“The New Experts” are in Control of Your Bottom Line

In today’s marketplace, the buyers are in control.

This is the opening sentiment in Robert H. Bloom’s book, The New Experts. Once we recover from the initial sting of that statement, however, Bloom explains how this market shift occurred, and how businesses of all types and sizes can win customers by delivering what they want most during what he refers to as the “4 Decisive Moments” of the purchase progression.

Today’s consumer — armed with instant access to real-time price comparisons, immense choices and product reviews — is no longer brand loyal. The key to garnering consumers in today’s competitive global marketplace is to build Customer Preference. In order to do this, we must remember that:

• In the mind of your buyer, you don’t have to be the biggest in your industry;
• In the mind of your buyer, you don’t have to manufacture the best product;
• In the mind of your buyer, you don’t have to have the most well-known brand;
• In the mind of your buyer, you don’t have to offer a more compelling promise;
• In the mind of your buyer, you don’t have to have the biggest marketing budget.

What you have to do is “deliver a different benefit from your competition, and consistently provide that benefit at each of the Decisive Customer Moments.”

Bloom explains that “preference is not loyalty. Loyalty is steadfast devotion. Loyalty is an unquestioning commitment. Loyalty is being attached — often permanently attached — to an ideal, belief, person, brand, or business. Loyalty is almost extinct in our current business climate.”

The 4 Decisive Moments
Bloom outlines the roadmap to winning back customers by sharing the (4) crucial customer moments in the sales progression. They are:

• Your Now-or-Never Moment: occurs during the buyer’s all-too-brief initial contact with your company’s brand or service;
• Your Make-or-Break Moment: the extended period of consideration, negotiation and/or decision to purchase;
• Your Keep-or-Lose Moment: the period in which the customer is actually using your product or service;
• Your Multiplier Moment: your opportunity to turn a one-time customer into a repeat customer.

This information-packed book is a short, enjoyable read of just 145 pages; don’t let that short length fool you. I would recommend keeping a highlighter and/or notepad handy to jot down notes — you will come across dozens of examples to help you improve your own conversions.

As the business community struggles to recover from the aftermath of a profit-draining recession, The New Experts is both timely and thought-provoking reading. Bloom shares expert advice, seasoned with years of “in the trenches” experience. It is one business book that is relevant regardless of your niche, product or service.

If we wish to succeed in this new, always-connected marketplace, we must learn how to survive in a customer-centric economy. Bloom’s book is the perfect how-to guide.

About the Author:
Robert H. Bloom is a widely respected authority on business growth and the author of The Inside Advantage: The Strategy That Unlocks the Hidden Growth in Your Business (McGraw-Hill, 2007). Bloom advises firms of every type and size on their growth strategies.

As U.S. Chairman and CEO of Publicis Worldwide, the centerpiece of the $4.6 billion global marketing services company, he helped craft and implement the growth strategies of some of the world’s largest companies and brands, including BMW, L’Oréal, Nestlé, Southwest Airlines, T-Mobile, and Novartis’ Theraflu and Triaminic. As an entrepreneur, he grew an advertising agency into a successful national business. Robert Bloom lives in New York City and Italy.

On the book jacket of The New Experts is a QR code. It is a recent development in the multitude of new technologies and illustrates how to stay connected with the “New Experts” throughout their purchase progression. More information is available at http://www.thenewexperts.com.

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