Tuesday, May 26 (2020) / 4 min read

“I'm so glad I found you!”

Think about the meaning behind that phrase in the context of business/marketing. There is power and intent nicely wrapped up in that six-word parcel.

This is a meta-idea that transcends the transactional act of merely making a sale. “I loved your [fill in the blank] course!” just isn't the same.

“I'm so glad I found you” is deeper, more encompassing. It's about building relationships. About someone having a non-transactional experience that moved them to respond.

We want to unpack this idea with you over the next few emails leading up to June 1.

To do that, let's start with a foundational concept…

At the most basic level, every business needs to (1) acquire prospects and (2) convert some of those prospects into customers.

Simple, but not easy.

However, when we scratch away the surface layer and peek a bit deeper, we see vast differences in what drives and motivates prospects to become customers.

“Things are not always what they seem; outward form deceives many; rare is the mind that discerns what is carefully concealed within.”
— Plato in Phaedrus

The first insight is that not all customers are created equal.

If you've been in business for any length of time, you'll know this to be true. The worst customers complain a lot. They have a tendency to be eager to refund. Their expectations are never aligned with reality. They're never truly happy.

No one in his/her right mind would willingly choose to have that type of customer or client instead of the alternative.

Every customer starts as a prospect, which leads to the next insight. If we want better customers, we need to move upstream and attract better prospects.

To attract better prospects, we need to emphasize relationships, not transactions.

We've all seen transactional, attention-getting lead/prospect acquisition:

• Click here to download my free report.
• Watch this free video I created (which leads to another free video, and another and — oh look — an offer at the end).
• Download my ‘swipe file', ‘XYZ template', or ‘fill in the blank subject line generator'.
• Sign up to watch my information-packed webinar.
• Just pay shipping and I'll send you my book for free.

Each of these approaches, and many more like them, trains prospects to expect a transactional exchange of value.

“I'll give you my free report if you give me your email address” (or I'll give you my ‘free' book if you pay 3x what it costs to ship it to you).

Implicit in that message is that the prospect has to give first.

(Shawn's father used to tell his students a story about an old man telling his fireplace “give me more heat and I'll give you more wood…”)

Compare that to relationship-based lead acquisition.

Instead of offering something bright and shiny in exchange for attention, we're giving value first.

That value appears in many forms, including:

• Insights that explain a prospect's frustration with his/her status quo.
• Accessible, understandable, and actionable experience and wisdom.
• The promise of a better future in ways that are meaningful to the prospect.
• Shifts in perspective that lead to “ah-ha!” moments.

The relationship is built first, with no expectation of a transactional exchange of value. That relationship pulls the prospect forward rather than pushing her along from one point of conversion to the next.

Sphere of Influence, at its core, is a how-to manual for audience-focused relationship building.

It begins with understanding what your audience wants, and then carefully, step by step, crafts a world where that desire is possible.

That world pulls prospects forward without asking for something in exchange first.

The right people — the ones who will become amazing customers — are drawn to the world you've created. And the wrong people — the ones who will become difficult customers — are repelled.

AutoResponder Madness builds on this new world.

It continues moving the narrative arc forward leading the right prospects — who will become happy, long-term, repeat customers — to a transaction only after the relationship has been established.

Together, their power is not additive, it's explosive. Tomorrow we'll explain how 1 + 1 can equal 5, 9, 15, or more…

By the way: if you have questions, or if you wanna share an insight you had, head to the comments section here.

P.S.

If this email resonated with you, and you feel someone you know, or people you lead, will dig it too, you can be a hero to them by sending them here.