I’ve been in business in some form or another since 2006. I was fired in 2008 and that is when things got real. I hired my first mentor in 2009 and ten months later I generated over $100k in revenue.
What was the difference between the zero to over $100k? It comes down to three core elements that really attract people to your tribe.
Flashy marketing – big promises – “blueprints” and “formulas” can be attractive, but I’m talking about the core things that your tribe can really connect to long term – not just for a short-term fad.
As I’ve noticed what creates the momentum and what creates the “ugh-are we here again?” moments, there are three core things that people want and when you forget about them, your sales and marketing spin around and around but never really get you anywhere.
Here are the three things you clients really want:
1. People want to be acknowledged – they want to be seen and heard.
Spending the past month with my niece “Baby A” since her and her mom have visited Utah and stayed at our house, I see how she just wants to be seen and heard. It’s really very simple. Listen to her – SEE her and she’s a happy girl. Guess what? We never grow out of that on some level. We just want to be acknowledged. And when we aren’t, we create drama (our version of the 2-year-old tantrum.)
Make your tribe feel important.
At my live events, when I train my team I tell them “Every attendee is greeted with a virtual hug. Every attendee leaves this event feeling important, seen and heard.” It’s our mission and people FEEL the difference so much so that they often comment on how much they love it.
This is also the reason I recently hired a Customer Service Manager whose main job is to acknowledge my clients and customers with cards, phone calls and outreach.
I send my premium clients a welcome gift and a birthday gift. One of my clients emailed me a thank-you for these things. She told me that I was the first coach who did this, yet she has invested in high-end programs with other people and this was the first time she was acknowledged in such a way.
How are you acknowledging your clients and customers? Put a system into place to make that happen and you will be amazed at how people feel. When your clients feel important, they will be more engaged and they’ll talk about that with others.
Acknowledging your existing clients and customers is a strong marketing strategy that does wonders for your clients – they love it, you get some good karma. It’s a perfect win/win.
Resource: I love using Send Out Cards for some of my acknowledgement systems for my clients and customers.
2. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
You are the vision holder of your business. You hold the vision and when you enroll people in that bigger vision, people are a part of something bigger than themselves.
When people are a part of something bigger – they have ownership of making a difference.
It was no accident that at EVERY job I had in corporate, I would sit down with my manager or the CEO of the company and ask them “What is your vision for this company?”
I saw the direct correlation of employee satisfaction to their connection with the company mission. If the company didn’t have a vision or they didn’t communicate it well to their employees, people showed up to receive a paycheck and went home. They didn’t care about what they were doing.
So give people something to believe in. Let them know your vision. Your clients want to be part of a common cause WITH you.
Hint: Do this with your team too! You’ll be amazed at how people show up.
3. Believe in people’s dreams.
One of the best pieces of marriage advice I received was to believe in each others dreams. That advice has gone way beyond my marriage.
Look around you. There is a lot of cynicism in the world. People give up on their dreams to do the “practical” or “responsible” thing all of the time.
With so many people complaining about their job or marriage or health… they have lost belief in what is possible. So they settle into the trap of mediocrity.
BE that voice of unreasonable inspiration. Be that crazy person who says yes to crazy ideas.
Think about it…
The Apple computer in bright bold colors was at first CRAZY and look at the innovation it has brought to the world. If Steve Jobs stopped believing in his dream, what would have happened?
Can you imagine the conversation when Jim Hensen was creating The Muppets?
Hmmm, let’s create fabric characters and animals and they will do skits with music and dancing.
Say what? Yeah, let’s create this huge BIRD that is tall as a one-story building who talks to kids and teaches them the ABCs and how to count.
Say what? Yeah, let’s create a naked frog and call him Kermit and he has an on-again, off-again love relationship with a pig and we’ll call her Miss Piggy (who is also a fashionista). Yeah, okay…
See what I mean? These phenomenal movements that forever change the way we see the world. They were crazy ideas at one point. But someone had a vision and enrolled others into that vision…the rest is history.
YOU have a contribution to give to the world. You have that crazy idea. And so do your clients and customers.
What if the MOST important thing you can do in your marketing is believe in people? And hear them? And really see them? See through their BS (bull-s#!t and Belief Systems)?
What if you put THAT energy into every sales conversation and every marketing strategy?
Hint: it’s the THING that permeates people’s focus so they pay attention to your message and offers.
“You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar
