Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

No, the customer is NOT always right

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marketing, client wrong

Photo: Shutterstock.

That old saying, that the customer is always right, is bogus. Worse still, if you believe the customer or client is always right, it will damage your business.

That’s because the customer is often wrong.

Allow me to explain!

That saying still persists, because fearful service providers are scared that if they say the customer is wrong, they might take their custom elsewhere. So, generations of business owners have worked under the erroneous belief that they should simply agree with their clients all the time.

That’s a really bad idea 

It fails the client and it fails you. Here are a few examples.

  • Designers end up producing ugly work, because the client made terrible design demands. The client is left with low quality design, which won’t work for them. The designer will never get to work with that client again.
  • Copywriters end up writing junk, because the client demanded uninformed changes. So, instead of a professional piece, the client gets something amateurish that they could have written themselves. The copy fails to work. The client ends up unhappy. The copywriter is never hired again.
  • Coaches and mentors end up delivering a poor quality service, because the allow misguided clients to dictate what happens. The client then ends up hearing what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear in order to succeed. It fails the client. And the provider is never hired again.

No, I’m not suggesting you argue with your clients. That’s a terrible idea and extremely unprofessional.

I am suggesting you need to guide your clients.

As a professional, it’s your job to help clients make the right decisions, so they get the very best results. That means providing the client with your informed, expert guidance. It means steering them away from mistakes. It means responding with advice and ideas, which lead to a successful project and a delighted client.

In short, your clients deserve your very best work. Agreeing with a client, when you know they are making damaging mistakes, doesn’t help them and it doesn’t help you. So give your clients your very best. That’s what they pay you for. That’s what they deserve.

And you cannot, on any level, afford to give them anything less.

How to make your marketing totally, utterly unmissable

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marketing blog

What do the following have in common?

  • The trailer for a movie, which is part of a franchise you really enjoy.
  • A radio interview with a musician, whose music you’ve always loved, talking about their new album.
  • A Facebook post from an author, whose books you collect, announcing their new title.
  • A newsletter from a brand you like and trust, announcing an exciting new product.

The answer is that they are all examples of marketing you value. Marketing you wouldn’t want to miss. Marketing that doesn’t even feel like marketing.

How to create unmissable marketing

So, what was it that made those marketing examples unmissable?

  1. You gave permission for the marketing message to reach you. You tuned into the TV station or radio channel. You liked them on Facebook. You subscribed to their newsletter.
  2. The product being marketed (movie, album or book etc.), is something you’re interested in.

Without your permission, the marketer is being a pest. No one wants to be pestered with unsolicited emails, off-target advertising or unrequested social networking messages.

Without your interest, the “offer” is just another annoying, time-wasting, badly targeted sales pitch.

Making your marketing unmissable

Firstly, make sure you only market to people who want what you’re offering.

Secondly, earn their permission.

How?

Here’s a strategy that works:

  1. Think about the brands you have given permission to contact you.
  2. Write them down.
  3. Next, ask yourself why you did it. Why did you subscribe to their YouTube channel, their newsletter or their blog? Why did you like them on Facebook or connect with them on Linkedin? Why did you ask them to send you their catalogue or email you their updates?
  4. Finally, see what you can learn from their strategy, which you can adapt, to earn the permission of your prospective customers.

It takes more effort to create unmissable marketing. However, it can massively improve your results.

The marketing mistake that’s probably losing you a fortune

by

marketing blog, steve jobs

How interested are you, regarding the challenges facing your prospective clients or customers? Your answer to that question is surprisingly important.

Why?

Because the most effective marketing, and strongest business relationships, are built on a foundation of empathy: The ability to understand (and share in) the feelings of another person.

Think about it for a moment.

  • The vendors you are most loyal to, are those you feel have a connection with you.
  • The vendors you tell your friends about, are those who go the extra mile for you.
  • The vendors you feel the closest connection to, are those who understand your needs.
  • And the vendors you appreciate the most, are those who genuinely appreciate you.

Conversely, the vendors you have no interest in are those who clearly don’t give a rat’s ass about you.

Despite this, most marketing lacks even the most basic empathy. It’s cold. Cold and focused on what the vendor wants. So we see a series of sales pitches, special offers and marketing gimmicks. It’s stripped of empathy, yet that human connection is the most valuable part.

Here’s the thing… business is all about people. And marketing is about how those people feel.

That’s because our feelings are what drive the decisions we make and the actions we take. Feelings are what cause people to hire you, buy from you, recommend you and remain a loyal customer. Without those feelings there’s no connection. And without that connection, you and your business lose.

You know that you care about your customers and the community you serve. So, don’t keep it a secret. Instead, make empathy a visible part of your marketing. Identify what matters to them and make your marketing them-focused.

Because when you do, it will radically improve the way they feel about you. And those feelings are what drive their decisions and actions.

How to delight your clients and build a world class reputation

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marketing help, marketing advice

Today, I’m going to explain how the world’s best service providers keep their clients happy, generate valuable referrals and build a great reputation.

It’s all about the difference between delivering what a client wants and delivering what a client needs.

Wants and needs

Think about some of the most powerful commercial logos. Apple, McDonald’s, Nike, Adidas, Facebook and Target, etc. All of these designs look super simple. A child could reproduce any of them in a few seconds.

Now, imagine for a moment what happens when a business owner hires a great designer to create their logo. The designer then gets back to the client with a powerful, extremely effective, yet simple design.

Because the client is not a design professional, they want MORE for their money. So, they demand…

  • More lines.
  • More colours.
  • More detail.
  • More complexity.

If the designer gives the client what the client wants, the client ends up with a confusing piece of junk.

If the designer gives the client what the client needs, the client ends up with an effective, professionally designed logo.

How to get this right

The best service providers use education, to help the client understand what the client needs.

When the service provider does this correctly:

  • The client ends up with what they want and what they need.
  • The service provider ends up with a happy client, who has a great piece of work. That’s the kind of client who provides valuable referrals and the kind of work, which helps you build an excellent reputation.

Your clients deserve your very best work. And so do you.

An incredibly easy way to turn time wasters into gold dust

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time wasters

How do you feel about people, who either ask you questions about your service or look around your products, then leave without buying?

Some business owners get angry. They perceive these people to be time wasters. In doing so, they miss out on a massively valuable opportunity. They leave a huge business asset on the table, untapped.

I’m referring to the feedback, which so-called time wasters can provide you with. Feedback, which can help you dramatically improve your marketing and sales results.

Allow me to explain.

You attract time wasters for a reason

If you’re attracting lots of the wrong type of enquiries, there’s a reason. It’s usually a sign that:

  • Your marketing message needs to be improved.
  • You are marketing to the wrong people.
  • Or both.

It’s extremely easy to learn which applies to your marketing, so long as you ask for feedback. Armed with this valuable information, you can then adapt and improve your marketing so you attract the right kind of enquiries.

Before they end the call or leave your premises, ask something like: What was it that prompted you to (visit or call) us today? This will give you some outstandingly valuable feedback to work with.

For example

  • If people often say they were looking for a low-priced whatever, (yet your prices are average or above average), you need to review your marketing message. Take a look and see if you are overstating how low your prices are.
  • If you are not overstating how low your prices are, then you could well be targeting your marketing message at people with too small a budget.

You get the idea.

The key is to get as much feedback as you can from those who fail to hire you or buy from you. It will help you improve your marketing message, improve your targeting and generate more business!

So, reframe how you think about time wasters. Speak with them. Listen. Learn from their feedback. Then, make the necessary improvements to your marketing. Don’t just assume that someone is a time waster and therefore of no value to your business. Their feedback could be commercial gold dust.

In fact, it usually is.

All the tools you need are here, for free

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marketing blogs, marketing help

You now have FREE access to every prospective customer on the planet. This means your potential to grow your business is literally limitless.

Think about it:

  • Social networks have given you free access to a global audience.
  • Podcasting has given you a free, global radio show.
  • YouTube has given you a free, global TV channel.
  • WordPress has given you a free magazine, plus free, global distribution.
  • Email has given you a free, global communication channel, which scales to infinity.

You have permission!

You don’t need permission from anyone. You don’t need a talent scout, publisher, radio executive, TV producer, magazine editor or anyone else, to pick you.

So, what’s stopping you? Find out. Fix it. Then watch your business thrive!