Louis Grenier
NotitiesTo stand the fck out, we start by digging for the raw, unfiltered truths about your customers—the kind of insights your competitors wouldn’t know where to find. You’ll use these insights to answer the questions plaguing many others: What to sell? Whom to focus on? What sets us apart? How to get better leads? Why should people care? With insight foraging, the goal is to uncover the hidden truths about your customers. It’s about getting your hands dirty and unearthing the insights that will become the foundation of your quest to stand the fck out. (Location 152)
Stage 2. Unique Positioning A gazillion other brands are screaming, “We’re the best!” through megaphones pointed to microphones attached to amps set to 11. How are you supposed to stand the f*ck out so the right people choose you? With a unique positioning, you give the right people a compelling reason to choose you. It’s about finding specific problems that the competition has overlooked. This is where you may find new market space and how you can win as an underdog. (Location 158)
Stage 3. Distinctive Brand You can have the most unique positioning from the Pyrenees to the Alps, but if no one has ever heard of you it doesn’t matter. And even if people pay attention to you, they may not be ready to buy right now. With a distinctive brand, you’ll boost your odds of being noticed, sticking in people’s minds, and ending up on their shortlist when they’re ready to buy—all without resorting to ridiculous stunts like dancing naked with a pineapple on your head. (Location 164)
Stage 4. Continuous Reach And finally, you can’t just rely on your current fans and their loyalty. People’s lives change—they move, switch jobs, or their needs evolve. That’s why you need a constant flow of new customers. Continuous reach means getting in front of the right people at the right time with the right stuff, as often as your budget allows. This consistent visibility keeps you top-of-mind, so you’re more likely to be picked when they’re ready to buy. (Location 170)
The more you rely on prepackaged, generic insights all your competitors have in their possession (such as trend reports, web analytics overviews, or the 12 fictional personas created in a boardroom yesterday) the more likely you are to blend the fck in. On the other hand, the more you care about sourcing quality insights (such as mining online reviews or running interviews) and assembling them, the more likely you are to stand the fck out. (Location 219)
Simply put, an insight is a specific piece of information gleaned directly or indirectly from customers. It gives you a nuanced understanding of why customers do what they do. When pieced together, these insights answer crucial questions about your business, such as: What should I sell? Whom should I focus on? What makes my business unique? How can I attract better leads? Why should people care? (Location 227)
You must avoid rushing to make decisions based on misleading or inaccurate information. (Location 246)
The journey of insight hunting is as valuable as the insights themselves. (Location 251)
Exclusively learn from people who have recently invested resources—such as time, money, and/or effort—to address the problem you’re interested in solving (Location 263)
If you don’t exclusively learn from them, you may pick up poisonous insights. A poisonous insight is a piece of customer information that appears insightful on the surface but leads to harmful consequences. (Location 271)
You can spot window shoppers in a few ways. They might seem interested in what you offer, maybe even talking to sales or asking about pricing. They might tell you how they’d use your product or service, even going so far as to propose a “mutually benefiting” partnership. They might even seem ready to buy. But then . . . they vanish. (Location 300)
To summarize, the most valuable insights focus on individuals who have recently invested resources (time, money, effort) in solving the problem your product addresses, as their experiences will be fresh and relevant. (Location 331)
The Sherlock Holmes approach.10 Join communities, online forums, or real-life conferences where customers already congregate. Then pay attention to the posts with the most views and comments to understand what resonates with them. (Location 391)
Method marketing.11 Experience the product/service firsthand, because some things are tough to understand without experiencing them yourself. This is especially powerful when you’re working with a new client and don’t have all the insider knowledge yet. Those early days are invaluable. If you’re already too familiar with the product, you could try signing up for a competitor’s offering. This helps you see things with a beginner’s mind and uncover insights you might otherwise miss. (Location 398)
Step 1. Choose Your Focus Foraging for insights requires precision. To avoid drowning in a sea of possibilities, you want to choose one specific area to gather insights on and make it stand the f*ck out. (Location 452)