What the new puppy has reminded me about marketing
Marketing is about training
We’ve just acquired a new puppy and are in the throes of house training, lead training, don’t-eat-that-it-will-make-you-so-sick training (amongst others). It takes a lot of work, and has really brought back to me how we are all in the process of training our clients and potential customers on an ongoing basis.
I know that about half of you will be rolling your eyes at that statement, thinking that the client group your business serves doesn’t need training – they are already educated purchasers, so pah!
If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re missing a trick here (and I don’t mean of the teaching them to sit variety).
Marketing is about education, right? Educating your clients in what you can offer them, and why they should come to you. Most people understand that, and most customers are at least a little bit educated about what you’re offering.
However, marketing is also about encouraging your clients to respond in the way you want them to, and that’s training, pure and simple.
When I want the puppy to sit, I can get him to sit by means of a treat. When you want your clients to buy, you can train them to respond to a specific signal (e.g. special offer, Mother’s Day package, tax year end specials, or a simple reminder that they are about to run out of whatever it is you provide them with).
So, get training those customers! …and if you want some practice first, there’s a puppy I wouldn’t mind some help with…
This week’s tip: remember you are training your customers
Always remember that you are training your customers. You are training them in:
> what to expect from you (customer service)
> what they can get from you (service/product offering)
> what they need to do to get your attention (ordering process)
> how you reward them when they do something right (customer bonuses)
and most importantly,
> whether or not they can trust you
If you don’t train them right, they won’t perform in the way you want them to - which is by coming back to you and referring other customers to you.
How do you know what sort of training your customers are receiving from you? Easy – take your customer’s purchase journey and see your business and its products or services through their eyes.
Remember – the keys to good training are to keep it interesting and to ensure that the reward is good enough, or the trainee (whether puppy or customer) won’t perform.
