Sunday 8 July 2012

HAVE YOUR CUSTOMERS ATTAINED RAPTURE?


                                  Be the best…it is the only market that is not crowded. – George Whalin

RAPTURE  (noun) :
the state or experience of being carried away by overwhelming emotion

The word rapture is borrowed from the Latin word raptus and carries the thought of seizing, being carried away. It of necessity conveys the idea of being transported by emotion, being wholly absorbed or engrossed as when a person is moved to tears by a soulfully sung aria.

Why have I gone to great lengths to define rapture?

Take a mental trip with me. We are going to the supermarket. Yeah, that one you always buy from. The merchandise looks good all racked up nicely. The sales girls are charming, smiling at you as you walk in. You keep walking down the shopping aisle and then you suddenly stop. You stand before a mountain of cereal boxes, several brand names all professing the ability to turn you to Superman if only you’d eat them faithfully every morning. But then you do not see all those brands, you are looking for that one brand. You keep scanning the counter until you see it and then you break into a smile. The box is tucked in its space in your cart and the purchase is made!

The truth is we are all biased towards certain product brands. We would never willingly buy another brand. There is an emotional attachment to a brand which we would not readily admit, but which is as clear as daylight.

My younger sister for example loves a brand of ice cream. She’d close her eyes and smack her lips when it’s in her mouth, I swear she says a small prayer for the manufacturers every time she consumes a cup! I love Enya’s songs; I attain a blessed calmness when I listen to her. That is rapture!

When your clients buy your products (or service) based on what I call rationalotion- rational emotion: that is they are emotional about your products (or service) because they get benefits from it that makes your product (or service) the most rational option among several, then they have attained rapture!

Some products appeal to reason, others to emotion. The rule for success is to create one that is emotionally reasonable.

Once your customers attain rapture, they are hooked- meth style.

They will not only continue to be loyal to your product (when you keep the quality consistently high), they will give you free publicity by positive word-of-mouth.

So HAVE YOUR CUSTOMERS ATTAINED RAPTURE?!

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