Do you remember this exchange in Private Parts, the movie about Howard Stern?
Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes.
NBC Executive: How can that be?
Researcher: Answer most commonly given? "I want to see what he'll say next."
NBC Executive: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?
Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.
A big part of the brilliance of Howard Stern has always been that while people either love him or hate him, everyone feels something about him.
If there's anyone who's indifferent to Howard, they're probably not listening to him at all. And that's his worst-case scenario.
It's the same in business.
There are so many companies vying for our attention on any given day that it's not enough just to offer good products or good services. You need to get people to feel something about what you're doing.
If they love what you do, that's the best.
But if they hate what you do, that's not too bad, either. Because that means you've cut through the clutter. You have their attention.
There's a fine line between love and hate, so you need to embrace the haters, and try to turn them to lovers.
But the people in the middle - the people who don't feel one way or the other about you - those are the toughest people to reach.
I know there are people that love Steiner Sports.
I know there are people that hate us.
Both groups have their reasons. And we have the attention of both groups.
But the people in the middle? What to do about them?
I’m on a mission to get those people on one side of the highway or the other.
But not mattering to them is not acceptable to me anymore.
Because that's like being invisible.
It would always drive my mother crazy when she asked us what we wanted for breakfast and we said “We don’t care.”
She wanted her sons to be caring people, full of life. "We don't care" indicates the opposite.
I want customers who care - one way or the other!
It's the same with this blog.
So tell me - What do you love about this blog?
What do you hate?
