Creating monogamous customers
May 24, 2008
Guy walks into a bar. He goes up to a girl, makes some small talk and goes for the “sale” … Slap!
Guy walks up to another girl… Slap!
Again… Slap!
Slap!
Slap!
Slap!
Bingo! We have a taker. It only took 20 tries, but sore face and all a “sale” was made. It was a fantastic 5% closing rate. This guy should be in sales.
Guy never talks the the girl again. Next night, new place …. Slap!
Do you get the idea? This isn’t a poorly told dirty joke. This is your sales process. I call it “one night stand marketing.”
Now contrast that with guy #2. He walks up to a girl and says “those pants look great on you, Macy’s has nice cuts like that, but in some really wild colors, you should check em out.”
“I will” she says. “Whats your name…?”
“I’m Roger” he replies. “Can I take you out for coffee some time?”
Do you see where this is going? He is building up familiarity and creating a relationship. Pretty soon he is going to be spending lots of time with this girl and making lot’s of “sales.” That’s the power of relationship marketing. When you ask for the sale too soon, you end up getting slapped. If you have a sales force of direct sellers, you can make their lives alot easier by engaging in relationship marketing. Build trust by offering your customers something of value and deliver benefits. When it’s time to ask for the sale, they will be very likely to respond in a positive way.
I call this creating monogamous customers. These are people that you can sell to over and over again. They like you. They trust you. And they are the key to doubling or tripling your profits. Monogamous customers are educated about your services and require less customer support. They require very little in additional marketing. And they can become mavens that help you promote your business.
Using all of the communication tools available in web 2.0, you can start making real connections with your customers by answering their questions and giving them immediate benefits to forge lasting relationships.
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