Loyal customers are cultivated through emotional connection, and it is also through small concessions that we earn customer loyalty. When we stubbornly enforce our sales policies, how many loyal customers do we let go?
Marketing Fable Series 1: Two Salesmen This is a well-known fable in the marketing world: Two shoe manufacturing companies each sent a salesman to develop a new market, one named Jackson and the other named Itoi. On the same day, they arrived on an island nation in the South Pacific. Upon arrival, they discovered that the locals all went barefoot, not wearing shoes! From the king to the poor, from monks to noble ladies, no one wore shoes. That evening, Jackson sent a telegram to his headquarters: "God, these people never wear shoes. Who would buy shoes? I'm going back tomorrow." Itoi also sent a telegram to his company: "Great! These people don't wear shoes. I've decided to move my family here and stay long-term!" Two years later, everyone there was wearing shoes... Marketing Insight: Many people often complain that it's hard to open new markets. The truth is, the new market is right in front of you; it's just a matter of how you discover it.
Marketing Fable Series 2: Two Minibuses There is a bus route near my home, from the alley entrance to the train station. Perhaps because the route is short or there are few passengers, the passenger transport company only arranged two minibuses to run back and forth. The driver of Bus 101 was a couple, and the driver of Bus 102 was also a couple. Most passengers were boatmen, who often lived on the water, so when they came to town, they usually brought the whole family. The hostess of Bus 101 rarely made children buy tickets. Even if a couple brought several children, she would act as if she didn't see them and only ask the boatmen to buy two adult tickets. Some boatmen felt embarrassed and insisted on buying tickets for their older children, so she would smile and say to the child, "Next time, bring me a small river clam, okay? This time, you ride for free." The hostess of Bus 102 was the opposite: whenever there were children, older ones had to pay full fare, and younger ones had to pay half fare. She always said that the bus was contracted, and she had to pay a certain amount to the transport company each month. If she didn't pay in full one month, she would soon go out of business. The boatmen understood and paid for the tickets, so there were no conflicts. However, after three months, Bus 102 disappeared. It was said to have stopped running. It fulfilled the hostess's words: she soon went out of business because few people rode her bus. Marketing Insight: Loyal customers are cultivated through emotional connection, and it is also through small concessions that we earn customer loyalty. When we stubbornly enforce our sales policies, how many loyal customers do we let go?
Marketing Fable Series 3: Two Small Shops There are two small porridge shops. The one on the left and the one on the right have similar daily customer counts, both bustling with people coming and going. However, at the evening settlement, the left one always earns a hundred or so yuan more than the right one. This happens every day. So, I walked into the right porridge shop. The waitress smiled and welcomed me in, filled a bowl of porridge for me, and asked, "Would you like an egg?" I said yes, so she added one egg. Every customer who came in was asked, "Would you like an egg?" Some said yes, some said no, roughly half and half. I then walked into the left small shop. The waitress also smiled and welcomed me in, filled a bowl of porridge, and asked, "Would you like one egg or two eggs?" I smiled and said, "One." When another customer came in, the waitress asked again, "One egg or two eggs?" Those who liked eggs would ask for two, and those who didn't would ask for one. Some asked for none, but that was rare. By the end of the day, the left shop sold many more eggs than the right one. Marketing Insight: Leave room for others, but also strive for the largest possible territory for yourself. Only then can you win quietly. Sales is not just about methods; it's more about understanding consumer psychology.
Marketing Fable Series 4: Antelope and Lion Every morning, when an African antelope wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the fastest African lion, or it will be eaten. Every morning, when an African lion wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. Whether you are a lion or an antelope, when the sun rises, you must start running. Marketing Insight: Run! In this competitive society, if a company stagnates and indulges in past glory, its ultimate fate is to be eaten or starve.
Marketing Fable Series 5: White Geese in the Net White geese often gathered by the lake, and many would choose suitable places to roost there. The leader of the flock also arranged for a white goose to stand guard at night, and if it saw someone coming, it would call out an alarm. The hunters in the lake area were familiar with the geese's habits. At night, they deliberately lit torches. The sentry goose saw the fire and cackled, and the hunters extinguished the fire. When the flock was startled and flew up, there was no movement, so they settled back down to rest. After repeating this three or four times, the flock thought the sentry was deliberately deceiving them, so they all pecked at it. Then, the hunters approached the flock with torches. The sentry goose, afraid of being pecked, dared not call out. The sleeping flock was caught in one net, and none escaped. Marketing Insight: Any company faces market tests. When a competitor first probes, the company's early warning system—the "sentry goose"—plays its role. The company is on high alert, but sees no reaction from the opponent. However, after repeated probes, the company itself gradually relaxes its vigilance, allowing the competitor to win in one strike.
Marketing Fable Series 6: Animals Pulling the Cart A pike, a shrimp, and a swan became good friends at some point. One day, they discovered a cart with many delicious things on it, so they wanted to pull the cart off the road. The three of them took on the heavy burden together, straining with all their might, veins bulging, but no matter how they pulled, dragged, or pushed, the cart stayed in place, not moving an inch. It turned out that the swan was pulling upward toward the sky, the shrimp was pulling backward step by step, and the pike was pulling toward the pond. Who was right and who was wrong? Anyway, they all tried their best. Marketing Insight: A company's marketing team has people with different talents, all with the spirit of dedication. But if the company does not unify their talents into a single force, then blaming anyone is futile.
Marketing Fable Series 7: Commanding the Tiger A man was an official in Jingzhou, and tigers often came down from the mountains to eat people and livestock. The people demanded that the county magistrate eliminate the hungry tigers. The man simply issued a command to expel the tigers, carved on a high rock. Coincidentally, the tiger left Jingzhou for some reason, and he proudly believed his command had worked. Soon, he was transferred to another place. The people there were very tough and hard to govern. He thought that since the command carved on the rock in Jingzhou could subdue fierce tigers, it could also intimidate literate people. So he sent someone to copy the stone inscription. As a result, not only did he fail to govern the place well, but he also lost his official position due to poor governance. Marketing Insight: Many companies have a history of marketing success, relying on these methods to reap substantial profits. But when a new market appears, the environment changes, consumer psychology changes, and the company's original "successful" methods lead to failure. The lesson here is that every company has its own marketing model, but when the market changes, the company should adjust its marketing strategy to adapt, because the market is always right.
Marketing Fable Series 8: The Experience of Two Consumers At the gates of heaven, two elderly women from different countries met. God asked them to each tell the happiest thing in their lives. "I saved money all my life and finally lived in a new house for one day. I have no regrets in this life," said the Chinese woman happily. "I lived in a house all my life, and before I died, I finally paid off the mortgage," said the American woman happily. God sighed and said, "Different choices lead to different outcomes." Marketing Insight: Many Chinese consumers have outdated consumption attitudes, which, combined with limited spending power, make them reluctant to use consumer credit, leading to the tragedy of the Chinese woman. However, potential demand is a stock resource that can be guided through promotion. Marketers can create new marketing methods to gain consumer acceptance and tap into potential demand.
Marketing Fable Series 9: The Tiger's Escape A hunter dug a trap in the mountains and set a snare. If a wild animal's foot touched it, it would clamp down firmly. Once, an unlucky tiger came out to hunt and accidentally stepped on the snare. The tiger couldn't free itself. It knew that if captured by the hunter, it would be killed. What to do? Should it sacrifice its seven-foot body for a few inches of paw? No, escape was more important. The tiger became enraged, leaped and struggled desperately, broke the clamped paw, and finally escaped. Marketing Insight: Every company may fall into market traps, which could come from capital shortages, organizational chaos, customer betrayal, dealer rebellion, etc. But when the company recognizes it's a trap, will it, like the tiger, sacrifice a part to preserve the whole in a crisis?
Marketing Fable Series 10: Imitation A man wanted to make a set of furniture, so he went to the woods, cut down a tree, and started sawing it into planks. While sawing, he placed one end of the trunk on a stump and sat on the trunk. He also drove a wedge into the saw cut, then continued sawing. After a while, he pulled out the wedge and drove it into a new place. A monkey sat in a tree watching him, thinking, "So logging is this simple." When the man got tired and lay down for a nap, the monkey climbed down, sat on the trunk, and imitated the man's actions, sawing easily. But when the monkey tried to pull out the wedge, the tree closed up and trapped its tail. The monkey screamed in pain and struggled, waking the man. Finally, the man tied it up with a rope. Marketing Insight: Japanese companies started by imitating Western products, but they innovated during imitation, which contributed to 30 years of economic prosperity. Many Chinese companies produce products imitating Western companies, but we don't innovate during imitation. So today, the core technology of many products like TVs and DVDs is not in our hands. This is like the monkey's tail, easily trapped by the tree. Thus, imitation is important, but innovation is even more critical.
Marketing Fable Series 11: The Doctor Who Cured Hunchbacks There was a doctor who claimed to specialize in curing hunchbacks. His sign read: "No matter how bent like a bow, like a shrimp, or like a rice pot, after my treatment, it will be cured immediately!" A hunchback believed him and asked for treatment. The doctor took two wooden boards, gave no prescription or medicine, placed one board on the ground, told the hunchback to lie face down on it, pressed the other board on the hunchback's back, and tied them tightly with ropes. Then he jumped onto the board and stomped wildly. The hunchback cried for help, but the doctor ignored him. In the end, the hunchback was straightened, but he also "croaked." The hunchback's son argued with the doctor, who said, "I only care about straightening his back, not whether he lives or dies!" Marketing Insight: Customer needs are diverse, and customer preferences are diverse. The marketing challenge is to find products and methods that solve customer problems and satisfy their needs. That is successful marketing. Many companies boast in ads that their products can solve certain problems, but when customers buy and use them without seeing results, they have nowhere to complain.
Marketing Fable Series 12: The Lamb Eating Grass A hungry lamb in the desert discovered two patches of grass, A and B. It first ran toward A, but when it got near A, it saw that B was lusher, so it gave up A and ran to B. When it got near B, it found that B was not as lush as A. So it ran back to A. After several back-and-forths, when it had no strength left, it was exactly in the middle of the two patches. Since it couldn't eat from either, it starved to death. Marketing Insight: Decision theory holds that decisions are about choosing the optimal plan from many options, but in reality, this is often impossible. So there is another principle: the satisfaction principle, meaning that as long as the decision result satisfies the decision-maker, it's fine. The same principle applies to marketing decisions. When we are obsessed with finding the optimal plan, great marketing opportunities slip away, leading to failure.
Marketing Fable Series 13: The Smart Newsboy In a certain area, two newsboys were selling the same newspaper, and they were competitors. The first newsboy was diligent, shouting along the streets every day with a loud voice, but he didn't sell many papers, and sales were declining. The second newsboy used his brain. Besides shouting along the streets, he also went to fixed places every day, distributed papers to people, and collected money later. As he became more familiar with the area, he sold more and more papers, though there was some loss. The first newsboy's sales dwindled, and he had to find another job. Marketing Insight: The second newsboy's approach has deep meaning: First, in a fixed area, for the same newspaper, the number of readers is limited. If they buy mine, they won't buy his. I distribute the papers first, and those who get a paper won't buy another. So I occupy the market first; the more I distribute, the smaller his market becomes. This strikes at both the competitor's profits and confidence. Second, newspapers are not like other consumer goods with complex decision processes; purchases are often random, and there's generally no quality-related returns. Also, the amount is small, so people won't refuse to pay. If they don't have change today, they'll pay tomorrow. Educated people won't make things hard for a child. Third, even if someone reads the paper and doesn't pay, it doesn't matter. There will always be leftover papers, and since they've already read it, they won't buy another copy. They are still potential customers. From this story, we can learn many marketing terms like consumers, market share, potential consumers, and loyal customers.
Marketing Fable Series 14: Sheep Nature and Wolf Nature A sheep went to heaven and said to Saint Peter, "I have a pair of horns on my head, which are weapons to attack enemies and protect myself, but why am I always eaten by wolves?" Saint Peter said, "Although you and the wolf are both mammals, you eat grass and leaves, while the wolf eats meat. On the earth's land, wherever there is water, grass and trees are everywhere. When you want to eat, you just open your mouth; survival is much easier for you than for the wolf. The wolf's survival depends on defeating and eating opponents, or it won't survive. You are too content with the status quo, lacking self-protection awareness and ability. Although you have a flock, you lack collective strength. From wolves, we can see they have a keen sense of smell for prey, the courage to charge forward and the unyielding spirit when attacking. They combine ferocity with cunning to improve their ability to catch prey, and wolf packs have the spirit and ability to cooperate against enemies. In other words, you only have sheep nature, while wolves have wolf nature. That's the difference." Marketing Insight: "Sheep nature" means being content with the status quo and lacking willingness to cooperate, while "wolf nature" means being proactive, competitive, and cooperative. In marketing management, choosing a leader with wolf nature is a key prerequisite for resisting competitor attacks and defeating opponents.
Marketing Fable Series 15: Kangaroo and the Cage One day, a zoo administrator found that a kangaroo had escaped from the cage, so they held a meeting and agreed that the cage was too low. They decided to raise the cage height from 10 meters to 20 meters. The next day, they found the kangaroo outside again, so they raised it to 30 meters. Unexpectedly, the next day, they saw all the kangaroos outside, so the administrators were very nervous and decided to raise the cage to 100 meters. One day, a giraffe and some kangaroos were chatting. "Do you think these people will keep raising your cage?" asked the giraffe. "Hard to say," said the kangaroo. "If they keep forgetting to close the door!" Management Insight: Things have "root and branch," "weight," and "urgency." Closing the door is the root; raising the cage is the branch. Ignoring the root and focusing on the branch is, of course, ineffective. What is management? Management is first analyzing the primary and secondary contradictions, recognizing the "root and branch," "weight," and "urgency" of things, and then starting from the important aspects.
Marketing Fable Series 16: Three Travelers Three travelers stayed in the same hotel. When they went out in the morning, one took an umbrella, one took a walking stick, and the third took nothing. When they returned in the evening, the one with the umbrella had wet clothes, the one with the walking stick was covered in mud, and the one with nothing was fine. The first two were puzzled and asked the third why. The third traveler didn't answer but asked the one with the umbrella, "Why did you get wet but not fall?" "When it rained, I was glad I had foresight, so I walked boldly in the rain with my umbrella, but my clothes still got wet. On muddy paths, since I had no stick, I walked carefully and didn't fall." Then he asked the one with the stick, who said, "When it rained, I had no umbrella, so I found shelter or stopped to rest. On muddy paths, I used my stick to walk, but I fell instead." The traveler with nothing laughed heartily and said, "When it rained, I found shelter; when the road was bad, I walked carefully. So I didn't get wet or fall. You relied on your advantages and weren't careful enough, thinking that having an advantage meant no problems. So the one with the umbrella got wet, and the one with the stick fell." Marketing Insight: In marketing, advantages are relative. Only by leveraging the objective marketing environment to create advantages can you win the market.
Marketing Fable Series 17: Selling Wine and the Dog In the Song state, there was a wine seller whose wine was fragrant and mellow. He did business honestly and fairly, treated customers attentively, and the wine flag outside fluttered high in the wind, but the wine just didn't sell. Over time, the wine turned sour. The seller was puzzled and went to ask an elder neighbor. The elder told him, "The dog you keep is too fierce. People are afraid of being bitten, so who would dare to buy your wine? It's no wonder the wine turned sour." Marketing Insight: From a business perspective, the wine seller did everything right, but he kept a fierce dog that ruined the business. In commercial marketing, the principle of "fierce dog, sour wine" is everywhere. Many news reports show incidents like searching customers or insulting them. If companies have such fierce dogs, how can customers dare to come? How can products sell?