As you know, great customer service is rare which is why you want to reward it each and every time you come across it via a referral or testimonial. Today’s post is one such case study – Magnetite, a company dedicated to sound proofing homes and offices. We’ve been living in Sydney’s CBD for over 10 years, in a sub-penthouse unit with a clear and unobstructed view of Sydney Harbour clear to the heads with a spectacular city view. The last thing we want is to have to move because of ambient city noise.

A few years ago, several buildings around us have created ‘echo chambers’ that focus and concentrate ambient city noise thus amplifying it substantially – to the point of disturbing our sleep at night. We searched high and wide for someone to solve the problem, seeking out sound specialists, consulting a specialist architect… To no avail.

That’s when Adrian Lafleur of Magnetite came into the picture. We were armed with acoustic readings of the noise we were experiencing – we had a noise expert leave a meter overnight to capture the different sounds and frequencies. Noise is all about two things – decibels or volume and frequency – high (dolphin squeak) versus low (whale sounds).

The solution was a double glazed enclosure that was colour-matched to the existing window frame which was installed in one day with no mess and no damage to our unit. This is important because every other tradie that’s come into our unit has left an unwanted mark/reminder.

The reason this is a great customer service case study is because: Read More »»

Every year, we stage the Exponential Business Building Bootcamp which is 3 full-on days where entrepreneurs and business people get together to learn the best strategies that are proven and tested to work. Each time it’s staged, there is new content, examples and case studies from real Australian businesses just like yours. Case studies that defy the odds and in some cases are so astonishing that unless you met the business owner face-to-face to ask him or him how she did it, you’d never believe it was possible let alone THAT EASY.

That being said, HUNDREDS of people have attended Bootcamps, but only DOZENS have attended more than once. Most people think once the box is ticked, that’s it. “They know it all.”

That’s like thinking one tennis lesson is enough to make you Roger Federer or Serena Williams.

Today’s post is two examples from multiple Bootcamp attendees…

Business Growth Strategy Case Study #1: Bree Robbins of Paddington Pups

At the Bootcamp, I use antimimeticisomorphism examples that show how thinking differently can trigger innovative and creative ideas. One of the images was appropriate for Bree since she owns a doggy day care in Brisbane. The day after the Bootcamp, I sent her the impossible dog photo along with some links and voila! We both optimised our search engine rankings.

On the last night of every Exponential Business Building Bootcamp there is a session on Internet Strategies where participants can ask any question to increase their online traffic, sales and/or conversions. The Internet Marketing Strategies we teach are proven and tested for real brick and mortar businesses – not the spam0like ‘link building’ and other affiliate marketing strategies associated with get rich quick schemes. The strategies we teach are based on leveraging my 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine.

Business Growth Strategy Case Study #2: Gavin Buckett – The Gourmet Guardian

Another Exponential Growth Strategy, among the HUNDREDS covered at the Exponential Business Building Bootcamp is the strategy of preeminence. We spend all morning of day one covering all the tips and techniques to make sure you become the ultimate source of information, knowledge and expertise in your industry or market. The reasons you want to do this are beyond today’s blog post, but what I wanted to show you is how a multi-award winner takes action.

As part of  the Exponential Business Building Bootcamp there is Pre Program Preparation™ and Post Program Planning™ that ensures participants get the maximum out of the event. Today, Gavin responded to message #9 with the following:

“The statistic I found WHILE AT THE BOOTCAMP is that out of 2070 members of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST), only 25 (1%) have a cooking qualification/ experience. That means that 99% of my professional competitors have not worked in kitchens and food businesses.

Bare that in mind when you next go to the supermarket and try something new – 99% of food technologists have no practical cooking experience.”

Gavin Buckett is The Gourmet Guardian – an Australian Food Safety Specialist. You have to admit that with a quote like this (which he has started to use in his advertising and promotional material), you are positively predisposed to consider him more of an expert. That is one of the many reasons his business is growing by more than 200% per annum. He has attended the Exponential Business Building Bootcamp 4, maybe 5 times and each time gets additional distinctions to take his sales and profitability one level higher.

These two case studies show you first-hand how quick, easy and inexpensive these strategies are – that is the beauty and elegance of Exponential Marketing Strategies. You don’t need a multi-million dollar advertising budget – you just need to THINK and ACT EXPONENTIALLY. Contact us to find out how you can join the Platinum Program – it’s not just a great program, we guarantee that for every $1 you invest, you’ll make $3 – GUARANTEED!

This is a classic advertising story that is worthy of repetition. It’s not just funny, but exceptionally valuable when you extract from it lessons that you can leverage from it. Enjoy!

A barber had been noticing that his clients had been dropping off slowly over the last eighteen months or so. He blamed the economy and people moving on and such things and just kept plodding on as you would expect.

The last straw for him was when,  just two doors down from his barber shop, someone opened up another barber shop! His competitor put up signage all over the front of the store windows announcing “hair cuts $5” .

When they opened, there were people spilling out the door lining up for haircuts. This went on for days and as you can guess his clients dropped off dramatically to the point that he decided that he would rather sit at home watching Oprah than do hair cuts for five dollars. He even decided he would close down his shop at the end of the week.

That afternoon, a gentleman walked in and asked if he could get a hair cut. The barber warned him that he charged fifteen dollars. The gentleman said that’s fine as he did not have time to stand in line and wait two hours for the barber two doors down .

After he finished the gentleman stood up looked and thanked the barber for a really good haircut. He also said he would be back next time he needed a trim because he was very satisfied with his haircut. That’s when the barber advised him that he was going to close his shop because he couldn’t compete with $5 hair cuts.

The gentleman looked at him smiled and asked “If I can increase the number of clients, would you be willing to pay me two hundred dollars?” The barber said he would only have two days to do it since he was going to close the shop on the third day. The gentleman confidently said that would not be as issue. The barber could not help but like this cocky guy in a suit and since it was only two hundred dollars, he thought he really didn’t have much to lose.

The next day, when the barber showed up, there were people waiting for him to open his door! They continued to stream in all day his phone was ring hot taking bookings! He was so busy that by the end of the day, he was exhausted. He could not remember ever being that busy.

The next day the same thing happened and about lunch time the gentleman walked in smiling and asked how things were going. The barber told him about all the clients and bookings and asked him what he did to change things around so quickly -  hoping he hadn’t done anything illegal. The gentleman smiled and assured the barber that everything was OK and that after work there would be something out the front of the store for him.

That night, the barber walked out the front of his shop and saw an A frame – he could not stop laughing when he read what was written:

FIVE DOLLAR HAIRCUTS FIXED HERE

This is a totally exponential strategy – but here are a few questions I have for you.

• How can you use this story to your advantage?
• How can you leverage someone else’s efforts in a legal and morally acceptable way?
• How can you make the most of your marketing budget to get the very best results?

A lot of people have either heard this story or others similar to it. They get a laugh and move on to something else.

Very few learn the lesson. Very few learn HOW to leverage something like this.

That’s what I teach my clients to do, as their business coach, adviser or mentor. I explain to them that this is not just a funny story. It’s a lesson to be learned and applied. I then usually explain via one of my case study examples or one from a client.  In this case, I heard this story and used it to close a $250,000 sale to a top 50 ASX company.

I know you’d love to know how I did that, but sorry – I keep that information for my Platinum Members!

The thing about having an Exponential Mindset is not just thinking differently, but making sure you walk the thought. That only happens when you’re taught how to translate a great story like this one INTO a practical system and process that you can use in your own business.

Otherwise, it’s just another fun story to tell mates over a cold beer at your local.

If you want someone to help you turn things around, like the barber – contact us and we’ll show you how to get people lining up at your shop front door, into your business or if you’re online – visiting your website.

Google “transactional marketing” or “relationship marketing” and you’ll get thousands of hits with titles like “relationship marketing vs transaction marketing”. Basically, transactional marketing is thought of as a thing of the past, while relationship marketing is the bright future that businesses should be striving towards.

Transactional Relationship Marketing: The Cost Effective and Environmentally Friendly Strategy

Transactional Marketing

“Transactional marketing is an approach that focuses upon one-off exchanges with consumers.”

“Transactional marketing: Orientation towards single purchase. Limited direct customer / supplier contact. Focus on product benefits. Emphasis on near-term performance. Limited level of customer service. Goal of customer satisfaction. Quality a manufacturing responsibility.”[ii]

Relationship Marketing

“Relationship marketing is a business philosophy which aims to develop strong relationships with a range of stakeholders, such as suppliers, media, intermediaries and public organisations, as well as with customers.”

“Relationship marketing is a form of marketing that emerged in the 1980s, in which emphasis is placed on building longer term relationships with customers rather than on individual transactions. It involves understanding the customers’ needs as they go through their life cycles. It emphasizes providing a range of products or services to existing customers as they need them.”

The new kid on the block is a strategy called Transactional Relationship Marketing, or TRM. This is a process trademarked by direct mail company, Hermes Precisa (HPA).

Transactional Relationship Marketing Read More »»

I recently spoke at the 2010 Food Services Australia Show. I presented a summary of “How To Market Your Restaurant To Fill Your Empty Tables”. This all came about because of the 2010 Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year Winner, Gavin Buckett, also known as the Gourmet Guardian, Australia’s premier Food Safety Specialist and HACCP Certification Expert who put me in contact with the show organisor.

One of the things I didn’t have time to cover is why a restaurant needs to be on the Internet – trust me, it’s not what you think!

Watch this 3-minute video to find out what 95% of people on the Internet don’t know… that can make the difference between a restaurant full of paying customers and one filled with empty tables.

I have to admit this is one of my pet peeves… People not answering their emails. Here’s the thing – I’ve done an informal analysis and I can make this claim with absolute anecdotal certainty. Your success in business is directly proportional to your responsiveness, follow-up and follow-through of your emails. I can without a doubt, pin-point a struggling business person or entrepreneur when it takes them DAYS to respond to an email. Of course notwithstanding annual leave or illness.

I mean it – Anyone that I know who is struggling financially or professionally (and I don’t know that many) EVERY SINGLE ONE has appalling email communication skills.

There, I said it.

Now I feel better. But y’know what? It doesn’t matter that you tell these people that in 2010 it’s unacceptable that they take 3, 4, 5 or more days to respond to a PERSONAL – non mass broadcast email.

They are DINOSAURS.

They are completely and totally obsolete – they just don’t know it yet.

Their suspects, prospects and clients know it – they are dealing with other more RESPONSIVE companies.

I know I am.

I have ‘left’ at least 3 unresponsive companies/suppliers since the beginning of this year alone. Not because they can’t offer the product or service, but because they can’t and won’t respond quickly enough.

These dinosaurs have no idea that EXTINCTION is around the corner…

Here’s the thing – let’s put them out of their misery more quickly — QUIT USING ANYONE WHO DOESN’T RESPOND QUICKLY ENOUGH AND REWARD THE GO GETTERS WITH MORE WORK!

I know that’s what I’m doing and that’s what I am suggesting my clients do – to get BETTER results, in today’s inter-connected world and economy, it’s a MUST.

If you don’t know how to get through all your emails – you need to join my Platinum Program. I have already revealed at least 10 email management tips on my various blogs over the past 2-3 years… If those haven’t worked – you need hands-on assistance!

Sam Kritsotakis of Eskae Jeweller recently won one of six prestigious Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards. After-the-fact people often look ‘back’ and realise how obvious it is… Which is why I wanted to share with you one of the many Exponential Marketing Strategies we’ve taught him – leveraging case studies. Click on the hyperlink to read the case study that Sam has created.

You’ll quickly get involved in the situation his clients were faced with, one that is often quite intimidating for people who are focused on getting married or celebrating an anniversary. Making the right decision when it comes to customised jewellery is not easy. Sam, with his private studio makes the process personal, intimate and stress-free.

Leveraging case studies is one of the many exponential strategies I teach my Business Mastery Platinum Program Members to help them grow their businesses leveraging the 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine that wins them awards, but more importantly wins their clients hearts.

Yes, you read correctly, there will be one final curtain call for The Exponential Extravaganza, on Saturday, 3 July from 10 AM to 5 PM to accommodate non-Sydneysiders to fly in and out on the day. Click the event hyperlink to register, it’s rare you get a second chance like this.

If you considered attending the first time around, make it happen now -> click here <- to register.

When you go to the event page you can read about all the elements that I cover, but fundamentally, you want to attend for one reason and one reason only. To learn how to think like a champion, a winner. That’s all there is to it. The full day event covers the 4 dimensions of an Exponential Mindset because it’s a holistic approach, not a bunch of hit or miss tactics.

When you think Exponentially, you start to act Exponentially and your results become Exponential – which simply means INCREASING at an INCREASING rate.

If you want the best results with the least amount of effort and want to TEST DRIVE EXPONENTIAL STRATEGIES – Saturday’s your second chance!

Click here to check out what it’s all about and register.

SYDNEY, 7 June, 2010 – Exponential Programs announces the winners of its inaugural 2010 Exponential Entrepreneur Awards presented to entrepreneurs and business people who have demonstrated excellence deploying exponential strategies in their business by profitably creating exceptional value for their clients in a manner that is both measurable and sustainable.

The winners will be presented their awards at a series of Exponential Extravaganza events to be held in Brisbane (June 5), Melbourne (June 19) and Sydney (June 26).

Bree Robbins – Paddington Pups Category: Queensland Service Industry

Gavin Buckett – The Gourmet Guardian Category: Victoria Service Industry

Ray Keefe – Successful Endeavours Category: Engineering Consultant

David Conroy – The Lone Drainer And Pronto! Category: New South Wales Service Industry

Sam Kritsotakis – Eskae Jeweller Category: New South Wales Start Up

The Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards will be presented in Brisbane on Saturday 5 June, in Melbourne on Saturday 19 June and in Sydney on Saturday 26 June at the Exponential Extravaganza events. It covers the 4 pillars of an Exponential Mindset: Business, Internet, Professional and Personal Mastery Principles. Attend to find out how you can become an award-winning business entrepreneur and get the results that go with it!

This is a question that is best answered by another question to illustrate it VIVIDLY. Would you rather have $100,000 today or 1 cent that doubles every day for 30 days? Click on the hyperlink to find out the answer to what exponential really means. At the upcoming Exponential Extravaganza, I’m going to cover the 4 dimensions of Exponential Mindset Thinking and Mastery that is all about having fun, doing out-of-the-ordinary things that create extra-ordinary results with the least amount of effort and lowest cost.

But here’s the thing…

This is the ONLY Free event I’m doing in 2010. It’s the ONLY chance to test drive the strategies you’ve been reading about on this and my other blogs.

The reason I’m doing this FREE event one last time is to make sure I give everyone in my database the chance to come see me LIVE at my cost ONE LAST TIME.

At this event, we’re going to launch our new Apple App, release a song as well as a few other prizes and surprises…

When all is said and done, if you’ve enjoyed reading this blog, why not head on down to one of the events and come say hello in person?

After all – you’ll be spending the day with other Exponential Mindset enthusiasts, a great way to invest a Saturday!

Go to http://www.exponentialprograms.com/extravaganza and book your FREE ticket while they remain available. In fact, you should book a Premium seat for $97 to ENSURE and GUARANTEE you have a seat. We actually expect the PREMIUM seats to FILL the room… Of course we’ll let you know when that happens, but I wouldn’t take the risk if I were you…

Today’s short YouTube Video shows you what an antimimeticisomorphic marketing person can come up with to promote women’s bras and undergarments. It’s tasteful, different and gets people’s attention by INVOLVING them in the process.

COIMBATORE KRISHNARAO PRAHALAD, universally known as C.K., was the most creative management thinker of his generation. He revolutionised thinking on two big subjects, business strategy and economic development, and made a significant contribution to a third, innovation. His admirers were legion, including bosses of some of the world’s biggest companies, heads of NGOs and founders of scrappy start-ups, not to mention MBA students the world over including yours truly.

Mr Prahalad burst onto the management scene with two path-breaking articles in the Harvard Business Review, “Strategic Intent” (1989) and “The Core Competence of the Corporation” (1990), and a bestselling book, “Competing for the Future” (1996), all co-written with his former pupil, Gary Hamel. “Core competence” remains one of the most frequently reprinted articles ever published by Harvard Business Review.

Click the URL to read the Economist Magazine’s summary of his stellar career and contribution to management thinking.

If you have never heard of C.K. Prahalad, it’s a shame because he’s given countless entrepreneurs the ‘keys to the vault’ – I integrate his teachings and methodologies within my Platinum Program curriculum.

I will be revealing some of my secret strategies at an upcoming series of events in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, I call it the Exponential Extravaganza because of the smorgasbord of stuff that I’m going to include… It’s the only chance you can get exposure to what and how I can guarantee RESULTS for my top clients.

I actually guarantee that for every $1 invested, my clients will make $3. I can’t do that unless my strategies work. They work because I not only learn stuff that most people never come across, but I APPLY what I learn in real-life situations. To learn more, come to the Exponential Extravaganza.

Today’s post is the second of a two-part list of 20 Tips to Boost Your Direct Mail Response. Direct Mail is still a very effective way to market your products and services. To learn the art and science of Direct Marketing, you should consider our Killer Kopywriting System.

10 More Tips To Boost Your Direct Mail Response Part 2 Of 2

Read More »»

Today’s post is the first of a two-part list of 20 Tips to Boost Your Direct Mail Response. Direct Mail is still a very effective way to market your products and services. To learn the art and science of Direct Marketing, you should consider our Killer Kopywriting System.

20 Tips To Boost Your Direct Mail Response Part 1 Of 2

Read More »»

This 4 minute YouTube video takes a fun approach to resolving the challenge of breaking the language barrier in selling to non-English speaking prospects… Sometimes the obvious is well… obvious!

Entrepreneurship is a 24-7 job. It requires the willingness to look at different perspectives and the ability to generate new ideas. Modern entrepreneurs need to be flexible enough to keep up with technology and to recognize and adapt to changes in the market. They need intuition and resilience in the face of obstacles. Unfortunately, most of these skills are not taught in business school. In fact, many business classes hinder the development of entrepreneurial skills.

Bowling Green University recently tested the entrepreneurial skills of two different groups of business students. One group consisted of students who had experience running their own business, and the other was a control group that had only regular classroom instruction. The study tested the students in three areas vital to entrepreneurship; overall business capability, the ability to embrace uncertainty, and the skills to start up a company. The results of the study showed that entrepreneurs test higher in every category.

The entrepreneurs’ overall business capability was 7% higher than the students, they rated 4% higher in risk taking, and 2% higher in start up skills.

Read More »»

Today’s post is yet another example of how the little things make a BIG difference. As you probably know, I love dogs even though I don’t have any because of my ‘jet set’ lifestyle… Recently, I visited the puppies and dogs at Paddington Pups Doggy Day Care in Brisbane (video below). While I was there, I made a few suggestions to Bree Robbins, Paddington Pups owner and Platinum Program graduate. Here’s how she went…

From ZERO Sales To Sold Out In 3 Weeks

Paddington Pups is a Doggy Day Care and Pet Supplies shop. Since we specialise in dogs, I got my hands on Cesar Millan’s the Dog Whisperer Series 1 and 2 DVD sets to sell at the shop. I was excited to be able to stock these for my clients since I know (first hand) that several of them have training and obedience issues with their dogs.

When I ordered in the first and second series I also ordered a “Display Stand”. I was expecting this to be big so it would stand out. However when it arrived, it was not only tiny, it didn’t say anything about the second series. I was quite disappointed to say the least.

After over two weeks, I hadn’t sold a single DVD series.  Now you might be thinking that’s fine but this was the end of November, early December which is the perfect time for people to purchase gifts like this for themselves and/or friends and family.

That’s when Marc came in for a visit and you know what that means – exponential ideas galore!

Marc suggested that I create a bigger, more obvious display to highlight this popular and much sought-after product.

As with anything Marc suggests, I thought about it and discussed it with my husband. Later that night, Ross was on Google looking for a good quality image we could use to create own display poster.

Next he went to our local print shop had the poster printed and laminated in A3 format all for under $50.

Within the next 3 weeks, I sold 4 copies of season one and 6 copies of season two at full price with no discounting. That’s what’s powerful about Marc’s advice. Most consultants would discount the price whereas Marc thinks one step ahead – the ONLY reason no one bought the DVDs was because they didn’t know I had stock. Marc knows The Dog Whisperer Series is a high-value item that is sought after and does not require discounting to sell.

Once I had my new poster up in full view of my clients, several confirmed they didn’t know I had The Dog Whisperer Series with Cesar Millan. In fact, most confirmed what I thought – that they hadn’t been able to find them anywhere.

So not only was I not selling any, I had clients WILLING AND LOOKING for the product I had in stock.

That hurts just writing it. I don’t know about you, but I want to sell as much inventory as I can, as quickly as I can. I consider myself a smart woman, but clearly I wasn’t being smart about this product promotion even though in hindsight it’s self-evident.

That’s what I appreciate about Marc’s advice – not only does he have a view from the ‘outside’, he understands people who buy. His Exponential Mindset is all about making it easy for people to buy from you.

Thanks Marc for your help once again – Come back again soon!

Bree Robbins
Business Entrepreneur

I don’t know about you, but every once in a while something like this comes around and you want to reach out and shake  Matt’s hand – for doing something that was so obvious, but took so much time and effort…

The ketchup packet has been around for more than 40 years, and complaints about it for nearly as long: too messy, too small, too hard to open.

Read More »»

Recently, I attended the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games and I came across this story about one of Canada’s top franchises that banned a disruptive client from its stores.

I don’t know the details of the story, but I like the fact that the retailer made the decision it wanted to make – to get rid of a disruptive client.

Read More »»

Ian Faulkner sent me this YouTube link – everyone says to think outside the box, but when you’re antimimeticisomorphic, you want to consider thinking INSIDE the box! This video is self-evident, but the lesson for YOU might not be. What can you do to turn the proverbial box inside-out? What can you do to attract attention to your product/service? What is your ‘box’?!?!

I call this Twisting The Kube™ and it’s one of the Exponential Mindset strategies that I teach my clients.

It’s easier said than done. I get that.

If if was ‘easy’ everyone would do it.

But here’s the thing – it can be learned.

The fastest, easiest way is to get your hands on my Marc-Ka-Ching Kube™. Within the first few days of Twisting The Kube™, you’ll start to recognise that your thinking is shifting – faster and more easily than you thought possible.

But I have to be honest with you… Read More »»