Ah, that new car smell. Ah, yip, we finally bought a new car, actually bought it about a month ago, but we are not here to talk about our new car, we're actually here to talk about your nose and the amazing things it can teach us about consumer behavior. 

That new car smell...

On Sunday, my brother-in-law got into the car in the back seat, took a deep breath and said, "Ah, that new car smell." The weird thing is I don't smell it anymore.

Have you ever wondered why your house doesn't smell weird but everybody else's does? Or why you can't smell your own bad breath?

Well in order to answer this question and understand what it has to do with the modern consumer, let's get into our noses and our brains to understand what happens when you smell a new scent.

Immediately when I hang this new air freshener, odor molecules waft through the air into the odor receptors in my nose.

These receptors send a signal to my brain where I have to identify the scent and decide what to do about it....

There is a powerful force at work on every one of the customers you target and just understanding it can increase your margins, increase your revenue, generate more leads and build a bigger business. What is this mysterious force and what does it do? 

When is the last time you went on vacation?

Just think about that for a second and I want you to think about, when were you happiest? Were you happiest before you left for vacation, while you were on vacation or after you returned from vacation?

This sounds like a silly question, of course you were happiest while you were on vacation. Well, maybe not.

A few years ago, a group of Dutch researchers got together to answer this question, and what they found points at the force that drives our entire consumer culture. It turns out, we are happiest for up to eight weeks before we go on vacation. Yes, you heard that right, eight weeks.

Now why would this be? How could a traveler be more happy before they leave for vacation than while...

My business revolves around conversation. Talking directly to clients, delivering keynote speeches and catching up with members of the audience afterwards, talking to you guys right now and in the comments section 

It’s chat, chat, chat, and I love it. It’s the best way to truly connect with people, to find out what makes them tick, and to find out how I can help.

It’s also why I’m so interested in chatbots and experts’ claims that chatbot computer programs can “simulate and process human conversation, either written or spoken, allowing humans to interact with digital services as if they were communicating with a real person.”

As if they were communicating with a real person…that’s a bold claim, right? And it’s a claim that, if it’s true, is likely to revolutionize our vital business conversations.

So here’s what I want to know: are chatbots living up to the hype?

Welcome back to Chatbot Theater

If...

Don’t you just love a good customer conversation? It’s the perfect opportunity to connect, to serve, to help, and yes, it’s your chance to sell.

And according to the experts, this is the year it’s all going to get a whole lot easier as chatbots take over the conversations, freeing up your time and cutting your customer support costs.

Only, those of you that caught the last two episodes of Chatbot Theater know that it’s not as simple as that...

You see, the real benefit of chatbots is that — in theory — they’re able to simulate and process human conversation so well, you feel like you’re communicating with a real life person.

But over the past two weeks I’ve been hanging out with my comedy improv heroes, Free Tacos, and they’ve been performing scripts of actual chatbot conversations.

And the results haven’t been spectacular

On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is super-robot-like, and 10 is totally-believable-human, I...

Chatbots are billed as one of THE hottest developments in marketing right now. Yup, by the end of the year we’ll all be using them, our sales will be off the charts, and we’ll save a whole bunch of cash on our customer support services.

And why do chatbots supposedly work so well? Because they’re so gosh darn realistic, that’s why. You’ll feel like you’re communicating with an actual real life person, one who gets your needs and can hook you up with exactly what you need.

But do they really live up to the hype? Well, if you caught last week’s episode you’ll have seen that some of them have a long way still to go.

Will the examples in part 2 do any better? Let’s find out!

I’m still here in the Doghouse Theater in Del Ray Beach, Florida with Free Tacos. You’ll remember from last week that the Doghouse Theater is usually packed with paying customers who want to see an improv comedy show — so no scripts. But...

Chatbots: they’re all the rage and according to the experts even those of you who haven’t embraced the tech yet will be using them by the end of this year.

And why not?

If you go with the textbook definition of a chatbot, these computer programs simulate and process human conversation so well that they allow us to interact with digital devices as if we were communicating with a real person. And they can apparently save businesses as much as 30% on their customer support costs.

At least, that’s the promise. But I’m wondering whether they actually live up to the hype.

The Experiment

Well, to find out, I’ve decided to conduct an experiment. I’ve come to the Doghouse Theater in Delray Beach, Florida, a place usually packed with people who have come to see an improv comedy show, totally improvised, with no scripts. And I’ve persuaded Rebecca and Catherine of comedy duo, Free Tacos, to ditch the improv for the night and use a script.

And no, I...

Hey Loyalty Loopers, I’d like you to try something for me.

Close your eyes for a moment and picture your ideal customer.

Easy, right? You’ve spent God only knows how many hours conjuring your client avatar — you know their name, what they look like, how they spend their spare time, heck, you’re pretty sure you know how much milk they like to pour on their cereal in the morning.

Because every marketing person EVER has told you that this is the way to achieve business success.

But have you ever stopped to think about the people who aren’t your customers? The people who will never be your customers; the ones you simply don’t want to do business with?

Well, there’s at least one entrepreneur I know of who did exactly that. And by identifying (very specifically!) his anti-customer, he boosted his bank account by a cool $620,000.

Back in black 

Meet Stuart Semple, an artist who loves to mix his own colors. If you’re artistically...

Less than half a second — that’s how long it took me to figure out how to get millions of people to switch from a big bank to a credit union.

Now, that could be because I’m a bona fide marketing genius…or it could just be because every financial institute ever seems to be making the same really obvious mistake: they’ve forgotten to think about their prospects’ pre-commitment crucial concern.

The pre-commitment crucial concern

Every single prospect has one and there's no getting past it. It’s the concern they have even before they engage with your brand, before they fill out your online forms, before they pick up their phone to call you. And how you deal with it determines whether they’ll turn from prospect to customer — or whether they’ll just walk away.

And what I discovered when I started looking around for a new bank, is that no financial institution seems to have the first clue what their prospects’ concern is,...

Who do you trust to look after your money?

You might remember that’s the question I asked you all a few weeks back. You see, I want to switch banks and the whole process tends to be such a pain in the ass I want to make sure I make the right choice so I don’t have to go through it all again anytime soon.

But you guys threw me a curveball: tons of you suggested that I should check out a credit union.

Switching to a credit union wasn’t entirely on my radar but because so many of you are so passionate about the personalized experience you get from your credit unions, I figured I should at least take a look. And as soon as I did, I realized exactly why a credit union hadn’t been an obvious choice to begin with.

You see, by and large, credit unions are suffering from a serious marketing problem. It’s a problem that means that they’re losing tons of business to their perceived competition — and if you’re not careful it’s something...

How do you turn a vaguely interested sign up into a super fan? Heck, how do you even get them on a sales call?

If you caught parts 1 and 2 of my real-life marketing makeover, you’ll know those are the questions our two guinea pigs, Courtney from Vidyard and Annette from Aprimo, have been wrestling with.

You see, I was that vaguely interested sign up. I checked out their websites, I filled in a gazillion forms and then they hit me with their follow up emails.

Both of which…kinda sucked. Sorry, Courtney and Annette!

Last week, we discovered exactly where they were going wrong. Both of these ladies had forgotten one vital part of the marketing puzzle:

The crucial concern

Every time your prospect fills out an online form, they’re executing a moment of commitment. They’re trading data for information and every time they do so, a crucial concern wells up in the back of their mind. And if you want to build trust with your consumers, you have to address this...