My new favourite leggings are from a company called Sweaty Betty.
I like what they make, but that isn’t all, and it’s not enough.
I like what they say in their marketing, and who they are, and the way they interact with me as a human (not simply a “buyer”).
A few weeks ago they shared a new swimwear line on Insta, with models who looked like normal people.
Not the super-perfect, ultra-skinny, airbrushed models we’re used to….just normal women, as they are.
I noticed it (on Insta, of course, my favourite platform of them all) because for a second I was kind of startled. These women looked different. It looked like a picture I could have taken on my phone (if I was hanging out with three friends casually in new matching swimwear). But you get what I mean. It was…imperfect.
Interestingly I used the word “imperfect” and had a few friends message me to say using that word implies that perfect is possible. I still think it’s the right word, but only because we ALL are imperfect. That there is no perfect human body (on this earth anyway) and therefore it’s not about these models being imperfect and the others being perfect…it’s about these models being shown for who they actually are.
Either way, the point is, i loved it, we’re all tired of being shown fake-perfection, and it’s great marketing.
But good words on their own, or good photos or a good concept, isn’t enough.
I shared it then on Insta, and I’m telling the story now in my Notes, because i loooooooove the Sweaty Betty leggings I own. (I now own two pairs, which I consider to be merely the start of my collection).
They fit beautifully, they feel amazing, they’re tough enough to protect me from stinging scottish nettles but light enough to not weigh me down, and I like how I look in them.
The Sweaty Betty stuff isn’t cheap, but I spent ten quid on a pair of leggings from tescos, and I liked them for a few weeks until they got all ratty and pilly and stretched out, and after a few months I realised I never wear them anymore.
I thought about that, and i thought about their insta post, and then I thought about the very first time I went to buy a pair of leggings from them. I found exactly the ones I wanted, but it appeared they were out of stock. This is what happened:
- They had a live chat option, so I picked that to get an answer quickly
- Someone came on live chat very quickly, and was friendly and grasped the issue quickly as well
- They offered to check stock in a local store
- They found it in stock, and gave me two options – go to the store and pick it up, or have someone ring me to take my order over the phone so they could deliver it to me
- I am not a big fan of phone calls, but I wanted the leggings sooner rather than later, so I said they could ring me
- They rang me maybe ten minutes later, took all my details quickly and simply, and put the order in
- The order arrived a few days later, along with a handwritten note from one of the team at their Glasgow shop to thank me for buying
(Do you notice how many times I used the word quickly? When a buyer is ready to buy, after all their research, make sure they can get what they want when they want it.)
So yea, i really like what they sell.
But I also like their marketing.
And I also like their people.
You have to have all of these combined.
If you do great work, but your marketing is rubbish or your people aren’t helpful (or both), you’re not getting as much business as you could be.
If you have amazing marketing and really nice people, but your product isn’t write-an-email-to-everyone-you-know-worthy, clients won’t stay with you or buy more.
You get the idea.
What I’d love to hear from you today is:
Which one of the three do you think needs most work in your business, or in the place you work?
Product
People
or
Marketing?
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