Watch the video below… right around the 4 minute mark is when Tony talks about the most genius marketing idea I’ve heard in a while.
We’re not trying to maximize that transaction, we’re trying to build a lifelong relationship with each of our customers, one call at a time
This is a big deal
The first time you hear this, it doesn’t seem that ground-breaking (or idk, maybe it does). But if you think about the implications, it changes the whole dynamic of what your customer means to you.
For most businesses, customers mean revenue, but they mean direct revenue. You spend money to market to a customer to ‘acquire’ them at which point they start paying you. From then on they are already accounted for, so most businesses don’t really feel the need to market to them anymore. Tony totally flips this idea around though and says that the customers you have are the most important people to market to, and the best part is, they will actually listen because you have their attention.
Paying for attention is expensive
I can’t believe I’ve never really thought of it this way before, but when you are marketing your product, you are basically looking to get the attention of potential customers, you are trying to get them to notice you and your offering and best case, you’re trying to get them to choose your offering. To get that initial attention is very expensive as it takes a lot of time, money and energy just to get someone to listen.
But what Tony says is, why not focus your money and marketing energy on someone who’s already listening. Someone who might even be taking the time and putting in the energy to contact you instead of you trying to contact them, ie your current customers.
It works b/c of modern communication
To add my own viewpoint into this a bit, I think this is an amazing concept. Spend your energy on the “customer experience” and make your product and service freakin amazing and then let your customers turn around and market for you. It’s way cheaper in the long run than trying to acquire ‘cold customers’ through more traditional marketing and I would argue that it is more effective in terms of spreading your brand positioning and general awareness — people just trust a message from someone they know way more than they trust a message delivered by a company. It seems Tony is saying our job is to communicate that message to our current customer base and then let them do the other half.
I think this works particularly well in today’s world of blogging, social, online reviews, etc. Everyone has something to say and everyone has a very easy method of publishing their feelings. If you do a great job for one customer after another, sooner or later, your internet presence is going to reflect that, and do so without active “forward facing” marketing.
Yep, we’re obv doing it
This whole concept is something we are taking very seriously over at the FreshySites HQ. Zac, Dan, Vince, Elizabeth, and I have discussed these ideas at length and are already working them into our daily routines. It’s only been a few weeks, but we’re already seeing the fruits of our labor – happier customers, more referrals, better workplace attitudes, better definition of our brand, the list goes on and on. Very excited to see where this takes us as a company, thanks Tony!
