Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Curiosity Catches the Customer

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Curiosity generates attention and action. Want to generate interest and motivate prospects to take action? Awaken their curiosity!

Direct mail marketers use curiosity to get you to open the envelope and read the sales pitch. A tantalizing statement on the outside of the envelope makes you want to know what is inside. Great marketers take it further. The direct mail packages for books published by Boardroom Publications offer exciting news and benefits, with the page numbers where you can learn the details. Of course, to get to those pages, you have to first order the book from them. They get lots of orders from people who want to look up the information they were teased with in the ad.

Get customers itching to know more by engaging them in these ways:

Make an outrageous statement that causes them to wonder about who you are and why you think that way.

Start a story that makes them want to know more. One of the most famous headlines in advertising is, “They laughed when I sat down at the piano but when I started to play! –” John Caples wrote that headline more than 75 years ago for a mail order piano course. The ad was amazingly successful, and has been copied by marketers selling a wide range of products and services. A recent radio ad for a language course started out, “They laughed when I said I would order in French . . .” The speaker then goes on to confidently speak in French.

Ask a provocative question that makes them think. A question on the cover of a brochure or outside of an envelope can get readers to keep reading.

Use pictures. Photographs attract the eye and capture attention. Using photographs in advertisements increase interest. Want readers to click on a link in an email or on your Web site? Add a picture, perhaps with a caption such as, “What are these people doing?” That simple action will multiply your click through rate.

Offer a puzzle or a riddle. Customers will want to know the answer.

Test readers with quizzes. Magazines know that quizzes are irresistible. Humans love to take quizzes, whether about trivia or to learn something about themselves, such as “What kind of mate are you?”

Be random. Flickr.com allows you to browse a random assortment of recently-submitted photos. When you see a photo that catches your interest, you can click on a link to see other photos by the same person. Displaying random images, quotes, or other information can get Web visitors clicking and keep them exploring your site.

Tantalize them with a chance to get something free, learn something new, or get something more.

Leave them wanting more, but with a call to action. Tell them how they can satisfy their curiosity by scheduling a consultation, reading your book, visiting your web site, coming to your workshop, or whatever it is you want them to do. Then, deliver what you promised.

Use your customers’ natural curiosity to draw them to you. 

Giving to Receive

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We all know the expression, “It is better to give than to receive.” Turns out, giving is also smart marketing.

According to Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., author of “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” human beings are conditioned to reciprocate when someone does something for them. This is a good thing overall for society, and it applies even when the gift or favor is unsolicited. In fact, we are conditioned to accept the gift (even if it is not wanted) and then to repay the person who gave it to us.

This trait can be exploited by the unethical, who will set up situations where they are “giving” with the intent of creating a feeling of obligation on the part of the receiver. However, it can be used by ethical marketers to establish relationships with new customers.

Have you ever bought a product after receiving a free sample? The sample gave you the opportunity to try something new, but it also stirred a need to reciprocate-even if you were not consciously aware of it. This is especially true if you received the sample directly from a person, such as a tasting at a supermarket, rather than anonymously, such as through the mail.

Cialdini points out another aspect of the reciprocity rule related to repaying concessions. If I make a concession to you, you will feel obligated to make a concession in return. Any good negotiator recognizes this technique, which Cialdini refers to as rejection-then-retreat. You see this in action when a salesperson first offers a high-priced item. When the customer declines, the salesperson responds, “Well, if you are not interested in that, how about . . .” and suggests a lower-priced alternative. Many customers will respond affirmatively to the salesperson’s counter offer, not realizing that the second item is what the salesperson was expecting to sell to them. The first suggestion makes the lower-priced option more attractive.

Every good negotiator knows that to get what you want, you should always ask for more. Asking for things you do not expect to win-and perhaps do not even want-gives you room to make concessions. And those concessions trigger the reciprocity reaction.

How can you use reciprocity to make your marketing more effective?

Offer products and services at various price points. Not only can customers get exactly what they want this way, it gives you the opportunity to present a lower-priced option if they do not want the “deluxe” version.

Give customers something free. It can be a product sample, information or a service, such as a free initial consultation.

Product demonstrations can work well to create a desire to reciprocate. For example, many makeup vendors will provide a free makeup application and lesson. Although the customer is not required to pay, they typically buy at least some of the products they were shown.

Information makes a good free item because it scales easily, meaning that it may cost little or no more money to distribute information to a large group of people than a small group. You may offer information through a free seminar or educational session, tutorials, FAQs and articles on your web site, or print and electronic newsletters and reports. 

Seven Ways to Get What You Want from Other People

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We all need the help of others from time to time. These seven tips can help you whether you are asking your spouse for help with the housework, a colleague for help with a project, or a customer for the sale.

When we were kids and we wanted something, we resorted to the few things we knew to do: begging, crying, holding our breath until we turned blue, etc. Those tactics were not always successful when we were children and they almost never work for adults. ;o)

The good news is that there are lots of ways to persuade others to see your point of view and do what you want them to do. Persuasion is not high-pressure and it does not involve tricking or bullying anyone. Not only are those tactics unpleasant, when they work at all they do not work for the long term.

Here are seven ways you can use persuasion in both your business and personal relationships.

Ask for what you want. Do not expect anyone to read your mind. If you need something, ask for it.

Be clear and specific. When you tell a child to pick her toys up off the floor, do not be surprised to find that she has picked them up and put all of them on the bed. After all, you didn’t say to put them in the toy box, did you? When asking for someone’s help, be specific about what it is that you need so that they understand your request.

Do not be a victim. No one likes to be guilted into something. It might work for the short term, but eventually it will drive people away from you.

Look for the win-win. To paraphrase the famous quote, ask not what someone can do for you, ask what you can do for each other. Is there a way that by helping you, the other person gets something they want? For example, perhaps by volunteering on your committee, they get to meet someone they want to meet, or get experience that will help them in their business.

Do something for the other person. In “Influence,” Dr. Robert Cialdini wrote about the principle of reciprocity. If you do something for someone else, they will feel obligated to pay you back. Start building up credits by helping others when you can.

Make it as easy as possible for the person to help you. If you ask someone to do something that requires them to spend a lot of time and effort they are less likely to agree than if the task is simple. It might be easier to get five people to commit to each spending one day doing something than to get one person to spend five days on it.

Be appreciative. When someone helps you, say thank you. And when a simple thank you isn’t enough, send a note and/or a gift to let them know that what they did for you is valued.

We all need the help of others from time to time. These seven tips can help you whether you are asking your spouse for help with the housework, a colleague for help with a project, or a customer for the sale.

Seven Ways to Get What You Want from Other People

by

When we were kids and we wanted something, we resorted to the few things we knew to do: begging, crying, holding our breath until we turned blue, etc. Those tactics were not always successful when we were children and they almost never work for adults. ;o)

The good news is that there are lots of ways to persuade others to see your point of view and do what you want them to do. Persuasion is not high-pressure and it does not involve tricking or bullying anyone. Not only are those tactics unpleasant, when they work at all they do not work for the long term.

Here are seven ways you can use persuasion in both your business and personal relationships.

Ask for what you want. Do not expect anyone to read your mind. If you need something, ask for it.

Be clear and specific. When you tell a child to pick her toys up off the floor, do not be surprised to find that she has picked them up and put all of them on the bed. After all, you didn’t say to put them in the toy box, did you? When asking for someone’s help, be specific about what it is that you need so that they understand your request.

Do not be a victim. No one likes to be guilted into something. It might work for the short term, but eventually it will drive people away from you.

Look for the win-win. To paraphrase the famous quote, ask not what someone can do for you, ask what you can do for each other. Is there a way that by helping you, the other person gets something they want? For example, perhaps by volunteering on your committee, they get to meet someone they want to meet, or get experience that will help them in their business.

Do something for the other person. In “Influence,” Dr. Robert Cialdini wrote about the principle of reciprocity. If you do something for someone else, they will feel obligated to pay you back. Start building up credits by helping others when you can.

Make it as easy as possible for the person to help you. If you ask someone to do something that requires them to spend a lot of time and effort they are less likely to agree than if the task is simple. It might be easier to get five people to commit to each spending one day doing something than to get one person to spend five days on it.

Be appreciative. When someone helps you, say thank you. And when a simple thank you isn’t enough, send a note and/or a gift to let them know that what they did for you is valued.

We all need the help of others from time to time. These seven tips can help you whether you are asking your spouse for help with the housework, a colleague for help with a project, or a customer for the sale.