There’s been a lot of talk over the past few years about customer loyalty. But let’s take a moment to look at what customer loyalty really is and what it really means.

I’ve heard a couple of people talk about this over the years.

I remember listening to a CD from one of Dan Kennedy’s seminars where he asked everyone to stand up in the room and talk about why they were here. Many of them had also learnt from other marketing gooroos as well… and been to their seminars.

Hence, he pointed out, they were not loyal.

And nor can you expect loyalty.

John DeMartini sums this concept up incredibly well. He says that people will be loyal to their most important values.

For instance, let’s say you’re an accountant and you have a client who’s number one value is that you save him money on his tax. For as long as you can keep doing that better than anyone else he knows, you’ll maintain the relationship.

But truth is – he’s not necessarily being loyal to you. He’s being loyal to his value to save money on tax. Just try not saving him money and see how long he hangs around for.

It’s true, isn’t it?

Think of yourself as a consumer: you are not loyal to any one department store or supermarket. You are loyal to the values that shopping experience gives you.

It might be freshness… convenience or money saving for a supermarket.

It might be money savings for a department store where you go to buy clothes for your family.

If you have a baby, the most important value to you might be safety when buying a car. So you might opt for a volvo instead of another car which you’ve purchased all your life, simply because your values have changed.

You can see this playing out all the time. Our attention goes where our values are held. For instance, if I go for a walk in the shopping centre with my wife, I am always drawn to the things which I hold dear as my values: particularly book shops, newsagencies and coffee shops. My wife will be more interested in shops for our little boy and dress shops.

At the end of the day, values are what drives all of our behaviour.

And we’ll always be loyal to our values. Not to a particular company or product.

So what does this mean to you as a business owner?

It means you should work out what your customers hold dear by doing surveys… talking to them… and identifying what’s most important. And then creating products and services which meet those values.

That’s what I did when I created More Customers Made Easy – I created this product because my research indicated the most important thing to my clients was getting more customers. I also identified the fact most people were time poor and sick and tired of working in their business rather than on their business.

In essence, I matched my product to the values which were most important to my clients by providing step-by-step templates and real examples so every customer generating strategy could be implemented quickly and easily.

And you should do the same with your customers…identify their values

provide products and services based around their values (you might want to learn the art of writing an effective sales message by checking this out )

And never expect customer loyalty – because that’s an impossible game to win.

All for now,

Scott Bywater
Copywriting That SELLS
Suite 21, Seabridge House
377 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
1300 88 21 91

Had a good question from a reader a week or two ago and I am going to cover it here.

Scott,

I am recently a new addition on your mailing list and listen and read with interest (and appreciation) what you have to say. Thank you.

I have a simple question…

The reference to “”ugly”" sales letters as a “”preferred”" approach to selling products or services i.e. which may be long with few images ….. does this also apply to websites?… Should they be “”ugly too”" and in letter  format? ….. A website is a selling tool too of course, but is usually more colourful etc. Should websites still be colourful and more pleasing to the eye maintaining that style, or do they go the ugly way too?

I’m a bit confused on that and would be grateful for some sort of clarification there… I’m just starting out on re-viewing my marketing approach pretty dramatically vis-a-vis website(with audio) and sales letters and so on, on the internet…

Many thanks for any comments,

Bruce Renowden, Property Buying Services

S.B. Bruce, so glad you asked this question. To answer, let me tell you a story about a fight which broke out at my school when I was in year eight. As teenagers, boys are full of testosterone, and my school was no different.

Anyway, one day we heard there was a fight, so we all ran down to the oval to watch it. And everyone thought there would be a clear winner. One guy looked like a body builder… ripped muscles… tough… and would often be seen walking around with his shirt off to impress.

The other guy was strong. But he certainly didn’t look as tough as the bodybuilder guy.

Everyone thought the bodybuilding guy would win.

Everyone was wrong.

The other guy surprised everyone and won easily.

The message is that you should never listen to the average person when considering which piece of sales copy will win. Because the average person is inevitably wrong.

When writing copy for your web site, there’s a few things you need to keep in mind. Firstly, the benefit you have over print is that you don’t have to pay for excess colour. As a result, you may as well use it.

You should also look at testing the use of video… audio… and any other tools at your disposal to maximise  your conversion.

I have seen a 200 word script of video copy increase the conversion of a web site by as much as 30% without changing a word of the copy. I have lifted the conversion of my own sites by 20% through not changing a word of the copy, but simply by making it more visually appealing.

And I do think the use of such things as images and visuals can increase response. For instance, if you click here you’ll notice I use photos, pull out boxes, red headlines, hand writing throughout the copy, images and a blue signature.

Essentially, I should also add video and audio on this web site … which would no doubt increase the conversion. I just have to make the time to do it.

But don’t get carried away with the visuals. My site is still an “”ugly”" site if you compare it to a site designed by a professional graphic designer. But the odds are an ugly site with a strong sales message will pull better than a great looking site with a poor sales message.

The key to getting results is to learn how to sell. And if you want to know how to sell in print, I suggest you check this site out because it will walk you through EVERYTHING you need to know to write a kick-butt sales letter that will work ONLINE and OFFLINE.

All for now,

Scott Bywater

Would you like a nagging wife?

There’s no tax. No registration. However this asset comes with very high maintenance and some rust.

No, I’m not talking about my wife. I’d be in BIG TROUBLE if I ever wrote anything like that

I’m referring to an ad written by Gary Bates and placed in Trade-It magazine – a magazine normally used to
buy & sell cars.

But here’s the kicker. He didn’t think anyone would take the offer seriously, however nine or ten people called him to see if he was available.

I’m sure he got an ear bashing from his wife. But according to an article in “”The Week”" (an awesome new magazine which overcomes the ‘information overload we are all suffering from and sums up all the news into less than 50 A4 pages) she can see the funny side now.

Just goes to show the written word can be used to sell or generate leads for virtually anything.

That’s why I laugh when I hear the all too common comment: BUT MY BUSINESS IS DIFFERENT.

Of course, every business is different. And you may take a slightly different approach if you’re looking to sell a pair of shoes than a house. A consulting service to a niche product on breeding parrots. But human psychology is essentially the same.

And you’ll find I cater to every conceivable kind of industry when you get your hands on More Customers Made Easy

By the way, while we’re on the subject of wives, let me tell you a thing or two about how I met my beautiful wife, Helen.

I was living in a share house at the time. There were druggies there… and it was a real down and out type of energy. I had no money. No job. And was only just paying the rent. Then I received a call from a friend one Friday night and decided to go to the Bridge Bar in Sydney.

When I got there I looked across the room and saw a beautiful sight. And no, I am not talking about the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I’m talking about a blonde bombshell who accepted me as I am (really bad sense of dress and all – honestly, at the time, I probably wasn’t a ‘great catch’ by traditional standards) and whom I love to this day.

She is beautiful. Intelligent. Passionate. Loyal. Honest. Organised. Fun. Joyous. A great mother. And a great friend. I could go on and on.

And yes, I do believe that beside a successful man there is often a great woman. Things have certainly turned around for me since that fateful December evening.

And NO… she is not for sale. NOT at any price.

However if you’re in the mood to buy something anyway, why don’t you try this link or this one

All for now

Scott Bywater

P.S. I once heard a great concept for having an awesome relationship. Can’t say I am very good at following it, but I am going to do it today.

Every day, think of one thing you can do for your wife & kids that will add more joy to their world.

Make that a ritual – and you cannot help but have a better relationship, right?