The Art of Attracting Business

So, how do you make it happen? The quick answer is that you become incredibly good at what you do. So good that people talk about it. For the Pancake Pantry it's a combination of a great location combined with really good pancakes served by really good people at a fair price. That's it. It's simple, but don't kid yourself that it's easy. It's not. There's no one-size-fits-all template that this or any other book can slap on top of your business to make it successful.

On the one hand, what it takes to make a business magnetic is so simple that it'll make you slap your forehead and think “I knew that!” On the other hand, there are a thousand ways to do it and you have to figure out which ways match up with who you are as a business, your culture, your business model, your strengths, your weaknesses, your competitive advantages and disadvantages, your personality and the personalities of those you work with, your values, your vision, your mission—it's all part of the mix that is distinctly you as a business leader, your colleagues or employees as a team, and all of it together as a business.

Every business is different. We're different in every way imaginable.

Every business is the same. We all want and need customers.

Ideas That Work across the Board

We're going to take a look at magnetic businesses, people, and organizations of all kinds, and see what is truly effective for them in attracting new customers. One of the things I love most about these ideas is that they can help attract business to a huge corporation, a mom and pop business, a law practice, a dance studio, a baseball team, a retail store, a nonprofit organization, a franchise, a consultant, a hospital, or any other kind of business endeavor. These ideas work across the board, and they can work for you.

You're going to discover how people and businesses that are magnetic are making it happen on a consistent basis. You will have light bulbs exploding in your mind as you spot the ideas that feel like a perfect fit for you. It's all good stuff, believe me, but there will be particular ideas and strategies throughout the book that will have you thinking, “That would definitely work for me,” “I can easily adapt that idea to what I do,” and “I can do that beginning right now.”

I have helped nonprofit organizations adapt ideas from manufacturing companies to help them attract more donors. I have worked with banks to adapt strategies from successful hospitals to help them attract more customers. Your best idea is over there. I'm going to show you some of them. Then you take over the creative part and adapt it to what you do to help you to become magnetic.

What's Not in the Book

This book focuses on one thing above all others: creating the experiences that spark the positive word of mouth that will drive new business to you. It is about the attitudes, strategies, and tactics that make that happen.

This book is about what customers say about you. It's not about what you say about you. That's another book and, in fact, there are countless books about marketing, advertising, websites, and what you should say on social media. That's all part of the mix, and posting, tweeting, and linking online with customers is fine, but it's not the focus of this book.

This book is about what matters most—the stories that your customers tell about you, not the stories that you tell about yourself. Your priority should be the experiences you create that cause your customers to, as Deming said, “boast about your product or services.”

It's not just important. It's the most important factor in your business success. This is about what the marketplace tells us is happening.

Here's a sprinkling of the data (more follows in later chapters):

1. 85 percent of fans of brands on Facebook recommend brands to others. (Syncapse)
2. 43 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it through word of mouth on social media. (Nielsen)
3. 77 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it through word of mouth from friends or family. (Nielsen)
4. 81 percent of U.S. online consumers' purchase decisions are influenced by their friends' social media posts. (Market Force)

It IS Your Marketing

Becoming magnetic is a way of thinking about your business so that the work you do, the products you make, and the service you deliver to your customers are no longer separate from your marketing. They are your marketing.

Please take special note of the statistic above: 81 percent of U.S. online consumers' purchase decisions are influenced by their friends' social media posts. Not what the business says on social media, but what customers say about the business on social media. That's the point that so many people in business miss. They spend too much time and thought on what they post on social media, and not nearly enough on improving performance that will positively affect what their customers post about them on social media.

We'll take a lot of different approaches and look at a lot of different perspectives on what it takes to become magnetic. We'll look at companies, businesses, people, and organizations that are seemingly completely unlike you or your business. But they will offer lessons in being magnetic that you can adapt and use immediately to attract business.

Where We're Going

At the end of each of the following chapters, you will find questions meant to provoke thought and action about the ideas in the book. The questions are designed to be useful if you simply ask them just of yourself, but you'll see that they use the pronoun “we” to encourage discussions with your team.

Remember where we're going with all of this. We're going to look at what magnetic companies do, which you can do, to attract business. Remember that the key is what your customers say about you to others. You will create the experiences for them that will drive positive word of mouth, which is the most powerful magnet for business ever known.

Let's go.