Customer Failure
There’s this new discipline called Customer Success. I take that is opposed to whatever everyone else does: look for ways the customer fails. Was there something called Customer Failure? As in, we the business will do everything we can to make you fail and don’t get a return on what you’re paying? That’d be a scam, right? It just seems a given. That you want your customer to succeed. Or is there something else?
The wrong numbers game
Seen on linkedin Seeing marketing through this lens is playing the spam game. That’s why sales and contacting new people feels manipulative and sleazy. Because it is. 50 → 10 → 5 → 2 Reach the numbers. The more you reach, the more response you’ll have. (Don’t have to be a genius to know that). Here’s the thing Marketing is not about how many people/businesses/accounts you can reach. It’s about how you can help and make your clients’ lives better *for them*. → How many you can reach: go on a…
Noise
Find your voice. Be contrarian. Be authentic. Getting all of these will make you stand out in your market. You’ll start “to print money”. Bullshit. First. You already have a voice. Just like a baby learning how to make their body and vocal chords to work, you have a voice. Second. A polemic won’t build you up into anything for the long term. Yeah, you might get viral. And gone with the next contrarian comment from someone else. Forgettable. Third. Be authentic. Because everyone else is a…
The opposite of self-conscious
Unaware of caring That can make you do things you think you’re not prepared for. To go and jump into the pool —and invent water on the way down. To ship and do. To care about your clients and how you could help them. To make a change that’ll improve their lives and businesses. Focusing on this will help you stand out. Just like a kid unaware of caring in the early 70’s. His name is Anthony Kiedis [TS 08:15].
What’s a personal brand?
It’s the belief of how one can control the way they want to be seen and perceived by others. Can you really control how to be seen and perceived by others? Unless you’re Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda or Luke Skywalker, it’s very unlikely. You might influence the perception, but can’t control. This false fixation on control will distract you from what’s important to you: serving the people you care for. And when you stop focusing on you, to focus on your customers, you stand out.
Let’s not screw up
In the avoidance of mistakes, where everyone fears screwing things up, there’s always the outlier who stands out. Rory Sutherland in his conversation with Blair Enns and Leah Power has this insight: “The more things you test, the more you discover.” Kinda obvious, but unseen. Most people choose to play safe. To fit in, to blend in. However… To stand out, you need to be bold. That outlier. The choice, is yours to make: To see everything as a threat and look for perfection. Or ship, in order…
How to see different
Ads are pretty much the same —most of the times, at most of the places. Be it Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, US, Germany, Netherlands, India or Sri Lanka. Different brands, different markets and ads look the same. They share the same perspective, the same sales pitch, quite similar concepts, same stories… heck, even same colors. How can they stand out if it all looks and feels the same? How can YOU stand out in a world of sameness? Being a vortex.
Vortex
Broad in interests and inputs, specific and specialized in the application. To stand out in a world of sameness, you need to feed yourself of a broad range of what’s going on around you and beyond. Creativity is the ability to see (opportunity). Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi And originality is a reflection of it (you can see more of this on The Originality Arc here, here and here). The more information and knowledge you have access to, the more chances to imagine and see different realities. Once…
How many people…
If you’re running a customer satisfaction or customer service-driven business, how many people with a background in hospitality have you had involved in it? Or how many of your people (or yourself if you run a solo biz) have been involved with hospitality? Here’s the thing. Seeing things through a hospitality lens shifts the way you think and act towards your customers. It goes Beyond customers, guests. What’s the minimum, going the extra mile. Thinking ahead of them, not to what they need,…
“You need a personal brand”
You’re a brand, you’re the product. Get all the bells and whistles of a brand (visuals, narratives, stories, etc.). Be “consistent” on your projected image. Put yourself out there. Make noise (so people will hear you). Always be pitching. Always be selling. The end goal? To get your clients to trust you. The approach? Showing your “personal brand” “This is me. These are my values. This is my personality” → Me, Me, Me. Here’s the thing Your clients don’t care. They care about themselves and…