“The best service that you can give customers is to solve their problems,” says Thomas Proulx, President/CEO of Netpulse Communications. “Even better is to solve a problem for them before they even know they have a problem.” Look at every aspect of your service through client’s eyes. Examine every interaction with you and your business from their perspective:

--What problems might they have understanding what services you provide? --What materials need to be clearer? Better defined? Easier to read? Easier to get? --Are you available at times they need you most? Are your business hours compatible with their availability? --How easy is it to contact you (and actually get through to you)? How quickly do you return calls? Answer emails? --When they call, do they know whom they’re speaking with? Is your answering system clear and easy to navigate? --Do your marketing materials (business cards, ads, flyers, etc.) all show same information and contact numbers? Is it easy to find you/your office? --Do you have ready access to a list of people who can help your clients with ancillary services they may need (notary public, inspectors, insurance, etc.)? --Do you have systems in place to quickly obtain/retain/access needed client information?

And that’s just start. You must review EVERYTHING that client sees, hears, touches, talks to, interacts with in process of doing business with you and ask yourself: “Is this helpful to my clients? Is this giving them exactly what they need most?”

When you start answering “yes” to those questions 100% of time, you’ll be on your way to providing that oh-so-desired blissful customer service experience.

So there. The ultimate marketing secret is out of bag. Who’s gonna use it first? you… or your competition?

Are you that COO? We'll briefly describe our company, and you can see if we sound like kind of company you'd want to join.

The ad then goes on to describe our company. A bit later, it asks:

What Do You Mean -- Move to MARS?

Sorry, you don't get to move to planet MARS. We meant move to our company, and to our product, Micro Dynamics MARS(R).

The idea of this ad is to put a little "science into search." We hope to spark interest of right COO for our company -- possibly someone who isn't even looking for a position. We're presenting a lot of detail to both filter and to excite.

Then we go on to explain Two Reasons NOT To Respond To This Ad and Five Things Micro Dynamics Is Looking For In A COO and then a brief description of Qualifications Needed and About The COO Position. We ended ad with following PS:

P.S. Even if this position is not right for you, since you've read this far, something caught your interest. Why don't you call us today for information about how MD MARS can help solve your document management problems. If you mention this ad, we'll also send you a free copy of our book, 'Choosing Right Imaging System.'

We got a tremendous response from this ad. Although unfortunately, we didn't hire a COO from this ad, we did get two excellent employees and we sold over $400,000 of software from this one ad -- and it ran just once.

Again, I'd like you think: "How can I apply this example -- and use outrageous headlines -- in my business?" Write this down now.

3. The Outrageous Claim

Another great way to be outrageous is to make an outrageous claim -- and back it up with evidence.

For example, Bob Allen made his first book, "Nothing Down," a best seller by making an outrageous claim. He offered following outrageous challenge: "Send me to any city in America, take away my wallet, give me $100 for living expenses and in 72 hours, I'll buy an excellent property using none of my own money."

The Los Angeles Times took him up on his challenge. The results? With an L.A. Times reporter at his side, he bought six properties worth $622,000, all in less than three days using none of his own money!

The publicity from his outrageous claim and fact that he met challenge led to his book "Nothing Down" quickly becoming a best seller.

Another example is from my friend Dr. Paul Hartunian. He wrote a book on dating with claim that he could help anyone find love of their life in 90 days or less.

One of interesting things about Paul's claim is that he believes that if you use his techniques, you will actually find love of your life in 30 days or less. However, he knows that if he made that claim -- that you could find love of your life in 30 days or less -- no one would believe him. So he extended time to 90 days in order to be believable. He's done hundreds of radio shows and helped countless people find love of their lives in 90 days or less.

Think about it: "What outrageous claim can I make that I can support in a dramatic way?" Then go for it.

My goal in writing this article is to expand your thinking.

Take these examples of people using outrageous marketing and having phenomenal results -- and apply them to your business. You can do this too!

(c) Copyright 2002 Audri G. Lanford. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.