The Power of Personal Experience
“You know what I like best?”
What do you love? Consider the products, service, clothes, foods, cars, purses, technology and anything else you are passionate about. Don’t you naturally tell people about it? How often do others try it themselves? How often do they and up loving it as much as you do?
In 1997 I drove from my home state of Virginia to Utah in my best friends, brand new jeep wrangler. I distinctly remember laying in the backseat with my head on the wheel well like a pillow. The top was down and we were driving across Kansas in the middle of the night. The weather was amazing and I didn't need a jacket or a blanket, they stared up at the stars as we drove. The sky looks so vast in that open Kansas plain. I remember thinking "this is the life.” It didn't take long living in Utah before I bought a jeep of my own. I drove that black 1991 jeep wrangler all over the place, exploring every mountain trail, I could find, setting up campfires, and sleeping under the stars.
Since that time I have owned many more jeeps, and those who know me personally understand my passion for adventure, and this vehicle. I have shared this passion with many others, and I know dozens of people who bought jeeps because of the experiences I shared. Their decision had nothing to do with me, being an influencer of any sort, it had to do with the way I shared my experiences. As I told them stories about the ventures, I have it, as I invited them to join me and experience those adventures first hand, it instilled in them the same desire I had Bring across the country in a jeep so many years ago.
Personal experience is tremendously powerful. And whether you read reviews, watch YouTube tutorials, or simply listen to the advice of friends and family, we all appreciate foreknowledge, when making a buying decision. Here's a few ideas to help your company generate demand using personal experience:
EMPLOYEE PURCHASE PROGRAM
If you don't already have an employee purchase program, you need to start one right away. If you have one, and no one uses it, it's time to change it. And employee purchase program serves two purposes: 1) it is an incentive or reward for your employees. 2) it gives your staff first-hand knowledge of your products and services to make it easier for them to do their job. A sales person can you regurgitate the information on your marketing flyer, but it's not until they say "you know what I like best?” or “at my house we like to…” when the personal story is shared, it generates authenticity that can almost never be achieved in a generic marketing flyer. Consider your support teams. Yes, you can spend hours training them on every possible scenario, but if they have and use your product or service themselves, they will speak from first-hand experience. They won't need to consult the manual to figure out how to toggle that setting or adjust that function, they can just tell you, because they KNOW. Take a good long look at your employee purchase program. You should not be considered as a source of revenue, but an investment in your business. If it doesn't motivate your team members to get your product, then it needs to be better. After all, if your employees won't buy your product with that discount, how on earth do you expect to sell it to customers full price?
FRIENDS AND FAMILY PROGRAM
Everyone loves a great deal, and if your employees are as passionate about your product or service, as we hope they will become, but it only makes sense to give them away to share it with others they know and love. Create a program that properly incentivizes your staff to share. It doesn't have to be something where they earn money, it's even better if the price is low enough that they are eager to get your product or service into the home of every one they know. Let's say you have 10 people working in your office. Summer support, staff, administrators, operations, managers, etc. If each of them convinces, one person to participate in the friends and family program, you would have 20 people using your product. Realistically, we all know more than one other person, so imagine if each of your 10 people convinced 10 more to participate in the friends and family program. Now you have 100 new customers. Imagine, in return for the friends and family discount. They are required to put a positive review about you online. Of those reviews you choose 5 to 10 people to come into the office and record a video testimonial you can share on your social channels. Imagine there are two or three people who are willing to let you come into their home and record a video commercial about how they use your products and why they love them. Imagine the impact all these personal experiences can have on your market.
INFLUENCERS
When it comes to social media, the term influencers is the new way to market. What do they have hundreds or thousands? Or even millions of followers, there are people in your local area that holds sway over the attention of their audience. Ask around, identify these individuals and make an effort to connect with them. Find a way to get your products and services into their hands so they can have a personal experience with them and talk about it. Be prepared to get the product for free, or even to compensate them in someway, but the positive personal experiences they have could be a key to unlock positive reputation and success.
These are just three ideas to help you get the power of personal experience into your marketing. If you want help making these work or want to discuss more ideas, let’s talk!
