Creating Customers for Life and selling more, TODAY
August 24th, 2011 // 11:12 am @ Scott
Welcome back to another edition of the wild and crazy ride into the life and mind of Scott Manning…not sure how wild it is, but it’s definitely crazy. I’ve told you the joke about the medication, right. Yeah everybody says they know I need some, but I want nothing to do with it…one simple reason, I’m afraid it’ll fix me.
Ha. I was never very good at jokes…better at marketing and making money, thank goodness.
Well today, I’ve decided to get back to work, so to speak, and tell you about one of the single biggest and most significant sabotaging-your-sales mistakes you can possibly make in your business and your interaction/communication with your Customers.
And, in that, you will find exactly how to fix it and dramatically enhance your ability to CONNECT with your customers and appear and present yourself, product or service, as exactly what they should buy, do, believe in – right now.
To begin, I share with you the old cliché of being at the “right place at the right time”.
That is the battle you face with marketing.
No – not ACTUALLY being in the place. Although that is possible.
The battle to get your customer to PERCEIVE that your paths are crossing at the right time and right place in their life and that they must take advantage of whatever it is you offer – today.
This perception is where we begin to go wrong.
And it always starts on the marketers side of the table.
I often listen to people complain about their results in selling and it almost always boils down to a misunderstanding of PERCEPTION.
Here’s what I mean:
You cannot get caught up in what YOU want to sell…you must align with what your customer WANTS to buy.
Read that again, because it’s a big deal.
It’s the difference between pushing stuff on people versus attracting them to you.
It’s the difference between resistance and acceptance.
Price being the only thing and being irrelevant.
Oh sure, ‘savvy’ salesmen (or women) can sell just about anything, but that doesn’t get you quality, long-term customer relationships.
You’re initial interaction with your customers and their buying experience has a lot more to do with the long term relationship, whether they buy again, and/or refer other to you – than you probably think.
So, what’s the secret…
What’s the one thing that you can change in your approach, your marketing, the way you sell?
It’s this –
It comes down to the difference between these 2 words.
NEEDS
And
WANTS
Too many people try shoving stuff down the throats of their customers based on
What they THINK they NEED…
Instead of what the customer actually wants.
Here’s some enlightening news for you…
If the customer was going to be motivated by need, and they actually do need something, then why on earth haven’t they already bought it???
It’s because they buy what they WANT.
When you step to the other side of the table, put yourself directly into the customers situation and perspective you can easily see the difference.
The good news is that your job and purpose of marketing is to manipulate their perception into what is actually best for them, ie buying your stuff.
This requires you to UNDERSTAND (which my grandmaster in the martial arts carefully explained to his instructors underneath him that the word describe itself when you separate the two)
You must STAND / UNDER your customer…meaning see it the way they do, in order to connect with them genuinely, sincerely, and emotionally.
This is why Dan Kennedy always asks his clients if they are going where their customers go, to shop, to sleep, to eat…are you watching what your customers are watching, listening to their music, reading their books, publications, etc.
You must.
The difference between quality relationships begins at the first engagement, with first marketing piece, first ‘selling experience’. Without understanding your customers you are at a disadvantage.
Since you are hanging around here, you know and respect the fact that this is really your mission, the craft you must master…it’s the reason you are reading this right now.
The reality is you can sell anything, just about to anybody, as long as you convince them that they WANT what you have to offer.
Oh, you can easily show them that they NEED something, but that’s only enough to get their interest, not their money – you must bridge the gap and truly entice your customer enough so that they want something so bad there is no way to say no, no way to refuse.
So that moving on without you leaves a void in their life, an uneasy feeling in their stomach, a vision in their mind that they just can’t get rid of…
It’s why I preach, teach, and follow the five rules of making customers want what you sell:
3 – establish the emotional connection through explicitly illustrating understanding
4 – nurture the relationship by showing up as often as it takes to get the sale
5 – not dropping the ball or disappearing after the sale…continuing the experience
I’ve just given you some very powerful stuff here. In the wrong hands, dangerous.
This is and should be your complete selling process, from lead generation to new customer experience after they give you money.
This is the process for creating customer for life.
Check all of your marketing, review your selling approach.
No doubt you are chasing sales instead of creating customers. If you fix this, if you better align with your customers, focus on what they really want…you will possess the most valuable skill for marketing and making money.
