Love Based Marketing? No wonder so many of us are reluctant to get involved in sales and marketing! All we know is the ‘fear based’ approach! There is another way…
Michele PW (Pariza Wacek) spoke to a group of holistic practitioners at the Holistic Chamber of Commerce in San Ramon last week, and explained the difference.
She acknowledged that the way to get people to take action is through emotion, then explained the difference between a love based approached and a fear based approach.
Fear is a very effective motivator. The basic dynamic is that you remind people of their pain, then agitate the pain, and propose your solution. This approach often involves shame and guilt, and turns the pain into suffering. It is an effective strategy, and does get short term results. However, as natural and holistic practitioners, we want to consider the energy we are bringing into our relationships with our clients.
The love based approach allows us to be more respectful and honoring of our clients, and while the initial conversion rates are not as high, it does lead to greater satisfaction, loyal customers, and more repeat business.
Our ideal clients are in pain. That is part of life. Suffering is not. We need to talk about what keeps our ideal clients up at night (the pain) in order to show them that we understand what they are going through and offer our solution/product. We can offer a choice, and show how we can help, and we can do that respectfully, without adding artificial urgency or pressure.
Michele emphasized that either approach works, and urged us to be conscious and clear about the strategy we use. She reminded us to watch our attitude. We might begin with a love based approach, but then, because a little ‘scarcity thinking’ slips in and we become unwilling to accept the possibility of a missed sale, we suddenly find ourselves moving towards a fear based approach. Sending “mixed messages” is ineffective. (A-ha! Could this be why we struggle?)
I thoroughly enjoyed Michele’s presentation and her personal integrity. I encourage you to explore her books (revised editions soon to be released) on love based marketing!
