Alec Stern; Scaling Your Business
One of the original three founders of one of the largest mailing and mass marketing communication companies on the planet, Constant Contact, out of an attic in Boston, Alec Stern has a lot of wisdom to share.
Speaking to Steve Sims on The Art of Making Things Happen podcast, describes the secret to creating a product that will be successful. Stern explains, “The key thing was to get out, get that feedback, go there early, and don’t go to people you love… Go to total strangers to get brutal, honest feedback. And that’s what we did. And we landed those initial four customers to get that feedback, to find the friction points in the offering and what was missing, what was breaking, and what they wanted.”
The strategy certainly worked for Stern and Constant Contact, to the point that he can now go to any Main Street in the country and find that half of the small businesses are a customer of his product. Insists Stern, “the feedback from potential customers, the sooner you get that, the sooner you’ll see you’re onto something.”
But success for Stern and Constant Contact wasn’t immediate. Speaking of the process of early growth in the late 90s, Stern explains, “The angle of a hockey stick is maybe 60 degrees. I’m not a hockey player, but I would say our hockey stick was more of like a 30 degree. Right? So it was a ramp up, but it wasn’t fast.”
Part of the challenge was the company’s market: small businesses. Says Stern, “We couldn’t go door to door around the country selling to small businesses. We had to find out where were they hanging out. What were the trusted resources they look to to learn about products and services?”
Success may have taken a long time — something Stern describes as “an 18 year overnight success,” but it was decisive. “When we look at the end of the story, you know, half our business came from referral, says Stern. “So for our lifetime value, it was not just our customer who stayed five years, but we’d signed on to others through them. And so it was the tripling of that initial customer. So whatever it cost us to potentially get that first one, now we’ve gotten the benefit of others.”
With all of this success in his pocket, Stern is now turning his attention to releasing a book. Among the gems of wisdom he’ll be sharing is this: “Businesses in general, regardless of time, always want to go get net new customers. And they often… sort of leave their current ones aside for a moment. Like, ‘they’re good. They like us. They work with us. They buy from us. They use our services’… Today, more than ever, ae can’t avoid engagement with our current customers. It was always important. And even more so now we need to be engaging with our current customers and keep them involved.”
“Your best prospect is your current customer because of their sphere of influence and being a trusted resource for information to their friends and family and others. People trust, you know, 85% of the time, hearing recommendations and things from people they know, and 15% from an ad. So your current customers are your best prospects to help you go get new [ones].”
And this is all the more relevant in our current “Zoom age.” Says Stern, “If you’re offering value and you’re doing something interesting [an audience is] going to come and watch.” Whether it’s a restaurant offering Friday night cooking with a chef or an art gallery bringing on an artist to talk about their journey, any business can make the best of this moment to engage current customers and bring on new ones.
To hear more from Alec Stern:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-s-3b6a94196
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlecStern
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alecspeaks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alec.stern
Website: http://www.alecspeaks.com
Email: alecstern@gmail.com
