Relational, Not Relationship

In a conversation with a collegue in the graphics industry I claimed that all buyers act in either transactional or relational mode when purchasing anything.

He said "I don't. I don't drive across town to save a few cents, and I certainly don't have a relationship with any place that I shop."

Relationship? No, you probably don't. Relational does not equal relationship. But, if you choose to shop somewhere for reasons other than price, you're operating in relational mode.

Perhaps you choose a grocery store for it's produce. You don't read the paper for the specials before you shop. You don't bring "cents off" coupons to the store. You don't even have one of their affinity cards which, at check-out, they'll swipe through the till to "save you $6.23 this trip." You are there because you like their produce department. You're acting relationally.

Perhaps you don't know the store manager's name. You've never seen pictures of the cashier's kids. You don't even know whether the produce manager is married. You don't have relationships with these people. You shop at their store in a relational mode.

Do you buy your gas at the station on the corner because it's convenient? You're shopping relationally. Do you choose a dentist because he concentrates on elimination of pain? You're shopping relationally. If you watch Good Morning America instead of the Today show because you like Diane Sawyer better than Katie Couric, you're shopping relationally. (What? You don't think that investment of your time has a cost?)

You can shop relationally without ever maintaining a relationship.

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Have you ever been told something new that rings true with every fiber of your being? Wizard of Ads partner Steve Clark had that effect on me within the first hour of his New School Selling workshop.

Our society has changed, and people's reaction to salespeople has changed with it. The old "closing techniques" don't work any more... at least, not as they once did. Steve demonstrates why they never will again, what does work, and even addresses such issues as the conflict between doing what's best for the client and maximizing revenue for your company.

As someone who's been directly involved in sales and sales management for the last two decades, I can tell you that I've never been so impressed with any sales training system, and I've been through quite a number of them.

The next class at Wizard Academy is May 19-20. You can sign up for it here. And if you make your living selling, you probably should.

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Fearing Customers

When I was 16 and my cousin Kelly was 15, we were both enthusiastic about becoming scuba divers. (Interestingly enough, we both did about six years later). However, my story takes place in 1969 when Kelly found an ad in the back of a magazine for "military surplus wet suits... only twenty-five dollars." Wow. Twenty five bucks, huh? Kelly sent 'em a Postal Money Order and waited.

Three weeks later some kind of loose fitting plastic "suit" arrived, looking straight out of a contagious germ lab. Not sure what it was, but a wet suit it wasn't. Kelly tried calling the vendor, but never got anyone to answer the phone. He wrote a total of three letters, first asking for the correct merchandise, and later asking for a refund. He got nowhere, and finally gave up. It became a lesson for him, and frankly for me as well, to be very skeptical when purchasing anything.

I suspect that most people have had a similar experience. People worry about buying from businesses with whom they don't have a relationship. Think about it from your potential customer's perspective. Every purchase decision carries a risk that it might be the wrong decision. Will your product or service perform as promised?

Without a guarantee the customer assumes all of the risk. And when that's the case, it's likely that she's going to pass on the opportunity to do business with you, no matter how much she truly wishes to buy.

However, when the business makes an unconditional satisfaction guarantee, the business takes over the worry and the risk. That makes it so much easier for any prospective customer to buy.

Of course, it's obvious why more businesses won't offer a guarantee - unconditional or not. They fear that too many people will demand satisfaction. They fear that truly satisfying a customer costs too much.

Ouch. Fearing your own customers. What a terrible perspective from which to try to attract new business.

Let's look at the big mail order companies for a minute. Pick up any catalog from Sharper Image, Land's End, Victoria's Secret, LL Bean, or Damark. Check out the web sites of Gateway Computers, the Casual Male, or Sears. They all know that buying something long-distance, from someone the customer has never met, can be scarey. These companies wouldn't be as profitable as they are without those guarantees. Humm. If they are profitable BECAUSE of that guarantee, what do they know that you don't?

Perhaps it's as simple as believing in their products and their customer service.

If a customer contacted you right now and said "I'm dissatisfied," would you tell her that all sales are final? Or would you try to exchange, repair, replace, or even refund? How often does that happen? If you worry that advertising your willingness to make sure your customer is happy might open floodgates of dissatisfied customers, you probably shouldn't be advertising at all. You should be fixing your company. (C'mon... are there really unhappy customers who haven't thought of complaining? Trust me, you don't have to worry about giving them the idea).

Most companies accept that it's in their best interest to satisfy each customer. Make this a focal point of your advertising. To the extent that you have the courage to aggressively tell the world, you'll enjoy a competitive advantage over your competitors who continue to fear their own customers.

Let me tell you a related story from Wizard of Ads^® partner Michael Keessee. One of Michael's clients, a service business, (hairdresser in this case) offered unlimited access to their services for a monthly flat fee. The first reactions from the individual beauticians was along the lines of "What? Are you crazy? Let a customer be able to come in here for all of the expensive coloring, and cutting, and treatments for only one fee? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Michael's client implemented the new pricing, and immediately signed up thirty new customers. Only one of the new customers has "taken advantage" of the client. She's come in about four times a month. Ten of the new customers don't come in at all some months. The other nineteen have showed up pretty much as walk-in customers would have. From a strictly numbers viewpoint, 3% are marginally profitable, 64% are of average profitability, and 33% are exceptionally profitable!

Six months into this experiment Michael's client is scouting for additional locations.

Would you take on thirty new customers, if you thought that one of them might be marginally profitable?

Offer that unconditional guarantee. You'll get the new customers.

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Senior Wizard Roy H. Williams is teaching his Ad Writing 101 class at the Wizard Academy in two weeks.

This class is incredibly valuable to business owners who are getting more involved in the marketing of their businesses. Roy starts with finding the right idea, and ends with writing to keep clients sold. I recommend this class highly.

Contact Corrine@WizardofAds.com to find out how to attend.

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Hippocrates Golf Lesson

As an advertising practitioner, I see a lot of crap masquerading as well-thought-out marketing. I'm reminded of Hippocrates instruction: "First, do no harm."*

Every day we all see advertising campaigns that harm the advertiser's image, damage his credibility, and even convince shoppers to avoid his products or services. When I think of the number of copywriters, copy chiefs, creative directors, account executives, and even clients themeslves who've added their initials to these ads as they gathered approval along the chain of command, I'm amazed.

First, do no harm.

This should be required of everyone in my profession.

I also realize that the client is going to have the final say, and that sometimes our clients are determined to do exactly what we advise them against.

What do we do when faced with a client who's going to do things his way? Do we cut loose and protect our own reputations by refusing to be associated with ineffective, weak, or even harmful advertising? Or, do we stay and try to keep the impending damage to a minimum?

I compare this dilemma to a golf lesson. If the instructor recommends a five iron, and the pupil insists on using a wood, does the instructor tell the student "Do it my way or I'm walking?" Or, does he say "If you insist on using that wood, remember to get your stance solid, keep your left arm stiff, keep your head down, keep your eye on the ball, and remember to follow through?"

I faced that exact situation this week. My client owns an Italian restaurant. His service is amazing, and his food is prepared fresh, from scratch, daily. These are strong advantages on which to build a campaign. He, however, insists that we must tell people all of the items on his menu.

I'm trying to make his restaurant stand out from all of the other eateries in town, and my client wants to tell people that at HIS Italian restaurant they serve lasagna, spaghetti, pasta prima vera, and fettucini Alfredo.

I have never known consumers to be fascinated with a long list of products.

In my heart of hearts, I don't believe the ads he's demanding are going to get the results he's expecting. He may see an increase in business, but I don't believe he'll be getting the maximum impact from his advertising investment.

I like the guy. I want him to do well. I know that I can make him better ads than he can do for himself, even when they're largely lists of dishes from the menu.

But if he already knows exactly what his ads should "sound like," he really doesn't need me.

I just hope he remembers to get his stance solid, keep his left arm stiff, keep his head down, keep his eye on the ball, and he remembers to follow through. *

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"First, Do No Harm" Is Not in the Hippocratic Oath. You'll find that Wizard of Ads ® partners are quite particular about is accurately sourcing the information we pass along. When I started to write this article, I believed that "first, do no harm" was from the Oath of Hippocrates. I was surprised to find that the oath never contained those words.

It appears that Hippocrates did originate the phrase, but in another of his writings: "Epidemics." In book two, section eleven, a translation from the original Greek reads Declare the past, diagnose the present, foretell the future; practice these acts. As to diseases, make a habit of two things—to help, or at least to do no harm."

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