Just held a GREAT conference call for MYM Insider Members on the topic of "PRE-Customer Service." The idea here is simple: What can you do FOR your prospective customers that is valuable to them that allows them to experience your company and make deposits into their emotional bank accounts BEFORE they ever give you a nickel?To implement this, you've got to have the right mindset--otherwise, you simply won't do it. You'll think it's too expensive, too hard, cheapens your product/service, or some other lame excuse. Instead, as you consider ways to "GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE" to your prospects, carefully consider the following:
1. Understand the Lifetime Value of your customers: You’ll almost always have more $$ to spend than you think. Too often we only consider "how much will it cost right now?" While cash flow is important (very!), future revenue streams are too!
2. Understand the concept of Reciprocity, and how STRONG it is. When you give something to prospects for free, the very underpinning of societal decorum is at stake. They MUST give back. It’s in the dad-gum DNA… and it comes back in the form of buying stuff from you! If you don't believe me, test any of these ideas in a small scale setting and watch what happens.
3. Understand the value of List Building and nurturing. You should be psycho about building your list and nurturing it with frequent, valuable touches. What better way to build your list than with giving people something for free (targeted somebodies, that is)? What better way to nurture your list than by giving them something?
4. Understand the concept of Allocating Freebie Costs As MARKETING EXPENDITURES. I don’t get how some people can shell out huge dollars for a freaking ad or website, but then balk when it comes to giving somebody something for free. The end goal is the same—to get a new customer! If your marketing budget is $10,000 for a month, try allocating $2,000 of it to free stuff for a month or two. Then sit back and watch which part of your budget is paying the biggest dividends.
That being said, there are 8 ½ strategies for implementing PRE-Customer Services (PCS for short)… I went over all of them in detail on the call, and gave no less than 5 examples for each. Sorry, but I ain’t got that much time on this blog. So on to the highlights!
• CARVE IT OUT: Carve out some time from your regular schedule to do service for free to prospective customers. A pool repair company said he’d love to sneak into people’s back yards and put his sticker on their equipment so that when it breaks they see the sticker an call him. Too bad about trespassing laws. Why not simply knock on somebody’s door, tell them you want to do a $99 maintenance service for free (cause you’re in the area anyway) and get the goodwill, email address, and Twitter following (if possible) of that prospect. Review the list of 4 things at the top. And make sure you REALLY deliver a $99 value service--don't just "say" it's worth that much. Haircut stores could offer free neck shaving and sideburns trimming to anyone who comes in at certain hours… or could just dedicate somebody to it. Beats the heck out of buying ads in the valpak. Auto dealers could keep their service departments humming by offering free oil changes. Landscapers could landscape part of somebody's yard. Sure, some people will take advantage, and in marketing, its ALWAYS a numbers game. But you got to play the game to take advantage of the numbers game!
• BRING IT TO ‘EM: Cousin to the above strategy: For something that people have to normally go out to get, bring it TO them. Why on earth could a dentist NOT get an RV, convert it into a cool mobile dental studio, and go around town giving free checkups? Again, knock on the door and say “Hey Mr. Johnson, I know that most people hate to go to the dentist, so we’ve brought it to you.” Lifetime value of dental patients is tremendous. Dentists will easily pay $100 for a new patient, $200, no sweat. So you get this RV, graphics it up, pay a hygienist and driver, and you’re in it for $10,000 a month. 100 new patients later and you’re making money hand over fist. Run the numbers—you give 500 free exams in a month (20 per day) and convert 20% immediately into customers, and another 30% into customers later (See #3 above) and you are a billionaire dentist before long. Of course, you’d have to ACTUALLY DO IT!!!! Other examples of bringing it to em: local car wash does hand washing in your neighborhood for free to get you hooked; a donut shop delivers 2 dozen free donuts to 5 businesses a day, 5 days a week (remember, just allocate the dollars to marketing); A flower shop does the exact same thing (except with flowers, not donuts!); A store that makes prepared meals stores knocks on your door at 5:45 and asks if you have anything planned for dinner (and of course you don't) and asks if you'd like to try their stuff. This ain't rocket science. Or instead, they could sit there in there little store all day thinking of new ways to run ads that nobody sees, cares about, or acts on. Either way.
• FREE MEANS FREE: Send vouchers for free products or service that have NO STRINGS ATTACHED. If you’re a box company chasing million-dollar-a-year accounts, why not send a huge (18” x 24”) gift card (I learned this from Costco) for $1,000 worth of emergency rush boxes, just so you can get your foot in the door? Send one every month, and let them save them up and spend $12k at a time with you after a year. One good account and you’re golden. Other uses: Printer repair company offers $1,000 (or less, or more, depending on their setup) of free service; A plastic surgeon offers free facials/face peels, A graphic designer offers to do an ad or brochure for free (or they can be one of 227 designers sitting around hoping somebody gives them money); A courier service stops by 5 offices next to the one they are delivering to and drops off (again) huge vouchers for 2 free deliveries (allocate the expense to marketing, remember!); A commercial roofer tells prospects that they'll fix their WORST LEAK for free--this is smart given the fact that over half of commercial buildings have UNFIXABLE leaks that they just learn to "deal with" over the years.
• Other Strategies: Send in the Dogs, Free Niceties, Free Consultations, Information Bearer, HOTLINE!, and Ongoing Consultation.
No time to detail the rest. Maybe next week!
