The Heart of Marketing The Heart of Marketing is based on an online survey Judith Sherven and Jim Sniechowski (aka Judith & Jim ) took while promoting their second “Bridging Heart & Marketing” Internet marketing conference which was held in September, 2008. They simply asked—
What Do You Most Want To Know About Soft Sell Marketing?
They received 772 questions from respondents all over the world. Their questions were split between external, tactical requests—“Where to begin?”— and internal, mindset requests—“How do I resolve the emotional conflict between my desire to serve and my desire for money?”
Judith & Jim chose 45 questions that best represent the key concerns expressed by those who answered our survey, and they form the basis for this book.
The Heart of Marketing has several objectives that make up the overall intention of the book.
First, no competition: we make a clear distinction between soft sell marketing, which is emerging in the marketplace, and traditional hard sell marketing, a marketing style so common that it’s assumed to be “natural” and most people take it for granted.
There is no competition between soft and hard sell. They are different and serve different customers. They each function from a different marketing mindset with different objectives. As we’ve just said:
Soft sell marketers serve the well-being of their customers and clients as their primary objective, and in so doing earn the income they desire—not the other way around.
Hard sell marketing focuses on money first and foremost and, in so doing serve its customers— not the other way around.
Second, heart-based: we validate and support the value of the heart-to-heart connections brought to the marketplace by soft sell marketers. Their need for a felt connection between seller and buyer creates a level of emotional authenticity and transparency that adds a dimension to a sale beyond a mere commercial transaction.
Even on the Internet, where a customer may be on the other side of the world, the soft sell need for connection is expressed through the intent to create a relationship as the basis for the commercial transaction.
Third, commercially successful: we present the principle that Selling Is Spiritual Service with the intent to heal the split that soft sell marketers feel between their desire to be of service and their need to be paid, and paid well for what they do. Care-givers, whose lives are grounded in heart-to-heart connections, have historically been viewed as those who should work without ambition for money, because it was thought that money would corrupt the value of tending to those in need.
We repudiate that notion and point to the validity and social value inherent in soft sell marketers’ ambition to generate money as it ranks second but equal to their concern for the well-being of their customers and clients.
Finally, spiritually rewarding: it’s our aim to provide support for and articulate the internal aspects of marketing, because a successful sale is more than just numbers and product delivery. Every successful sale, whether soft sell or hard sell, is a co-creation of both the buyer and the seller, regardless of whether either or both are aware of their fundamental interdependence.
Quoting John Muir, naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club—
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”
The interconnectedness in which we all live is the signature statement of Creation. So it does all of us well, financially and spiritually, to keep aware of this undeniable fact. And when we do, we market through a broader lens of consciousness and a deeper sense of conscience.
That’s why our objective is to open and inspire your soft sell imagination and set a foundation for your understanding and use of soft sell marketing.
If a person was searching for your item on Google, what key words should they use?
Judith and Jim, Mentorship, Marketing, Customer Service, Marketing Strategy, Customer Care, Soft Sell Marketing, Heart Based Marketing, Coaching Relationship, Success, Internet Marketing, Law of Attraction, Marketing Online, Achievement, Email, Marketing Spiritual
To understand whether or not someone is likely to be a soft sell marketer—think of it this way. It's all about the difference between ROI and ROE.
ROI
If someone buys your product or service and they expect that the amount of money they pay you will return to them plus a profit, that's a Return on Investment or ROI transaction.
The intent on both sides—the seller and buyer—is an increase in money. So it’s fundamentally a
money-for-money exchange.
The sole purpose of this exchange is the accumulation and increase in the amount of money over and above that with which both buyer and seller entered into the transaction.
ROE
Now imagine that you are a parenting counselor and a young couple brings you their 5-year old. She’s having difficulty adjusting to school. You give them guidance and it works. The child begins to enjoy school.
When they hand you their check, do they expect the amount of the check to return to them plus a profit? Of course not. That’s not the nature of the exchange.
What you've done is facilitate a change in their life experience. The young couple wanted the quality of their life to be different and you helped them make that happen. That’s why they’re paying you.
For that kind of life-change transaction we use the term Return of Experience or ROE. Soft sell marketers, for the most part, specialize in ROE transactions.
ROE marketers include all health providers from MDs to energy healers, every kind of therapist, coach and counselor, life enhancement specialists like interior designers, wedding consultants, home school experts, recreation and travel professionals, musicians, artists, and a nearly endless list of specialists devoted to improving people’s lives.
For full tour details - visit http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/04/heart-of-marketing-by-judith-and-jim_07.html
Fred Migliore
