value
679 posts
The Story Creates The Customer
Have you ever noticed what happens at the organic cafe? As the customer places an order he asks what’s in it. This happens almost every single time. The experience, our posture and products—the story, create the customer. When we encourage people to believe something matters, we attract the kind of
How To Tell The Story Of Your Products
Why is real estate copywriting so terrible? Maybe it’s not that bad in your town or city, but wherever I have lived the copy seems to serve one purpose—to fill the space between the images and the floor plan in the brochure. Here are a couple of examples of copy written to sell million dollar…
Your Brand Story Is More Than What You Say
It’s a chilly autumn morning and the waitress in the cafe down the street is folding blankets to put over the chairs outside just in case customers are feeling the cold. The local doctor who is half way through her busy surgery, comes out to the waiting room and invites Adam into her consulting room
The Value Of What We Don’t Know
Six years. That’s how long it took IKEA to research the South Korean culture before they were ready to open the first store there. Six years of understanding what they didn’t know about the story Korean customers lived and wanted to believe—so that they could tell a story that resonated. The goal wa
Before And After
Before any business is done you and your potential customer each have a story playing in your head. There is the worldview you each have before the transaction takes place and the outcome you hope will eventuate afterwards. The outcome that you want and the one that the customer is hoping for may be
What We Value And Reward Defines Us
Brian has a tough gig. He works at a call centre for an Internet service provider. You can probably imagine what his day looks like. When we spoke I could hear background noise that sounded like hundreds of other people in a tiny space doing exactly what Brian was trying to do—close the sale. Brian…
The Myth Of The Captive Audience
Maybe you read the recent article on Entrepreneur.com about digital advertising trends that included the following passage? “Mobile video viewers are what you might call a “captive” audience. When TV commercials begin, people look down at their phones. On the bus or subway, people focus on their dig
If We Build It Will They Come?
This is precisely the wrong question to start any project with. A better way to begin is by asking: Who wants us to build it and why will they come? *This photo of Walt Disney showing the Disneyland plans to Orange County officials was taken in Dec 1954.* Walt knew where to start. Image from…
A Lesson In Unlocking Value
When you book a room at the Hilton or the Hyatt you either have a pleasant conversation with someone in a call centre who you will never hear from again, or you get a polite, well-crafted email in your inbox. Your expectation about the experience is based on the photos from the website and the…
What’s Your Customer’s Why?
It’s true that people buy from companies they like. We feel an affinity with some brands and not others and our purchasing decisions reinforce our values. The Internet has given rise to a new kind of savvy, connected customer. She seeks out purpose driven brands whose ideals resonate with hers. Whil
A Category Of One
The sign was in the perfect spot—right next to the traffic lights at a notoriously slow moving T-junction, to maximise the number of people who would see it. The message was clear: “NEED A WEBSITE? 04040404040” What’s also clear is that the people who call are not likely to be the customers that the
What’s Your Email Marketing Strategy?
Digital is fast and cheap. Now we can save a dollar or two on stamps that are no longer needed, plus the time and energy spent licking them and stuffing envelopes. We don’t even need to walk to the post box to mail our messages. Because it’s easy to reach anyone with an email address…
We Don’t Buy Things
Once upon a time and not so long ago, almonds were a fatty, to-be-avoided snack. Today they are a protein-rich superfood. Almond sales in the US have increased 220% since 2005. When, and how exactly did almonds change? Of course almonds haven’t changed at all, what has changed is what we believe abo
Customer Service Vs. Customer Empowerment
In a world of abundant choices the work of our businesses has to go beyond ‘helpful acts’ and minimum requirements. Understanding the distinction is our new advantage. Customer service vs. customer empowerment is the difference between…. Delivering what’s expected and going the extra mile. Profits f
Why People Buy And Why You Need To Know
We spend a great deal of our time and energy trying to convince people to choose us—often without giving enough consideration to why they might. It turns out that there are only three reasons people buy anything and every product or service falls somewhere on this buying hierarchy. 1. Utility If you
When Did Marketing Become About Telling?
In the village marketing was always about showing. Quality was demonstrated and trust was earned. As we outgrew the village and our small circles of trust and influence marketing became about telling. Loyalty was bought and exposure was paid for. But our digital connectedness is taking us back. Back
We Don’t Need Better Marketing
When I was growing up in Dublin home baking was the norm. Most families couldn’t afford the luxury of expensive, shop bought cakes, so ironically something like a mass-produced Mr Kipling’s French Fancy was seen as a decadent treat—the kind that was rolled out on a doily when you were having a speci
Thinking About Your Advantages
Every traditional car dealer sells a similar product. What can one Ford dealer do that his competitors in the next suburb can’t? There is very little he has a monopoly on. John is a car dealer who has been operating in Perth for 45 years, he periodically takes out a double page spread in the…
How Value Is Created
Value is created at the intersection of the customer’s worldview and your understanding of how your product meets that. If that’s hard to get your head around think about plugging a real world example into the model. Customer’s Worldview: Branded razors are expensive. The quality doesn’t reflect the
The Myth Of Differentiation
If we did a blind taste test on Starbucks coffee would the result tell us that Starbucks sells the best coffee in the world? Probably not, but the facts don’t stop Starbucks succeeding. In theory differentiation is the way we create a tangible advantage. A method for giving people something to measu
