After meeting on a hill walk, Jack and Jill (from to fetch a pail of water + broke his crown fame) discovered they are in the same business, they both sell water buckets. Both of them have the same range and their prices are similar. Both of them started from scratch.
Jack has no profit and not enough paying clients.
Jill has increased profit in her business by 100% the first year, 300% the second and 500% the third and has more than enough clients.
The difference? The strategy Jill has implemented is the easiest formula to getting more business she:
- Increased the number of clients.
- Increased the size of sale.
- She had repeat buyers.
What Happened?
When they started out Jack decided that he wanted to make his buckets available to everyone, even the people who did not want and would never want a bucket. He threw money and time trying to convince people who were not interested that they needed to buy a bucket. He advertised and promoted, but not to the people who really wanted (and were looking for him) or what he offered.
Jill though, she went looking for the people who were looking for buckets.
She searched online to find the people who were asking ‘Where Can I Buy a Bucket?’, she would provide them with information, she gave them advice and suggestions, she offered to help them out and sometimes she posted information about her buckets.
Their websites were different.
Both knew that people were searching online for buckets. Jill made her website all about the people searching for buckets; she offered free samples, bucket tasters, offers, discounts, a newsletter all about buckets, she had a blog that kept people updated about recent bucket trends.
Jack on the other hand, he wanted to make a sale. He built his website so that when people arrived they were faced with the sales process straight away. He never considered for one minute that bucket lovers would want to know more about the art of bucketing!
Jill offered a range of additional bucketing services, as well being able to buy buckets she gave people the opportunity to become part of the Bucket Club, a special place for bucket lovers, she blogged and spoke about excellent uses for buckets and she threw competitions and give-ways sometimes asking people to take pictures of their buckets in action, she created a real community for bucket lovers.
Jill knew that people would need a new bucket in time, so she set up a strategy whereby any returning clients got the best deals, offers and specials, she treated them like bucket royalty.
Jack wanted the sale. He wanted the money upfront. He wasn’t worried about building a relationship with the bucket lovers.
Because Jill had a strategy in place, and she knew her ideal client (niche) was women who loved decorative buckets everything she did in her business was for them. She became known for her love of decorative buckets. If you were a woman who wanted a bucket to suit you, Jill (her message, business, website, materials, marketing) proved she was an expert in this field.
Jill learned everything there was to know about decorative buckets for women. She hired mentors, she hired coaches, she attended seminars, read books, she read blogs and built relationships with others who were in the decorative bucket field. She was the go to gal in decorative buckets.
Jack wanted the money. He actually wasn’t that passionate about buckets.
Jill, she is different, she inspires others with her decorative buckets, she is so passionate about them it’s easy for her to talk endlessly. Her energy and passion shines.
Jill loves her clients because she took the time to really get to know them, she doesn’t concern herself trying to sell to people who will never be interested in what she offers. Because she offers a free sample and newsletter, she spends time building a relationship with those people, she knows (because they signed up on her website) that they have put their hand up to know more.
She doesn’t waste energy on convincing people that a bucket is a good purchase, she focuses her time on the people who want her services and buckets.
Jill, because of her enthusiasm and passion for buckets, has built her own bucket tribe, people love what she does because they know she has all the information they want. They feel Jill is committed to them having the best buckets and services this side of the hill.
Jill did start a list with a newsletter, all she added was a little mail sign-up form to her website. Jack didn’t do this. He didn’t think he would have the time. Jill loves her list, she spends most of her time thinking about that, she regularly asks people what they want her to give them.
Because of the effort Jill made on finding women who loved and were looking for decorative buckets she increased the number of clients. Because of the effort she made on becoming the expert in decorative buckets and continually giving people value, information, knowledge, ideas etc via emailing her list people would return to her time and time again, and because her time and effort wasn’t wasted chasing everyone she could focus on creating really special services for her clients, increasing her sale.
On a recent hill walk, Jill gave Jack these pointers to turning his business around:
- Specialise in the buckets he loves to sell and that people are wanting to buy.
- Find and meet (on or offline) the people looking for him. Invite them to his website, giving them a reason to visit.
- Spend time looking after the people who have raised their hands to hearing more.
- Create an online space that is informative, educational, fun – whatever suits the market.
- Blog – it is one of the easiest ways to show credibility and expertise, and build relationships.
- Offer other services to give yourself a multiple stream of income.
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