Most Important Marketing Lesson and my Favorite Uncle

Everyone has a favorite uncle. In my case, it’s Uncle Pat. (SHH! Don’t tell my other uncles.)

Uncle Pat was about 10 when I was born, so he was a little more like a brother. Add to it that my dad was a father figure to him… so he spent a lot of time at our house when he was growing up.

Uncle Pat could do no wrong. He was a real hero!

When my little brother was born, my teenaged Uncle stayed with me for a couple days. We hiked in the woods, played Atari, and had a GREAT time just hanging out. He made me a grilled cheese sandwich, and cut it into the shape of Pac Man!

Pat never treated me like I was any different than he was. I never felt like a little kid. He made me feel like I was “one of the guys”. He made me feel valuable. And has done so my entire life. I’ll NEVER forget the way he made me feel.

I’m telling you this story, because my MARKETING TIP for today is this:

People will forget what you say. They will forget what you do. In ten years, they may NOT remember what product or service they purchased from you. But they will ALWAYS remember how you made them feel.

The Marketing Principle behind this is actually a little less positive. Negative marketing is more powerful than positive marketing. Human nature tends to gravitate toward the negative. If you make a customer feel GOOD, he’ll tell a friend. If you make a customer feel BAD, he’ll tell ten friends, and they will tell ten friends.

I can’t TELL you how many times I’ve heard stories about local businesses: “Did you hear about XYZ Inc? My brother’s cousin’s wife’s sister says that they ripped him off.”

Word of Mouth – is the most effective form of advertising, and it’s inverse is extremely damaging.

If you REALLY want to do good advertising, make someone feel valuable, special, and appreciated. It comes back around.

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