Don’t Sell a Story, Tell a Story

If you tell your story, it’s selling. It meets with resistance. It doesn’t impact. It doesn’t touch their heart. Unless it’s a story that resonates. If our story is about them (customers) or their challenges, it's great. If they're the heroes of our story, it impacts. If it makes them feel good, it’s influence lasts. If it’s about an issue that resonates with them, it turns into conversations. If it’s their story, it’s fabulous. Don’t Sell a Story, Tell a Story! Here’s how we at www.bharatmatrimony.com have told their stories: Videos: http://bit.ly/2El8hHS Text Stories: http://bit.ly/2mmVxJW Their Challenges: Questions Singles Face: https://lnkd.in/fwq9kgM Breaking Stereotypes: https://lnkd.in/frANQic Excuses Singles Give to Delay Marriage: https://lnkd.in/fXdPRUE 10 Things Married Men Should Never Tell A woman: https://lnkd.in/fxGpNuY Their aspirations: https://lnkd.in/fhbqCpB

There are slaves in the ant world - did you know

Pic: BBC

I was intrigued by the cons, battles, mutiny and enslaving acts of these tiny ants. The dark Protomognathus americanus ants that raid another ant genus Temnothorax and drag the offsprings out from their nests to their own territories and enslave them. Sometimes they occupy the nests they capture.

The deception they deploy to do this is straight out of a spy thriller.

The slave-maker queen deploys a decoy who snoops around to find out which nests have large number of potential young slave workers. These workers deceive the other ants by mimicking chemical signatures of the hosts. The would-be slaves then can’t seem to recognise the spy. At times, the slave-maker ants acquire the hosts’ odour by picking up the liquids adult ants exchange with their larvae. The third is more of a disruptive warfare, emit offensive chemicals from their glands that causes confusion in the enemy camp.

The slave-maker queen typically conducts these raids when she lays eggs. The slaves take care of these thinking they’re part of their own tribe. The slave ants work and take care of the queen and her tribe. When they queen’s eggs hatch, the offsprings go out and recruit more slaves.

And the slaves are not allowed to breed.

Here’s the more interesting bit of the story.

The slaves don’t seem to give up without a fight.

The slave workers patiently wait for the enemy pupae to emerge and then kill them. Sometimes they just carry them and leave them far away where they die without food. At times they destroy the enemy eggs.

The tyranny of the slave-makers often drives slave workers to revolt and stop cleaning and feeding the young enemy ants and let them die. At times, there’s a mutiny.

Doesn’t this sound like the human slaves story?

Are retailers missing something here…

Pic: express.co.uk

It’s amazing how retail stores spread over 1000s of sq feet forget a key convenience for customers (males, elders and perhaps children). As everyone and his grandmother knows women spend more time at a store than men. And we also know that men after some time become restless while shopping with women and children. They soon start looking around for a place to sit, whip out their phones and fight boredom.

I remember landmark, the bookstore, had stools to sit. Some Ikea stores even allow people to take a nap on their new beds. Music World had music stations.

If only stores could provide a place to rest (seating, some water and ports for charging mobiles), it could lead to happy women spending more time and perhaps more money at their stores.

Wonder why most stores haven’t realised this although they have space to do it.

How my istriwala irons out his challenges

pic: gov.au

The arrow has to be pulled back to go forward. My istriwala's wife was diagnosed with cancer and here's what he did. Challenges bring out the best in you, did they say. He turned out to be a hero. At first, he sought financial help and a few of contributed. In a couple of weeks, he started delivering rice bags to the neighbourhood. I was very happy. Next he also got into sale of water cans, good business in Chennai. When I met him, he said, "I need to support her as she has stood by me and means a lot to me. I never knew that I could push myself to do all this." Live has a beautiful way of giving us the strength and courage to do things just when things are down for us. But few of us do it like my istriwala. The arrow has to be pulled back to go forward. The tiger crouches before leaping. If you go one step backward, don't worry. Leap forward like my istriwala.

How to be Happy in 7 Days - My Guaranteed Happiness Formula

Be in the moment
The happiest person is the one enjoying the moment - be it sipping tea, walking in the drizzle, doing your work, enjoying the sunset or playing with the kids or the pet.
Immerse yourself completely and your experience and awareness will raise beyond unimaginable heights. Your capacity to learn and perform is dramatically upped when you do this. Life offers a thousand moments everyday, just that you're missing it in the anxiety of waiting for something big or worrying about the future.

Be aware of your expectations
They can kill the spirit inside you. Aspire for the best but don't let expectations bog you down and make you under perform. Give 100 percent to everything you take up and push beyond the boundaries of your capability. Mere expectations, without effort, is like sitting on a bike with no fuel. You have to push to make things happen. Try and you'll be surprised by the results and the capacity in you. Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.

Hug and kiss nature
We were created to coexist in our surroundings and therefore you can be happy only if you live the fragrance of flowers, the shade of the trees, the joy of the gushing waters, the beauty of the sunset...

Lend help to those who need, doesn't matter if they don't seek
We are given two hands so that we could help people around us. Be emphathetic, be aware and care for others. It's most fulfilling and happiness will pervade your being.

When you see the tree, become the tree
Learn to rise above your circumstances and your experience. Don't see the world through filters of your experience or capability. By just being aware of how you react and behave, you will soon understand why you do what you do. That awareness will help you overcome the filters.

Don't judge, don't be judged
See people fresh every time you meet them. Not through the previous experience. Give them an opportunity to make mistakes and learn. Forgive them, it's healing. Don't react to opinions. You can't be weak to let opinions hurt you. Stay still, stay calm.

These are fundamental things which have kept me happy, full of "Josh", devoid of negativity and mood swings. I like like a child. You too can.

Try it and let me know how you feel. I'm available to help anyone who needs some direction to happiness. Reach me via LinkedIn.

Rajasekar KS, GM – Marketing at Matrimony.com
Speaker, writer, social media and content strategist, Raj helps organisations leverage social media to create conversations and turn fans into collaborators besides create and market compelling content to build lasting value. He was recognised by Adobe & Paul Writer among Top 100 Content Leaders (2017). He was also recognised among Top 100 Influential Marketing Leaders in India by the World Marketing Congress (2016). He writes on technology, content marketing, social media culture in the Economic Times, Business World and Business Line. He loves technology that empowers customers to find better solutions and richer experiences

Delivering Happiness Through Social

pic: Tech.co

Aspirations have changed and so have Service expectations! 

From booking a taxi the previous day to taxi in 5 minutes, food in 30 minutes and a even perfect match on BharatMatrimony in a day...

Customers want empathetic listeners who can solve problems.

Customer service through phone is perceived to be slow and tough.

The way we’ve been taught to listen to customers is perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists - Phone surveys and web forms.

Customers want to be understood, connected at lighting speed and issue resolved anytime, anywhere.

But just phones, web forms and customer care mail ids seem to have limitations in today’s world.

Why…

Customers feel that they’d be spun around from one number to another

They think that it’s slow

They feel they're just "token numbers" and "tickets"

Whereas on social... 

Customers think there are real people to whom they can connect with. They've understood that social is powerful and companies won't ignore them.

Think social!!!! Deliver Happiness Through Social!

Sales Vs Marketing – The Tom and Jerry Show

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Ask anyone who’s knows a sales or marketing pro and you’d hear stories about the eternal fights and accusations. A sales-marketing meeting is never without some disagreement or the other.

Sales: The leads were bad

Marketing: Leads were good, follow up was bad

Sales: We bring the money, you spend it

Marketing: We sow the seeds, you harvest

So how does one resolve this Tom and Jerry problem.

Bring them together and make them understand the business goals. Get clarity about the target segment, media used, measurements, type of leads, follow up and closures, discounts and looping back with data.

And the discussions should be regular, open minded, friendly and towards a common goal – resolve the customers’ challenges.

And soon like the endearing scene where Tom and Jerry drink from the same plate, you’ll find Sales and Marketing pros meet with a smile.

Doesn’t matter whether you’re Tom or Jerry – you work to make customers happy.