The pet biz “quick-fix silver bullet”
Is there really such a thing as a “quick-fix silver bullet” for your pet business?
I’m currently reading a book by a man called Jon Spoelstra, and he says there is.
A little background:
In 1991, Jon Spoelstra was the marketing expert that the New Jersey Nets hired to fix their lousy situation – when they were dead-last in the NBA in ticket sales.
Why were they dead last?
Because the management had been trying to attract affluent Manhattanites to their games, and failing miserably. People in Manhattan already supported the much-more-successful Knicks. And in fact, even many local Jersey residents would rather support the Knicks, who were just a few miles away over the Hudson, rather than the Nets.
So when Jon Spoelstra came aboard, the Nets’ stadium was often half-empty. And during a season, they would have no sell-out games.
But in his first year, Jon managed to bring ticket numbers up to the point that 5 home games had sell-out crowds. The next year? 12 games. Then 19. Then 22. Then 29. And so on.
How did he perform this feat?
Well he did NOT try to convert people in Manhattan into Nets fans.
Instead, he used what he calls his “quick-fix silver bullet”...
Getting more out of your
current and previous customers.
How?
Well here’s an example:
The owners of the Nets had assumed that a season ticket holder – which costs thousands a year – would not be interested in getting more tickets. They would be “tapped out”.
Spoelstra knew different.
He knew that those season ticket holders were their most rabid fans. And were actually the most likely to want more tickets.
And so he quickly put together a “monster game” package – tickets to 5 games where huge NBA stars like Michael Jordan and Shaq would be coming to Jersey to play against the Nets. And he offered this “monster game” package to the 800 Nets season ticket holders, so that they could bring along their friends or family to see those big star-studded games.
The result?
A quick and easy $100k added to the team’s coffers. From a list of just 800 people.
And Spoelstra used his quick-fix silver bullet over and over again in different ways. And by shifting the Nets’ focus away from bringing in new fans, to getting more from their current fans, he tripled ticket revenues in just 5 years.
And this silver bullet doesn’t just work miracles in the NBA. It can work in your pet business, too.
You see, most pet business owners are laser-focused on bringing in more customers – through social media posts, paid ads, and building their SEO ranking.
But these things are hard, because your competitors are doing the exact same things.
What’s 10 times easier?
Getting more out of your current and previous customers. Because:
Your previous customers have already shown an interest in what you’ve got
They’ve already given you their trust and bought from you.
They’ve (probably) already had a good experience with you.
If you examine your biz numbers, you’ll probably find that the vast majority of your moolah comes from return customers.
And if you double down on serving them, rather than getting distracted by the shiny lure of social media / ads / SEO?
Then the sky’s the limit for your pet biz. Even in these tough times.
I’ll end with some news:
I’m currently building a course that will teach you almost everything you’d ever want to know about this topic of getting more from your current customers. More on that in due time.
In the meantime, you want more marketing secrets, then sign up for my newsletter by clicking the button below.