Best beach read ever:  All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin.

Admittedly, my crush on Seth Godin means he typically accompanies me to the beach. I think I’ve read each of his books more than once, and the most recent read of All Marketers are Liars was not my first time through. I love this book’s reminder that marketing must be authentic. Sure this is a basic concept, but it is surprisingly forgotten too often in marketing, which damages the reputation of a profession I adore.

Authenticity is particularly important when marketing to a government audience.

You see, public sector buyers are risk averse, and they have great memories. Don’t send a fictional bid response to a government buyer. If you honestly cannot do the work, don’t bid. You are wasting the buyer’s time, and potentially destroying a relationship if they discover your dishonesty. Worst case scenario is they believe you wrote non-fiction in your response, and they award you a contract based on what you wrote. You don’t perform well, get the contract canceled for default or cause, and you are stuck with a SIGNIFICANT blemish on your public sector record.

So your marketing was a lie. Nice work. You damaged your chance of future public sector work.

This happens to be a relevant topic for us in our own internal marketing. People hire us to help them wade through a complex process. They trust us because of our claims, and our claims must be authentic and proven. Otherwise, we win a short term relationship with someone that leaves unhappy and will never refer us to another company. Clearly, we would prefer to have a long-term relationship with clients that spread the word. We want to marry them, not have a short dating experience. (Notice I didn’t say “one night stand.” That would have been tacky.)

I had a great conversation with a new prospect today. He and I have worked together in a volunteer capacity, and he called to say that after visiting our website, he thinks we can help him decipher the maze of GSA. I’m in a giddy frame of mind because of another contract win this week for a client. My response is to tell Guido that our conversion rate for clients this year is 40%. (This is huge, by the way.)

My response was incredibly enthusiastic, but it was also true. As the brilliant Seth Godin says, “A great story is true.”

We have a great story to tell.