Door-to-door salespeople no longer exist.

Think about how we used to buy. A stranger could knock on your door, pitch you something, and many people would actually buy! Could you imagine?

A lot has changed in the past 40 years, sales being a major one. It’s really difficult to sell to someone as a stranger. That’s what social media is for! To make strangers into friends.

The phonebook has been dead for a while.

The phonebook doesn’t work anymore. It used to though! People would put an ad in there, change the phone number so they could track said ad and viola! You had an efficient marketing strategy that you could track! This is what I LOVE about the online world, it’s very trackable. We can measure a lot of what you do so over time you can get better and better.

So how do people buy these days? 

It’s complicated, but word-of-mouth is still the best at producing repeat customers over time. It’s realizing that what you sell isn’t necessarily needed. What you need to do is make a compelling case as to why your product or service is superior to the rest of the options out there. Better yet, get your customers to tell strangers why  your product or service is better.

That’s no small feat!

No one has to buy what you’re selling. 

I met with a flower shop owner the other day and had an amazing realization that I told this wonderful human. “No one NEEDS flowers.”. It’s a nice to have, nice to give, a luxury. No one needs luxuries, but we end up paying ridiculous amounts for them because the feeling we get when we do.

So how do we help people feel that feeling more often or regularly with your product? It starts with the story they tell themselves about your product or service. For the flowers, its a constant reminder of the beauty in life, that you can afford something nice, that makes other people happy as well.

What’s your because? People buy from us because_______!

Do you know why customers keep coming back to you again and again? Do you ask them regularly “why” they hired you? You may uncover some important information!

We often don’t know the actual reason behind someone’s purchase. And for a lot of business owners, they assume it’s something completely different than the actual reason. The only way to tell is by asking customers, why did they buy?

Toilet paper has innovated, have YOU?

When you’re thinking innovation is hard and you don’t need to you should check out the toilet paper aisle at your local grocery store soon. By chance, the latest purchase of toilet paper in our house unveiled a little surprise that has delighted our whole family. They have changed from the classic square to a wavy line.

Toilet paper was invented in 1857, since then we have witnessed very little innovation in the tiny square helping you with number 2. But low and behold, in 2024, toilet paper has reinvented itself. Now the question is HAVE YOU?

Don’t forget the fifth P in your marketing mix….Purpose!

If you want to give potential customers a reason to hire you, start looking at your purpose. Why do you do what you do? Who are you helping? What community organization are you partnering with? Remember, all things being equal, we want to support a company that cares about the community versus one that doesn’t.

Gone are the days when you could just run a money-making entity without some sort of community tie-in. I mean you can, but the same organization with a purpose behind it will grow much MUCH faster than just a business trying to make money.

People aren’t dumb. They see through your business model, and people don’t just want to help you make money.

There are only two types of business models, the cost leader and the differentiator.

When looking at how you’re going to compete with your competition, remember there are only two different business models. If you’re trying to be the cost leader (the cheapest in the marketing) it doesn’t leave you much room to differentiate. The best companies do something special, something magical, something worth talking about. When you delight a customer, they don’t look at the price, they just want to be involved with your brand.

We don’t negotiate with price terrorists.

Getting rid of the tire kickers early on in your sales cycle is a smart endeavour. There will always be cheap people and you don’t have to work with them. Around StratLab we always say we don’t negotiate with price terrorists. If you want a lower price go hire someone else.

What’s your word-of-mouth strategy? How will you get customers to talk about you?

Creating your own because is a fun task. You get to brainstorm, narrow down, and implement something fun that your customers (will hopefully) share with their friends and family. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it could be something as simple as a call or a follow-up text. The more repeatable, remarkable, and realistic it is, the better the odds that you will keep doing it.

Doing things like Big Idea Camp, the Honest Conference, and giving away lottery tickets doesn’t seem like a marketing tactic, but it sure works to get people talking about who you are and what you do.

Go create your “because”, before your competitors do!

***Hat tip to Chad Mercier for the idea of the “because”. During a meeting, he talked about a presentation he attended where the speaker talked about the importance of the “because”. Because without it, you don’t have a sustainable business model.