Two experiences this past month produced the ultimate lesson in marketing, and illustrated a few myths that we hold so dear. I’d like to share them, just as long as you dont feel the need to tell me why your business doesn’t need to do what I am suggesting as you tear a strip off me because you are indeed the best florist/plumber/etc!
Two weeks ago I was buried in emails. (Almost 1000/day as I tried to move to a new list manager.) This meant that my wedding anniversary crept up unnoticed, until a gentle hint by the woman of my dreams sent me to the Internet in a panic.
A quick GOOGLE led to the UK Interflora site, and a few minutes later the panic was over. And I know I don’t have to worry about next year because they will email me a reminder a week ahead of time. (It was one of the questions they asked when the order was complete.)
The flowers arrived, my woman was stunned at her man’s romantic genius, and the evening was a spectacular success.
This week was my woman’s birthday. Last week wasn’t nearly as busy, so en route to the bank I popped in at the local florist and ordered a dozen red roses. The price was better, and so were the flowers.
So where will I be buying all my anniversary and birthday flowers next year?
I am glad you asked. It’s going to be Interflora – even though they’re more expensive and their flowers are less spectacular. Here’s why:
- They’re easier to find and buy from – no matter how busy I am or where I am on the date I order.
- Their flowers have exactly the same effect as the local florist – my woman is amazed. (Probably more at my prodigious feats of memory than at the details of the flowers. It’s all about the gesture.)
- But, most importantly, they’re going to remind me – on the right day – that I need to do something NOW or else sleep outside tomorrow night. (If my local florist did the same thing, I’d buy from them.) Every man needs flower power from time to time.
Here is the critical issue: all that the local team needed to do to guarantee at least 2 sales next year was to ask if I wanted a reminder! I wouldn’t have cared whether they put it into a rolodex, a card based system, a computer…
I just want to know that someone is going to help me stay out of the kennel next year. (And if they offered this service to EVERY client this year – they’d have solved 75% of next year’s sales challenge, for less than the price of one bunch of flowers each month.) A simple email reminder this time next year – and I am going to buy from whoever sends it.
Which reminded me of a client a few years ago who was struggling to sell his herbal alternative to those wonderful recreational substances that enhance one’s romantic capability. His website attracted 6000 new clients over a 2 year period – but his sales were flaccid. Why?
To understand the answer you need to understand who buys this kind of product: basically any man over 45, and all diabetics. And we want it every month. You just have to remind us – because life is too busy to expect us to remember you. A simple email reminder with a link to the site, and sales would be strong. Like each client. Ole’
Instead of his clients buying every month, they mostly bought just once, and then moved on. But that simple reminder would have kept them coming back every 4 weeks, so that by the end of the 2 year period he would have been doing 6000 sales/month!
Marketing is dead simple when you stop smelling the roses and start thinking about your clients.
Every time a new Warrior joins and posts a profile to their business, (or asks the community to evaluate their new website) this comes thundering home. We are so desperate to talk about ourselves, and what we do, and our mission, and why we’re so darn good, and how caring our staff are, that we forget that our clients and prospects don’t care. Clients and prospects want words of one syllable telling them how we’re going to solve their problems.
If you doubt me on this, tell me honestly that you read those company newsletters that tell you that we’re so proud that Annie has joined our team and that she has a PhD in telephone answering, or that Jack has just won widget salesman of the year for the third year, or that our MD has just returned from a wonderful vacation in the south of France where he played golf with Arnold Palmer, and… And then tell me, if you’re still awake, how desperately you want to buy from them.
The quickest way to get some real muscle into your marketing is to simply remind a current client why s/he should call you this time next year/month/week. Heck, you don’t even have to offer a discount. The mere fact that you cared is good enough.
You can write it in your diary and then phone or SMS – but that costs time and serious money, or you can write letters, or you can automate the entire blessed thing by using a simple email mechanism called an autoresponder. (In the florist case you would set up one for ‘anniversary’ and tell it to send a reminder exactly 360 days hence.) This year’s client will get an email next year – long after you’ve both forgotten each other – saying:
Hi Peter
This time last year you ordered flowers to celebrate your anniversary.
Would you like us to ensure that your partner is overwhelmed this year? We still have your order details, so a simple phone call is all it takes. We’re at: 01425-474553.
All the very best, and have a wonderful anniversary on the 17th.
The team at Flowers R Us.
That’s so simple even my unborn daughter could do it. But I have yet to find a local florist that does it.
I use Aweber.com to do exactly this for the Warriors, and to send out Petes Weekly. The Aweber.com site has a lot more material if you’re interested, and they’re incredible value for money. If you’re a techie genius, then you will be able to find a bunch of other alternatives. (I did, but I eventually settled on Aweber because the techie stuff got in the way of sales.)