Tag: email marketing

More rounded

FabrizioLeave a comment

We think of most things as linear experiences.

That’s certainly true in business. The funnel is linear. The go-to-market process is linear. The sales pipeline is linear. The launch of a new product or service is linear. The very same metaphors we use to describe those things (funnel, pipeline, launch) are linear.

And yet, success requires that you circle back and iterate with the new information you have acquired. That you adjust the trajectory continuously with the help of what you are learning as you go.

It turns out that to be succesful in what matters we need to apply more rounded thinking.

Lazy sales

FabrizioLeave a comment

The laziest sales approach must certainly be the following.

I have just came across your company on LinkedIn. Not sure you are the right person to talk to, in case could you connect me to one of your colleagues?

You don’t know my company.

You don’t know me.

You are asking me to do work for you.

I hope you’ll never be asked to resort to this.

The best bargain

FabrizioLeave a comment

Free stuff is not easy to give away online, and that’s true for second hand clothes as it is true for learning programs.

It’s probably because the buyer does not perceive any value. It’s easy enough to raise one’s hand and say “I am in”. But as soon as life gets in the way, something that is free is just not worth any hassle.

If you have something you need to get rid of, or an idea you are proud of and want to spread, that’s something to take into account.

For as counterintuitive as it might sound, free is not always the best bargain.

Impulse

FabrizioLeave a comment

The impulse to control, dictate, micro-manage is strong.

We just have to think carefully at what happens when we do it.

Example: a colleague is planning to send out an important email. You submit to the impulse and ask to review it first. The colleague obliges and shares a draft with you. You once again submit to the impulse and, since you do not really have time for this, give them some broad feedback about tone of voice and points to make. They edit the draft and send it back. For the third time, you submit to the impulse and go deep with comments, edits, and formatting. They end up sending your version.

The results.

  1. You are exhausted and you have lost the chance to focus on something that was truly your responsibility.
  2. They are demotivated, because they are probably good to write an email on their own.
  3. The outcome is most likely not going to be what either of you expected, adding to exhaustion and demotivation.

That is a lot of negativity spread around just because you once sent out an email that – in that particular context – turned out to get a pretty positive response.

Get out of the way.

The price you want

FabrizioLeave a comment

You have a good product, some customers, and then you start losing opportunities because they say you are too expensive.

Two options.

You cut the prices (discounts, special offers, etc. fall into this same category). It’s a risky game, of course everybody else can follow you there.

You work on perceived value. And you can go about it like this.

  1. Express value – Many times features are disguised as value, often mere functional value, so you need to start digging what the customer really wants.
  2. Reframe value – It might be that the problem you are solving is not worth the price you are asking, so you need to figure out if there is a deeper feeling, ambition, desire that you can leverage.
  3. Work on brand – Your story, your tone, your appeal can make your product desirable and unlock a fear of being left out.

Cutting prices is short-term (and short-viewed), working on perceived value takes resources and time.

The sooner you start working on 1, 2, and 3, in parallel, the better positioned you will be to ask the price you want.