relevance
546 posts
Offers Vs. Offerings
Every July, (winter here in Australia, maybe summer where you are) and six months out from Christmas the big chain stores have an all caps ‘TOY SALE’. The toys are unremarkable, and they are marketed in an unremarkable, 20% off, when they’re gone they’re gone kind of way. The lesson is don’t miss ou
Return On Relevance
Have you noticed how you react lately to unsolicited email or a cold call? Our interruption tolerance threshold is decreasing at a rapid rate and businesses and advertisers know it. In Australia we even have a do not knock register. Are people demanding one where you live? The people you want to spe
Closing The Sale
It was a mid-week afternoon and the jewellery store was empty. Three assistants, and one customer shopping for a ring. A selection of diamonds was presented. The assistant talked about size and shape, colour and clarity, and a twelve week wait when she couldn’t find a ring to fit. The customer made
The Purpose Of Data
You know things about how people interact with your business or brand that you couldn’t possibly have known just a decade ago. You know how many people visited your website, from what country last night (or even right this second!). You know who sent them, how long they stayed and what held their at
Is It Time To Stop Advertising?
Last week I passed a moving kid at the side of the road, where cars sped by at 80km per hour. He was wearing a red sandwich board that screamed, “BUY ONE GET ONE FREE,” and had clearly been given instructions to dance about to attract more attention. I was 200 metres past him when…
10 Things That Work Better Than SEO In The Connection Economy
A decade ago if you owned the URL wineseller.com and stuffed your website full of keywords you’d won. You can’t earn loyalty in a category today simply by gaming Google because your customers are searching for relevance not just keywords. Ten things to think about beyond SEO. 1. Build a brand not ju
Sales Is…..
sales noun 1. The exchange of a commodity for money; the action of selling something. 2. A quantity or amount sold. Actually sales is understanding how your customer wants to feel, not what she wants to buy and doing everything you can to get her there. Image by Ed Yourdon.
Winning In The Story Economy
Back to my hair salon. Sally shows up on time. She gets through two colours and three trims buy lunch, then waits impatiently for the hands on the clock to turn the next four hours until closing. Carmel makes five minutes to chat to the pensioner who took two buses to get there. She remembers…
One Trick Pony
In the 1800’s small travelling circuses without big headline acts or a menagerie of exotic animals were known as dog and pony shows. The very average acts on the programme were derided as ‘one trick ponies’. When I was growing up conventional wisdom said that you must strive never to be a ‘one trick
Building A Brand Versus Selling A Commodity
Ideas spread, products become irreplaceable, and businesses grow when they stop being mere commodities and have meaning attached to them. It’s not possible to be a brand and a commodity all at once. Customers don’t demonstrate loyalty to commodities but they can fall in love with a brand. PRODUCT-ME
Perfect
When a Ryanair flight touches down on time a fanfare sounds over the public address system to celebrate the fact. Flights that arrive on time might be cause for celebration for the airline, but that’s no longer enough to delight most passengers. Just twenty years ago when you made an expensive long
Different, Because
We are different because ———————. We are the only one that does ———————. How are you different and why does that matter to your customers? Image by Evive.
There’s Only One Way To Get A Different Outcome
We should have known as soon as we walked in. The place was empty, not a soul in sight apart from two lone waiters who pounced. Every other breakfast place in the city was teeming with life and overflowing with plates of over easy eggs. This place was dead. We stayed because we didn’t have…
More Than Words
The school public speaking competition was in full swing. One after another the young and accomplished speakers stepped up to the lectern. Their opinions, convincing arguments and confidence just blew us away. The evening was drawing to a close and the audience began to fidget as the second last spe
What Your Clients Need Now
They need you to ask the right questions, not to have all the answers. They need your generosity, not jargon. They need the truth. They need what works for them, not what makes you look good. They need faith in you and your intention. They need to be empowered more than they need to be…
Who Is It For?
They’ve put a beautiful Christmas tree in the foyer of our local leisure centre. It stands almost three metres tall, complete with the usual baubles and wrapped presents underneath. The tree would be perfect if it wasn’t for the temporary barrier that surrounds it on four sides, (you know the kind,
Crafting Your Intention
I met a really passionate financial planner recently who was a bit stuck about how to craft a 30 second pitch to deliver to the people he met at networking events. The problem was that while he was agonising over finding the right words he lost the ability to communicate his intention. If you have…
The Hard Part
The hard part of becoming a personal trainer isn’t learning which muscle does what. There are plenty of study guides and anatomy books to help an aspiring trainer to get a Certificate IV in Fitness. No, the hard part is the art of telling a story that people you hope will sign up for your…
6 Questions Every Startup Should Ask
1. What problem are we solving? 2. What need are we fulfilling? 3. Who are we solving the problem for? 4. How are we least like the competition? 5. How do we tell that story? 6. Why this, why us and why now? What questions have you asked yourself? Image by dasmart.
What The Cold Caller Forgot
He forgot to think about you and not just him. He forgot you were busy. He forgot to work hard to add value and build an asset over time. He forgot to give before trying to take. He forgot that you don’t care about his emergency. He forgot that he can’t buy your permission. He…
