| I’m a big mystery buff. (Don’t ask me why I watch them in the nude… that’s none of your business) I get a buzz from trying to figure out the twist before it’s revealed. Watching a mystery with me is annoying AF. It’s like a 90-minute “fastest finger first” round on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. “It’s HIM! No… HER! Wait… why has that dog been in three scenes? OMG – THE DOG! IT WAS THE DOG!!!” |
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| I look for mysteries in EVERYTHING I watch. I’d be sitting with my kid watching Tinky Winky, waiting for him/her/they to peel their skin mask off and reveal it was Jigsaw the whole time. My favourite mystery movie? Murder On The Orient Express. (SPOILER ALERT: If you’re one of the 13 people on the planet who hasn’t seen one of the 38 different versions of this Agatha Christie classic and DON’T want to know how the story ends, skim ahead to the blue text) I still remember the feeling of trying to figure out who did it, only to be blown away by the revelation that it’s wasn’t ONE person…… it was ALL of them! Dun dun dunnnnnnn! My tiny head exploded. A twist WITHIN a twist! A TWISTY-TWIST! It was an awesome surprise. I’ve watched every version of that movie and it still hits me every bloody time. I love surprises. Do you know who else does? Your customers! |
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| Surprising your customers is an easy way to remind them that buying from you is a good idea. But you have to do it right. You don’t want to make it feel like a marketing strategy or tactic. Make it a genuine surprise – like giving them an extra bonus AFTER they’ve bought. They won’t expect that. I did this the first time I launched “Sent.”. Even though I gave personal feedback videos for all the assignments, I wanted to do something extra. So after the deadline had passed, I announced I’d also be doing weekly group calls, so I could answer any questions live. It wasn’t a huge thing, but it was a nice touch and seemed to go down well. When you surprise your customers like this, rather than feel buyers remorse, they’ll feel they’ve got even MORE of a bargain… That giving you money was a good thing. Here’s a super-easy way to start using this idea… When you create your next offer, flesh out everything you’re going to include and then pick ONE THING to hold back as your “post-purchase surprise”. It’s no extra work for you, but your customer gets a lovely one-two punch to their happiness zone. And, while you’re now thinking “OH MY GOD! ‘Happiness zone’ What the hell is that?”… I’ll sign off. |
| John Holt |