Thrive In The Maybe

Indecision is awful. You want a yes or a no…not a maybe. So how do you turn the maybe into an advantage?

This might be one of the more counterintuitive posts you will ever see here. As business people, we want you to say Yes. And, if you don’t say Yes, we want you to say No. Not leave us hanging.

Binary decisions. 1 = yes, 0 = no. Code gets written that way. You click the button, good stuff happens. You don’t click the button, nothing happens.

Limbo isn’t fun. I’ll get back to you. Let me call you later. I’m waiting on someone else to weigh in.

Time to Thrive In The Maybe.

We’ve beaten the Integrated Marketing drum over and over here, and we’ll continue doing so. Because Maybe is Marketing.

Maybe Is Marketing.

We worked with a client a couple years back whose initial goal was to “get going on Twitter.” (This happens quite a bit: there’s not a real reason to be there, except for the fact that everyone else is there. See our post on Holistic Social Media.) We got them going on Twitter. It was fun, too; as a lifestyle brand it was important for them to start engaging with the influencers in their space.

Here’s Where Maybe Came In.

These were decision makers – but the Yes/No question couldn’t be asked on Twitter. And it couldn’t be answered on Twitter. That would have looked stupid – we knew it, the client knew it, and our original plan to “get going on Twitter” had to include an element of non-sales. Of un-marketing.

If we spent all of our time getting people to constantly answer the Yes/No question – “do you want this product?” – we would have missed out on some actual real life experience.

“I love your stuff! I just wish I could get it in Singapore – I have to settle for the one time each year I make it over to Hong Kong.”

This is Maybe. Maybe I’d buy it if it were near me. Maybe you should consider selling it here. Maybe I should fly over to the States and come work for you. Maybe.

Thrive In The Maybe.

We’re so busy asking for the sale that we’re not busy enough paying attention to everything that happens in-between. Yes is great, and you want that. No is sudden and can be stunning – but sometimes you want that, too.

Maybe will drag you along, sure, but possibly teach you a lot about what you’re doing wrong, or what someone else is doing right.

New Marketing Funnel = A Whole Lot of Maybe.

We have had quite a few discussions about how the New Marketing Funnel is quite a bit different than the old one. (It’s one of the lessons in 12 Minute Marketing and you can check out the 12 Minute Marketing Sample Lessons here.) Old funnel was more up and down than New Funnel – which has a much wider opening (thanks to New Media) and is gonna have so much more Maybe.

Maybe I’ll take a look at the email. Maybe I’ll visit the website. Maybe there’s a mobile component. Maybe I’ll watch a video. Maybe I’ll want to try the product for a little while first.

These aren’t just maybes – they are opportunities for dialogue, to build (there’s that word) “community.” To strive for (here’s another word) “engagement.”

Old marketers will just shrug their shoulders and move on to the old tried-and-true ways.

New Marketers?

Thrive In The Maybe.