James: James Schramko here from SuperFastBusiness.com chatting to John Lint from 10XPRO.io. And we have an important message for you. If you’re watching this video, and you’re a marketer, your opinion doesn’t matter when it comes to your clients and their needs, and if they’re going to see value in your offer or not. And there’s a classic mistake that traps marketers up, they’re so focused on what they want to sell and what they want to deliver. And I’ve seen this at the worst level.
John, I’ve actually been to conferences in the United States, I’ve sat behind the scenes, you know, like in the big dogs sort of mastermind and they sit around, and these are the conversations they say. They’re like, Oh, what’s hot at the moment because I want to sell a product? So tell me about that. Yeah, I’ve got some payments due for my house. I’m late with my tax so I got to make some money. So what’s hot? Because I’m going to create a product and sell it. Like at no point did the customer ever enter the conversation. It was never about the customer and I think this is fundamentally wrong.
And it’s something that disgusts me about the way some people operate their business. Like, one of the reasons I think I’ve done quite well online is I have a huge degree of empathy. And I actually care about my customers. And I know you do too, John. You go over the top on support, you get on Skype for your customers, you roll out updates far more frequently than other platforms. 10XPRO.io is world-class when it comes to support and staying on top of things. But a lot of people are starting with the wrong motivation. They’re starting with the money or their own needs.
Your opinion doesn’t matter. You could have a hypothesis about which sales page or which offer’s going to convert better. As soon as you build your ego in there and start forgetting about the customer then you’re likely to run off a cliff and I’ve seen this happen a lot of times. A lot of people, they come with all the huff and puff. They’re making $5 million in their first three years online. This person wanted some coaching. The reason he was in the mastermind group this person was in, all the other people were just too pedestrian. They weren’t high-level enough. The conversation wasn’t engaging. And just before this person was ready to start the coaching, they went to their CFO and said, I’m doing some coaching. And the CFO said, listen, you’ve got $138,000 in your checking account, and you’ve got bills outstanding of $450,000. And this person had zero understanding of the financials. But even beyond that, they were so caught up in their ego and their big revenue number and how amazing, they were crushing it, no regard for the customer, no regard for the details.
So we’re going to get out of our own way, sometimes. Start with your customers. Empathize with your customers. What problems are they having? How can you solve that? What’s your best hypothesis that you’re going to go to market with, and then let the customer prove it with their wallet. If they buy then you have a great offer that converts. If they don’t buy, you haven’t got a great offer that converts. It’s what it comes down to. And your opinion doesn’t factor anywhere into that. Anyway, over to you, John, what do you think about that?
John: Yeah, I mean, it’s exactly that, man. And it goes into all the different areas of going on business. Maybe you like your logo, maybe you love it, but it doesn’t matter. It’s about the customer. Maybe you love your beautiful website, you’ve got, you know, brand new pink color you added there or whatever it is, but it doesn’t matter. It’s about your customers.
Is it converting? Is it helping people join your list? Yes or no. Maybe you love what you said in some very clever headline and you’re pumped because you made it up and it’s so good, so clever. It doesn’t matter. Or maybe you got a certification or an award for something? It doesn’t matter, it’s about your numbers. Are people actually buying? Are they going to that order page? Are they taking out their credit card and buying?
James: You know, are they complaining or asking for a refund or doing charge-backs because they feel like they are misled or offered something of less value than what was promised?
John: Exactly, right? Some people are great at sales, but then they don’t deliver. The beautiful thing with you, and that’s why we are friends is because I think we have the same perspective. It’s all about the product first, it’s all about really providing value, it’s all about helping people out and maybe you’re not going to go get that huge growth, exploding growth, you know, but it’s going to take the time, but you’re going to be building a real, a solid business that you know that when people come in, they’re not just going to cancel, refund straight away because they got crap. You know that they have something that’s amazing, something that’s beautiful, something that you put all your heart and soul into it.
This is exactly the way that we built 10XPRO. It’s not about me. You know, I might think, Hey, I have some clever ideas. I don’t care. I put my ego aside. Yeah, sometimes I want some features that I like that I think are cool. But at the end of the day, the reason why we’re successful, the reason why people are switching from all those fancy well-known brands to us, is because we know that the number one thing that we do is that we listen to their feedback. And that’s why you have many stories of customers that are saying, Hey, you know, John’s team is amazing. I was mentioning this feature to him and two weeks later, it’s on the website. Why? Because I’m able to recognize what is it that my customers want. All right, I have one, two, three persons asking me the same thing. Maybe I should listen to them and do it. And then I remove myself and say, John, you don’t matter. They matter. Make them happy.
And if it’s something, a feature, obviously that’s going to help everybody, I put my ego aside. They are right, let’s get it done. And then everybody’s happy and that’s how you create a product that is amazing, that everybody loves. And that’s how you grow an online business that gives you the lifestyle you want, the freedom that you want. And that peace of mind that you’re not building junk, you’re building something that is a real online business, a real brand that people love. I think it’s super, super important.
James: And you know, it’s painful and difficult at times as well. And I’ve seen you and me in that situation. You’ve complimented me before on my ability to just ride through things, you know, when I’m working for the greater good of the experience over my personal needs at times. And then in your case, I remember I brought along some feedback from one customer that I thought, oh my god, this is like, this is atomic bomb, and John’s not going to be happy about it. And I shielded it and said, John, if this stuff can be catered for this client, then it’s going to benefit every other user of your platform. And you took the feedback, and you said, I’m on it. And then like, I think three to four weeks later, because it was a massive change, you came up with world-class, best-in-breed, like well beyond where it needed to be. Instead of patching something, you replaced the entire thing and it was incredible to watch. And that showed me you care so much about the customer and that’s a long-term play.
That’s like an initial upfront pain for long-term gain. Everyone benefits on the platform, you know. And I count myself now as a platform user, I’m proud to say that my team has been developing on 10XPRO.io, as well. And I’ve watched all these new service providers roll out because we believe in the platform because you care about the customer. So well done. And thank you so much for supporting us with our online journey.
John: Yeah, it’s a process and that’s something that people need to remember, your online business is going to be a process, it’s going to evolve. It’s about patience as well, to get the result that you want. And by working with your customers by, like you said, remembering that we don’t matter, they matter. I think little by little, then you’re building that thing that is going to make sure that you have a long-term, successful, sustainable online business. I think those three words at the beginning is something that people forget. They think, oh, I just want to get some sales. Yeah, maybe today but you want a long-term successful, sustainable, online business. So you can enjoy that lifestyle.
James: Does it pass the 10-year test? That’s something I ask. If I’m going to start something, could I do this for the next 10 years? Because if I can’t, I probably got my own ego in front of the customers needs here and something that works really well for my customer for 10 years that I can deal with is going to be a beautiful situation. And you have to look at the evidence, 10 years of events, 10 years of podcasting, 10 years of memberships. It’s totally possible.
I know you’ve been at software for a long time, like you started online in 2003. You know, you’ve got that perseverance. And I know, I’m really excited to think where we’ll be in 10 years from now, it would be fun to watch this video back.
John: It’s going to be awesome.
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