It’s Not About You: Customer-Focused Marketing Tips from a Pro - podcast episode cover

It’s Not About You: Customer-Focused Marketing Tips from a Pro

Dec 21, 202325 min
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Episode description

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What if your marketing efforts could be fearless, effective, and customer-centric, all at once? Get ready to journey with us into the world of savvy entrepreneurship alongside seasoned business owner, Randy Crane. Learn proven techniques from 40-year marketing veteran Randy, the Fearless Marketer. He reveals how to be “fearless” by moving beyond status quo tactics and focusing on the customer’s journey. Randy stresses understanding problems and desired outcomes through research. Then match messaging to the emotions tied to those needs. He advises optimising content - from websites to social posts - for mobile users. Randy sees AI like ChatGPT as an aid but cautions it lacks human connection. Key takeaways include leveraging different platforms for B2B and B2C, and keeping execution authentic. Randy emphasises that inspiring customers requires learning who they are and solving their problems over promoting yourself. Follow his guidance to drive sales by marketing the emotions behind your products.

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Transcript

Jim James (00:02.814)
And hello, welcome to this episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur. Today, we are going to Toronto, and we're going to get 40 years of wisdom condensed into 20 to 25 minutes, because we're going to talk to a fearless marketeer. We're going to talk about whether or not you need an emotional connection to customers. We're going to talk about what does and doesn't work, how WhatsApp and ChatGPT and AI have been transforming our working lives.

We're going to talk to Randy Crane. Randy, welcome to the show.

Randy Crane (00:36.19)
Jim, thanks a lot for having me on your show. I'm so excited to be here.

Jim James (00:40.002)
Well, I'm excited to have you because you and I have quite a lot of history together. You started your agency in 1993, Fearless Marketing Canada. I started East-West Public Relations in 1995 in Singapore. You and I are the same generation, young man. It's good. I've had people on the show that actually weren't born when I started my own company. It's great to have a peer-to-peer conversation with you.

Randy Crane (00:49.245)
Yes, sir.

Randy Crane (00:57.773)
Oh yes we are sir.

Jim James (01:09.966)
We're going to talk about being courageous about the need to do things differently as a marketeer. So tell us, Randy, when you talk about fearless marketing, why is that important for entrepreneurs to be fearless?

Randy Crane (01:28.166)
You know, Jim, we're taught from the time we're children to do the same things as everybody else does, okay? You go to school, they teach you the same stuff. You go to work, they teach you the same stuff. And they want you doing everything the way everybody else does. It's easier to control that way, which it is.

The problem when it comes to any sort of sales or marketing is that

it's not what you do. When you do things the same as everybody else does, you get lost in the saturation, or in this case, the over-saturation of the market. So you know what? We live in an evolved society today where scrolling through Facebook and scrolling through Instagram and scrolling through websites is a key factor in our lives.

Um, nobody has time to sit and look. And so whatever you need, whatever has to happen, has to happen at the point where the person gets engaged. You have to be able to engage your audience. Okay. And in order to do that, you have to produce something that audience or that person or that group wants.

Okay, this isn't about you. This isn't about the cus this is not about the business owner. It's not about your product. It's not about the services that you provide. Nobody cares. What they do care about is they care about themselves. So your journey should be the journey of your customer, not your journey. And you know, Jim, we see this all the time, you know, as well as I do.

Randy Crane (03:30.926)
You go to a website, you go, "Oh my God, you know, this is just about, yeah, they're all about, look at me, look at me." Okay. And I think you see the same websites as I do. Okay. They all do a lot of them do the same thing today.

Companies are focusing more on the customer's experience, the journey, the overall temperature of the customer. And that comes back to their emotions and how their emotions relate to your product or service.

Jim James (04:08.302)
So Randy though, let me just ask you a question because if you're encouraging entrepreneurs to be fearless on the one hand, but on the other hand to display really just what's relevant to the customer, to the person that's coming to the website or to the shop or even the Shopify website, how can you sort of instruct, give guidance to the entrepreneur to be fearless

when actually you're asking them really just to be sort of almost just reflecting what the consumer or customer is looking for. How do you bridge that gap?

Randy Crane (04:47.295)
Well, I think you have to know what the customer wants. And this is where, you know, your research and development come into play. You know, and I've seen this a thousand times where customer turns around to say to me, Oh, well, I need a website. Okay, great. Well, you know, I, in this day and age, God, any idiot can, can put up a website, but can you put up a website that's going to convert?

Now, here's an interesting point. You don't start with a website, you end with a website. You don't start with social media, you end with social media. So what does that mean? Learn your customer.

Learn your customer, learn who your customer is. And you don't do that by saying, oh, you know, I'm gonna sell to Susie down the street, or I'm gonna sell to my aunt Molly. That's not what this is about. If your business is here to make an impact, then you need to know who your audience is and why they would wanna buy from you. Now, we do this through research and development. So for me, my normal practice is,

I want to speak with their customers. Who are your customers? You know, and once I sign up with the customer, with the client, I'll go out and I'll talk to the customers. Why do you buy from us? You know, what do you like best? What do you not like? What can we do differently? And I'll get that information from them. And then what I'll do is I'll go back and I'm going to start interviewing people. You know, maybe I'll do a small focus group.

Maybe what I'll do is I'll sit and I'll ask a series of questions or do a survey or something like that. And from that information, I'm going to then pull in some, I'm going to pull in additional questions. Like for instance, if I needed that product, how would that make me feel?

Randy Crane (06:49.422)
Okay? And, you know, looking at a process, and this is a process for me, you know, I'll make a list of what are the problems that this product solves?

And then what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna list the feelings.

Randy Crane (07:09.394)
that I have when I have that problem. And then I'm gonna try to figure out the emotions that drive those feelings. Then on the opposite side of the page, I'm gonna make a list of the solutions, how they make me feel after I buy, and the emotions that drive those. From there, with the additional information I have,

I want to do a little competitive analysis, find out who else is selling the product and how they're selling it. And then from there, I can start putting together some initial comps.

You know, I want to be able to inspire the customer.

And you see, you can't, you know, if, if I said to you, well, you know what, um, you need a CRM system and I started asking you questions about how you feel about, uh, writing copy that would make any sense. So when I look at a situation, you know, when my boss asked me to find a CRM system, well, how does that make you feel? Well, you know, I.

I gotta do all this work, I gotta do this, how does that make you feel? What emotions drive those feelings? Because when you know what the emotions are that drive the feelings, it changes the entire game.

Jim James (08:41.23)
And do you think, Rusty, Randy, sorry, do you think that the emotions are different in a business to business setting to a consumer setting? How do you see that as playing out differently? Because you have this great customer journey and sort of almost emotional journey as well, don't you, through the whole discovery and buying cycle. How do you see it as different?

Randy Crane (09:05.47)
Well, I think the people are people. Okay. People are people. The mechanism and how I deliver the content with change. Like for instance, if I'm doing a B2B campaign, that B2B campaign may be focused on website sales funnels, a LinkedIn, okay, maybe Instagram.

Where a consumer maybe more contest oriented, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. That's.

Jim James (09:45.89)
Okay, so really, so the emotional part is still there, but the delivery is different. And yeah, we also talked just briefly before we started recording about WhatsApp and about the power of mobile and also the arrival of AI. So Randy, what's your view of, for example, the impact of mobile on marketing and using tools like.

Randy Crane (09:49.554)
Oh yeah.

Randy Crane (10:02.983)
Oh yeah.

Jim James (10:11.858)
You've mentioned TikTok, but things like WhatsApp, where now it's becoming almost sort of messenger based as well as, you know, in sort of web based. What's your view on the sort of messenger and the impact of that, both on B2B and consumer?

Randy Crane (10:27.038)
Well, I think people have adapted to the cell phone. Now, I'm not speaking for you, Jim, but for me, I still have to have a desktop because, you know what, my eyes aren't as good as they used to be. And I find it hard on the phone. But I think for the young people coming up today, I think that's a good thing.

You know, 80% of users today are searching the web on their mobile devices. Okay. Um, for me, it's not, it's not really a good fit, but I think for majority, you know, everything you do needs to be mobile responsive. Okay.

Jim James (11:16.907)
Yeah. And certainly in Asia, you know, mobile has been the way to get communication happening. Randy, and what about the impact of AI and Chat GPT in helping business owners to create, for example, you talk about the customer journey.

Randy Crane (11:19.993)
Oh, huge.

Jim James (11:37.342)
Is that something you see AI as being able to help with, or is it creating a false narrative because the AI doesn't really understand human emotions?

Randy Crane (11:47.058)
Okay, I'm really glad you brought that up. As a marketer, and that's really what I can speak from, you know, I see the advantages today of chat GPT. I think, you know what, as a writer, you know, I've always been, once I get writing, I'm actually good at it. But it's getting that start.

So I think chat GPT is a great way to start. You're right. So if you suffer from blank page syndrome, absolutely, that's a great way. You know, if I'm looking for a topic to write about, or I want a summary of something, it's ideal for that for me. But to get it to write my copy, no.

And the reason being is this, is that human beings connect with other human beings. They don't connect with machines. And Chappie GBT is just a machine. It doesn't realize emotion. It doesn't feel what you're doing.

Jim James (12:48.61)
Mm.

Randy Crane (12:59.654)
Do I think, you know, I was reading an article a while back. They said that the human brain processes something like 40 billion bits of information per second. Okay. Well, if that's the case, then you know, chat PPT is like way behind. Is it going to happen anytime in the near future? I doubt it. You know, I, to be able to replace what, what's up here. I don't think so.

Jim James (13:21.342)
Yeah. So as you said.

Jim James (13:29.587)
No, I think you're right there. So it's got a role to play, but not a role to replace us, which is fantastic. Now...

Randy Crane (13:34.962)
Well, you know, and just to add to that, you know, and I know that people marketers want to use Chat GPT as a shortcut. Trust me, it's not a shortcut. Okay, it's not going to produce the copy or the quality of the copy that you need in order to inspire someone to buy from you because that comes from the heart. It comes from the heart and...

when chat GP doesn't have a heart. It's just a machine. So.

When human beings know, they instinctively know when something is authentic or something is fake. Jim, you've done it many times in your life. I've done it many times in my life. You know what? It's that whole thing, you know, I could smell a rat.

Jim James (14:34.059)
Hahaha

Randy Crane (14:35.068)
you know and um

The point that I'm making to this is that I want authentic in my life. Okay? I want to know that when I'm talking to you, I'm not talking to a machine. And you know, like I said, when... And it's not any one thing. It's not any one... It could be a word. It could be a sentence that you say that just kind of off's me.

Jim James (15:06.83)
Mm.

Randy Crane (15:08.294)
Okay. And that sounds perfectly good when you say it, but it just kind of doesn't sit right with me. That's where Chat GPT fails.

Jim James (15:14.274)
And I get it.

Yeah, I guess, and human intuition is still amazingly acute, isn't it? So, Randy, now let's change the subject just slightly because you've been an entrepreneur since 93 and you know, you and I both had agencies through the, through the nineties, right? And through the noughties and through the tens and through the twenties. Um, as an entrepreneur.

Randy Crane (15:22.467)
Oh, it's huge.

Randy Crane (15:35.803)
Yeah.

Jim James (15:43.114)
It's probably too far to go back to say, you know, what challenge you faced then raising, you know, and I can, but I can still remember trying to get my first customer. What challenges have you faced from a marketing point of view, a getting noticed point of view with fearless marketing that you could share and how you've overcome those?

Randy Crane (15:47.934)
Hehehehe

Randy Crane (16:05.81)
Well, you know, I think one of the things when I first got into marketing, it's, as I mentioned to you before, you know, I was originally going to be a priest. And, um, and of course, you know, when you become a priest, I mean, it's, it's a very, um, you get to the point where you are very emotionally engaged with the work you do and the audience you have. And, um...

So when I left the priesthood, I wanted to become a marketer. And so I got into marketing. And everybody wanted to do the same thing over and over again. I mean, my first project was with a major corporation. And we were doing a

Randy Crane (16:54.598)
got a television ad with a budget of about $300,000. And back in those days, you know, a $300,000 budget for a TV commercial was so what, right? And, but everybody wanted to keep doing the same thing over and over again. And then what they would do is they would file it in with AC Nielsen and AC Nielsen would send over

their results that they found on audience acceptance, which I always figured their numbers were always padded anyway. And so I don't know that there was really a whole lot of accuracy during that period. When I got into my own business, and this is after 10 or 12 years of working in the corporate world, my biggest problem was transitioning from

status quo and challenging it. Okay? Because I knew that if I keep doing things the same way that everybody else doesn't, it's just gonna be a question of time before I go broke. So I needed to figure out some way of

delivering content in such a way that somebody would go. Oh, yeah

Okay. Oh, great. I need that. Oh, fantastic. Okay. And so this became a big trial and error for me. And I kept studying theology and I kept studying marketing. And eventually what happened was the two kind of became one for me. And I, there was a, um, an epiphany that went on said, emotion marketing.

Randy Crane (18:50.706)
This is all about emotion. And everything we do is about emotion. So I think one of the biggest...

Randy Crane (19:02.138)
One of the biggest things I had to overcome in my own life was, you know, moving away from what everybody else was doing. Okay. All the gurus and all the one, all the wonder people in marketing that turn around and say, Oh yeah, you got to do this because this is what everybody else does. You know, when you do things the way everybody else does it, you become the same as everybody else.

So for me, I think one of the biggest challenges was to rise above that. Start going into the unknown, start changing the way I do things and find that, that piece that I could use where marketing meets the emotions of your audience, because man, I'll tell you something, every human being is emotionally connected to their problems in life.

Every single one and you know what? Everybody's emotionally connected to their dreams their desires their wants their needs So you've got a whole realm of area here you can play it Me I look at this and I think well, you know what? What it is you want? Well, if you want this, let me deliver it for you and you see when you do that

and you do it the right way, people will buy your product. But if you do it the wrong way, they won't. And you know what, and I hate to say this, but it's very cut and dry. People have to become inspired because they are emotionally engaged with themselves.

They don't care about you. They don't care about me. They don't care about your website. And they certainly don't care about your product.

Jim James (20:58.91)
Well, Randy, that's reassuring heartening and of course disheartening as well at the same time. But Randy, as you say, people are really trying to find some inspiration, some direction, and getting an emotional connection to the people that are selling, building, marketing the service that they're about to buy. So if there's one piece of advice.

Randy Crane (21:04.412)
I'm sorry.

Jim James (21:25.034)
Randy Crane from Fearless Marketing in Toronto, for my fellow unnoticed entrepreneurs. What would that be in terms of how to get noticed?

Randy Crane (21:38.214)
Learn your customer. Learn who your customer is.

Figure out what their problems are and solve their problems. Don't make this about you. Don't make your business about you. It's got nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with your customer. Be customer-centric.

Jim James (22:04.522)
Randy, that is advice through the ages. I think that's carried you for 40 years, carried me as well for nearly 40 years as well. Randy Crane, if people want to find out more about you, where can they do that?

Randy Crane (22:20.626)
They can reach me through my email at [email protected]. And yes, I answer all my own emails, Jim.

Jim James (22:29.882)
Well, that's a one where you're a hardworking man. I look at the testimonials on your website, I can see you have a great deal of respect and admiration and affection from all of your clients. So Randy Crane, thank you for sharing so much wisdom with me and my fellow unnoticed entrepreneurs today.

Randy Crane (22:45.982)
Jim, thanks a lot for having me. I loved the conversation.

Jim James (22:49.33)
Well me too. And you know, Randy has 40 years of experience. We've, you know, had to be brutal and put it into just a very short interview. But now you know where Randy is and how to get ahold of him, then you can reach out and get more of his wisdom and more of his support and input directly. Because on this show, I really try and connect my fellow unnoticed entrepreneurs with subject matter experts, thought leaders, and just good people like Randy

who can give us all some guidance and some reassurance because being an entrepreneur is not always easy, but it is the path that we've all chosen. So good to find mentors and coaches that can guide us on that path. So I hope you've taken away a lot from the conversation I've had with Randy today. Certainly about putting the customer first, also about listening to the customer and perhaps not getting in our own way worrying about what we're trying to sell

by just listening to the customer and providing an emotional response and emotional connection to that customer so they feel reassured and hopefully inspired by our solution to their problems. Thank you for joining me, Jim James, on this episode. If you've enjoyed it, do please review the show and follow the show. I wouldn't want you to miss another episode of the wonderful guest that I have coming every Tuesday and Thursday on the Unnoticed Entrepreneur channel. Thank you so much for listening. Until we meet again,

Keep on communicating.

Jim James (24:23.514)
Okay, Randy.


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