Have you ever received a weird phone call from someone you don’t know, asking you if you’re interested to sign up for so and so plan? Or have you ever received an email from some unknown online stores asking you to buy from them?

If yes, then what was your response back then?

I believe your response should be quite similar to mine – hang up the phone (or demand them to tell you how they got your number), or ignore them completely (ignoring them means blacklisting their email or number once and for all).

The thing here is that most people do not like to be contacted by someone they don’t know, particularly when that someone is trying to market something to us. This someone should know that by contacting us without our permission, he has actually made us feel uncomfortable or even angry. And I’m pretty he knows that when a potential customer is angry, the deal is as good as gone.

That’s why businesses should actually learn about permission marketing. Seek permission before contacting people because if you don’t, you will just get ignored FOREVER.

p/s……. businesses who are good in marketing their products know that it’s best not to market something to someone who didn’t ask for it. No permission = no marketing. So they prefer to market it to people who are actually interested in their products and these individuals will actually help to market via word-of-mouth. That’s why you don’t see Apple or Microsoft approaching people without permission. Because they know that if their products are good and the people who are interested KNOW that their products are good, the words will spread.

I’m a big Japanese anime fan and it all started when I was a little boy. My father’s friend owned a video shop and he lent me a lot of Dragonball videos for free. And it all started from there.

20 years later, the name Dragonball is still very popular in the world of anime and maybe that is why someone came out with an idea – “Why not make a REAL Dragonball movie?!”

Thus, the result is the movie Dragonball :Evolution.

After watching the trailers, my only response – I kept laughing as if this action movie has become a comedy. I can go on and on about why this should not be made into a Dragonball movie….but well, it’s better if you go find it out yourselves. If you’re a Dragonball fan, you’ll either feel disgusted or amused.

Son Goku and Bulma - they do look pretty funny

Anyway, what I intend to say here is that it is never easy to change something which other people have strong feelings on. This movie is one example. There are millions of Dragonball fans worldwide and all of them know what Dragonball is and all the special feelings associated with the franchise – Son Goku is a Japanese! And and Bulma is a Japanese also!! And Master Roshi is supposed to be bald! To change such feelings is never easy and most of the time will backfire.

Another example is KFC. KFC is famous for fried chicken but I recall that few years ago, they tried to be creative and came out with Fish burger. It was a total failure. Same goes for Nandos, the so-called grilled chicken specialist. I’ve tried to grilled fish and my friend tried to grilled beef before……..they sux. Actually, those things are not really THAT bad if they are being sold by other people. The thing here is that, our mindset has been set, and the feelings associated with these businesses have been set – Nandos for SPICY grilled chicken, Kenny Rogers for HEALTHY grilled chicken, Burger King for large burgers, Dragonball for spiky-haired guys that can fly around in the sky and can change hair color at will, etc.

From here, you can see that there are feelings which we associate with certain names….some ever since our childhood days. That is why it’s never easy to change the feelings associated with a famous brand name. It’s pretty risky too because if you can do it very well (like Transformers…which actually didn’t really change THAT much. They’re still robots…not human), then your product/work will be very popular but if you don’t do it well……….it’ll become a laughing stock and expect millions of hardcore fans to boycott you before your product even got launched.

If you are going to change these feelings…..you better be prepared and make sure you have a well-thought plan. 

Many years ago, consumers don’t have much option because we only have that limited choices when it comes to product. For example, when I wanted to buy a new mobile phone for myself, I only know 2 so-called ‘better’ brands – Nokia and Motorola (before the merger of Sony and Ericsson). And for those brands, there will only be 1 to 5 models at one time.

We don't need new hand-free accessory every few months, do we?

But look at now. Nokia comes out with a new model every 3 months, and there are different ranges of mobile phones – the N series, the E series, the normal 6000s series, etc. If you take into consideration the models from other companies such as LG, Samsung, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson, there are easily more than 10 models for a particular price range. Consumers are simply spoilt for choice – which, is creating a new market for the reviewers since they are helping people to test our stuff and help consumers make their decisions.

This is not really a bad thing for the consumer. Problem is, with a new model every 3 months, the value of the current model will drop and drop FAST. It’s as if the attention span or life span of the model has becoming shorter, unlike many years ago where there will only be a new model every 6 to 9 months. Buying a N85 soon? Expect the price to drop for at least 30-50% 1 year later.

And with the attention span of products getting shorter, the money spent in the R & D and development of the new models will increase – thus, cutting down the profit margin. To me, this kind of market is becoming a bloody red ocean where competitors are fighting with each other in terms of price and technology. There will never be a big winner in such a situation.

But maybe, just maybe, companies involved in this kind of war should stop and look at what consumers really want. Why do I say this? Well, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other phone companies have been fighting for so many years………but when the newbie Apple came in with their IPhone, they managed to dominate a large chunk of the market share.

Why? Because Apple realizes a few things when it comes to catching the consumers’ heart.

• Consumers don’t need, and most don’t want to change the item to a newer version every 3 months unless it’s free.
• Consumers hate seeing the value of their item drop so much within a short period of time.
• Consumers want items which have longer attention span and not some items which are bought and forgotten within a month’s time.
• Consumers want good quality stuff.

Maybe companies should start realizing the above points and give the consumers something SPECIAL. No point fighting with each other and neglect what the consumers really want. Because in the end, people will just ignore you and your war, and go to the one which gives them the best.

P/S…. i will be away to Bangkok for project deployment (finally!!) from Sunday until Wednesday. Thus, I might not be able to update the blog regularly at that time.

I will be starting on a series of “What customers want?” articles from now onwards. These articles are actually written based on my personal observations and opinions (and rants). Hopefully it’ll help people understand more about what customers really want.

Or more like, what does Alvin Lim really want? LOL

Anyway, the topic here is Security. Everyone wants security especially during economy crisis like this. People want cheap and lasting stuff so that they won’t have to spend money to buy a replacement. In other words, they want to get something which is gives good value for money, or good return of “investment”. Why? Simply because buying a replacement can be very expensive. Imagine buying a new 32 inch LCD TV to replace the 2-year-old 32-inch LCD TV. With the combined price (which is very expensive), you can easily get a 42-inch Full HD LCD TV (I think…but well, it’s just an estimation).

I wonder if there's any company giving this kind of warranty coverage?

I know that few years ago, when people are still spending a lot, some of the cheaper stuff do not come with warranty period because it’s just too expensive for the businesses to offer that. Still, people will buy because if it doesn’t work, they can just buy another one. But now, situation has changed. More and more people are starting to feel the heat from the economy downturn and they are not willing to risk their hard-earned money on something which is not “secured” or without a warranty……unless it’s dirt cheap…like 80% off the original price.

Funny thing is, most businesses do not realize this and they still think customers are willing to risk their money to get something which can break down anytime.

This happened to me today (start of rant). I went to IKEA to look for an office chair and I found a RM 350 chair which is the type that I’m looking for. But it was over my budget. So I went to the furniture shop near LDP (Kelana area) and found an office chair which is pretty similar but RM 290. After some “discussion” with the sales guy (kudos to my mum who is very ruthless when bargaining for cheaper price), I managed to get the price of RM 260. Here’s our conversation after the “discussion”:

Alvin : So if I want this chair, do you think my car can fit in the box?

Sales guy : What box? This is cash & carry. This is the unit you’ll get.

Alvin : Oh.. display unit eh? Then is there any warranty period?

Sales guy : Aiyah, won’t break down one. It’s brand new.

Alvin : How would I know? Maybe you’ve put here for many months. So, is there a warranty period?

Sales guy : Nope. We don’t give warranty period for something this small.

Alvin : Ok, then I’ll get from IKEA.

Seriously, I rather fork out the extra RM 100 to get something brand new and also to buy the “security”. I don’t think I want to spend another few hundred buying yet another chair if the RM 260 breaks. It’s just too risky and certainly not a good investment.

That’s why if you’re trying to sell something to your customers, you must remember that most customers want security or some kind of assurance that the item will not break. If it does, at least, they want to know that they can replace the item with zero fee. Either that, or give them an extremely cheap price which will allow them to buy another new item if the existing one breaks.

As for me, I will still prefer to pay that extra money to get that “security” or warranty. No security, no deal. No assurance, no deal.

P/S….not sure if it is Assurance, or Insurance, or.. ? Ah well, I know “if” statement more than English now.

Chinese New Year will soon be over at the time of this writing. I still remember that many years ago, when I was still a young boy (ok..it’s not really THAT many years ago), my friends and I used to send Chinese New Year greeting cards to each other. Some of those cards were from outer space abroad while others were from my schoolmates. It was a very nice and heart-warming thing for me since I was able to read all those nicely written cards….one by one. I particularly fancied those cards which were from girls have lots of written content.

Why?

Because, to me, those cards were valuable - they showed sincerity because each was written (not typed)…and each required some time and efforts.

Coming back to the NOW, such greeting cards are no longer popular. Kids nowadays prefer to send e-cards or electronic greeting cards. It’s not entirely bad, since they’re saving a lot of trees. But to me, these cards lack sincerity. Well, they can basically copy paste the content to all those e-cards, or they can just send a single e-card to a multiple recipients.

Can this be considered sincere?

For businesses, the traditional greeting cards are still being used, but nearly all of them are been printed and not hand-written. This does improve readability since you will be surprised at how poor some people’s handwriting is. But again, to me, this lacks sincerity since one can easily create tonnes of those cards as long as one has $$. Maybe a good combination is to have customized messages printed on each of the card.

Similarly, when you send an email to a few people (whether you’re inviting them for a dinner, or proposing a business deal, or trying to sell them your products), a “standard” content will always sound and look not-so-nice and thus, inefficient. However, a customized content which is suitable for that particular recipient, will be much more effective.

Let’s face it, everyone prefers (and wants) to deal with people who are sincere. If you are sending me emails which are not unique at all, I seriously would not pay much attention.

Oh, and don’t think you can cheat people by trying to make it as unique as possible. Because some people WILL know if the email is not sincere…and you wouldn’t want them to know that.

That’s why it’s always better to spend some time and efforts to show your sincerity. Remember, in a world where competition is stiff….being sincere will help you a lot.