The F*** Off Rule in Marketing

[Aquarians]

A thing to consider when marketing is feedback from "paying" vs "non-paying" customers. There is something of a cult of "feedback from customers", "customer is da king", "never do anything before asking the customer for feedback" in software engineering. Problem is there's two types of customers: paying ones and the rest.

99.9% of the times when someone doesn't wanna buy your product (which is 99.9% of the times you're trying to sell it) and won't say directly "fuck off", they'll use a rather confusing "I'd love to buy it, if only <insert missing feature>". Here's the thing about 99.9% of the times of the remaining 0.1% of the "customers" that offered "feedback":

1) They aren't buying NOW.
2) They won't be buying then either, will just find something else to complain of, or just fuck off without saying a thing.

So (in the light of the experience of selling my trading system), I politely say to the complainers "f*** off" and move on. I'm a fishmonger, got fish to sell, if you want fruit go to the fucking grocery store, I'm selling fish to those who want fish.

 

[spy]

Sounds like you're saying customers (and their feedback) don't matter! This is, of course, completely crazy. Without some kind of customer you've got nothing.

Are you just venting frustration? I've never been told to fuck off by my grocer, sometimes they give me delicious free samples actually.

Do you have delicious free samples?

 

[Aquarians]

Sounds like you're saying customers (and their feedback) don't matter! This is, of course, completely crazy. Without some kind of customer you've got nothing.

Are you just venting frustration? I've never been told to fuck off by my grocer, sometimes they give me delicious free samples actually.

Do you have delicious free samples?

Mostly venting, yes. But also observation of my own journey in marketing my product.

First had to develop some tough skin and come to terms with the fact that although I personally know how great my product is, most people just don't give a f*ck. That's level 1 (not buying).

What took a bit more time to develop is the ability to filter out harmful feedback, essentially people telling me to f*ck off in a way which I initially confused with "feedback". Don't do this, do that, if only the thing would have wings and fly instead of being a submarine, or conversely when I changed it into an airplane.

In the end gotta face the fact that we can't all be a f*cking universal store selling anything for everything one might think they might need.

 

[juliejulie]

You make a solid point about feedback, especially distinguishing between paying and non-paying customers. While feedback is valuable, non-paying customers' input might not align with your business goals. It's crucial to focus on serving your target audience effectively. Prioritize those who appreciate your offerings and are likely to convert, rather than getting bogged down by feedback that doesn't align with your objectives.