“Most of the C’s you think of when you think of sales and marketing are unnecessary - you don’t need cleverness, charm, charisma, clout, creativity, catchiness… none of that. It's about tapping into what truly motivates someone. What do people respond to? What fuels them toward action?”
- Stacy Rust
Stacy Rust is a Minneapolis-based sales and marketing strategist. She works with entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives on the details of positioning, selling, and building a strong, long term community of customers.
From locally-owned shops to multi-million dollar brands, she helps organizations around the globe craft relevant, effective, and profitable marketing strategy.
"There is no such thing as an attention span. There is only the quality of what you are viewing. This whole idea of an attention span is, I think, a misnomer. People have an infinite attention span if you are entertaining them." - Jerry Seinfeld
One of the biggest myths of marketing is that customers have a short attention span, and that companies must dazzle, captivate, and impress an audience to motivate a purchase.
Attention actually isn't a mystery, and the dynamics of attention can be learned and practiced like anything else. You don't need to be a creative genius to get people to listen to you, or buy from you. There's no reason to battle for customer attention, or fight to be in constant contact with your audience. It can be easier than all of that.
Contrary to what we all learn on Mad Men, you don’t have to captivate a customer with a juicy tagline, or put together a catchy, memorable one-liner. You don’t need to schmooze or charm or win anyone over with personality or clout. If you’re spending time on strategies like this, you’re most likely working too hard and earning too little.
Stacy's work in marketing, at its core, is an in-depth look at all the tiny details of what people want. Her philosophy is rooted deeply in psychology. It's about what customers respond to, what they avoid, what draws us all in, and what pushes us away. Marketing and sales motivation is about who we are and what drives us, and if you're going to be in business, it's vital to understand these factors.
In every company, there are 4 strategies for bringing in more customers: Differentiation, Sales Motivation, Momentum, and Outreach. Take the free Marketing Assessment to find out which of these 4 strategies your company should be focusing on right now.
Read more posts in the archives.