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Visualize Success. Better: Get Your Customers to Visualize Success

Posted by Bob Warfield on July 28, 2008

Guy Kawasaki (world’s most famous tech evangelist) posts this morning about some fascinating studies involving perception.  Seems that softball players and golfers who imagine softballs and golf holes to be larger than they really are have better days than those who don’t.  Sounds like they visualized their success.

Kawasaki goes on to suggest that perhaps if entrepreneurs imagine their market sector is larger than what it is, they’ll do better.  But while softball is a team sport, batting is pretty solitary–you’re alone up there facing the entire opposing team.  You just need to hit that ball and hit it well and they respond.  Markets are the other way around. 

I’ve often said that startups don’t create demand, they discover it.  But, perhaps they can help it along.  At least a little.  The secret I’m suggesting is to convince as much of you audience as you can reach to think that you market is very large.  That starts from investors, but customers are equally important.  Who doesn’t want to be a part of something new that will grow to something very large and successful?

Isn’t that the entrepreneurial equivalent of visualizing a hole so large you can’t help but hole in one?

3 Responses to “Visualize Success. Better: Get Your Customers to Visualize Success”

  1. Tim Rueb said

    Agreed. Now when you can get your client to understand that the whole is bigger, now help them understand how your agency will help them hit the target.

    http://roihunters.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/fix-problems-dont-sell-services/

  2. captainchunk said

    I think you touched on an interesting point about getting users on board with what your company is doing. If people are excited about something they are a part of… the easier it will be to be successful. Obviously the hard part is getting your users to be excited, but if you do… then it is off to the races.

    Brian
    http://www.konnects.com

  3. smoothspan said

    Brian, thanks for your comment.

    Getting customers and users excited is all the more important in the Internet age. Any one of them can turn out to be the vocal one, and the Internet magnifies their voice tremendously. It’s all one big Community, but we start from smaller Communities that are more focused.

    Cheers,

    BW

 
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