Having a teenager in the house means we watch some pretty interesting TV shows. A recent VH1 offering is called The Pick Up Artist. It features 8 lovable losers who have never had any luck with women and a Pick Up Artist named Mystery.
In the hour long show, Mystery teaches the guys some slick language and practiced "gambits" as he calls them. Then, the guys walk into a crowded bar and look for possible "targets." It doesn't matter who they are. Any woman will do.
The guys fumble through the gambits, trip over themselves in their eagerness to sell themselves to just about anyone….and in the end, usually leave the bar alone, tail tucked.
They're not there because they care about the women or even want to get to know them. They're just trying to score before the other guys do. It's about the win, not the person.
Pretty sleazy, isn't it?
I was feeling pretty high and mighty until I realized that what Mystery's teaching isn't all that different from how many companies approach marketing.
Use slick language
Have a practiced "gambit"
Identify a target
Run the gambit, hoping to score
It's not about the other person, it's about the score
It's an easy hole to fall into when you're trying to make this quarter's projected sales numbers or feeling the pressure of a CEO's scrutiny.
So before you dismiss Mystery and his pick up lines are you sure you're not a pick up artist too?
As we dance our way to my first blogiversary (Saturday the 15th) I want to spend this week honoring some people who have been in front of the line, leading the dance and keeping us on beat. Because I sure didn't get here alone!
With their endorsement and encouragement, some of the most supportive people in my conga line are the other blogs that invite me to be one of their authors.
It started with Small Business Branding. To be invited to write about one of my core professional passions was such a thrill. Then, I was blown away when I was adding to the All-Star line-up at Marketing Profs Daily Fix. And closer to home, I get to help Iowa Businesses wrap their arms around marketing at IowaBiz.com. More recently, I was asked to be one of the inaugural bloggers in BrandingWire which of course, I quickly jumped at.
It's one thing to start your own blog. It was scary and fun but all along, I knew if I bombed…it was okay because it was just me. But, it's something all together different and remarkable to be considered good enough to write for someone else's. On all four blogs, I am surrounded by smart, talented pros who make me look good just by being in their midst. It's heady stuff and I'm grateful to write along side them.
My way of thanking those trusting editors? Just keep adding value to the conversation as best I can.
A couple days ago, I shared with you the first installment of Harry Beckwith’s 40 conclusions about what motivates people. I said, if you liked it I would share more. Well, you sure liked it (I knew you were smart!) so here’s a few more.
Remember, to sign up for Beckwith’s newsletter Invisible Ink (subscribe here) so you don’t miss any more of his observations.
Never take seriously what people say they think, because people are never sure. Trust only action.
The more similar two things appear, the more important their tiny differences. Accentuate the trivial.
Your most valuable salesperson is the person who answers your phones.
You must improve constantly, because people’s expectations rise constantly.
People don’t care how good you are. They care how good you can make them.
The best companies don’t make the fewest mistakes; they make the best corrections.
You cannot convince someone you have a superior product at a low price. Make up your mind.
We call them "premium prices" because a higher price represents insurance that your product will perform.
Despite all the warnings, all people judge books by their covers.
People hear what they see; you must communicate visually.
The more complex our society becomes, the more valuable your brand becomes.
So what do you think? Ring true for you? Had you forgotten some of these truths?
As we dance our way to my first blogiversary (Saturday the 15th) I want to spend this week honoring some people who have been in front of the line, leading the dance and keeping us on beat. Because I sure didn’t get here alone!
Without a doubt, some of the warmest, most genuine people in my conga line are the bloggers I have met in person.
With each and every meeting, there is one absolute. Each blogger is exactly as I knew they would be. You cannot blog several days a week and hide your humanity.
I’ve made some very good friends since launching this blog. And many of them, like Gavin, I have yet to meet in person. But I know that every on-line relationship I have forged grows stronger once we’ve sat across from other another and shared laughter, stories and a little bit more of ourselves.
My way of thanking those smiling faces? Working on creating as many opportunities for face-to-face encounters as possible. There is no substitute for a genuine smile and a warm hug. That’s why I’m so excited about the Blogger Social. I hope to share a smile and a hug with many of you there.
As we dance our way to my first blogiversary (Saturday the 15th) I want to spend this week honoring some people who have been in front of the line, leading the dance and keeping us on beat. Because I sure didn’t get here alone!
Without a doubt, one of the most prolific in my conga line is Gavin Heaton.
I don’t really remember how I first “met” the Servant of Chaos. I just know that I immediately was drawn to his way with words and ideas. His blog became one of my must reads.
Boy, were we clueless! What followed were 3 and a half months of constant communication, literally thousands of e-mails, a bazillion edits and design tweaks. Working through issues with 100+ authors is a little like herding cats. Wonderful creatures, each and every one. But not always on the same page.
Oh yeah, and we both had real jobs and families to tend to. Through it all, Gavin was like the calm after a storm. Always patient. Always willing to listen. Always looking for ways to make the project succeed and everyone involved to feel good about it.
About that time, Gavin’s blog hit 1,000 comments and ironically, the 1,000th commenter was me! I had the honor of being his guest blogger to commemorate the milestone.
On July 16th, we launched Age of Conversation and less than 2 months later, we have earned $10,000 for Variety the Children’s Charity. Do you have any idea how huge that is? How remarkable?
And how impossible it would have been without Gavin?
My way of thanking Gavin and our 101 co-authors? Doing it all over again next year as we try to top Age of Conversation’s success. And that is no small task! But…I’m glad to give it my all, along side my co-publisher and friend!
Special thanks as well to the Age of Conversation authors. Without them, Age would be an incredibly short book!
If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know I believe Harry Beckwith to be a modern day prophet. Or at the very least, quite brilliant.
He does it in plain language that everyone can grasp and apply to their business.
In his most recent newsletter, Harry Beckwith's Invisible Ink (subscribe here) Harry talks about his fascination with what motivates people.
He goes on to say that he's come to 40 conclusions surround this question. I thought I'd share some of them with you. And maybe if you like them, I'll share a few more tomorrow.
Your biggest competitor is not a competitor; it's your prospect's indifference.
Your second-biggest competitor is not a competitor; it's your prospect's distrust.
Your biggest obstacle is whatever stereotype your prospect has formed about you and your industry.
Prospects decide in the first five seconds.
Prospects don't try to make the best choice. They try to make the most comfortable choice.
At heart, every prospect is risk-averse, and risks are always more vivid than rewards.
Beware of what you think you know or have experienced; memories fail people constantly.
For the same reason, beware of what others say they know or have experienced.
So what do you think? Ring true for you? Had you forgotten some of these truths?
As we dance our way to my first blogiversary (Saturday the 15th) I want to spend this week honoring some people who have been in front of the line, leading the dance and keeping us on beat. Because I sure didn't get here alone!
Without a doubt, one of the most passionate dancers in my conga line is CK (Christina Kerley).
My blog was about 60 days old when my family headed out for our annual pilgrimage to Disney World. I decided to blog about it and created the Marketing Lessons from Walt series. CK saw the series and did what she did best — celebrated another blogger. In this case, the lucky blogger was me.
In her post, CK suggested I re-package the series as a downloadable PDF and if I did that, she'd don mouse ears to help me promote the PDF. And true to her word, she did. So many new eyes on the blog, so many doors opened. CK sets the example I try to live. Give just because you can.
I have felt her support and encouragement from our very first e-mail exchange. She is the real deal and she has played a huge role in my first year of blogging.
If you've joined in the conga line and notice that we move at a lively clip…you can credit that passionate pace to a woman whose heart is always focused on others first.
My way of thanking CK? I do my best to mirror the love and encouragement she shines onto others and hope she knows she inspires all of us to reach in and give a little more.
Take a peek at Eric's thoughts on how HP is shifting from printers to printing and how those of us who spend time in the digital world are about to discover some new and very cool ways to integrate traditional print with our speed of light digital world.
As we dance our way to my first blogiversary (Saturday the 15th) I want to spend this week honoring some people who have been in front of the line, leading the dance and keeping us on beat. Because I sure didn’t get here alone!
Without a doubt, the man in the front of my conga line is Mike Sansone.
My blog wouldn’t exist let alone enjoy even a modicum of success without Mike teaching me the dance steps.
A year ago, I barely knew what a blog was. I had no idea about the technology, the culture or the heart of it all. I’m a decent writer…but I was not a blogger.
I devoured Mike’s wisdom at Converstations and soaked up his how to’s and beware of posts. But even that didn’t make me a good blogger.
Then, my blogging coach Buddha (aka Mike) very slowly and patiently introduced me to the power of the connections, of sharing what I know and of building a community.
When I had no readers…he was there, cheering. When I got giddy over my first few comments, he was there, cheering. And today, as I round the bases and head for home, I know he is there, cheering.
He may not wear a funny hat with bananas on it (more of a do-rag sort of guy) but I know I always want him in front of the line, showing me new dance steps, introducing me to good music and encouraging me to find ways to get all of you to join in the dance.
The only way I can thank him is to do as he teaches and hope that my efforts honor him along the way.
As you no doubt remember by now, once a month I join some other branding experts to tackle a marketing/branding problem ala the BrandingWire collaboration.
This month's BrandingWire takes a slightly different twist. A Canadian IT company has asked for our help. So we wade into the B-to-B world.
Here's a quick peek at them:
Offerings (according to them):
They'll do just about anything from proactive maintenance to 24/7 trouble shooting to setting up new users, buying equipment or helping you with software decisions. They are also getting into Green IT – from managing energy costs to eliminating packaging waste.
They are (my words, not theirs) like an IT department who happens to office outside of your workspace.
The money part:
You can engage them in one of two ways. You can buy a maintenance contract or buy their hours ala carte. The contract gets you a discount on services rendered.
Target:
As you would guess, businesses who use IT but are too small to have their own internal department.
Conundrum (again, their words):
It's difficult to convince small businesses that our services are worth the amount we are charging – however, to draft a legal document, they're more than willing to a pay a top notch lawyer $500/hour. Customers view IT issues as a pain (i.e. my email is down again) instead of as a critical part of their business (ie. without IT, we can't function as a company).
Customers just don't always understand the value of IT services.
Drew's take:
Ahhh, there's the rub. We don't get to decide what our customers should value. It's annoying, but true. We have to figure out what they need/want. Once we serve up that…we provide value. We can provide it but we can't define it.
But there's a flip side to this truth as well. Our clients should provide value to us as well. For it to be a long-term relationship of value, both sides need to benefit and feel good about the value they both give and receive.
But let's look at the client's side of things first.
One of the most significant keys to smart branding is knowing the heart and mind of your customers. Once you really understand where they're coming from…you can talk to them from that place.
Without talking to them (which is dangerous at best) here's what I suspect the IT customers feel.
They're scared of IT. They know they can be crippled by a virus or something else they don't understand.
They hate being so dependent on someone outside of their walls.
They're embarrassed that they don't know more than they do.
They hate the down time when they do have a problem.
They don't understand it, so paying for it scares them. (Am I getting taken?)
They don't want to pay for something they don't need. That's why the contract scares them. Are they just spending money they shouldn't?
They're petrified that something catastrophic is going to happen and it's going to cost them an arm and a leg.
They've been taught that extended warranties and maintenance contracts are fool's gold and benefit the seller much more than the buyer.
So that's where they're at in terms of IT in general. But how are they feeling about the IT company?
One of the IT company's stated goals is (in their words) "help our clients understand why our services are worth the price tag."
That's a little worrisome to me. Again, we're doing this in an artificial vacuum. My guess is that they have a mixed clientele. Some who should be clients and some who should not. And it's the who should not's that are causing them trouble.
But, if we were sitting in the room with the client, I'd ask them to describe the clients who don't object to the price structure. I'm guessing they have some. Then, we'd profile those clients based on industry, size, type of work the IT company does for them, scope of the projects, clients that can make a fair and reasonable profit from, etc.
When we were done, we'd have built a profile of the types of businesses that are a good fit. Good from the IT company's perspective in terms of retention and fair profit. Good from the client's side…trusted advisor, a value, and someone who relieves their worries.
Then, we'd go through their client list and score each client against the profile. Anyone who got a C or worse should be weeded out. They're not a good fit.
Anyone who receives a B- or better should be cultivated and nurtured.
We'd do the same thing with their prospect list. There's no reason to waste time and money talking to prospects that are not a good fit.
Once you know who to talk to and how they're thinking and feeling, deciding what to say to them comes much easier.
I will leave those details to my BrandingWire compadres. Check out their posts and welcome our three guest bloggers as well!
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