Table of Contents
To my children Elizabeth and Shane—your energy and love keep me moving!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful for everyone who has helped me take this book from concept to reality. A special thank you to my family for supporting me and my long hours writing and researching. To my parents for giving me the background, love, and experiences that have ultimately led to what I do today. To my clients who have given me many successes to write about, and to all of those who agreed to be interviewed for this book. To my publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and the key people there who have believed in my books—Richard Narramore and Matt Holt. To my developmental editor Christine Moore and production editor Lauren Freestone at John Wiley & Sons, Inc., as well as their marketing team. To my literary agent Jay Poynor who has enabled my writing to get published. And to Dottie DeHart and her public relations team at DeHart and Company. Finally, a special thank you to my readers, followers, and advocates—without you all of this would be a big secret.
Aclyio!
INTRODUCTION
Businesses, business owners, and professionals—as well as sports teams and politicians—purposely reach out for people’s recognition and affirmation that they have what others want. Some entities have gained elite status and positive exposure beyond their wildest dreams because they have possessed exactly what people need or desire. This kind of exposure by those who know them best—their clients, fans, and constituents—has loudly proclaimed their worth.
But getting clients to literally “go wild” about you and what you do is—for most businesspeople—slightly more elusive. First, there must be some attribute worth going wild about. Then, you have to reach out to find those who may be interested in your message and offering. Clients don’t randomly stumble on a business; smart companies communicate with a target audience, in the hopes they are listening and liking and buying.
This act of reaching out is marketing.
The American Marketing Association’s official definition of marketing is, “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”
In other words, marketing is about attracting qualified buyers to your products or services.
There have been hundreds of thousands of books and articles written about marketing tactics, new and traditional strategies, ideas and formulas to use in your business to attract clients, convince them to buy, and then get them to do it (buy) again. But when you cut through all of it, you’ll find that the concept of marketing is really much simpler than all the definitions and words written on the topic. In fact, after spending more than two decades working in marketing in a variety of different industries—including politics, sports, and technology, and the past 15 years in financial services—I have developed my own definition of marketing:
Marketing is the act of creating a compelling message for an offering that clients will buy and then won’t be able to stop talking about.
It is not about implementing a hundred new tactics for reaching your target audience and hoping that one hits the target. It is about finding and using just a few strategies well.
Tapping into the Emotional Connection
In order to truly get clients to go wild about your business, there must be an overriding and strong emotional connection; the same kind that you feel when you cheer for your favorite sports team, or support a cause that means something to you. You can get others to connect to your company, product, or service by emotionally energizing them through a passionate delivery of information. This is a true differentiator, because so few people and businesses actually act with this kind of enthusiasm. Thus, when someone is exhibiting passion about something, you take notice.
In my previous book, The Connectors (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009), I wrote about how critically important it is to connect with others in business to fulfill your potential, create enormous opportunities, and gain personal success. But to take a step beyond being a connector is to define the specifics that will turn connections into sales, and buyers into fans. The relationship you develop with others is what creates this possibility. It is only when you tap into emotional bonds that people will truly “love you” and go wild about what you do.
Tapping into others’ emotions requires that you elicit something called an “emotional convention” in the minds of those you want to buy from you. This happens when the seven basic factors—depicted in —come together to form a powerful, undeniable sentiment. The convention is ultimately the agreement between your conscious and subconscious mind to accept the merits and value of a certain person, company, or offering. If successful, the emotional convention results in an “I’m wild about you” conclusion.
Emotional Convention
The Seven Factors in the Emotional Convention
The Seven Factors in the Emotional Convention
The underlying focus throughout this book will be on these seven emotional convention factors. Unless you are able to combine these elements for clients, there will be little chance of an emotional bond. And unless you can reach an exceptional level for each of them, the kind of raving fans you desire will likely not materialize.
1. Quality
2. Experience
3. Benefits
4. Service
5. Trust
6. Credibility
7. Unique
So—have you tapped into the emotional convention in the minds of your prospects and clients? If you haven’t experienced an overwhelming response of loyalty and consistent buying habits from your clients, then you may want to take the emotional convention assessment below to determine what may be missing.
A rating that is anywhere from 32 to 35 will bring you the kind of emotional buy-in that’s needed to create the intense loyalty necessary to get your clients going wild. It is more critical than ever in business today to establish strong, genuine connections between businesses and clients. Without them, the product or service is lost in a sea of noise and similar offerings.
Creating Unconditional Client Loyalty
Sporting events and teams often display this kind of emotional connection between teams and their fans; some that have been built over generations. As the Green Bay Packers state in their NFL Films introduction to the team, there is an “unbreakable bond between football generations.” I certainly am a case study of this football loyalty, having learned about the game and what it means to be a fan from my football-loving grandmother. I cheered for our team when they were terrible, and basked in the glow of the wins when they were better. But I never considered moving to another; this was my team. Fan loyalty is an emotional connection that’s often stronger than any other loyalty, frequently due to these generational or family-based connections.
Emotional Convention Assessment
Rate yourself or your business on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best.
Am I providing . . .
So how can businesses create this same type of unconditional loyalty? How can they elicit allegiance that is so strong that it continues on—even when the team loses or performs poorly year after year? How can you form an emotional bond that causes you to be more likely to forgive and forget than you would for a company that makes a mistake or sells a product of poor quality?
The only way to win this kind of devotion from your clients is to establish an emotional connection between you and them. It’s truly based on how you have made them feel.
The Goal of This Book
This book’s primary goal is to give you the blueprint for cultivating loyal clients and generating growing sales through a collection of case studies, principles, and tactics that have proven successful for others. Ultimately, this blueprint is designed to trigger the emotional convention in the minds of prospects and clients—followed by a response that is so powerful that your loyal clients won’t be able to stop talking about you.
CHAPTER 1
Executive Summary
The Five Core Principles for Turning Clients and Prospects into Raving Fans
Perfect clients” are those who will pay for the full value of your product or services, rave about what you do, and go wild for anything that you offer. Lots of businesses have good clients, but only an elite few have passionate, loyal, vocal clients. This type of client is one that not only keeps coming back for more, but also finds the need to share you with family, friends, and even strangers. Perfect clients are often what drive a firm’s explosive growth. And although the perfect client is found only in a perfect world (which doesn’t exist), there are many businesses that can enjoy the enthusiasm of the nearly perfect passion of their clients.
I have observed companies large and small through the eyes of my consulting firm; conducted extensive research; and read literally thousands of business books in search of commonalities and concepts for repeatable professional success. I have ultimately been searching, as many of us are, for the “secret sauce” that some businesses have mixed together to create incremental success. And although I am trained in marketing—and this is a marketing book—it is not one that lists or explains the basic concepts and textbook theories of marketing approaches. It is instead filled with the lessons and premises of a variety of business success stories—many that have never been heard before—to illustrate effective and unique strategies for attracting loyal fans and advocates.
There is no shortcut to obtaining success. No amount of marketing budget can get people to love you. Spending money is truly overrated; thoughtful strategy is not. People nowadays are far less likely to become loyal, given the overwhelming noise of the countless marketing messages they face. The objective is to get clients into the game—your game. And to accomplish this feat in today’s “new media” world, businesses are being forced to change. This has never been more evident, as many of the largest companies are no longer only measuring advertising return on investment. In fact marketing today is being measured by taking into account the crucial free media and word-of-mouth efforts, as well as traditional strategies. Success simply doesn’t come the way it used to.
Businesses that have effectively created a loyal following of passionate and vocal clients have followed some, if not all, of five fundamental marketing principles. When you adopt even some of these principles you can bring more success to your business and a following of clients who simply go wild for what you do.
In Part I—“The Principles,” of this book, I go over each of these five principles in detail. The following is a summary of the principles for marketing success.
First Principle
What Are You Doing that No One Else Is Doing? Build Client Delight Through Differentiation
In order to gain exposure, it certainly helps to be unique or offer something unique—or do something that no one else dares. And although standing out from the crowd definitely gets people excited, it is probably the riskiest of the five principles. However, it is perhaps equally risky to run a conservative, under-the-radar firm today that may just cause you to become something of the past. Instead, successful firms find ways to be so exciting—while sticking with their values—that people don’t have a choice but to pay attention . . . and buy. In Chapter 2, “First Principle,” examples of companies that truly stand out in the market include a gas station, a printer, and a toy store, as well as a multilevel marketing firm for men only, and a rubber duck company. Really.
Second Principle
Focus Your Marketing on Benefits, Results, and a Call to Action What’s Really in it for Them
People don’t buy features—they buy the benefits of those features. In fact, to make it even more clear, people buy results. There is a significant lack of clarity surrounding what businesses sell, however. People rarely make buying decisions based on all the features of a product or service, yet that’s what most businesses promote over and over again. Many companies just assume that their customers know what the benefits are, and exactly why to buy their product or service. They leave it up to the prospect to figure out the benefits. Many businesses make the mistake of emphasizing features. Examples of companies that have focused successfully on their benefits and included a strong call to action include a hotel, a “sales hunter” firm, a beverage company, and a card store, which are highlighted in Chapter 3, “Second Principle.”
Third Principle
Go Viral! Create Memorable Impactful Messaging Worthy of a Pass-Along
At its core, viral marketing is about the rapid spread of a way of thinking about a product or service—and how it affects those interested. It generates exponential growth in a message’s exposure and impact, and has proven to far outperform the results that other types marketing produce. In Chapter 4, “Third Principle,” you can read about companies that have created profitable viral marketing campaigns that have transferred into extraordinary impact and sales, including a book, a government, a search engine, a nonprofit, a film—and even guitar lessons.
Fourth Principle
Leverage Your Business Network for Incremental Growth Find and Cultivate Centers of Influence to Move Your Message Fast
Thankfully for salespeople everywhere, strategies for leveraging themselves exist as well! It takes a plan, but putting current relationships to work can be the miracle answer to the typical grind of cold calls and prospecting for new business. Advocates, centers of influence, and clients will give you referrals and introductions that are critical to expanding your reach and incremental sales growth. But who wants to connect you with others? Lots of people do; it simply takes finding out what’s in it for them. In Chapter 5, “Fourth Principle,” there are specific examples of successful leveraging strategies employed by a child author, a spa, a real estate agent, a QVC star, and a salesperson.
Fifth Principle
The Critical Importance of Execution in Your Game Plan Good Execution Is Better than Good Strategy
In today’s fast-moving, completely networked world, superior execution is clearly driving success for business. Small business owners are great at adopting many new marketing ideas; what they are not so great at is finishing. The best marketing strategy is the one you can pull off completely.
Think of it this way: Any marketing strategy you choose—and stay with until it’s executed fully and with precision—is actually the best marketing method for you. It is the execution that makes a good strategy look great. Examples of great execution include football, a speaker and author, an accounting firm, and an insurance company.
The next five chapters provide a complete description and examples of how to use the five fundamental marketing principles. Then, in Part II—“The Playbook,” you find 13 chapters filled with online and traditional marketing techniques that are working today. I also provide you with a template that you can use to structure a complete marketing and action plan.
PART I
The Principles
CHAPTER 2
First Principle What Are You Doing that No One Else Is Doing?
Build Client Delight Through Your Differentiation
Today your products and services often require a Herculean effort to gain exposure. With all the noise in your clients’ and potential clients’ daily lives, it certainly hasn’t become any easier to attract attention and appeal to your target market. But it has never been more critical for business survival.
Often you have to step outside of the current norms and stand out to attract attention. But in order to be noticed in a credible way, you must have a compelling reason for grabbing people’s attention. Your product, promotion, offer, staff, or culture—or something else about your business—must be unique in some way. As mentioned in Chapter 1, “Executive Summary,” running a conservative, under-the-radar firm today may cause you to become something of the past. Successful firms need to find ways to be exciting, while sticking with their values, so that people will pay attention—and buy.
A Gas Station with a Cult Following
Sometimes what your competitors consider to be “unimportant” may just turn out to be the differentiation that gets customers coming back for more. For example, how does a Texas-based gas station chain get patrons talking about them all over the world? It’s simple: by having something that people rarely find at gas stations. And by providing customers with what others don’t, these chains have become something of a roadside tourist attraction.
Throughout Texas, Buc-ee’s gas stations have focused their number-one offering on what people dread most about stopping at a gas station: the bathrooms! Each of the 30 Buc-ee’s locations has incredibly clean, substantially sized bathrooms, along with full-time attendants to keep them in tip-top shape. Buc-ee’s built its entire business around the bathrooms—a feature the company knew it could use to differentiate its business. The idea behind this strategy is that if motorists pull in to use the restroom, they are likely to buy. Buc-ee’s employs more than 1,000 Texans, has been written about in local newspapers, and has even been featured on national TV. An ABC news segment about Buc-ee’s told the story of drivers waiting hundreds of miles to stop at a gas station—essentially planning their entire trip around their stop at the next Buc-ee’s!
Buc-ee’s co-owner Beaver Aplin said he gets hundreds of e-mails expressing customers’ appreciation monthly. “A soldier in Iraq wrote that he slapped a Buc-ee’s beaver logo sticker on his tank,” Aplin said. “In our industry you don’t expect someone to send fan mail about a gas station. It makes you feel good.” See .
But Buc-ee’s doesn’t rely just on word of mouth to spread the word about its gas stations. Billboards cover the roads in Texas, promoting their best-known attribute: the bathrooms. For instance, the billboards read, “Only 262 Miles to Buc-ee’s. You can hold it.” The company also has its own blog where it requests and promotes pictures on its web site, in the media, and in its advertising, as well as customer testimonials like:
Whether [it’s] because it reminds me of the schlocky roadside souvenir stops of my youth, or due to its winsome beaver logo, I’m smitten with a chain of South Texas convenience stores called Buc-ee’s. Seriously, I love this place so much that if I weren’t already married, I’d have my wedding there.
—Jacquielynn Floyd, Dallas Morning News Metro blogger
Better than Wal-Mart and McDonalds all wound up together! It’s a mini-Bass Pro Shop with a toy store for kids and adults.
—Tabitha, from “East TX around Lufkin”
The Buc-ee’s T-shirt opens doors. I [wore mine when I] stopped by Amy’s Ice Cream in San Antonio and as I walked in . . . the counter staff [members yelled], “Buc-ee’s!” I got free ice cream: Ancho Chocolate and Chocolate Guiness.
—Anonymous fan
What do people dislike most about your industry, service, or product offering? For example, the bathrooms at gas stations.
Can you offer a solution to what people dislike most?
What can you provide that is truly different?
When the Offer Is Surprising, People Pay Attention!
If you offer something of real value for free, people will listen. In fact, “free” can convert price shoppers into loyal customers. This is the model that online print company Vistaprint used to convert a typical commodity service—printing—into a company that generated more than $500 million in revenue in 2009.
“We wanted to create scale by blowing our customers away with jaw-dropping value,” said the company’s public relations manager Jeff Esposito. “So we came up with an offer for free business cards.”
The offer has a certain appeal to their target market: small businesses. These companies need printing, but they’re often cost-conscious customers. So Vistaprint offers 250 business cards for free, with a nominal $5.67 shipping and processing charge.
Vistaprint services more than 8 million small businesses and consumers annually by offering products for the home and office. The company has a unique model supported by proprietary technologies, high-volume production facilities, and direct marketing expertise. Its offerings range from business cards, brochures, and web sites to invitations, thank-you notes, and calendars. As a global company, Vistaprint employs more than 1,850 people, and ships to more than 120 countries.
“The free cards we print have a small promotion printed on the bottom that reads, ‘Business Cards are free at ,’ ” said Esposito. “If a customer wants to pay for the cards, then they won’t have the promotion on the bottom.”
That same promotional message began popping up in various places, which allowed the offer to find viral travel on the Internet and among businesses. “When you offer a huge value proposition, it speaks for itself!” Esposito said. Today, 66 percent of Vistaprint’s business comes from returning customers. In the first quarter of FY 2010, the company acquired 1.4 million new customers—many who started with a free order.
List an offering you could make that would surprise customers (and maybe even go viral)!
Is “Free” Really Such a Good Offer?
Companies typically take the traditional approach of offering their products or services to customers for a price. It’s a simple and straightforward way of doing business—I provide you with something and, in turn, you pay me for it. But like Vistaprint, more and more savvy businesses today enjoy dramatic success by offering some of their goods and services for free.
Free offerings are becoming an increasingly popular indirect route to revenue. For instance, some cellular companies will give away a phone if you sign a two-year service contract. DirecTV and other satellite television services give the satellite dish to customers for free in order to get the paid subscription to the programming. Google gives away their main service—Internet search—and are in turn able to earn revenue from advertisements and paid searches. Every time you do a search on Google, you see its Sponsored Links; and whenever you click on one of those links, Google charges the web site a fee for the click. You’ll notice advertising from Google on various other web sites that you visit—something Google calls AdSense in which they charge a fee to these sites—part of which is given to the webmaster who publishes the ads. However, the majority of their offerings are free.
Chris Anderson presents the premise in his book Free (Hyperion, July 2009) that there is a generational and global shift at play in which customers insist on free goods. Anderson claims that those below the age of 30 refuse to pay for information that they know will eventually be available somewhere for free. In countries like China, piracy accounts for about 95 percent of music consumption—something that may sound to some like an equally terrible and terrifying fact. However, artists and music labels in China—who profit from free publicity through their concerts and merchandising—welcome music piracy.
Some businesses are beginning to offer what is often referred to as a “freemium” (a word that’s created by combining the two aspects of the business model, “free” and “premium”): a business model that works by offering basic Web services or a downloadable digital product for free while charging a premium for advanced or special features. Red Zone Marketing offers many freemium products, downloads, and online courses in order to give people who will only meet with the firm online a chance to experience the kind of value the company provides. Red Zone Marketing gives this material away in the hopes that potential customers like what they see—find themselves wanting more at some point.
What “freemium” could you offer?
Focus on Differentiating with Your People
How does a business grow without any advertising, salespeople, or participation at industry events and tradeshows? By doing things a little bit differently, and with a lot of passion.
The Bargains Group in Toronto, Canada, is a discount wholesaler of promotional business products, family clothing, accessories, gifts, toys, bedding and linen, personal hygiene products, and tradeshow promotional materials. The group procures clearance wholesale items for customers across Canada based on supply and demand. The company is ready to fulfill customers’ needs for everything from 10,000 medical promotional items to 50 custom embroidered ball caps—all at deeply discounted prices.
Jody Steinhauer began The Bargains Group in 1988 from her kitchen table by purchasing a variety of different clothing and reselling it to discount clothing stores. Today, she runs a multimillion-dollar firm with more than 4,000 different items for sale. The most unique aspect of the company is its employees.
“We offer what we call ‘branding at a bargain’ for the businesses we work with. Each team member truly pays attention to our client businesses,” said Steinhauer. “We work with them to sell their products and get them out the door.”
Although many firms advertise how “different” their people are, or how they focus on service, The Bargain Group actually proves this assertion. The company doesn’t advertise or employ salespeople, yet manages to make millions of dollars selling their products, so it must be doing something right, and certainly something unique. Sure, the company offers inexpensive products that occasionally have viral appeal by virtue of their low cost. However, for a small firm with only 20 employees, the bargain basement approach can’t be all there is—because there is undoubtedly some company somewhere that can offer better prices. So what makes the difference?
“We focus on hiring fun, vivacious people with [a focus on] a culture of service,” said Steinhauer. “We hire those [who] have had a service job in another industry; for instance, a receptionist at a hair salon. The results are that we do what others only say they will do—we actually service our customers personally. We don’t even have voicemail. Our people are the real differentiator, and the reason we don’t do any advertising or have never gone to the industry standard trade shows. Word just travels about us!”
Who do you hire? What type of person do you want to hire?
If No One Is Doing It—Should You?
Here’s an idea: How about starting a Tupperware-type party for men only with a complete set of “Man Laws”—meat and beer essentials, and discussions about grilling. And the advisors don’t host parties, they host “Meatings.” A home run, right—because no one else is doing it?
Well, it’s been a home run so far for a couple of Midwestern twentysomethings who started the first “home party” direct sales business designed for men called Man Cave. Man Cave is not a leader in its industry—it is the industry! For years, thousands of companies have demonstrated and sold products to groups of women in their homes. Man Cave does it now for men.
Nick Beste, 22, of Minnesota, and Kevin Carlow, 24, of Wisconsin, started the company as a male-only alternative to female-centric success stories from organizations like Silpada, Tupperware, and Partylite. Man Cave has grown from having three advisors in summer 2009, to exploding in growth of advisors and revenues. In fact, said, cofounder Carlow, “We anticipate crossing over $3 million by November 2010.”
Man Cave advisors market the company’s products primarily through a male-only gathering referred to as a MEATing. The advisors receive commission payments based on their own sales, in addition to the sales of the team they have recruited to also sell Man Cave products. “It’s a good excuse to hang out with the guys, drink a few beers, eat some brats and—most importantly—learn some new techniques about grilling,” said Beste.
After a person decides to host a MEATing, he invites others to attend. A Man Cave advisor attends and brings an ample supply of free premium meat—including steaks, chicken, and brats. A MEATing can revolve around a grilling demonstration, poker tournaments, a sporting event—or any other reason guys can come up with to hang out with one another.
“This is the best feature of a Man Cave MEATing,” said Beste. “Besides viewing our product line, you eat hearty at the party.”
Unlike at other home parties, there are no formal presentations, just products to sample and view. The group sells meat, grilling products, marinades, as well as poker-playing items and apparel. And they promote their Man Laws that dictate that—of course—“Grilling, regardless of weather, is always the first choice for cooking.”
What product or service could you provide that no one else has taken to market?
What Will People Buy?
Entrepreneurs frequently speculate on what people might be willing to buy. Some conduct extensive research; more look for obvious gaps in offerings; and others simply go with their “gut feelings.” But there are a few entrepreneurs that just throw caution to the wind, and create a brand new category.
“I knew from day one that if the concept was unique enough and given enough time, it would definitely find its market . . . and it did!” said Craig Wolfe, president of CelebriDucks—a company that produces a line of celebrity rubber ducks that are fashioned after some icons of film, music, athletics, and history. They have produced CelebriDuck likenesses of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, The Wizard of Oz, James Dean, KISS, Barack Obama, James Brown, The Blues Brothers, Mr. T, and Shakespeare. To date, they have created more than 200 different CelebriDucks—and have pioneered an entirely new collectible.
The company has received a tremendous amount of publicity. Their products have been featured on networks including NBC, Fox, CBS, CNN, ABC, Showtime, ESPN, VH1, TNT, A&E; and specifically, television shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. The company has been written about in articles in Sports Illustrated, U.S. News and World Report, ESPN The Magazine, Maxim, the New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Toronto Sun, Playboy, the Chicago Sun Times, and Fortune Small Business.
recently ran a poll for the fan’s favorite stadium giveaway in which CelebriDucks beat out Beanie Babies, bobblehead dolls, Pez dispensers, and Matchbox cars. CelebriDucks have been used by numerous teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLB—such as the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Houston Rockets, the Chicago Cubs, and countless others. The company sells its Blues Brother’s ducks at all House of Blues venues nationwide. And Gorton Seafood—one of the largest frozen fish companies in the United States—did a four-month national promotion with the creation of a duck of the Gorton Fisherman, which enjoyed tremendous success. Not only did the ducks sell out, the promotion was the most profitable in the company’s history.
Can you create an entirely new category?
Stand Out with Your Promotion—Take a Risk!
“Our city and state have been hit hard by the economy over the past 18 months,” said Phil Wrzesinski, owner of Jackson, Michigan-based toy store Toy House. “Our unemployment [rate has been] hovering around 15 to 16 percent for the past several months, [and] our schools, countywide, have lost over 800 students this year. In a county of only 150,000, that is a significant number of people who have left town. I also have to compete locally with a Wal-Mart, a Toys “R” Us, a Target, two Kmarts, and two Meijer’s. Yet because of our [radio] promotions, we have seen a steady increase in both loyalty and sales. In fact, my toy sales are up over previous years!”
Since Toy House began their radio campaign in 2005—using ads like “The Men’s Bathroom” (script below)—they have seen a steady increase in both loyalty and sales. You can listen to all of their radio ads at . “In August 2008, we ran an ad on our local radio station that created a huge buzz that was talked about for a whole year,” said Wrzesinski. “We had the local DJs wondering what was in the men’s bathroom. We had droves of customers coming in to see what was in the men’s bathroom. We even had other media outlets speculating on what was in the men’s bathroom. My wife was approached on the street and asked about it, and our employees were hounded outside of work, too.” And here’s why:
I couldn’t believe it. They were taking customers into the men’s bathroom. Yes, my staff was taking men and women, young and old into our men’s bathroom. And the customers were coming out laughing and giggling, oh yeah, and buying, too. I guess when you find a product that cool, you just have to show it off however and wherever you can. (laugh) The men’s bathroom, gotta love it. Toy House in downtown Jackson. We’re here to make you smile.
—Men’s Bathroom Radio Ad Script
The product in question is a night light in the shape of either a turtle or ladybug (called the Twilight Ladybug and Twilight Turtle, and designed by a company called Cloud B), which projects stars onto the ceiling and walls of a darkened room. Although it was designed as a night light for infants and toddlers, Toy House sells just as many to kids of all ages—and even adults. However, the only way for employees to show it off was in the dark confines of the Toy House’s men’s bathroom.
What was especially impressive was that people were still talking about the ad—even months after it stopped running. “A customer came in six months after the ad stopped running, and asked what was in the men’s bathroom. He explained that the whole conversation at the Christmas dinner table centered on what was going on in our men’s bathroom.”
Just recently, the DJ at the local radio station on which Toy House advertises came in and bought one of its night lights. He was complaining that his three-and-a-half-year-old child would not go to sleep or stay asleep at night. “This morning, he broke the secret of the men’s bathroom wide open [by telling his audience about the product]—because his child slept through the entire night without incident!” said Wrzesinski.
According to Wrzesinski, an independent toy store that sells 24 of a particular item is called a good seller, while selling 72 or more makes it a “hot item.” “We have now sold over 1,200 Twilight Ladybugs and Turtles thanks to this promotion,” said Wrzesinski.
What are you selling that you could promote in a unique way?
Offer Something that No One Else Will
James Dillard, owner of Dillard’s Septic Service in Annapolis, Maryland, runs a business that most others might consider “beneath” them. Yet Dillard earns a six-figure income doing what some would call mundane, boring, or downright disgusting. An October 10, 2007, article in USA Today by Del Jones entitled, “A Dirty Job, But Someone has to Get Rich Doing It,” featured Dillard and other business owners who have entered into careers that many others simply would not. And it is a potential avenue for business owners who are looking for a way to generate more income.
Dillard works in a smelly business, but told USA Today that he goes most days without getting a splash on his clothes. “The only odor you catch is when you take off the cap and agitate the solids,” he said.
Really!
In the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans for 2009, less than glamorous fields and products—including discount tires, roofing, salsa, lumber, and tequila—have produced extraordinary income. You might not consider these to be material that would create such great wealth, but each of these business owners found their niche and their differentiation, and their clients—lots of them—stood up and took notice!
What can you offer (or do) that no one else will?
Take 15 and Get Your Clients Going Wild! A 15-Minute Client-Builder Exercise
List a different approach or offer what no one else is doing.
CHAPTER 3
Second Principle Focus Your Marketing on Benefits, Results, and a Call to Action
What’s Really in It for Them
When you try to sell the features of your product or service, you’re making the customer do all the work to figure out why they want the feature.
The biggest mistake people make in marketing—and a reason they find success to be so elusive—is not clearly explaining what the company is selling. Consumers rarely make buying decisions based on a product or service’s features, yet that’s what most businesses promote over and over again. People don’t buy features; they buy the benefits that those features offer. In fact, to make it even more clear: people buy results. Many businesses assume that their customers know what the benefits are, and exactly why to buy their product or service. They leave it up to the prospect to derive their benefits. However, focusing on the features is a mistake that most businesses make.
What is the difference between a feature and benefit? Often, there is much confusion between the two.
Definition of Features. Features are factual statements about—often distinctive characteristics of—a product or service. Features are a means of providing benefits to customers; for instance, “Open 24 Hours” is a feature.
Definition of Benefits. Benefits are value statements about the feature of a product or service, with an emphasis on what the customer gets. A benefit answers the question, “Why should I care?” For instance, a benefit tells you that you should care because the product will make you look slimmer, help you close more sales, save lots of money on gas, or tastes great.
Are Your Clients Making the Right Assumptions?
Approach your own product or service as if you’d never seen it. Then ask yourself—and anyone else who will answer—“What results will that feature bring me?” or “Why would I want to consider buying or switching?” You need to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes, because whenever you act from your own point of view, you fill in the blanks with assumptions. Can your prospects do that? No matter what type of business you have, you think it’s great because you fully understand it. But a prospect usually knows little or nothing about your offerings, and isn’t able to make the same assumptions that you would.
Additionally, many businesses are too soft on their benefits. A soft benefit is similar to a glorified feature. These don’t move people to act or remind them why they need to buy now. When you try to sell your product or service on features alone, you’re making the customer do all the work, and figure out why they want the feature. It’s in a seller’s best interest to draw the connection for the prospective buyer.
Example: LED Lightbulb
Feature: Long-lasting bulb
Soft Benefit: Energy efficient and money-saving
Compelling Benefit: Uses up to 75 percent less energy than regular bulbs; lasts up to 10 times longer; reduces your electric bill.
Example: Trump International Hotel & Tower
Feature: A five-star property
Soft Benefit: The hotel offers excellent, five-star service
Compelling Benefit: The hotel treats you like you are a celebrity by rushing to take care of everything—from water to quench your thirst, to requesting to press your luggage-crushed suit for free. When you enter, any need you can think of is taken care of until you leave.
Example: Financial Advisor
Feature: Experienced financial professional with CFP and CFA licenses
Soft Benefit: Has a high level of expertise to help you make smart money decisions
Compelling Benefit: Will proactively be there for you to help you protect your assets and avoid making bad financial decisions. You will be able to truly enjoy the money you have earned in your life without worrying about investments.
Finding the Compelling Benefits
Compelling benefits answer the question, “Why should I care?” But do you even know what your clients truly care about? And do your marketing messages address this?
What do your best clients want? What results do they care about?
List How You Promote Your Products and Services Now
| Product or Service | Feature | Compelling Benefit |
|---|
| _________________ | __________________ | _________________ |
| _________________ | __________________ | _________________ |
| _________________ | __________________ | _________________ |
| _________________ | __________________ | _________________ |
Pinning Down the Real Compelling Benefit
One of the problems in figuring out the truly compelling benefits of your product or service may be flexibility, because if you list what you consider to be the true benefits of your product, you may be missing a critical element. Therefore, it’s best to list benefits based on what your customers—not you—believe is valuable. Sometimes what once was a benefit to someone really isn’t, and those that should be aren’t presented as such.
For instance, when the economy is booming and people have more expendable income, price is usually less important, and value more so. But when people are watching every penny they spend due to a change in their economic situations, the tables have turned—and price may all of a sudden become a vital feature. You have to constantly evaluate your benefits to avoid surprises. Your product or service may be the best on the market, but will people buy? Have you asked your clients and prospects?
Evaluate whether your clients and prospects truly care about your compelling benefits.
It’s All About the Results
Once you refocus, you realize that I’m really talking about results. So what are the ultimate outcomes of the features you offer your clients?
List Your Current Features and Beside Each List the Result
| Feature | Result |
|---|
| ___________________ | ___________________ |
| ___________________ | ___________________ |
| ___________________ | ___________________ |
| ___________________ | ___________________ |
| ___________________ | ___________________ |
Advertising Feelings
The late Charles Revlon—cosmetics executive and founder/CEO of Revlon Cosmetics—had the right answer: “In our factory, we make lipstick. In our advertising, we sell hope.” And Theodore “Ted” Levitt, long-time economics professor at Harvard Business School and marketing expert, echoed that sentiment when he pointed out that, “Kodak sells film, but they don’t advertise film. They advertise memories.” In fact, there are many companies that have the confidence to stand up with their benefit alone. Harley-Davidson doesn’t advertise bikes, they advertise the ride: “It’s the sound of life getting bigger.”
Turning Benefits into Sales
Building business is not about making a lot of sales calls; it’s about finding and connecting your product or service with the decision makers who want to buy. Dubbed “The Chief Door Opener,” Caryn Kopp of Kopp Consulting has developed a streamlined, efficient process for developing companies that saves her clients countless hours, and brings dramatic success in a majority of cases.
The nationwide sales executives at Kopp Consulting focus with laser-like accuracy on the most important aspects of marketing a business. They are “sales hunters” who reach out to prospects armed with clear messaging of compelling benefits designed to open doors for businesses. Kopp has hired some of the best corporate salespeople—most of whom have 15 or more years of selling experience and success—who become a virtual sales force for the companies that Kopp represents. These sales experts help their clients identify key decision makers that have a need for their service and money to spend. They then create the messaging in language designed to be so relevant and compelling that prospects are quickly engaged and look forward to the initial meeting. They also develop a well-prepared list of answers to potential objections, so that a door is fully opened for their client companies.
“Messaging is the key,” explained founder Caryn Kopp. “We help to create, define, and refine the exact messaging for clients, so that the prospect feels that they might regret it if they don’t at least schedule a first appointment to find out more.”
And the results are staggering. By communicating clear benefits and targets, Kopp Consulting is able to open the closed doors to large prospective buyers for their clients—who range from promotional products firms to video production companies.
Too good to be true? Well, success always comes at a price, but many of Kopp Consulting’s clients have experienced a return on investment that makes their fees seem almost irrelevant.
