To Win, You Must be Willing to Lose

While John is away, Skyon, a master marketing pick-up artist, will be sharing his provocative approach to attracting customers and earning transactions from them.

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As a marketing pick-up artist, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how to attract customers to earn a transaction from them. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the notion that to get a customer, a marketer must be willing to lose a customer.

This advice is counter to practically everything marketers have been taught. We’ve been taught to do whatever it takes to not lose a customer. To always say YES to customers. To always kowtow to every whim of every customer. To always believe every customer knows best.

Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t kowtow to customers. Neither does American Apparel. Both retailers have a strong point of view that repels just as many customers as it attracts. Each company projects images of super-casual and super-sexy to some and images of super-grungy and super-slutty to others. Abercrombie & Fitch and American Apparel aren’t afraid to piss off some customers because they know other customers will be attracted to the style they project.

Costco wins customers by losing customers. Its membership model shuns some customers not willing to pay the yearly membership fee. Costco also goes about its merchandise mix in an altogether different manner. Many retailers are afraid not to offer customers endless variety. Go to Target, you’ll see an aisle full of toothpaste brands in every size imaginable. Go to Costco and you’ll be lucky to see more than one brand of toothpaste and that one brand will come in one size at one unbelievable price. Costco wins customers because they are willing to lose customers. Shoppers at Costco willingly forgo choices for lower prices.

Here’s the dealio, don’t worry if some customers hate your brand. That’s actually a good sign. Starbucks has haters, but they also have fans. Wal-Mart has haters, but they also have fans. MTV has haters, but they also have fans. When your brand has a strong point of view, it will attract some and repel some.

We know a brand cannot be all things to all people. So when a brand is loved by some people, that’s a great thing. And where there is love, there is hate. Where there are winners, there are losers.

As a pick-up artist, you don't always score. When you enter into conversations with the opposite sex (known in the game as "sets"), some people will be attracted to your style and others won't. Pick-up artists are able to see dead-ends before they happen and thus, they jump off one set and open another set. Marketers need to get better at understanding when a customer isn't interested and jump off that set and open another set with a different customer.

Don’t be afraid to showcase your brand’s distinct style and personality because winning brands have a strong point of view that attracts evangelists. And yes marketers, if you do your job correctly, vigilantes will also be present.

Don’t focus on the haters. Focus on the lovers. That’s some of the best advice I’ve learned as a master marketing pick-up artist.

** END OF PART THREE **

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

For someone to even judge your brand that means your doing something right.

[Darrin Dickey]

Perfect timing. I just read Chapter 8 of Punk Marketing last night that covers the subject of trying to be all things to all people.

It's interesting that you mentioned WalMart. They're suffering now because over the last few years they've tried to be one thing (cheap) to ALL people. That doesn't work either.

[NW Guy]

A&F and AA still cater to their customers, just not to all consumers or prospects. That goes for Costco, Target, and the other retailers that you mention.

They have been successful in filtering through all consumers (scanning the room), locking onto the appropriate prospects (choose your criteria) and then working like heck to win the set and change the prospect into their customer.

And for retention, they believe in Dance with the One that brought you ;)

Weak attempt at explaining and working it into your flirting paradigm.

[NW Guy]

A&F and AA still cater to their customers, just not to all consumers or prospects. That goes for Costco, Target, and the other retailers that you mention.

They have been successful in filtering through all consumers (scanning the room), locking onto the appropriate prospects (choose your criteria) and then working like heck to win the set and change the prospect into their customer.

And for retention, they believe in Dance with the One that brought you ;)

Weak attempt at explaining and working it into your flirting paradigm.

[NW Guy]

A&F and AA still cater to their customers, just not to all consumers or prospects. That goes for Costco, Target, and the other retailers that you mention.

They have been successful in filtering through all consumers (scanning the room), locking onto the appropriate prospects (choose your criteria) and then working like heck to win the set and change the prospect into their customer.

And for retention, they believe in Dance with the One that brought you ;)

Weak attempt at explaining and working it into your flirting paradigm.

[Skyon]

@NW Guy -- you sure are slick. How many times did you hit ENTER? Who's weak now bro'?

Anyway, you made my point in your multiple comments that A&F and AA dance with the ones that made then who/what they are. They've picked a customer base and focused on their needs and aren't worried about other customer bases that they could be reaching.

[Shama Hyder]

Polarized brands win fans-and non-fans. Great post! Any tips on how to polarize a more neutral brand?

[Tara]

A while back, someone told me I should change the name of my company. "I would never do business with a company that had the name Zugunruhe!" he said. My reply was "Great!"

Thanks for a great post!
Tara

[Skyon]

@Shama ... my advice on how best to polarize people is to stop trying to the best brand and instead, try to be DIFFERENT. Do anything different to earn opinions from customers. I don't care if that "difference" is perceived as making the brand better because that's so subjective. Just be different. And as that johnmoore says, "Make the Common Uncommon."

[Branding Blog]

In our world we call it developing a brand identity and positioning. If you do those 2 things you'll accomplish the love/hate relationship naturally. We lose potential clients all the time and it's just what we want. Not every client is the right fit for your brand.

[PUA]

Very interesting perspective. Those companies focus on a certain niche. It would be interesting to examine many of the pickup artists as doing the same in seduction. Mystery proclaims that human psychology is all the same, but may reveal that he really is focus on one certain niche of women that gives him great success.