7 Keys to Marketing Genius: First Date
The following is an excerpt from The 7 Keys to Marketing Genius by Michael Daehn
I did not kiss my wife on our first date because I felt it was inappropriate. I did not really know her yet, but I respected her as a person. Things worked out and we got married two years later. Many times marketers try to jump into a committed relationship without taking the time to court and woo their prospect. Building relationships is a process.
Like dating, some techniques for meeting people and building relationships work better than others. If I were targeting a Bible-believing conservative girl, I would attend the church social instead of a strip club. For our first date, I would take her flowers and candy. I would wear my best cologne and nicest suit. I would not likely talk about our wedding and children on the first date. If all went well, I would try for a second date. Hopefully down the road, our relationship would grow into something lasting. If we did get married, I would still need to do things to cultivate the relationship. I would treat her differently as my wife, and there would be new mutual expectations. If I ignored her or treated her as if I did not know her, then she would be offended and maybe even end the marriage. Though some people are able to have a good relationship with former spouses or girlfriends, there is typically a great deal of bitterness when the relationship ends.
This is an imperfect analogy to the relationship between companies and consumers, but there are some striking parallels. You must provide something special to get the attention of new customers, and be on your best behavior. Once the customer is committed, he or she should be treated like a valued partner, not a stranger. You need to keep doing the little things to let the customer know you care and are still committed. If you should alienate a customer, it is worse than never having been with him or her in the first place. Most people will tell everyone they know about their bad experience and why they no longer use your product. In the marketing scenario, it is not better to have sold and lost than never to have sold at all.