What was that thing Henry Ford said about consumer surveys?
Yes, this:
“If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.”
How many focus groups do you need in order to move forward?
Is your circle of advisors answering your questions based on their worldview, or yours?
Does your pre-launch survey ask the right questions?
Would you know what those right questions were?
Are you just asking questions, or are you properly pre-seeding the questions in the survey to develop micro-commitments (where people say “yes” to your offer before you actually make one) that create the upcoming sale?
Besides, do you know how easy it is to get a survey, poll, personality test, or any form of assessment tool to give you the results you want to see – or to interpret any results that emerge to prove your own point?
AVOID THIS IF YOU CAN.
Instead of asking 200 questions of 20 people, trying asking one question of yourself:
Have You Asked People With Money To Invest In Your Idea, Product, Service, Solution, or Dream?
Have you asked your YOUR TOP MARKETING GURU – the person with money who could benefit by investing in you?
Carly, a web developer, had an experience with a prospect that’s as clear in her mind as if it happened just this morning.
She was offered the opportunity to share in the profits of a membership program someone was creating. (Translation: they didn’t have two pennies to rub together and were hoping she’d become their “partner” and build a custom membership site for them for free.)
After listening with patient bemusement to their pitch, Carly heard them say those magic words: “This is really a great program.”
Carly: Sounds great from what you’re telling me! How many members do you have?
Them: We’re about six months from actually launching. Maybe more, unless you can do our membership site. But it’s a great program and you want to be involved.
Carly: What makes it great? What’s great about a membership program with no members? Who told you it’s great? How many of those people who say it’s great have authorized you to charge their credit cards for membership fees?
Them: (CRICKETS)
Carly: (breaking the silence) Okay, I never said I wasn’t interested. Really, I’m interested. How about you go get some members so you have revenue to pay my fee for the membership site?
Sound advice.
What Do You Think Happened Next?
If your first guess was “a whole lot of nothing” then you made a good guess.
Carly was dropping some serious business wisdom – in essence, revenue solves many problems holding a business back from growing like it should be growing.
Have you noticed, on just about every episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer focuses heavily on increasing the bar’s revenues?
Also, why would Carly spend her time developing a membership site that will probably never see the light of day?
Would the testimonial for something that never hit the marketplace really boost her credibility as someone who creates membership sites?
Would her case study about the membership site, ending in “well, they never really sold any” get prospects excited and asking her for permission to join her customer family?
Right.
Carly wants people to know about her successes.
She wants successful customers and clients who will tell other people to hire her.
Let’s Team Up And Optimize Your Business
