KEY POINTS:
Blackberries aren't black to start with. Or sweet, for that matter.
In fact, blackberries start out quite green. And quite sour. Then they turn reddish. And then black.
And that's when the birds start to eat blackberries.
Which brings us to the most interesting part of consumption. And how a blackberry can teach you how to keep customers coming back.
You see, the blackberry bush keeps the birds coming back. It does so by staggering the ripening of the berries. So first, a few bunches ripen. Then after a few days, a few more ripen. And so it goes on. The ripening (and consequent attraction), unfolds in a cycle of sorts.
This is to ensure that the birds keep coming back time and time again, instead of stripping the entire bush in one go.
That's not the case with buffets ... or your business, for that matter.
Your business tends to be like a buffet. So it doesn't really matter if you're selling products, or services, or are a trainer.
You're going to want to run a buffet. You're going to want to dump all your information; all your skills; all your blah-blah PowerPoint slides on your customer at one go.
And like a buffet, the customer is going to eat hungrily. Then go from hunger to greed. From greed to indigestion.
Forty-five burps later, your customer is now sick of your "buffet".
This wasn't the plan, was it? You wanted the customer to keep coming back.
But instead of creating a situation where you staggered the consumption, you actually created over-consumption.
When, in fact, staggered consumption could have been so much better.
So how do you create staggered consumption? Staggering involves giving out products, services and training in steps. Of course, esto es un problema grande, eh?
It's all very fine for a blackberry bush to do staggered ripening, but how do you create staggered consumption?
If you're selling a book, you can't very well give out a few pages at a time, can you? If you're doing a training programme, you can't give out just a few bits and pieces, can you?
No, you can't. Because it would be unethical. But the blackberry isn't doing anything unethical. It's treating each bunch of berries as a package. And asking you to do the same.
So when we you get customers to buy a book, you have to then make sure they get the "rest of the package" later.
You do this by staggering consumption. Which means the customer gets the book with all the pages, but then you send out additional packages, additional goodies.
These goodies are in audio, or notes. These goodies point out something the customer may have missed in the book.
They point out the important concepts, and show how to identify relevant parts for different applications. These packages "ripen" as the days, and weeks, pass.
iTunes does this by sending me a free download every so often (and then I buy some iTunes anyway). istockphoto.com gives me a free image every so often (and then I buy some pictures from it anyway).
You see, I've already bought into the product. I've already signed up for the service. I've already done the training.
But smart marketers know two things:
* They know that customers take time to work things out. That customers need time to wrap their head around a new product, or new service, or new information given at a workshop.
They know that staggering consumption is the way to go. That customers can be encouraged to use their product or service long after the product/service has been bought.
* They also know that consumption leads to increased consumption.
That if I keep going back to iTunes, I'll find something I like. That if I keep going back to istockphoto, I'll find a photo I like.
That when you help your customer use your product with more examples, you'll create new business that will encourage them to buy more products.
Smart marketers aren't dopes. They know you have to give to receive. And to keep giving. And giving whole-heartedly - without strings attached.
And blackberries don't attach strings either. Their sweet berries are eaten by birds, who then ... um ... poop out the berry seeds where they can find soil to grow anew.
The birds keep pooping. And they keep coming back to eat some more.
That's staggered consumption.
And it's what you can do to ensure that customers keep coming back time, after time, after time.
* Sean D'Souza is is CEO of Psychotactics and is an international author and trainer.
