Joe Calloway is a long-time friend and highly respected colleague. I can always count on Joe for clear thinking and practical insights and would be a fan of his work even if we weren’t pals. Here’s a guest blog that explains some of the big themes in his new book, Magnetic: The Art of Attracting Business. Get a copy and use it to attract new customers for your business.
Magnetic: The Art Of Attracting BusinessCreating exceptional value for customers should be the core of your sales, marketing, and growth strategy.
Understand what I’m saying here: that the quality of the work that you do IS your most powerful marketing. More powerful than advertising, what you post on social media, or anything else you do to attract customers. Nothing has more impact on your ability to grow your business than the actual experience that you create for customers, and the stories that those customers tell others about that experience.
Word of mouth is the most powerful factor in buying decisions today. Whether it’s consumer or business to business, buyers want to know what your existing and past customers think of you. Increasingly, this word of mouth is taking place on the internet, whether on review sites, in chat groups, or on social media. But whether it’s in a Yelp! review or face to face, your success or failure depends more than ever on what customers say about you.
The reality of the marketplace is that what others say about you is infinitely more influential than anything you say about yourself. That’s why the value and experience that you create for customers should be the absolute focus of your sales, marketing, and growth strategy. That’s how you become a customer magnet and attract new business to you.
Here are 5 keys to becoming a customer magnet:
- The other guy has to win. In business (and in life), the only rock solid, bulletproof strategy to create and sustain success is to create winners. You have to be sure that your employees, your business partners, and certainly your customers feel that they win through their associations with you.
- Simplify the way you think about your business. We all tend to make things way more complicated than they need to be. Steve Jobs said, “If you can make things simple, you can move mountains.” Part of any leader’s job is to simplify the complicated so that everyone has clarity on what matters most.
- Know the three things that you must get right every day in order to succeed. An international freight company has boiled it down to this: Pick it up when you said you would; deliver it when you said you would; deliver it intact and all there. If you can get everyone in the organization to know and execute on the three most important things for you and your customers, your success is sure.
- Understand that the biggest “WOW” factor is to have your customers saying “Wow! These guys get it right every time.” Don’t chase buzzers and bells. Focus on quality, consistency of performance, and value – they always win.
- Again, remember that what you say about yourself, whether it’s in advertising or on social media, means little in comparison to what your customers are saying about you. Your strategy should create positive word of mouth, which drives new business to you.
Success and growth always come back to quality. That means quality in service, products, experiences, and relationships. When asked what my sales and marketing program is, I say “To do great work for my clients.” There’s no short cut to becoming a customer magnet. It takes a focused strategy, clear intention, and a willingness to do the hard work that quality demands.
About the author – Joe Calloway is Executive In Residence at Belmont University’s Center For Entrepreneurship, and is the author of Magnetic: The Art Of Attracting Business