It’s been a few weeks since you’ve gotten a new edition of “Let’s Talk Business” in your email’s inbox. And there are a few good reasons for that.
Firstly, I spent some quality time celebrating the Passover holiday with my wonderful family. And in the weeks leading up Passover, I was busy preparing for my trip to Phoenix. You’re probably wondering what exactly Meny Hoffman was doing in the sunny state of Arizona – so I’ll elaborate.
Ptex Group was named an Ultimate Marketer finalist at InfusionCon 2012. This leading small business marketing conference was just held in Phoenix, Arizona, and recognizes companies who’ve created successful campaigns using Infusionsoft, an automated software program popular in the marketing industry.
Our company was a featured presenter at this event and I had the honor of lecturing to over 1,500 attendees from across the USA, Europe, Africa and Asia about how Ptex Group cleverly utilized Infusionsoft to boost our sales and marketing strategies.
But most importantly, I had the opportunity of hearing some of the brightest minds in today’s business world – including New York Times best selling business author Gary Vaynerchuk; Infusionsoft CEO Clate Mask; and 35+ prominent business experts – lecture about better ways to create successful companies, productive employees and loyal customers.
And to sum it up in a nutshell, it all boiled down to one thing: Humanizing your business.
We’re already humanizing our world and everything in it – from personalizing your iPod to accessorizing your car to customizing your clothing.
And that concept of humanization is spreading into everything else as well; we are now on the verge of humanizing logos and businesses and brands. It’s no longer enough to just offer a basic product or service. You’ve now got to add a living, breathing human element to your brand for it to truly stand out and develop a loyal following.
Gary Vaynerchuk put it best when he described to the crowd what he does when a customer unsubscribes from his company’s email list – he calls them.
You read that right.
He picks up the phone, dials their number and says something like this. “Hi, thanks for being a customer of ours. I just wanted to say that we’re sorry to lose you on our email list. Have a great day.”
Then the customer waits for the subsequent hook…the offer…the sales pitch that’ll beg them to stay. But there is none. Because Gary is simply reaching out to them as a fellow human being and letting them know how he feels. And approximately 48% of the people he calls are so shocked and touched by the humanization of Gary’s business call that they request to be put back on his email list.
But if that isn’t impressive enough, this next tidbit most certainly will be: Those 48% proceeded to spend 700% more over the next 6 months than they did in the prior 6 months! Not because they were getting a discount; not because there was a free raffle; but because they were given personalized and humanized treatment that made them feel part of the company.
Sounds impressive, right? Well, that’s because it truly is.
One of the benefits of traveling to Phoenix, Arizona in person instead of watching these lectures online (aside from being asked to give my own live presentation) was to bask in the humanization of it all.
I wanted to get a feel of the humanized aspect at the conference; interact face-to-face with the many other company owners and businesspeople in attendance; and to remind myself that no matter how hi-tech our world gets, there is nothing that will ever replace the human interaction of everyday business.
In closing, I urge you all to make an effort to spend at least one hour a week networking and humanizing with others. Not sure how to go about doing that? Feel free to email me at (meny.hoffman@ptexgroup.com) if you’d like to discuss possible ideas (for those who’d rather talk it over in person, simply include your telephone number). And I promise, of course, that I’ll answer each one of your responses personally.
