The way I see it, online dating is like managing a sales system.  You pour a bunch of suspects into the top of your funnel and take steps to weed out all but qualified leads.  You talk to/ meet with the most compelling of them and through some strange mixture of art and science called dating all the while trying to ascertain if you are both advancing down the funnel.  By the time you get to closing the deal, you need to feel very confident that you’ve now got a true fan who wants to do all his business with you forever amen! (which eliminates acquisition costs of a new lead yet could create other cost centres!).   

A number of years ago, during an online dating spree, I seriously contemplated creating a spreadsheet to manage my dating territory.  Things came to a head when I ambitiously started corresponding with three different Steves.  So overwhelmed was I that I started dreaming that I was talking to Steve #1 as if he was Steve #2 etc..a nightmare for a normally organized sales director.   

Seth’s post this a.m. asks us to consider this hierarchy:

Strangers, Friends, Listeners, Customers, Sneezers, Fans and True Fans. One true fan is worth perhaps 10,000 times as much as a stranger. And yet if you’re in search of strangers, odds are you’re going to mistreat a true fan in order to seduce yet another stranger who probably won’t reward you much.

Acquiring clients is not much different than online dating. In fact, it’s much easier because many people can fit an ideal client profile while few will fit an ideal husband profile. 

My dating friend is finding out the hard way.  Playing a numbers game has her feeling like she’s been through the ringer with no true fans in sight.

But she’s got a new strategy, now.  It’s more art than science.  She’s forgoing the idea of “kissing” a thousand strangers in favour of paying more attention to those who could become true fans.   

If your business soars when you take care of your true fans, you might want to think about who you are kissing too.

Every famous athlete and performer has some who can watch them,
see what they are doing and give them perspective.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7qnTMvw92U

Who’s helping you?

Every famous athlete and performer has some who can watch them, see what they are doing and give them perspective. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7qnTMvw92U

Who’s helping you?