| "The goal of a marketing interaction isn't to close the sale, any more than the goal of a first date is to get married. No, the opportunity is to move forward, to earn attention and trust and curiosity and conversation." - Seth Godin For more Seth, go here: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/ |
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 Seth Godin We're all looking for someone to trust. People and institutions that will do what they say and say what they mean. Banks used to use marble pillars and armed guards to make it clear that our money was safe. Doctors put diplomas on the wall and wear white smocks. Institutions and relationships don't work without trust. It's not an accident that a gold standard in business is being able to do business on a handshake. Today, though, it's easier than ever to build a facade of trust but not actually deliver. "Read the fine print," the financial institutions, cruise ship operators and business partners tell us after they've failed to honor what we thought they promised. It's incredibily difficult to build a civil society on the back of "read the fine print." Emptor fidem works so much better than caveat emptor. When we have to spend all our time watching our back and working with lawyers, it's far more challenging to get anything done--and it makes building a business and a brand infinitely more difficult. The question that needs to be asked by the marketer is, "are we doing this to create the appearance of trust, or is this actually something trustworthy, something we're proud to do?" Building trust is expensive. You can call it an expense or an investment, or merely cut corners and work on trustiness instead. Trust is built when no one is looking, when you think you have the option of cutting corners and when you find a loophole. Trustiness is what happens when you use trust as a PR tool. The difference should be obvious. Trust experienced is remarkable, trustiness once discovered leaves a bad taste for even your most valued customers. The perverse irony is this: the more you work on your trustiness, the harder you fall once people discover that they were tricked. (With a hat tip to Colbert) Learn more from Seth Godin at: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/ 
Seven marketing sins Impatient... great marketing takes time. Doing it wrong (and rushed) ten times costs much more and takes longer than doing it slowly, but right, over the same period of time. Selfish... we have a choice, and if we sense that this is all about you, not us, our choice will be to go somewhere else. Self-absorbed... you don't buy from you, others buy from you. They don't care about your business and your troubles nearly as much as you do. Deceitful... see selfish, above. If you don't tell us the truth, it's probably because you're selfish. How urgent can your needs be that you would sacrifice your future to get something now? Inconsistent... we're not paying that much attention, but when we do, it helps if you are similar to the voice we heard from last time. Angry... at us? Why are you angry at us? It's not something we want to be part of, thanks. Jealous... is someone doing better than you? Of course they are. There's always someone doing better than you. But if you let your jealousy change your products or your attitude or your story, we're going to leave. Of course, they're not marketing sins, they're human failings. Humility, empathy, generosity, patience and kindness, combined with the arrogance of the brilliant inventor, are a potent alternative. You can be a smarter marketer by visiting Seth's website and blog by going here: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/ Another good dose of "not always common" sense from Seth Godin: 
A hierarchy of business to business needs If you're selling a product (hmmm.....like, tabletop, for instance) or service to a business--to a non-owner--consider this hierarchy, from primary needs on down:
That means that a sales pitch that begins with how much money the organization will make is pretty unlikely to work. Instead, the amount of profit has to be tied in to one of the other more primary needs of the person sitting across the table from you (as well as the committee or boss she reports to). B2B selling is just like regular sales, except the customer (who might not be the person you're meeting with) is spending someone else's money (and wants to please the boss). For more Seth......go here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ 
"Too Long" You're going to hear that more and more often. The movie, the book, the meeting, the memo... few people will tell you that they ran short. (Shorter, though, doesn't mean less responsibility, less insight or less power. It means less fluff and less hiding.) More Seth Here 
Since we've referenced Seth Godin's rhetorical question a few times lately in conversation, we thought we'd re-run a post from last summer.  "At some point, most brands, organizations, countries and yes, people, start talking about themselves like they're old." "We can't stretch in that direction," or "Not bad for a 60 year old!" or "I'm just not going to be able to learn this new technology." Even countries make decisions like this, often by default. Governments decide it's just too late to change. The incredible truth is this: it never happens at the same time for everyone. It's not biologically ordained. It's a choice. It's possible to put out a hit record at 40, run a marathon at 60 and have your 80 year old non-profit change its business model. It's not as easy as it used to be, but that's why it's worth doing. Whether you are a chef, a restaurateur, a dealer sales person, or a tabletop product manufacturer...... ....... when DID you get old? |  
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