EDWARD S. SUCHERMAN & ASSOCIATES LTD.

Dear Readers: This is a continuation of my last blog on Flipping the Funnel.

Yesterday, Joseph Stack, an engineer in Austin, Texas argued with his wife, set his home on fire (neighbors saved his wife and daughter), jumped into his private airplane, and flew directly into an office building that housed an IRS office. He had cracked. He had committed suicide. He had murdered.

Certainly, he had gone crazy. But the most frightening thing to me as a marketer was his suicide note. Though it was full of rage, it also made some compelling points (and believe me, I am not a part of any tea parties). He had grievances against corrupt politicians, the IRS, bankers, corporate executives, the Catholic Church, etc. But he felt that, in the end, violence was the only answer. And violence is never the answer.

Again, I certainly do not condone violence as an answer, ever. Yet without being judgmental or political, but strictly from a business and marketing perspective,  I saw in his anger fabrics of the blankets of frustrations that many millions of Americans are sensing. We see it here in Chicago every moment of every day. They may be out of work or out of their homes or just feeling out of touch and unrepresented, but together, these are the people who make up the great mass market – for most of us, these are our customers and prospects, circa 2010. Hopefully, none of them are this venomous. But almost all are heartbroken. Many feel disrespected, cheated, lied to, and alone. And they are continuing to vote for change – in their everyday purchases.

Brand loyalty? It is long gone. We as a people have been beaten into submission. We only know distrust and feel betrayal from bosses, companies, products, and stores. Americans have been taught by retailers not to buy anything unless it is on sale. Our relentless demand for ever-cheaper prices have driven merchants to buy from ever-cheaper labor markets, especially in China, and forced millions of manufacturing jobs out of our own country. We are caught in a quagmire of our own making. We are confused and out of work and our products are of poor quality and food habits/lifestyles are fattening and our standard of living has evaporated and our great middle class is gone – we are now a have-and-have-not nation, with 95% of us in the have-not category. We are mad as hell – and we’re not going to take this anymore! But we don’t know where to turn.

As marketers, we need to completely rebuild trust.

On the flip side, with so many people seeking change, what an opportunity to gain market share!

To totally rebuild brand loyalty and the sales and revenues that follow it, we marketers need to gain SHARE OF SOUL. This is our number one goal in 2010. And here is how to do it: Flip the Funnel.

I am talking about the sales funnel and the brilliant new book by Joseph Jaffe, Flip the Funnel. Jaffe suggests that instead of pouring all your money and effort into the wide end of the traditional sales funnel (and wind up with a tiny trickle of sales at the bottom), turn the funnel over. Start with your customers, pour your money and efforts into them, make them your champions and missionaries, and let them grow your company through word of mouth. Do you think that there is nothing new here? Yes, there is – the Internet!

Your customers/champions/missionaries, using the Internet, can spread the good word about your company to thousands of prospects, opening a new world of sales and revenue for marketers with the insights and guts to do it.

Note that almost no executives in large companies will have the aforementioned guts.  No one is going to risk his or her career for such a novel and sensible strategy.

Jaffe absolutely obsesses on customer service. For Americans raging over their treatment in the past few years, he insists on delighting them, thrilling them, gabbing them by their souls with products, sincerity (not just talk), and service, service, service. It’s word of mouth in today’s world, for fun and profit.

Does this mean that we marketers should completely ignore traditional media? Of course not. This is not so much a media revolution (that has already happened) as a path and a call to action. It goes deeper and is more fundamental than a marketing gimmick or an ad campaign.

Flipping the sales funnel is an honest and sensible strategy and a solid, sane answer to the enraged nut case that flew a plane into a building, ending it all with sheer violence and taking an innocent IRS employee with him (and injuring 13 more). Devote all your company strategies and focuses to customer satisfaction and brand building. Build champions and missionaries who will, in turn, build your company by spreading the good word through the Internet. Bond with those lost souls who are searching for someone – anyone – who honestly cares about them.

Your strategy is laid out for you. It is simple and clear-cut. Have you got the guts to make the necessary changes and make it happen? If so, you will have a good 2010 and a great 2011, since by then you will own a lot larger share of your market.

IMPORTANT: I HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED WITH SPAM COMMENTS — 1996 THIS MORNING. I CANNOT ANSWER THESE AND STILL HAVE THE TIME TO CREATE NEW BLOG ENTRIES.  SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME, BUT I WILL NOT BE ANSWERING COMMENTS IN THE FUTURE.  IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME, PLEASE DO SO THROUGH MY WEB SITE, AT WWW.EDSUCHERMAN.COM.

Ed Sucherman

THE MARKETING MACHINE

edsucherman@gmail.com

www.edsucherman.com

Tags: Market Share, Marketing Strategy, Share of soul, Uncategorized //