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• 3 Questions Your Business Must Answer
• Consumers claim frugality while spending more
• 82% will pay more to support small businesses
• Why customers subscribe to email lists
• The lead magnets SMBs say convert best
• This may be the best time to get new customers
• Wine and dine your clients virtually
• Monetize online events with Facebook
• Be careful when hiring for a 'cultural fit'
• Don’t keep your banker in the dark
• A 0.1 second faster website can boost conversions
• Much more...
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3 Questions Your Business Must Answer
Whether they know it or not, customers have these three
questions. Be sure to give the right answers.
by John Jantsch
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STRAIGHT TO THE point — here are the three questions:
1. Do you get
me?
2. Can I trust you?
3. Did you keep your promise?
Now, of
course, the tricky part is that no one actually comes out and asks you these
questions, but answering them, in often subtle ways, is the key to any
successful relationship — business or personal.
Think of these
questions as relationship stages.
Stages of a Relationship
Here’s the thing you must accept. The company that can more clearly
communicate that they understand what’s going on in the mind and heart of
the prospect wins.
Addressing a prospect’s problem upfront is a
little like doing a puzzle and it involves an evolving journey. Think about
the last time you wrestled with a thorny issue. Did you wake one morning
from your slumber and exclaim, “I’ve got it, problem solved.” I’m guessing
no.
Whether you were aware of it or not, you probably went through a
series of stages on your way to the ultimate solution.
By
understanding these stages, you can also acknowledge and address them in
your marketing messages and business processes. You can begin to understand
the job your marketing has to accomplish to guide a prospect to your brand
of solution.
The stages addressed in the questions above align with
our desire to attain more of these three little words in our lives —
clarity, confidence and control.
While most marketers jump straight
into why it is such a great idea to hire them or buy their product, most
prospects, still early on in their journey, may not even know the problem
they are trying to solve. They may know the symptoms they are experiencing
but have not diagnosed the “real” problem and certainly have not connected
solving it with what we sell.
Clarity – Do You Get Me?
The first stage is a clear understanding of what the problem is. I
mean, even if you never considered this, it probably makes sense.
You won’t go looking for a solution to a problem you don’t know you have or
certainly can’t yet articulate. You certainly won’t be motivated to seek out
a sales call, request a proposal or pay good money for the ability to solve
a problem that you can’t describe.
Ah, but once someone sheds light
on the real issue, helps you name your challenge, helps you get clear on
what something is costing you not to address, helps you know what you don’t
know, see what you don’t see — then your world view begins to change. You
see things in a light that allows you to take even baby steps towards
finding a solution.
Your company may cut trees down but the problem
your company solves is that you show up at the appointed time and clean up
the job site meticulously. The thought is that pretty much anyone with a
chain saw can cut a tree down (this is not true by the way), but no one will
promise to show up in that small window of time I have in the morning to let
someone into the yard to discuss my trees.
But you get that, so you
promise to solve that problem.
As marketers, our first job is to
communicate empathy with the problem, communicate that we know what the
problem is and that we understand why it exists. Do this and you’ll earn the
right to explain how to fix it.
Confidence – Can I Trust You?
With your problem defined and blind-spot removed now, you can start to
search for a solution, but we don’t yet possess the confidence to know what
the right path is. We begin to ask our friends, go online and search in all
the usual places, maybe try to find an example of someone who successfully
solved a similar issue.
As a marketer, this is where trust rules.
Once a prospect discovers that you do indeed get them and you’re the
only one talking about the problem that’s been rolling around in their head
for months, they’ll start to take a deeper look at two things: who you are
and what you offer.
This stage involves deeper dives into your
product and service pages and downloading your case studies, but it also
includes filling out your forms, visiting your social profiles, maybe even
Googling your business name.
Confidence is either won or lost in the
details. How fast your site loads, how intuitive your forms are to complete,
how well I get a sense of what you stand for when I read more about you.
None of these items alone is a deal-breaker, but collectively they tell
a story about what’s important to you, and that’s the mental checklist a
prospect is completing at this stage.
Do they believe, confidently
enough, that you can live up to the promise of solving their problems in
exchange for their hard-earned money?
Control – Did You Keep
Your Promise?
The final stage comes into view as a person is
fully into solving their problem with you. During this stage, they want a
sense of control.
Now, this doesn’t mean they want to control the
process; they simply want to feel as though it is going as expected, that
they see results, that communication is flowing in a way that allows them to
relax and trust the process.
This stage equates to a great customer
experience, a great plan of action and, ultimately, your customer’s ability
to understand the value of their investment.
So, did you keep your
promise? Did you surprise me? Did you exceed my expectations? All of these
help me feel like I’m in control.
And a sense of control is what
turns the tap for repeat business, customer evangelism and referrals.
The point in understanding these stages is to help you understand that
it’s not enough to simply have a great explanation of the problem you solve.
You must also intentionally address and guide a prospect through each of
these three stages.
Build a journey that addresses these three
questions and you’ll build a lasting relationship with your ideal customers.
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker and author of
Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine and the founder of
the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network. His latest book, The
Self-Reliant Entrepreneur: 366 Daily Meditations to Feed Your Soul and Grow
Your Business, is a daily reminder to entrepreneurs that a better you
makes a better business ( www.selfreliantentrepreneur.com).
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Consumers claim frugality while spending more
As people adjust their daily lives to big changes due to COVID-19, experts
say the new shopper is very different from last year’s model. Consumers are
at once more focused on buying choices yet more impulsive, and more frugal
while spending more, according to a new report from Valassis.
Overall, the research finds that 70% of consumers have increased saving
behaviors, with 76% of these individuals confident that their new practices
will continue over the next year. But, at the same time, they are also
spending more, with 45% saying they are expanding their budget using coupons
and discounts. More are scanning receipts with cell phones for points and
cash-back deals, for instance, including 51% of millennials and 43% of Gen Z
shoppers.
Valassis sampled 2,000 consumers in two surveys, with 61%
saying coupons and discounts encourage them to try new brands, and 54%
saying such offers lead to impulse purchases. And 60% believe receiving
offers speeds up purchase decisions.
But while consumers are
watching their budget, they are also looking for connection and experiences
to help deal with social distancing and remote work, leading to a rise in
impulse shopping. Currently, 35% call themselves impulse shoppers, up from
28% in 2019. And when they do splurge, 43% say it’s to “treat themselves.”
A business’s presence on social media is increasingly important as
people seek ways to feel connected to the outside world. In the study,
around one-third (35%) shared that they had made an impulse buy based on
something they saw on social media — a 5% increase from 2019.
Source: Mediapost.com, Aug. 3, 2020; Valassis Consumer Intel Report 2020
82% will pay more to support small businesses
Today’s customers are motivated to support local businesses in the wake of
COVID-19. A study by Red Egg Marketing reveals that 82% of shoppers will pay
more to support small businesses in their community.
According to
the survey, 54% say they shop locally because they find goods and services
of better quality. From there, 31% point toward having those products and
services easily accessible locally, while 15% go for the price. One in five
say they shop locally out of sheer habit.
Another purchasing decision
is based on the business’ charity and community work (12%). A key takeaway
here is there is a strong sense of community among today’s consumers. Not
only do they weigh the quality of products and service but also look at your
involvement in the community as well.
Source: Smallbiztrends.com, Aug. 4, 2020
Why customers subscribe to email lists
Email marketing is still alive and thriving. In HubSpot’s 2020 State of
Marketing Report, roughly 80% of marketers said their brand’s email
engagement had improved in the last year. Their researchers also discovered
that brands make an average of $42 for every dollar spent on email
advertising.
In that case, why do some businesses find it hard to
build their email list? To find out, HubSpot asked consumers why they join
or leave email lists.
According to respondents, 28% say they
subscribe to branded emails because they “want to be notified about sales,
promo codes or coupons from a company.” It’s not too surprising that
offering a deal came in first, but coming in at a close second place (25%)
was wanting to receive “a brand’s content (e.g., blogs, videos, graphics).”
Another 16% of those polled subscribe purely to get company-specific
announcements in their inbox.
So why do customers unsubscribe? The
most common reason was frequency. While 34% of those surveyed say they often
unsubscribe if they get more than one email per day, another 17% said that
more than once per week was too much.
Source: Hubspot.com, July 28, 2020
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The lead magnets SMBs say convert best
Sometimes you have to give something of value to get high quality leads. But
which “lead magnets” pull in the most conversions?
To answer this,
GetResponse surveyed 790 marketers, the majority of which were solopreneurs
or from small businesses. They found that the largest share of respondents
believe that video content (24.2%) is the type of lead magnet that has the
highest conversion rate. Close behind video is written content (22.8%),
followed by visual content (11.8%), providing a tool or access to something
(11.8%) and monetary value (10.5%).
However, when separating SMBs by
employee size, the results change. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees
said that video is best, while businesses with 50 or more employees chose
written content.
When it comes to video content, the majority of
respondents (73%) said they saw the highest conversion rates with short-form
content, like video clips, quick tutorials or video samples. Only 27% said
they saw better results with long-form video content, like webinars,
recordings or online conferences. For those that did choose long-form video
content, 7 in 10 picked webinars as having the highest conversion rate.
Regarding written content, most respondents (58.6%) said that short-form has
the highest conversion rate, with a preference for ebook samples, checklists
and newsletters.
Source: Marketingcharts.com, Aug. 14, 2020
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This may be the best time to get new customers. Consumers get stuck in the
habit of using the same brands and going to the same business over and over.
However, previous research shows that the likelihood of trying a new brand
is 2.5 times higher among people who have experienced a significant life
event compared to those who have not (21% vs. 8%, respectively). Right now,
COVID-19 is a life event that’s affecting everyone’s habits. The company
that a consumer frequents may not even be in businesses anymore or maybe
they don’t feel safe visiting the premises. You want to land on the right
side of this consumer fluctuation. This is your chance to shine. Give the
market what it needs and communicate that you’re there for them.
Source: www.warc.com
Wine and dine your clients virtually. For
example, to liven up video calls, Kristen Liggett, group account director at
Agency EA, an experiential marketing agency, is telling clients to expect a
delivery one hour before their meeting — but won’t say what. En route: a
bottle of rosé and assorted cheeses and snacks from a nearby gourmet market.
“Who doesn’t love a surprise?” says Liggett. “And it adds a layer of fun
rather than expectation.”
Source: www.inc.com
It’s crunch time,
your team is underperforming and everyone is stressed. Will you get better
results by coming down hard on your employees or by cheering them on and
trying to foster cooperation? Researchers at the University of Amsterdam
found that cheerleaders will generate better performance than despots.
That’s because mental fatigue and time pressure during stressful periods
make team members more apt to simply react to a leader’s mood rather than
think carefully about his or her message.
Source: www.harvardbusiness.com
Be open to trying something new. Embrace current changes and look
across industries and business types to generate creative ideas to survive —
and maybe even thrive — suggests Michael Mathias, CEO of Whereoware. “Maybe
‘back to school’ is your annual best-selling line, but you also sell Home
Essential products. Realize that you can’t put your eggs in the
back-to-school basket this year and double down on Home Essentials. Last
year, we strategized a B2B Black Friday marketing campaign for a client
(typically Black Friday is strictly a B2C shopping holiday) — and drove 170%
more revenue than the year prior. Get out of your box and stop following the
rules,” said Mathias.
Source: www.bizreport.com
Use Facebook to
monetize your online events. Facebook’s Paid Online Events service is
currently free and enables businesses to set up paid events or classes
online. The offering is self-contained: hosting, promotion, ticket sales and
payment processing are all provided. Marketers can create the event, promote
it to their organic followers or through Facebook ads and collect payment
through Facebook. Facebook says it won’t collect any potential fees “for at
least the next year.”
Source: www.techcrunch.com
Be careful when
hiring candidates who are a “cultural fit.” Hiring for cultural fit, when
done well, can boost retention and productivity. But most organizations do
it badly, explains Lauren Rivera, an associate professor of management and
organizations at Kellogg. Instead of looking for people who share the
company’s values, hiring managers look for people who share their own
background and interests. This can often lead to unintentional
discrimination or can prevent the company from gaining better-skilled
employees. Instead, figure out what your culture really is and make sure it
aligns with the firm’s mission. Next, have some sort of skills-based
screening for candidates. Only after determining if they’ve got the skills
you need should you bring the candidate in for an interview to make sure
they’re pleasant and respectful.
Source: insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu
Simply changing how you greet customers can make a big difference in
retail sales. Take, for example, the greeting. Marketing guru Bill Glazer got tired
of his retail salespeople saying, “Can I help you?” and getting, “No,
thanks, I’m just looking,” as a response. He asked his salespeople to start
saying, “Hello. What brings you into the store today?” This little change
dramatically affected the customer/salesperson dynamic, elicited much
lengthier responses and led to more productive interactions. What changes
can you make to your in-person or telephone greetings to engage and draw out
the prospect?
Source: www.sellingpower.com
Don’t keep your
banker in the dark if you’re having financial problems. Frank Williamson,
founder of Oaklyn Consulting, heard this suggestion from a banker: “If you
can describe what the problem is, and ideally estimate how long it will
last, that’s good. Your bank can defer payments or go interest-only if they
believe that you have your arms around the issues and are creditworthy.”
It’s important to communicate to your banker and investors that you have a
handle on the issues facing your company — but that you need their support.
Make any tough-but-necessary decisions without unnecessary deliberation, and
make sure to explain your context and your reasoning to your business
partners so that they’re in the loop.
Source: www.cfo.com
Tiny
website speed improvements have a big impact on conversions — especially on
mobile devices. Not only is page speed an important Google ranking factor,
but a new analysis from Deloitte shows that a 0.1 second speed boost
resulted in conversion increases of 8.4% and average order value increases
of 9.2% on retail sites, and bounce rate improvement of 8.3% on lead
generating web pages. Deloitte observed that for retail sites, it’s more
important to focus on the speed of product pages vs. the homepage.
Source: www.searchengineland.com
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Business Intelligence Report
(ISSN 1091-9597)
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