Note: I expect this article may start a flame war. It was so problematic that EzineArticles.com took a while to approve it. I think the idea of equating crack addictions to marketing will probably stir a few pots. This is essentially a further development of an idea I posted previously into a full fledged article. Let the great debate begin. -Lisa
I've been toying with the idea that in order to be successful in business, you have to create a loyal following that goes beyond "customer satisfaction" and even a bit past "customer loyalty".
I call it "customer crack addiction".
Now, I mean this in the nicest possible way, with no offense to any crackheads that might be reading.
I examined other possible ideas and concepts. I've read Jeffrey Gitomer's book, "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless", and I agree with so much of what he writes.
At one point he draws the comparison to a marriage. Would you want your spouse to be "satisfied" or "loyal"?
Great analogy. But I think there's another level that every business would love to attain: "Addicted"
In my mind, I want my spouse to be addicted to me. He can't get enough of me. Would do anything to be close to me. He would stay up nights thinking of ways to be around me more frequently. In short, his world would revolve around me. It borders on an unhealthy obsession, but only borders on it. We do, after all, want our clients to keep their sanity, lest they be seen as crackpots instead of crack heads.
The Bible tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. In my mind, that means be willing to die for me. To lay down his life in order to save me. Periodically, I ask my husband if he's willing to take a bullet, or give up a kidney for me.
I'm still working on getting him "trained".
As business professionals, we all want to have that handful of clients that raves about us to everyone they meet, can't say enough good things about us, and can't wait for our next product or service to be unveiled. These "crack heads" lead the charge for us, investing in and putting to use everything we bring to market. They are not just our most loyal customers, they are our evangelists.
In business, you can create an addiction to your products and services. It's not hard, but it takes a certain amount of work and investment on your part. Before we walk that road, let's look at what happens with real crack addicts to draw our analogy.
Crack/Cocaine is a nervous system stimulant. It affects the brain, and leaves you in a temporary state of euphoria. Essentially, you feel SO GOOD while you're "high" on the drug that you lose touch with the problems and issues of your reality. Tony Robbins explains in his Personal Power series that basically, you are feeling immense pleasure and absolutely no pain while you are under the influence of the drug. You have no inhibitions, no fears, no doubts, worries. Nothing negative exists in this world.
NO WONDER people become drug addicts!
And how does the pusher work?
He gives you a taste for free. You might remember the commercials that ran in the late 80's/early 90's with the kid who was just supposed to give the 'stuff' away. Then when his friends came back - "THAT'S When I start charging?" said the kid.
So it would seem simple to say that the solution to creating a customer crack addiction is to give away free samples of our "stuff" and charge returning customers a premium for the full package. However, a piece of the equation would still be missing.
The key to crack's effectiveness is it's potency. There's a difference between baking soda and cocaine. Both look very similar, but have entirely different effects. You can see this in business every day with knock-off clones of products stocking shelves in every store. Many are very similar, but in the end, cheap imitations, when compared to the higher priced original.
In the online marketing world, there are thousands upon thousands of 'freebies' that are given away every single day online. For nothing more than your name and email address you can get access to free ezines, special reports, a tip of the week, etc. For a while, this was an effective ploy. But for most people, an immunity is being built to the regular fare that's been posted, hashed and re-hashed in the marketing world. It's one of the reasons why so many marketers have resorted to adding bonus after bonus to their high priced coaching and product offers. We need to keep doing more and more to attract and keep customer focus.
Unless they are addicts.
In this evolving economy, if you you want business for decades to come, you want to create a crack addiction with your customers. You want them to be so excited about the products and services that you offer that they don't blink an eye about opening their wallet to "get the goods" from you.
And like a drug addiction, you're not paying big coin for baking soda or powdered sugar. You need to create a powerful, mind expanding, state altering product. Once they've tried it, they'll never go back to the way they were. It's not possible without major intervention. Your customers will have changed in their very core.
Then, give them a sample strong enough to get them hooked. Newsletters alone don't cut it any more. And repurposed content better be powerful and hard to find. Savvy customers are taking the time to research and save their pennies now more than ever. If they can find your content somewhere else for free, they will.
And there goes your crack addiction.
Now is the time for quality and quantity. In days past, it was acceptable to burn a CD with poor audio quality and photocopy a couple of pages of notebook scribbles and sell it for thousands of dollars. Not any more. Packaging, presentation, and quality are all part of the equation now. Your product or service not only has to be full of solid content, it has to be presented in such a way that people are proud to own it. At the very least, re-type your photocopies into a legible format, and move away from the inkjet printer CD labels. First impressions go a long way in business. Think of yourself for a moment as the "pusher" - who always arrives in style, well presented, and ready to do business. the same must be true of you and your products/services.
Make sure your product is potent and effective. Make sure it does exactly what it says. Better yet, make sure that it's better than described. People are pleasantly surprised when a product outperforms it's advertising - and they will rave about it.
Don't be afraid to give it away to the right people. If you find someone that you know can absolutely benefit from what you have to offer, don't be afraid to share it with them at no charge. They'll feel indebted to you and psychologically obligated to share the greatness of your offering with the world. And reward them for their referrals. Keep your addicts clinging to you for their "fix" and you'll earn a customer base that goes beyond loyalty.
Start your own customer crack addiction by examining your offerings. What can you improve or modify to make even more impressive? Start with simple changes that make a big impact. Sometimes those minor adjustments can make a big pricing difference because of your audience's perception of value. Create massive value, then give a sample away.
Then watch your addicts flock to you.
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Lisa Robbin Young teaches direct sellers how to be a superstar in the eyes of their customers. As Founder of HomePartySolution.com, Ms. Young has garnered the attention of thousands of direct sales consultants around the world looking for ways to integrate online marketing with their offline businesses to achieve greater success while working from home. Sign up for her free ezine at HomePartySolution.com
Showing posts with label gitomer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gitomer. Show all posts
Make it about YOU
I know I harp on this, but it's just so DANGED important:
YOU are the most important product your company has to offer - not your candles, night creams, fancy jewelry, kitchen gadgets or even the compensation plan.
It's YOU.
You are the only product that people will experience the entire night of your party. You are the first product they experience when you begin your elevator speech. You are the last product they experience when you're packing up and leaving - or doing the customer care follow up calls that are so routinely missed in this industry (even I fall prey to this from time to time!)
You.
So what are you doing about it? How do you make "product you" the best possible experience your customers will encounter? How do you make YOU so good that customers come back time and again - because they are loyal to you first? How do you make YOU so fantastic that even if you change companies, they still want to work with YOU?
Practice.
Practice being the kind of person that people want to be around. Practice providing the customer service everyone says they want and never get. Practice your scripts, your demos and all the "elements of style" that boost your credibility and give people a desire to "buy" YOU.
Jeffrey Gitomer says it all the dang time: "People hate to be sold, but they love to buy".
What are you doing to give them reasons to want to buy YOU?
I talk about "affirmative buying decisions". That means getting clients to say "yes" to your offer. A "no" is also a buying decision - a negative one. It's also usually an affirmative buying decision somewhere else for someone else.
But this isn't about someone else - it's about YOU.
Sales is one part performance and one part handiman. You have to be helpful, and you have to put on a great show. In direct sales, the show's the thing. The show sells your products, but it also sells YOU.
So get crackin'.
YOU are the most important product your company has to offer - not your candles, night creams, fancy jewelry, kitchen gadgets or even the compensation plan.
It's YOU.
You are the only product that people will experience the entire night of your party. You are the first product they experience when you begin your elevator speech. You are the last product they experience when you're packing up and leaving - or doing the customer care follow up calls that are so routinely missed in this industry (even I fall prey to this from time to time!)
You.
So what are you doing about it? How do you make "product you" the best possible experience your customers will encounter? How do you make YOU so good that customers come back time and again - because they are loyal to you first? How do you make YOU so fantastic that even if you change companies, they still want to work with YOU?
Practice.
Practice being the kind of person that people want to be around. Practice providing the customer service everyone says they want and never get. Practice your scripts, your demos and all the "elements of style" that boost your credibility and give people a desire to "buy" YOU.
Jeffrey Gitomer says it all the dang time: "People hate to be sold, but they love to buy".
What are you doing to give them reasons to want to buy YOU?
I talk about "affirmative buying decisions". That means getting clients to say "yes" to your offer. A "no" is also a buying decision - a negative one. It's also usually an affirmative buying decision somewhere else for someone else.
But this isn't about someone else - it's about YOU.
Sales is one part performance and one part handiman. You have to be helpful, and you have to put on a great show. In direct sales, the show's the thing. The show sells your products, but it also sells YOU.
So get crackin'.
"The Gurus" Are NOT My Friends
...or what I learned from the so-called internet marketing gurus.
Warning: I'm naming names, and taking no prisoners in this missive, so take it for what it's worth. I'd be glad to hear your comments.
On with the post...
A fellow blogger recently made a post about the latest trend in big ticket "guru" product launches.
You know the kind.
"Starting in 2 weeks, you only have three days to pony up $10k for my exclusive product launch, and after that it's too late to ever learn all the secrets to exploding your income online."
*yawn*
Then, each day your in-box is pounded with JV/partner/affiliate promotions for the same launch:
"Use my link and I'll give you an extra bonus"
"Oooh! Oooh! Pick me, and I'll give you one of my products FREE!"
"No wait! Pick ME and I'll give you my shirt, my first born, a new car, and a bunch of other stuff that's really cool I swear."
At least Frank Kern is honest. He says things like "Here's my link. But if you're not ready for this, don't use it. Let someone else spend their money, it'll always come back in some other form." But then he adds that sales teaser: "But do you really want to miss out?"
What we have here is a classic example of finding a niche and filling it.
Only in this case, the niche is people with "shiny object syndrome".
We get so caught up in trying to grow our business using the latest internet marketing tactics that we float from one new product to another, without ever fully implementing the strategies we learned in the last product we purchased. We're stuck on having "the latest and greatest" so that we're not left out in the cold. Heaven forbid we might miss out on a couple of dollars, when in reality, we're probably "dropping dollars to pick up dimes" as my momma would say.
The solution to our problem? Mad guru disease.
And as long as the gurus are raking in the cash, they'll keep serving the market. Why not? It's lucrative for everyone who owns a "company store". Selling picks and shovels to the internet marketing miners.
Don't get me wrong. There's a lot to be learned here. As a Network Marketer, I came online to grow my business using tools and strategies I learned from the Internet. I have created a successful niche and career for myself selling those same picks and shovels to network marketing miners.
You've heard it said before "sell the dream, not the deal." And on it goes in the wild wild Web.
It's painful and shameful to admit, but I'm a recovering "shine-ob-ite" myself.
I think I was subscribed to something like 40 different mailing lists - probably more, but I lost count.
When I went away for 4 days and came home to over 1400 unread messages in my inbox, it hit me. Look at how much time I was WASTING reading the same jv promotion from 10 different self-proclaimed gurus. Somewhere along the line, because of a product purchase, I was subscribed to 5 different lists for Russ Brunson - and yeah, I got multiple emails almost every day when there was a product launch he was eager to cash in on. Daegan Smith was emailing me daily - sometimes 2 or 3 times daily!
So, I got VERY selective. My time is more valuable to me now.
But more importantly, it taught me a lesson. As I was culling my inbox I counted MAYBE 20 value added messages that weren't blatant affiliate/jv promotions. Those subscriptions, I kept. Guys like Mark Joyner, Chris Haddad, Jeffrey Gitomer, Alexandria Brown, and a handful of others. I'm down to about 10 subscriptions now that I read regularly - and a handful more that I archive immediately and only review when I'm looking for sales letter or marketing ideas.
It really got me to thinking about MY newsletter, my mailing lists, and what I was sending them. Was I over promoting and under-delivering? I serve a network marketing community where every penny (and second) is precious. To waste the time (or money) of a stay-at-home soccer mom of 4 that's trying to keep "the ends" together, juggle multiple family schedules, and have a little free time for her family is ludicrous!
Frankly, I would have trouble sleeping at night if I pulled this same kind of shenanigans. Call me nuts, but I'd feel guilty sending out that much email to my list!
Add to that these ultra pricey events, and you can see why people are pulling their hair out! For guys like Russ Brunson, Mike Filsaime (and now even Mike Dillard), there's a bigger push to promote these events because HALF (or more) of the ticket price is being paid out in commissions to affiliates!
The commission on three sales on products like the Guru Mastermind would pay your house payment - for a year.
Ghastly, to say the least.
But I'm not ANTI-affiliate marketing. I'm not Anti-Internet Marketing. I'm not even ANTI-guru. I participate in affiliate programs, I sell products and offers to my list. But I also believe in providing substantial value for the return on investment.
My live teleclasses are free. My weekly newsletter is free - with at least one substantial article - not a sales pitch. And you can even call me on the phone from time to time and actually talk with me - not some automated system.
Now, my list isn't huge, only about 1700 people, but I've personally communicated to nearly every one of them. I've built relationships with my readers and am proud of the speed at which my list has grown in only 4 months.
The secret is no secret. Build relationships, be friendly, and stop selling everything that isn't nailed down to your list.
I was reading somewhere that Mike Filsaime was complaining that conversions are down even though his list is massive. Go figure!
Jeffrey Gitomer says that you need to be friendly in sales (and all of life is sales, folks). People want to do business with their friends.
But you're NOT my friend just because (insert big name guru here) gave you a hot tip about his latest product launch and you're going to get me a discount on it (and you'll collect a tidy little sum to boot).
Ugh.
Focus. Mark Joyner talks about that. See your target. Stay focused on your target without distraction, and hit it until you hit it.
If only those shiny little gurus would stop moving into my field of view....
Warning: I'm naming names, and taking no prisoners in this missive, so take it for what it's worth. I'd be glad to hear your comments.
On with the post...
A fellow blogger recently made a post about the latest trend in big ticket "guru" product launches.
You know the kind.
"Starting in 2 weeks, you only have three days to pony up $10k for my exclusive product launch, and after that it's too late to ever learn all the secrets to exploding your income online."
*yawn*
Then, each day your in-box is pounded with JV/partner/affiliate promotions for the same launch:
"Use my link and I'll give you an extra bonus"
"Oooh! Oooh! Pick me, and I'll give you one of my products FREE!"
"No wait! Pick ME and I'll give you my shirt, my first born, a new car, and a bunch of other stuff that's really cool I swear."
At least Frank Kern is honest. He says things like "Here's my link. But if you're not ready for this, don't use it. Let someone else spend their money, it'll always come back in some other form." But then he adds that sales teaser: "But do you really want to miss out?"
What we have here is a classic example of finding a niche and filling it.
Only in this case, the niche is people with "shiny object syndrome".
We get so caught up in trying to grow our business using the latest internet marketing tactics that we float from one new product to another, without ever fully implementing the strategies we learned in the last product we purchased. We're stuck on having "the latest and greatest" so that we're not left out in the cold. Heaven forbid we might miss out on a couple of dollars, when in reality, we're probably "dropping dollars to pick up dimes" as my momma would say.
The solution to our problem? Mad guru disease.
And as long as the gurus are raking in the cash, they'll keep serving the market. Why not? It's lucrative for everyone who owns a "company store". Selling picks and shovels to the internet marketing miners.
Don't get me wrong. There's a lot to be learned here. As a Network Marketer, I came online to grow my business using tools and strategies I learned from the Internet. I have created a successful niche and career for myself selling those same picks and shovels to network marketing miners.
You've heard it said before "sell the dream, not the deal." And on it goes in the wild wild Web.
It's painful and shameful to admit, but I'm a recovering "shine-ob-ite" myself.
I think I was subscribed to something like 40 different mailing lists - probably more, but I lost count.
When I went away for 4 days and came home to over 1400 unread messages in my inbox, it hit me. Look at how much time I was WASTING reading the same jv promotion from 10 different self-proclaimed gurus. Somewhere along the line, because of a product purchase, I was subscribed to 5 different lists for Russ Brunson - and yeah, I got multiple emails almost every day when there was a product launch he was eager to cash in on. Daegan Smith was emailing me daily - sometimes 2 or 3 times daily!
So, I got VERY selective. My time is more valuable to me now.
But more importantly, it taught me a lesson. As I was culling my inbox I counted MAYBE 20 value added messages that weren't blatant affiliate/jv promotions. Those subscriptions, I kept. Guys like Mark Joyner, Chris Haddad, Jeffrey Gitomer, Alexandria Brown, and a handful of others. I'm down to about 10 subscriptions now that I read regularly - and a handful more that I archive immediately and only review when I'm looking for sales letter or marketing ideas.
It really got me to thinking about MY newsletter, my mailing lists, and what I was sending them. Was I over promoting and under-delivering? I serve a network marketing community where every penny (and second) is precious. To waste the time (or money) of a stay-at-home soccer mom of 4 that's trying to keep "the ends" together, juggle multiple family schedules, and have a little free time for her family is ludicrous!
Frankly, I would have trouble sleeping at night if I pulled this same kind of shenanigans. Call me nuts, but I'd feel guilty sending out that much email to my list!
Add to that these ultra pricey events, and you can see why people are pulling their hair out! For guys like Russ Brunson, Mike Filsaime (and now even Mike Dillard), there's a bigger push to promote these events because HALF (or more) of the ticket price is being paid out in commissions to affiliates!
The commission on three sales on products like the Guru Mastermind would pay your house payment - for a year.
Ghastly, to say the least.
But I'm not ANTI-affiliate marketing. I'm not Anti-Internet Marketing. I'm not even ANTI-guru. I participate in affiliate programs, I sell products and offers to my list. But I also believe in providing substantial value for the return on investment.
My live teleclasses are free. My weekly newsletter is free - with at least one substantial article - not a sales pitch. And you can even call me on the phone from time to time and actually talk with me - not some automated system.
Now, my list isn't huge, only about 1700 people, but I've personally communicated to nearly every one of them. I've built relationships with my readers and am proud of the speed at which my list has grown in only 4 months.
The secret is no secret. Build relationships, be friendly, and stop selling everything that isn't nailed down to your list.
I was reading somewhere that Mike Filsaime was complaining that conversions are down even though his list is massive. Go figure!
Jeffrey Gitomer says that you need to be friendly in sales (and all of life is sales, folks). People want to do business with their friends.
But you're NOT my friend just because (insert big name guru here) gave you a hot tip about his latest product launch and you're going to get me a discount on it (and you'll collect a tidy little sum to boot).
Ugh.
Focus. Mark Joyner talks about that. See your target. Stay focused on your target without distraction, and hit it until you hit it.
If only those shiny little gurus would stop moving into my field of view....
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