Business Building Action From Terry L. Brock
A while back I remember going to a seminar which had a variety of speakers. One of those speakers advocated using pop-ups on a website to “grab people” and get them to buy. He bragged about a new technology that used pop-ups to grab people who attempted to leave his site without buying. I guess his idea was that by annoying the daylights out of people you’d get more sales.
I don’t like that approach at all!
You might agree with me that it is more important to build trust and a strong relationship with buyers rather than annoy the daylights out of them or force them into buying from you. Too much of what we see in many areas of business today employ the principle of force rather than persuading people through trust.
Long-term relationship marketing and building a solid business require trust. You build this by consistently watching out for your customers’ best interests.
Trust is required even for quick transactions. I could run into a convenience store and quickly purchase a bottle of water without the transaction taking a lot of time. Sometimes that is what I want. If I’ve just filled my tank with gasoline, am in a hurry and wanted to grab a bottle of water to drink on the next portion of my trip, I don’t want to stop and talk at length with the clerk.
However, even in that situation, trust has to exist. I can trust the manufacturer of the bottled water. For me, I like Aquafina bottled water and trust the people who make it. This is based on past experience with many good bottles of Aquafina I’ve consumed! I also have a relationship with the convenience store because I’ve been to that chain before.
Too many people in business try tactics like the Internet Marketer I discussed above. He giggled about how he “tricks people into buying and using these pop-ups. Well, the marketplace has a way to stop that. Most browsers now have a pop-up blocker. The techniques will change. What matters is the attitude of the marketer. Successful Relationship Marketing is interested in a long-term, mutually beneficial tie between buyer and seller.
I’m reminded of the sites on the web where you see someone walk out from the edges of the web page and begin shouting at you. Yes, it seems like nice technology but it is annoying at best and disgustingly irritating in most cases. When something is forced upon us, we tend to avoid it in the future. Let the user choose to play that or any other video. Don’t start it automatically!
A good example of how to do it right is Amazon. They don’t shout and yell at you when you come to their site. I particularly like that they keep a record of what I’ve purchased and what I reviewed recently. They do this with my permission (most important!) and are there to help me as I make selections. They are serving me as their customer and I’m glad to shop them and spend lots of money with them. I often find that I purchase from them because of the high level of trust I have with them and their affiliates — even if the price is a little more than the competition.
Trust is the key to building quality relationships in business. You begin by helping people know you as someone who is trustworthy. This is demonstrated in all you do.
The next step after someone knows you is that they grow to like you. They have favorable reactions to what they have seen. They like the way you run your website. They like the content you create. It is your job to create lots of ways for people to like you.
After they know you and like your business, you want them to trust you. If you’ve done your job properly they will see that trust as the next logical step.
Then there is another critical step after they trust you. You want them to become engaged with your business. You can start small with a lower-price sale and build. This is the ladder that all businesses must ascend.
Know. Like. Trust. Engage. These steps have to take place. The speed at which they occur varies but they have to take place for Relationship Marketing to exist.
So, what can you do today to get more people on your ladder? Think through the strategic process and involve your prospects and customers at the appropriate level. Remember that the steps are repeated and you have to continue to let people know about your products, like what you’re doing and trust that you’re still dependable.
Somehow this makes a lot more sense than the force and trickery method employed by that Internet Marketer I mentioned. Somehow I think his website visitors used a “blocker” on his marketing style and methods.
Copyright (c) 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: @TerryBrock
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Terry, the four steps you offer are worth keeping taped onto our computers, so we will see them every day we start work.
My favorite phrase you used: “Be real, be genuine with people.” Once we spot someone as a phony, they are “outa here.”
Also, your new style of captions caught my eye–not like popups at all!
Thx for the excellent advice, per usual.
Yes, Fran, the “rent to buy” is a good way to test before you lay out a lot of money. Today we need to deploy different tactics and strategy in light of the new world. Nice to hear from you, Fran. Hope you have a great day! Terry
Well I never. I’m looking into the whole ‘rent to buy’ process over here in Ireland.
Thank you for your comment, C.A. You are right on target. Whatever the technique happens to be, “forcing” people to get involved with you just isn’t the way to market effectively.
Forcing is rude. It is obnoxious and offensive. And on top of all that (enough by itself) it doesn’t work for business! The answer is to get to know people and let them know you. Be kind (there’s a concept!) Help people and then they will want to be with you.
Speaking of which I checked out your site at crocuschronicles.com. Since I love art, literature, music and the things you talk about there, I loved your site! You are doing a good job (others should check it out and visit). As you build a market you could offer lots of products and services which people would want from you. Keep up the good work, C.A. I really appreciate your kind post.
I also hate those windows that pop up, screaming, ‘Hey! Wait! Don’t go!’ and begging, ‘If you don’t leave us we’ll offer you this and that! Please stay!’ and patronizing, ‘Are you REALLY sure you want to leave this page?’ when all you want is to x-out the tab.
I leave such sites right away and never go back again. Simply out of principle. I do wonder if there are people who do stop and decide to purchase whatever is pushed into their faces. I decided I appreciate the style of sites such as Copyblogger. Marketing can be done in a nicer way. It’s nice to know that many people are sick and tired of ‘caps-locked cajole-marketing hollering into people’s faces.’ That’s how I define them.
This is really a great post, Terry. I bookmarked it. It’s a must-read for people like me, who are learning and timidly stepping into the world of information product marketing. Thanks a lot!
(And Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year, too!)
Thank you, Carla. And yes, you’re right about that other type of call. Those types of tactics don’t help build credibility or business. The best way is through using the know, like, trust and engage ladder. YOU are doing that in your work and I admire that about you!
Great article! The other one that’s high on the annoyance list is the call or email from someone saying they’ve reviewed your web site stats and know for sure they can improve your SEO. Of course if you actually have a conversation about what they can offer–you discover they have no idea what you do.