Give – Don’t Sell

I’ve been reading several business books lately. Two of my favorites are “The Referral Engine”, by John Jantsch, and “Little Red Book of Selling” by Jeffrey Gitomer. The fascinating thing about both of these books is that they are as applicable to a sole proprietor as they are to a Fortune 100 company. While the titles would lead you to believe they are focused just on sales and growth, they both are pushing toward a new trend of creating value for your customers, even before a sale takes place. Gitomer’s mantra is “People don’t like to be sold to, but they love to buy”. Who do we choose to buy from? People (companies) that we like and trust.

It’s clear that our culture has shifted in the last decade. Facebook and other social media have allowed us to form and nurture relationships that were never before possible. People that used to seem one-dimensional to us (I know him as my dentist, she’s the waitress at our favorite restaurant, he works for our company as a shipping clerk) have become “whole people” once we befriend them and come to know them as family members and community volunteers. While we might not agree with all of their views, we gain respect for their passion.

Its only natural to assume that people will come to expect these same types of relationships with the companies they choose to buy from. What would your company look like if you shifted your emphasis away from direct selling to giving away free value? It’s a horrifying thought on the surface, but how would that change your business model? We’ve all experienced pushing a product or service upon a prospect and watching the negotiation begin. How different would that look if that same prospect came to us to see if we could help them?

My goal for this year is to give away a lot more free stuff; advice, counsel, service, etc. In return, I hope to gain credibility as a trusted expert on consumer empathy and innovation strategy. As a result, my hope is that the phone will ring more often, and I will have to make less uncomfortable sales calls. What does that look like for you? What can you “give away” in order to gain trust and credibility? How can you become the obvious choice when it is time for your customer to make a purchase? The day of shopping for the lowest price is waning. People want to buy from companies they identify with, like and trust. And that takes a whole new mindset.

Sometimes you DO get what you pay for

It’s a tough economy out there, and everyone is looking to make their dollar stretch farther than ever.  We’re delaying purchases, we’re going “without”, or we’re considering brands that we’ve not heard of before in hopes of finding satisfaction at a discounted price.  Economists say that our culture may be shifting our spending attitudes more dramatically than anytime since the Great Depression.

What are product or service providers supposed to do in these times?  I run Insight2, a consumer-focused innovation company located in the midwest (think IDEO without the name recognition).  For years we have prided ourselves on offering in-depth consumer understanding that can lead to breakthrough products and services.

In fact, several of our clients have used the big-name companies from the East or West Coast in the past, and have been delighted to get such high quality deliverables from us at much lower prices.  I’ll be honest, that was a great position to be in.

But things are changing again.  We’ve lost two jobs in the last month to research firms that bid (considerably) less than we did.  This is a new experience for us, and to be honest, I don’t like it at all.  My first instinct was that I have to cut our prices.  But before I did so, I did some investigation…  One of these jobs I lost to a very reputable, large firm (many times larger than mine).  I spent considerable time on their web-site and was amazed at their client base and the number of employees they have.  But for the life of me, I couldn’t see where they offer the type of services that we do at all.  While they have an incredible track record within their realm of expertise, they must be experiencing their own slowdown to be even bidding on jobs that we would do.  (Imagine a sports car company suddenly wanting to make riding lawn mowers because they both have steering wheels).  We’ve invested significant funds on camera and video editing equipment.  We’ve spent hundreds of hours interviewing people and have become quite proficient at surfacing needs (both spoken and unspoken).  When we wrap up a project, our clients can take our documentary quality video and use it for sales presentations, future research and as an ongoing reference of their customers.

But when business is slow, companies branch out to expand their offerings.  On the surface, anyone with a hand-held camera and a basic PC can do video editing right? And how hard can it be to film a person in their home answering basic questions?  Why pay more for a firm that specializes, when anyone can do it?

I had a chance to talk with one of these potential clients that chose another firm.  I honestly wanted to see how things went for them (and to see if we need to crash our prices to be competitive).  It turns out that my theories were right.  When the client showed up at the research firm, the researchers had their handy-cam and hand-held microphone in tow.  They weren’t sure how to use it, and got so flustered they had to cut the session short.  They ended up having to hire an outside video firm to come in at the last minute to take over for them.  Sure they saved a little money, but what did they end up with?

I’m thankful that we have formed the types of relationships with clients that will give us honest feedback (both good and bad).  I’m glad I didn’t slash our prices to do projects at a loss.  It’s very tough to take a long-term view when day to day money is tight, but as a business owner, it is critical to maintain the proper perspective.

Innovating the mundane

When was the last time you paid any attention to a flight attendant as they gave the “safety talk” while sitting on the runway?  With few exceptions (e.g. Southwest) the flight attendants are as bored as the passengers as they labor through their rigid scripts.  Not at New Zealand Air.  They have taken a wildly creative approach to this that few others would dare.  The Youtube video shown here has gotten nearly 5 million views since it went up earlier this year.  It just goes to show you, anything can be innovated, if you’re willing to take a bold new approach.

Pink Glove Dance – Love this video

In my opinion this video is the very essence of effective viral marketing.  This is a video that was put together to increase awareness of breast cancer.  It has caught on as a YouTube video and has gone far beyond its original purpose.  It features a hospital in Oregon, and makes a truly fantastic statement about the culture of the place.  It would have been far less effective, had they used less people.  Instead you will see everyone from surgeons to patients to janitors all joining in on the fun.  Hospitals aren’t typically thought of as fun places.  This goes a long way to changing your opinion about what a place could be.