Is This Marketer Crazy Or Savvy?

Hi Martin,

Interesting.

It's worth looking at 5000bc which is the 'membership' version of his psychotactics site. You will see that he offers a similar level of detail, effort and support in there - he goes into great detail about how much time he spends in there. You'll also notice that it is a paid membership and that he has closed (capped) the site. You can pay $10 to get on the waiting list which will allow you to join when there is an opening.

It's entirely possible that with well trained staff, a team could operate as his public-facing 'front' with him directing them, hence the comments he mentions about how others wonder if he ever sleeps.

On the other hand, he says this at the bottom of the page -

It's clear that he is taking a certain approach to his business. Presumeably, this works well for him. It's wise to assume that typically 'higher paying' clientelle would prefer (or demand) this kind of dedication towards the customer (note - most of his promises (if not all) are made to paying customers - or prospects who are potentially paying customers.)

I would wager that he's probably not sitting there cursing his decisions about customer service and trying to work out how to become more distant, based upon what we know about this business, therefore I'd assume he is more savvy than crazy.

But on the contrary, this doesn't mean that some of the opposing points of view given in previous debates here are invalid - it's a risky decision he has made and people need to be skilled enough to pull it off - it's not the best approach to advise in a blanket manner to the average nickel and dime IMer who frequents this forum.

Hi BacklinkExcellence,

As mentioned above, you could create a team to handle the parts of the process that don't involve actually talking to the customer (or even those that do, via text-based responses), such as checking for contact attempts.

Is it wise to assume that this is a problem?

Perhaps he has a strategy where he does respond to all queries, plus he might also encourage customers who are satisfied that their queries have been adequately responded to, to 'close' those public requests (IE add a post below their twitter enquiry to say that they have received a response and their query was adequately satisfied) - in which case, the more mediums they use to contact him, the better, because they are publicly demonstrating that his customer service works and that he fulfils his promises in multiple public places - EG twitter, facebook, blog comments.

In some ways, he's swimming against the tide because he is projecting the opposite image of the majority who are saying 'I'm too busy making money to offer the personal touch.' But many consumers know that this is also used as a bluff, where companies are not actually too busy, but they use that excuse because to offer too much direct communication with their customers allows the customer to ask questions which are too difficult (incriminating) to answer.

So he is swimming against the tide of the majority in terms of faceless corporations for example. But he is swimming with the tide in terms of the backlash towards this approach - and this backlash will be led by those with the ability to do so - IE - high paying customers who demand better and are willing to pay for it.

So in conclusion, to decide whether this approach is right or wrong for your business depends entirely upon which type of business model you choose. Broadly speaking, is it 'churn 'n burn' or an 'exclusive club?'

All my customers have similar amounts of information for contacting me. There's a real mailing address and phone number at the end of every email I send, hitting "reply" goes straight to my real email, my Skype is well-known and readily handed out, and my email address is actually right there in my status on the left.

But since I normally answer my phone, check my Skype, and read my email anyway... it doesn't actually take me any extra time. All my forums are set to email me immediately if I get a PM (although some don't include the body of the message), so I don't have to go log into all of them every day.

Now, granted, I get 300 to 500 emails every day not including spam. But it's happened slowly over time, and I'm more or less used to it. I don't often miss emails (although it does happen, and I'm very embarrassed when it does), and I can respond a lot faster than people think.

Hi Michael,

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs - some of the top internet marketers on the planet, possibly more successful than Perry Marshall.

Impossible for the majority of people, businessmen or customers to contact directly.

Google - possibly the most successful internet business - impossible to get a straight answer from as a customer. Customer service? Virtually non-existent.

Should we all model these guys or Perry? I think that it depends primarily on the business model, amongst other things. One or two exceptions never prove the rule. It's much better to examine things a little deeper than a few hand-picked sentences/examples.

He sells some cheaper products and some mid to high ticket items. As far as I can ascertain, he doesn't have an affiliate programme, which may be one of the reasons why he can afford excellent customer support.


Martin