| e ask you a question. The answer is to the question is | | | | effort to win your customer’s lifetime business |
| critical to your business success. | | | | and loyalty. If your business’ marketing activity |
| Do you fully understand the real nature of the business | | | | is successful in changing the way your customers think |
| you are in? | | | | about your business or products or services in such a |
| Your instant response is of course, I'm in the [put your | | | | way that the customer sees you as a vehicle to |
| industry name here] business. For example, you | | | | accomplish their goal and growth, then your goals and |
| probably said, of course, I'm in the real estate business, | | | | your growth will be a natural result. |
| or the plumbing business, or the printing business, etc. | | | | As your business manages its sales growth properly, |
| But that is only partly correct if you are the owner of | | | | increased profit is going to follow. Immediate profits are |
| the business. As the business owner, the real nature of | | | | nowhere near as important as long-term profits. To |
| your business is marketing the business you are in. | | | | insure that you’re going to continue to profit for |
| You may have the greatest service or the best | | | | the long-term, your real objective is to convert your |
| product in the world, but if no one knows about it, you | | | | prospect into a customer who shares your vision of |
| will soon be out of business. | | | | what you’re trying to accomplish and is a true |
| One method of increasing the exposure of your | | | | believer. |
| business to your potential customers, is to conduct a | | | | Vision is a problem with the normal sales approach. |
| marketing crusade. | | | | There is no vision other than the short-term, which is to |
| You can compare this marketing approach to a | | | | make the immediate sale. There is little or no real |
| missionary’s work or the launching of a | | | | focus on back-end selling and the life time value of a |
| crusade because only the fervor and the | | | | customer, which we’ll talk more about later on. |
| determination of a missionary or crusader will assure | | | | What is your vision? |
| your marketing success. | | | | Is your business focused on an area of interest to |
| Missionaries are driven by more than just their desire | | | | your customers, prospects or clients? |
| to sell someone on buying their product or service. | | | | Are you driven fervently by the need to help them or |
| Rather, a missionary’s goal is to convert the | | | | yourself? |
| world to their way of thinking, their mission and their | | | | Why should others patronize your business rather than |
| crusade. Only through such a conversion process can | | | | any other business? Or not do anything at all? |
| you expect to receive not just a customer, but | | | | What can you do that will not only cause your |
| customers for life. | | | | customers to return again and again, but cause them |
| When your business launches a marketing mission, it | | | | to tell others to buy your products and services as |
| takes a different approach than traditional marketing. | | | | well? |
| Traditional approaches are taken and set aside in | | | | Can you take that vision and incorporate it with a main |
| favor of our missionary or crusader’s goal. In a | | | | sales and marketing thrust, advantage or Unique Selling |
| traditional marketing effort, the real motivation for most | | | | Proposition and use that for an advantage over your |
| marketing activity is just to make money. | | | | competitors? |
| That’s nice to do, but that’s not all we | | | | A good marketing crusade will integrate all this |
| need. | | | | together and soon have customers coming to you as |
| Every marketing effort, at this point, is tied directly back | | | | a result of what Dan Kennedy calls a Magnetic |
| to its contribution to money coming in. | | | | Marketing System. If you were Jiffy Lube, you might |
| Now, as a missionary, your business goal becomes an | | | | call it a well oiled marketing machine. |