It’s time to change the way the arrow is pointing…away from YOU TO THEM…to THEM TO YOU.
Definition…YOU is you and your company…THEM is the customer and your prospective audiences.
When I think back on how my grandpa bought his cows for his farm, the arrow always pointed from THEM TO HIM…customers telling other potential customers who they should buy from that sold good quality cows and who was “trusted.” There isn’t a point in history where this approach hasn’t worked incredibly well and it works even more effectively today than ever before because of the internet. It’s just that most businesses don’t know how or haven’t given it a chance.
For too many companies there is the belief that if we blast our customers and prospects with “promotional” materials (such as ads, video, radio, newsletters, etc.) this approach will bring in more customers. If we blast them with stuff “about us” then they will be aware of us and want to come in and check us out. This is so ‘Industrial Revolution’ and delivers lower and lower returns every year. This is exactly what I mean when I say the ARROW IS POINTING FROM YOU TO THEM (your customers and prospects).
With the death of the Industrial Revolution and the adoption of the Customer/Internet Revolution, it’s time to REVERSE THE ARROW. It’s time to leverage the power in the market today which allows your audience of customers and others to send new customers to you!
If your customers viewed you as being totally awesome, they would have no problem telling everyone about you…this is the way the world has worked forever…nothing new. Therein lies the problem…if you aren’t totally awesome…in the eyes of your customers…your biggest source of marketers you could ever possibly want…you can’t REVERSE THE ARROW. Your customers won’t send others to see you if for no other reason than you aren’t awesome…and no one wants to recommend someone today that isn’t awesome…good enough isn’t good enough any longer.
But when your audience thinks you are totally awesome, incredible, amazing, and remarkable, they tell others…lots of others through social media…about you and why they should check you out and buy from you. The ARROW IS NOW POINTING FROM THEM TO YOU. They are now telling everyone they know about you and why they should get to know you. When 90% of the audience believes the recommendation about you from someone they know or are connected to and only 12% believe one of your promotional ads…why would you, as a business leader, ever want to do something with a 12% return when you could be getting a 90% return?
Why? Why? Why? It makes no sense given the highly competitive market we live in today.
Companies and Leaders do it because it’s easy…it’s what we know…it’s what so called experts tell us to do…it’s what’s been done in the past…because most don’t know how to TURN THE ARROW AROUND. But lack of knowledge on how to do something is the easiest thing to fix today…it’s the desire to change the way things have always been done that is the hardest.
Truth time…I have never believed in the arrow going from YOU TO YOUR CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS…it has never made sense and doesn’t make sense even more in today’s Customer Economy and Internet Revolution. I have always believed in the world of CUSTOMERS TO ME…having them tell others about me from my early days in sales, through my consulting years with the Big 5 and of course in my own firm today…it just seems like the way the world works best. Then my brother and I wrote our book because it was an opportunity to let people know “how to change the arrow” and focus on CUSTOMERS TO YOU. It was something that needed to be shared…and it further cemented my view that the ARROW SHOULD POINT FROM THEM TO YOU.
Companies that focus on “pimping and promoting” as the main direction of their arrow are seeing their audiences and returns getting smaller and smaller…until at some point they become obsolete and irrelevant. But when companies switch their strategies to focus on “helping their customers” and doing things that “build trust” with their customers they are seeing much stronger competitive advantages. Even the biggest consulting and research firms in the world are telling us this is the direction companies need to take or risk extinction. But even without all this research, it just makes good common sense.
Think about your own company and ask yourself (and your leadership team) which direction your arrow is pointing. It might be time to do some course correction and start to think about a strategy that changes the direction of your arrow. I can absolutely guarantee your customers will not only notice, but will shower you with appreciation and show their approval by increasing their word-of-mouth about you and your company. It’s the way successful businesses have prospered for centuries…and it isn’t going to change any time soon. Show your customers how much you can help improve their lives and give them an experience they want to talk about and watch the ARROW CHANGE FROM THEM TO YOU!
