means, most of whom associate it with clothing. However, a style can be anything portraying the outward appearance; from clothing to a personality, and from business to leadership.
So, it is safe to say that styles impact us in more than one way. In this blog, in particular, we are connecting style with marketing and business.
Winning the Battle of Choice
Given the neo liberal tendencies of most first world countries, it is rarely a case that consumers have only one choice in any given area.
In fact, in most cases, at least at some point in time, there is an over abundance of choice. And, hence, for the customers, it becomes a process of elimination.
Then, you, the consumers, are performing this process of elimination on the basis of the style of the business. (Whether this happens knowingly or unknowingly is a different conversation).
In short, you are looking for your ‘ best fit’.
This phenomena of finding the best fit is not much different from choosing who you are going to date. You may be into good looking people, like most of the humans who are drawn to aesthetics. Or, as it is more fashionable these days, you may want the smart choice; again based on your subjective inclinations.
In most cases, you end up finding a balance between beauty and brains, either through experience or a force of nature, i.e. a ‘crazy’ ex. Again, which side do you prefer, beauty or brains, and how much of each side, depends on you.
And, if we take the focus now on business, the businesses are trying to find their inclinations too, in order to connect with the right audience. In other words, your ideal date is going through a process of presenting themselves to attract you.
(All this discussion feels really relevant, given that this blog is going live a day before Valentine’s Day :)).
But, what do we learn from this discussion?
Style Take Away Points
We can either put a long winded discussion or throw some points at you.
Today, I am in the mood to throw them straight.
- Understand your working and business style. In other words, no one likes a poser, whether it is an individual or a business. By being the real you, not only will you be honest to yourself, there is a higher chance that you will enjoy yourself too. Again, you can apply the same principle to your personal relationships: be yourself.
- Treat business as an extension of yourself. At some level, this point is connected to the 1st and a little more. However, we want to focus on how you spend your time. There is at least one thing common between us: we all have 24 hours in a day. This means that you can either spend your time just for the sake of staying busy, or, more appropriately, do something meaningful. Not only, again, will you enjoy yourself more but also increase your chances of adding true value to your efforts. Find help for the rest; there is plenty out there and there are people who will love to do those jobs. In other words, don’t be a stingy micromanager. Again, in terms of personal relations, no one likes a controlling partner.
- Building up on the last point, get the right help. In terms of business, this can be anything from hiring the right people to collaborating with the right forces, where you can mutually benefit. Further, we can connect this point to relationships too: everyone needs to come out better at the other end.
Concluding Remarks
Negative energy spreads quite quickly.
Therefore, we emphasise on working on a style that fits into your own sensitivities while getting positively portrayed. In most cases, especially in B2Bs, two or more of the involved parties do not agree on everything. However, if each of them are able to place themselves effectively, within their own styles, business flourishes.
In other words, play the matchmaking game well.
The same is applicable from a within business understanding. It just takes one bad client to ruin a team morale. One late payment, one altercation.
But, if you have instilled the right mentality, things flow from there and stay on the intended track for most part.
