Seth Godin's Blog, page 256

Treating best customers better

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the way you treat your best customers is a fork in the road. You either treat them better or worse than everyone else.

To launch my first book with Amazon and the Domino Project, we're trying a neat experiment that rewards our biggest fans.

We're going to set the launch price of the Kindle edition (which is also readable on any computer or iPad) based on the number of people who subscribe to our free newsletter. It started at $9.99 and we've already lowered it two dollars.

For every 5,000 people who sign up for the newsletter this week, we're going to lower the price of the ebook a dollar, until (we hope) we reach a dollar. On the 21st of February, all our subscribers will get a link to the URL that lets them pre-order the Kindle edition at a reduced price until the official publication date.

You get it first and you get it for less.

Details are here... Thanks for being a best customer.

[It's sort of a twist on Kickstarter. In the case of that site, the creator says, "if enough people put in some money, I'll be able to make something." In this case, I'm saying, "If enough people put in some attention, I'll be able to bring you something on a regular basis." Once again, attention is truly valuable.]

Familiarity breeds respect

It's nice to sign a letter, "sincerely yours," but far more powerful, I think, to sign it, "with respect." It says something compelling about the recipient, something earned.

I realized the other day that I'd been working with the trio of Megan, Corey and Gil at Squidoo for five years, since we founded the company. And that I've been with Anne, my trusted bookkeeper, for more than ten years, David at GTN for almost as long, and Lisa, my agent, for more than seventeen. In an amazing bit of time travel, I've been doing projects with my friend Red for more than thirty.

Over time, you don't just come to trust valued colleagues like these, they also earn respect. Once you understand someone's sensibilities and goals, it's natural to see the world through their eyes and to embrace their motives and tactics. Once you've seen their work under pressure and in quieter moments, you get a sense for what they believe in. In a world of quick projects and short engagements, this sort of relationship is priceless.

It's easier than ever to start relationships that can turn into ones like these. Just as hard as its ever been to make them last.

Evil plans, Enchantment and Orange County, California

Worth considering, three to pre-order:

Hugh MacLeod's new book is out this week. Once again, it will shatter your status quo. Possibly beyond repair.

Guy Kawaski's beautifully titled book Enchantment, which comes out in March, will help you think differently about persuasion.

And I'll be the guest of Linked Orange County on March 2 for a speech in the evening. Get early bird (half price) pricing for a few more days.

The danger of repeating signals

Kevin shares this great quote from the Count of Monte Cristo:

"I have been told," said the count, "that you do not always yourselves understand the signals you repeat."

"That is true, sir, and that is what I like best," said the man, smiling.

"Why do you like that best?"

"Because then I have no responsibility. I am a machine then, and nothing else, and so long as I work, nothing more is required of me."

Ethical placebos (stunning, but not actually surprising)

A recent study found that placebos work even if the patient is told by the doctor that the drug they're taking has no 'real' medicine in it.

Huh?

We've come to understand that the placebo effect is real. If we believe we're going to get better, perform better, make the sale, etc., it often occurs that we do. That's because the brain is the single best marketing agent when it comes to selling ourselves something. If we think we're going to get better, we're much more likely to actually get better.

So then why do clearly labeled placebos work?

Because of the process. The ritual. The steps we go through to remember to take them, to open the bottle, to get the water, to swallow. Over time, we don't remind ourselves so much about what's in the pill and remind ourselves a lot that we're taking significant action.

This is one reason Disney makes you wait on line for a ride even if the park is empty. Why a full restaurant is more fun than an empty one, even if you know the food is precisely the same.

Marketers ostensibly know this, but it seems as though most organizations still act as though they're selling pencils to accountants.

We're complicated. I hope that's okay with you, because like it or not, you're not going to make people simple.

What's the use case?

Visit an architect. On the first visit, right after shaking your hand, she unrolls plans for a house. "Here are some sketches..."

Wait. That's backward.

Sketches for what? How do you know if I want a house or an office building? How am I to judge these plans? Is it a mind reading exercise?

The most effective way to sell the execution of an idea is to describe the use case first. And before you can do that, you need to have both the trust of your client and enough information to figure out what would delight them.

Then, describe what a great solution would do. "If we could use 10,000 square feet of space to profitably service 100 customers an hour..." or "If we built a website that could convert x percent of ..." or "If we could blend a wine that would appeal to this type of diner..."

After the use case is agreed on, then feel free to share your sketches, brainstorms and mockups. At that point, the only question is, "does this execution support the use case we agreed on?"

Don't show me a project, a website, an ad buy or an essay without first telling me what it's supposed to do when it works properly. First, because I might not want that result. And second, how else am I supposed to judge if it's good or not without knowing what you're trying to do...

Too often, we're in such a hurry to show off what we'd like to build we forget to sell the notion of what we built it for.

You don't need more time

...you just need to decide.

Autarky is dead

Self sufficiency appears to be a worthy goal, but it's now impossible if you want to actually get anything done.

All our productivity, leverage and insight comes from being part of a community, not apart from it.

The goal, I think, is to figure out how to become more dependent, not less.

The new craftsmanship

There's always been a bright line around the craftsperson, someone who takes real care and produces work for the ages. Everyone else might be a hack, or a factory guy or a suit or a drone, but a craftsperson was someone we could respect.

A craftsman might be a blacksmith or a carpenter, a visual artist or even a dedicated teacher. Someone to look up to.

Perhaps we're entering a new age of craftsmanship, one where we can see craft in the way a new business is devised, a sale is made or a website is coded. A craftsperson might be particularly talented and connected in the way she deals with clients, or be able to meet deadlines with alacrity.

Just because it's not in a crafts fair doesn't mean it didn't demand craft.

How should you treat your best customers?

Here's what most businesses do with their best customers: They take the money.

The biggest fan of that Broadway show, the one who comes a lot and sits up front? She's paying three times what the person just three rows back paid.

That loyal Verizon customer, the one who hasn't traded in his phone and has a contract for six years running? He's generating far more profit than the guy who switches every time a contract expires and a better offer comes along.

Or consider the loyal customer of a local business. The business chooses to offer new customers a coupon for half off—but makes him pay full price...

If you define "best customer" as the customer who pays you the most, then I guess it's not surprising that the reflex instinct is to charge them more. After all, they're happy to pay.

But what if you define "best customer" as the person who brings you new customers through frequent referrals, and who sticks with you through thick and thin? That customer, I think, is worth far more than what she might pay you in any one transaction. In fact, if you think of that customer as your best marketer instead, it might change everything.