The media is currently bombarding us with stories of ‘how bad the world economy is’ – the fact is, businesses with solid foundations that offer products & services that deliver real value to their customers will always have the potential to grow. As Seth Godin pointed out, “Inc. magazine reports that a huge percentage of [...]
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Could you be a sales copywriting magician?
From Copyblogger: Original post here Seven Tricks for Magical Copy by James Chartrand Magicians are skilled manipulators of perception. They can make people think something is moving when it isn’t or see things that aren’t there. Diverting attention this way and that, they can hide cards and rabbits or make objects appear from thing air. [...]
How to innovate from Logical Stupidity
I met Peter Greenwall for breakfast the first time, which was less than a week ago, after we connected on Facebook. It was an EOX! We chatted about ARTS & things that made ANSWER. EOX = Eye Opening eXperience ARTS = Any Rubbish That Sells ANSWER = Absolutely No Sense Whatso Ev R. Peter subscribes [...]
No user servicable parts inside
That’s what it says on countless electronic and mechanical devices. “Don’t touch this,” it says, “you’re way too dumb to open it… you’ll get hurt”
The problem, of course, is that pretty soon you start looking at the entire world that way. Whether it’s web design or Google analytics or backing up your hard drive or just talking to the guys in the plant about your new ideas, it’s really easy to see the world as a black box.
Here’s a simple secret of success: ignore the sticker.
Figure out how to use the tools that the most successful people in your field understand innately.
What’s the point of this interaction?
Every time you interact with a customer, you’re engaging in marketing. Doesn’t matter if you’re instituting a policy, gaining some data, delivering an invoice… it’s a marketing interaction.
So…
When you bother 100 customers to get useful data from 2, you just paid a marketing cost.
When you yell at a classroom full of kids because one kid misbehaved, that’s a marketing decision.
When you make 5,000 non-smugglers wait in a steaming customs hall at a resort destination, you may think you’re doing your job and collecting those little white forms, but what you’re really doing is marketing (negatively).
And…
When you bring a little candy (which wasn’t required) with the check (which was) you’re using the transaction as an opportunity to do positive marketing.
Here’s a little thought experiment that will show how your managers are misjudging these interactions: Go ask your front line people what they’re doing when they’re doing what they think is their jobs. Like when they’re ripping tickets or answering the phone or filling out a form with a customer. How many say, “I’m using this as an excuse to market to our best customers”?
Corporate Magician Blog
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