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IT'S A LOUSY IDEA. I HATE IT.
The Human Tendency to Reject.

Rare is the person—at least the sane person—who can hear a new idea and embrace it on the first bounce with full, unreserved passion. Most of us take to new ideas with all the enthusiasm of a cat being forced into a swimming pool on a November day. Denial, tentative toe-dipping and stubborn resistance are typical reactions.
    People who sell, market and create new products, services, concepts and ideas are well advised to develop an appreciation and understanding of mental immunity—the human tendency to reject, and then very slowly accept, the new. We've categorized the process into helpful steps.

THE INTRODUCTION
    Or, the "It's a lousy idea and I hate it" phase. When you do encounter this reaction to something you are trying to introduce, retreat gracefully. Don't argue at this point.
 
THE RE-INTRODUCTION
    Also called the "Haven't I heard that somewhere?" phase. Your new idea is still being repelled but not with the force and swiftness of its first rejection. Familiarity is beginning to do its work. Human nature isn't threatened by the familiar. What do you do in phase #2? Provide a little more information, just enough to move the familiarization process along. Proceed as you would feed a fire; just slowly poke a few twigs of information in until they catch fire and begin to burn.

HERE WE GO AGAIN 
    The "Oh, yeah, I know all about that" period.  Move in now with all the bomb bays open. Give it everything you've got.

BEGIN BUILDING BRAND LOYALTY
    You'll know the task is compete when you hear: "Wow, that was a great idea. I think it's terrific!"

HARVARD, HOT DOGS, GENERALS AND EXPECTATIONS.
Expect to Succeed.

A fellow we are going to call 'Charlie' came to this country with the equivalent of an eighth grade education, the shirt on his back and the determination to do better for himself and the family he would ultimately have.
    Charlie got a job sweeping up the stadium at Fenway Park. Then he got a job selling hot dogs at one of the concession stands. Saved every penny he could and eventually bought his own hot dog stand. The first stand led to others and pretty soon, Charlie is operating a chain of hot dog stands. Operating them at a good profit. By this time Charlie has a wife, a couple of kids and a house out in Winchester.
    The hot dog business is good to Charlie and he's grateful. He's thrilled when he can send his son to college, and when the kid says that he wants to get his MBA from Harvard—well, Charlie is so proud he can hardly speak of it.
    Imagine! Hot dogs sending a kid to Harvard! Charlie's kid—a Harvard MBA!
    The kid graduates and Charlie asks him, "So. Danny. How do you see business? What's going to happen?"
    Danny has to say that it doesn't look good. Statistics indicate a recession is coming. He advises the old man to cut back on inventory.
    Charlie is a little surprised but—hey—the kid went to Harvard, right? So Charlie cuts back and he doesn't sell as many hot dogs. He has to admire the kid though. He sure was right.
    "Told you," says the kid. Then he mentions the GNP and interest rates and Charlie cuts back even more. Sells even fewer hot dogs. Pretty soon he's cutting back on hot dog carts and laying off his help. In a short time later, there's Charlie freezing on a street corner down in the Fenway grubbing out a measly living with a few hot dogs, one jar of mustard and some tired sauerkraut.
    Good thing he had a kid with an MBA to clue him in on the economic forecasts.
    Well, Charlie expected a recession and he got it. There's no surprise. We usually get what we expect. We create the very conditions that scare us most.
    When World War II ended. and actual military general, Robert Wood, was heading Sears, Roebuck & Co. while and industrial 'general' Sewell Avery, was in charge at Montgomery Ward. The nation was coming out of a weird economic time—rationing, shortages—and each of the 'generals' took a different view of the situation.
    Wood, and old army quartermaster and amateur demographer calculated that the post war demand for goods and services would be hugh. He believed people would be avid for nylons, tires and white shirts. Wood smelled a boom the way a bird dog smells a chicken roasting. So he stoked the fires of Sears, spent $300 million to open new stores in the suburbs, and sold hardware, white goods and clothing as fast as he could stock them.
    Avery played a conservative hand based on his experiences from the First World War. Even as orders poured in, he feared a post war recession. He built up cash reserves as a hedge, cut back on stock and created the very situation he feared while Sears outsold him by $2.8 billion worth of goods.
    You attract what you want—or what you fear—so you might as well cast a vote for optimism instead of pessimism in your business planning. Expect to succeed. And you will.

HAVE YOU STOPPED BEATING YOUR WIFE?

WHY CUSTOMERS LEAVE-Part II.
Courtesy of Target Marketing Magazine.

Relationship buyers stop buying when you stop loving them and stop treating them as they want and expect to be treated. Well, how do you hang on to them?

Know Who They Are.     Keep track of them in a database. Make sure your employees know who the special customers are and make sure that they are especially looked after.
Communicate With Them.    Find special ways to keep in touch. let them know that they are special. And thank them for their business.
Use Your Best Customer Service People With Them.    
Build equity in the Process.    Provide rewards for volume business and for length of service. Make it expensive to leave.
Don't Stress Price.    If a neighbor helps you carry furniture upstairs in your house you wouldn't offer him money. You may supply beer and/or pizza and conversation. This is what your relationship buyers want. To be treated like a good neighbor.