Steve is a performance coach. So of course before he left his employers to set up his own business he prepared diligently.
One of his preparations was to find the most successful businesses to model his marketing on. He studied the Top Ten performers in the Fortune 500 (why aim lower?) and easily came to the conclusion, “I need to be seen by as many people as possible.”
Accordingly, he had a thousand posters printed that said Steve Gibson: Performance Coach and pasted them up in all the highest-traffic areas of town. He bought radio ads and made plans for TV when the budget improved. He spent his free $75 Adwords voucher and another $300.
His total new clients? Two.
*sad trombone*
So THAT didn’t work.
Steve, always adaptable, tried a new tactic.
A number of clients had followed Steve over from his employers to the new business, and he asked if he could interview them. He asked, “What do you like most about our work together?” and “Why would you recommend me to others?”
“I love the way you discuss the mechanics of what I’m doing and the underlying science of it!” said one. “I love understanding the process, not just improving it.”
“You don’t patronise me and you always explain.”
“I feel like I’m part of the work, and it’s not just happening to me.”
Steve put this all together and then asked one follow-up question to his clients: “So you really enjoy the way I demystify the work and put you in charge of it?”
The response was an overwhelming YES. (And one, “Also, you’re cute.”)
Steve thought about this for a long time. The number of people who decide they want a performance coach AND enjoy taking most of the responsibility for their work is… small. Of the ten thousand people passing his posters maybe a hundred would fit that profile. (Maybe less!) Steve thought ruefully, “And all hundred of them are probably jogging past with their iPod on and not looking at the posters anyway.”
So what now, Steve?
One of Steve’s mantras: When conditions are crap, change the playing field.
Steve got some shirts printed that said, “You know you can do better.” on the front and “Steve: your secret super-power” on the back. He started wearing them to chess tournaments, triathalons and competitive sports of all kinds.
Those shirts started up some interesting conversations. They also lead to ten new clients in the first month.
High five, Steve!
Steve isn’t Pepsi. And neither are you.
Pepsi is in dire straights if only 100,000 people buy their product, so Pepsi wants to be in the mind of the entire world. To achieve this goal they use mass-broadcast multimedia advertising; it’s expensive, wasteful, and not very effective. (It only works at all because the numbers are so large.)
We know this, but we don’t always know the alternatives. Steve is an adaptable and creative guy and was able to think up a clever way to redefine his audience and how to reach them. (He’s rare: you and I both know business owners that have refused to change what isn’t working, and watched their businesses go slowly bankrupt.)
You can do something Pepsi can’t.
Pepsi (and every other mega-brand) needs so many customers to stay afloat that they have to be generic and impersonal. (They do use targeted branding, but “geeky students” is still a very large group.)
Big companies find it almost impossible to do one magnificently effective thing that you can do easily: making their customers feel special.
If like Steve you say, “I’m only looking for clients who want to understand the process, and take responsibility for their own growth”, how appreciated and delighted and welcomed will your clients feel if they’re one of those people? Everyone wants to be celebrated for who they are. If you can provide that experience, your clients will praise you to the skies and love everything you offer them.
This would not have worked if Steve hadn’t gotten very specific about who he wanted to attract. No-one feels particularly excited about being part of a huge group. (Which is why demographics suck.) You have to make your definition of Bestest People tight enough that it feels meaningful to the people who are in it.
If you’re thinking, “That sounds great. But how do I DO it?” Goddamn Radiant is here to help.
photo credit:
