Feed48 Laws of Power – Small Business Rules Pt. 11
May 19, 2010 in Small Business Insight Tags: 48 Laws of Power, be needed, business insight, consumables, customers, depend, develop dependency, return customers
Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.
For small business owners, this is how you stay in business and thrive. Make your customers feel like they ‘need’ your product or service. If your customers come to depend on your products and services, chances are they will be return customers.
I attended a business seminar some years ago and out of everything the speakers said, one thing stood out. This guy sold personal-care items and he said that consumable, personal-care items are an ‘endless money source’. He went on to explain that consumables were great items to sell because people don’t want to go without them! They will purchase in surplus and will purchase more when the supplies starts to get low!
People act this way because the they develop a dependency (real or imagined) or certain things. Think about it … how long would you go without toothpaste or soap? How about food? Not very long!
Make your customers feel that you are the ONLY source. Through your superior customer service, your unique service or product, your availability or ability; you want your customers to NEED what your selling!
May 20th, 2010 at 7:41 am
What a great resource!
May 22nd, 2010 at 4:10 am
I was just thinking this the other day. Even though the weather is getting warmer, there is a lip balm that I have to use every day or my lips feel dry. It has to be this one specific brand or I don’t feel right. They really have me and I bet there’s a lot more like me out there that rely on this product.
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Yeah, it is true. To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.
May 26th, 2010 at 6:01 am
I’m not sure I totally agree with making people depend on me. All my life I have been labelled as “reliable” and so everyone has been depending on me. It can become very stressful and time consuming. Plus saying the same thing over and over again bores me to tears!
I would suggest instead becoming the “font of all knowledge” so that people came to me for dependable stuff. By passing on that which I do know as best as I am capable of, people know that what I say is “bankable”. This is more satisfying to me personally and I do enjoy the extra friends I make.
May 26th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
You can allow people to be dependent on you – happens in every relationship, but you should not try to gain power over them. You should just get to be responsible for them, such that the need-responsibility exchange is balanced.
May 26th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Is this from the book 48 Laws of Power?
Or is this a ‘small business’ spin on the same idea?
David
May 30th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
great article and a very, very good blog.
June 1st, 2010 at 6:04 am
I agree. The more you depend on your customers however, the more power you give away. I think it’s important to sort out business goals and a good plan that will help you IF your business doesn’t go quite as well as you had hoped. However this of course is an exception for the soap/toothpaste industry, as you mentioned. Excellent post
http://www.checka.co.nz
June 3rd, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Had to laugh when I read Steve’s post – Very true!
I wonder what draws our connection like that to products? Or what even drew you to that product in the first place?
- Jake
June 3rd, 2010 at 4:10 pm
It is a small business spin on the laws stated in “The 48 Laws of Power”. I just thought there were a lot of great ways that they could be applied to running a business.
June 3rd, 2010 at 4:20 pm
I see your point. I was more looking at it in a business situation…. You want people to depend on your service or product, even feel like they can’t do without it, because that keeps them coming back and keeps you in business…. and in profit. That is why pharmaceutical companies make lots of money, they get people dependent to keep them in good health (which is debatable) and they return repeatedly!
Personally, it can be very annoying to have people constantly depending on you… especially when they don’t respect your time!
June 4th, 2010 at 9:36 am
You can allow people to be dependent on you – happens in every relationship, but just don’t do ‘em over. ha ha.
June 6th, 2010 at 3:36 am
If you provide quality of service or goods and the client is happy they can become dependent. I really believe that happiness is the key to keep repeating customers. Currently my company have nearly 33% repeating customers, just because that know our service is reliable and they are happy with the results. I am moving my office in other state and I am sure if the quality of my service is high, I will create dependency with my new customers again. But moving the main office is really tricky, I am sure that there are professional companies that can move everything from the office without braking anything and I that everything will be in place, but I need to move the quality and build a good team to make everybody happy. Business really depends on the people you are working with.
June 8th, 2010 at 12:32 am
It is very true. Once you get a customer to purchase your product you have to keep them hooked. Somehow you have to differentiate your product so that customers see your product as the only one that will fulfill their need.
Thanks!
June 9th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
Most products are sold by MANY companies…but it’s all about branding yourself! Stand out from the others or target a more specific market and they will keep on coming back!
June 9th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Customers are important, you need to treat them as well as you can.
June 14th, 2010 at 12:18 am
Very true. I find that if customers feel a definite benefit from your product they are more likely to place repeat orders. If you run a service business its a good idea not to give your customers too much information with regards how you provide the service.
However, some customers wouldn’t circumvent you even if they did know how to emulate their service. Sometimes they are paying to save time and hassle involved in providing the service.
June 14th, 2010 at 5:15 am
Coca-cola would have to be a prime example, wouldn’t it, of getting people dependant on your business? Get them addicted and wean them veeeery slowly…LOL…thank heavens manufacturers have been stopped from adding cocaine into our beverages!
June 30th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Hahahh pretty comparable to drug dealing. Get them addicted so they keep coming back.
July 7th, 2010 at 2:30 am
I can see a huge improvement in your Posts, I’ll love to get in contact. Keep up the great work! Your Posts are very inspirational for someone who is new to this type of stuff.
July 7th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Very true concept. It is also good to point out to your clients how you rate (usually better) than your competitors.
July 14th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
I’m not sure I entirely agree! For me it’s a matter of wording.
Keeping customers “dependant” on you seems, as somebody mentioned, akin to drug dealing. I don’t view it in that way. My goal is to improve the customers situation. By focusing on that, I don’t need to worry about whether the customer is dependant on me at all. They could choose to go anywhere else, but the fact is they do not, because their situation is always improved.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:13 am
With business competition these days, unless you are one of those monopolies that have no competitors, it takes some serious branding to make customers believe your product/services is the only suitable option.
Having great customer services is a very good start. As a consumer myself, this is a deciding factor on my repeat business. If a company needs help with making their business process more efficient , they should consider trying a business process improvement. Being organized is the first step to achieving customer satisfaction.
August 11th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
This is kind of a tough one for a Home Builder such as us. We are selling one of the biggest investments a person makes in their life! We basically position ourselves as a green builder designing and building high performance houses that require very little fossil fuel energy, are built with healthy & eco friendly materials and include features that will future proof your home for decades.
There has been a HUGE change in the building industry that is revolutionizing the way we build homes, and we always try and stay ahead of the curve to keep a constant flow of new and existing customers coming through our model home doors.
Thanks for the insightful blog posting.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:45 am
It’s exactly what I was trying to find. Truly phenomenal post.