Yeah, but...
“How do I establish ROI, Return on Investment?”
The question made sense. Unlike many small business owners, this entrepreneur tracked everything. Her charts detailed the number of leads and conversions from each source. I looked more closely at detail: 15 leads from television over four months with three conversions to sales. Translated: $9,000 spent on two television stations, $3,900 realized in sales, $5,100 deficit.
“Cut your losses,” I said. “Based on ROI, you’ve given this campaign a fair chance and it’s not working.”
“Well, we changed copy just a few weeks ago and I think that might make a difference.” What could I say? (NOTE: This is a clear example of “Yeah, but…”)
“I like this interactive DVD offer, but it’s a little pricey,” the owner continued. “For $15,000 I get 1,000 DVD’s that we can use for current customers and prospects. Don’t you think that’s a good plan for us?”
Instead of a direct answer, I asked a series of questions. “Do your customers/prospects have high speed connections? Are you confident they will put this in their machine and then refer a customer to you? Is there any reward for them to do so? If there’s no reward for the referral, then I might not stake my money on that campaign.”
“Well, I see what you mean but…”
Do you recognize a glimmer of yourself in these scenarios? It occurs to me that we all have situations for which we solicit input; truth be known, we want the information to line up with the solution we’ve already imagined. Pause.
What if you change your response? Does your resistance make sense, or, could you use one of these four standard replies?
1. Yeah, but we’ve always done it this way.
2. Yeah, but I like this plan (fill in the blank with this scenario, this idea, and so on.)
3. Yeah, but my friend knows better.
4. Yeah, but I prefer the answer I first mentioned.
Yeah, but is a communication used too easily too often. Would you agree?
The question made sense. Unlike many small business owners, this entrepreneur tracked everything. Her charts detailed the number of leads and conversions from each source. I looked more closely at detail: 15 leads from television over four months with three conversions to sales. Translated: $9,000 spent on two television stations, $3,900 realized in sales, $5,100 deficit.
“Cut your losses,” I said. “Based on ROI, you’ve given this campaign a fair chance and it’s not working.”
“Well, we changed copy just a few weeks ago and I think that might make a difference.” What could I say? (NOTE: This is a clear example of “Yeah, but…”)
“I like this interactive DVD offer, but it’s a little pricey,” the owner continued. “For $15,000 I get 1,000 DVD’s that we can use for current customers and prospects. Don’t you think that’s a good plan for us?”
Instead of a direct answer, I asked a series of questions. “Do your customers/prospects have high speed connections? Are you confident they will put this in their machine and then refer a customer to you? Is there any reward for them to do so? If there’s no reward for the referral, then I might not stake my money on that campaign.”
“Well, I see what you mean but…”
Do you recognize a glimmer of yourself in these scenarios? It occurs to me that we all have situations for which we solicit input; truth be known, we want the information to line up with the solution we’ve already imagined. Pause.
What if you change your response? Does your resistance make sense, or, could you use one of these four standard replies?
1. Yeah, but we’ve always done it this way.
2. Yeah, but I like this plan (fill in the blank with this scenario, this idea, and so on.)
3. Yeah, but my friend knows better.
4. Yeah, but I prefer the answer I first mentioned.
Yeah, but is a communication used too easily too often. Would you agree?
Labels: critical audience: customer
posted by the profitmeister at
11:06 AM
1 Comments:
Ah, the all-knowing, all-seeing "I."
And, my personal all-time favorite (after asking for marketing help). "Yeah, but I already knew that."
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