M&Ms VS Forbes – The Winner Is…

[leadplayer_vid id=”51CA0A208BA4E”]
Audio Only [powerpress]

Links Mentioned

• Michelle Chance-Sangthong
• My M&Ms
• The Local Guru Roadmap

Recommended Reading

• Incremental Marketing

Transcript

I want you to take a look at this.  This is an M&M. You know an M&M…chocolate on the inside (delicious chocolate on the inside) hard candy on the outside. It’s not just any M&M. This is an M&M with my picture on it… a very special M&M.

So why am I showing you this? Because this M&M taught me a lesson in perception in that there are different things that could be the tipping point in having your prospects or your customers seeing you as that guru, that expert.

Regardless of what business you’re in (chiropractor, landscaper, doesn’t matter) little things like this just really…I never would’ve thought to have this printed for myself.

What happened was I was at an Internet Marketing Conference and I ran into a lady, Michelle Chance-Sangthong. She’s a really smart marketer. You should check her out. She has a really great book, Incremental Marketing on Amazon. Definitely you should check that out.

I met her at this conference and she let me know that she had been following me for a few years and we kind of talked and masterminded a little bit and taught each other a few things. We just had some time to sit in quiet and really talk shop about something we’re really passionate about.

I never really expected it but I gave her some ideas that she said would work out really well in her business and the next thing I know, in the mail comes a big package of M&Ms® with my picture printed on them with a cool little thank you note.

I thought that was a really cool way to stand out but what was really more important was about the same time I got these M&Ms in the mail I also got a quote in Forbes Magazine with my picture that same month I got the M&Ms.

Now here’s the weird thing. My family…which one do you think they were more impressed with? You know my kids are far more impressed with me being on the M&Ms® but it wasn’t just my kids. It was other adults who could care less about being in Forbes Magazine but they loved the M&Ms®.

I realized that there is different bait to catch different types of fish. Right? Not that this is going to be tremendous bait to pull in your prospects but what I want you to think about is there are lots of different things that can be that tipping point and they don’t have to be really expensive.

A lot of times we spend big money on getting branding done…which is important. We spend money on our SEO and marketing and things like that, but we kind of miss out on the little simple things that can really have a big difference in our business.

Not just things like this with our picture on it but what about giving this to a prospect or customer? Something like that is going to really make an impression. That’s when we move into (if you’ve gone through The Local Guru Roadmap) turning Customers into Fans.

This is the way to turn customers into fans…something as simple as…not just your picture on it but if you have a big customer who really comes back, spends more money, tells their friends about you, tells their family about you, talks about you on social media, Facebook, endorses you on LinkedIn, this is a really small investment to show them that they’re important to you and recognize that you have positioned yourself as that educator and advocate and now you’re in that place where you’re turning your customers into fans where they are becoming evangelists for your business.

So what I want you to do is think of something small…something that may have just been completely off your radar…as something that can be important. It could be putting together a new report for your website. It could be putting together a little thank you gift for some of your bigger clients or customers…or anything that has a good return on value.

Little things like this are things that separate you apples from oranges from your competitors.

I really wanted to demonstrate how something that I thought was going to be really important turned out that my picture on an M&M impressed a lot more people – at least in person. So I guess I could call this my Candy X-Factor. You know they say they don’t melt in your hands only in your mouth so I’m going to get rid of that one.

I thought this was a great gift that I got from Michelle. You can check them out here http://www.mymms.com/ if you want to use it in your business with your picture or get your big customers on there.

Also let me know your ideas. What have you seen that has really made a difference? Little things make a big difference to your customers and prospects whether it be a special thank you card, one of your favorite gifts to a customer – brownies…I always like a little candy.

I love when I have a big promotion or I do something for a client and I get a gift basket or fruit basket with nuts and cheese and all that kind of stuff…those are little things that make a difference.

Let me know what you have done or what you’ve received even and how it made you feel. If you have any ideas that you want to share on how to push that and really change and help you develop that X-Factor whether it’s online or offline through the snail mail, it’s a great way to develop that X-Factor and position and engrain yourself in the minds of your prospects and customers reminding them that you are the educator and advocate for their success.