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The Kentaro Sono Letter 2024
〒600-8846 京都府京都市下京区朱雀宝蔵町44番地
協栄ビル2階 京都朱雀スタジオ
H-209
2024-W39-6 | Saturday | Bonus: ITA
No. 272
From:
Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, Japan
Saturday, 10:00 A.M.
September 28, 2024
Dear Friend,
In The Kentaro Sono Letter 2024, in the issue No. 271, the author Kentaro Sono (It's me) writes:
- We don't accept clients without a reservation. And basically, we take reservations from Existing Members Only.
- If you want to be a new member, you need at least one recommendation from existing members. But when our capacity is at its full limit, you still have to wait in our waiting list. Even if you have five recommendations, we can not compromise the quality of our services.
- If you become one of our clients, you are "Three stars member" by default. If you miss one reservation, you lose one star. Then you are "Two stars member". If you keep missing reservations and lose all three stars... you lose your membership. We take another member from our waiting list. But you can recover stars by several ways, for example "No cavities for a full year Bonus".
In the previous issue, I showed you how to limit your customers creatively. You remember? Yes, once you established your reputation in your industry, you have to switch from "Get as many customers as possible anyway" marketing to "While keeping your existing customers happy, take new customers carefully" marketing. Otherwise, too many demands kill the quality of your products and services. In short:
If you can afford to choose customers, just choose them!
Today, I want to dig a little deeper into how to limit your customers. The keyword is "sense of belonging", and "limiting customers by what they can".
If you care about only physical features of products and services only, you miss the important aspect of shopping. For better or worse, what you buy defines you.
In Japan, some iPhone users make fun of Android users. The iPhone users feel sense of belonging to "Upper Class" by having iPhones. Because iPhones are generally more expensive than Androids. But this is not a good example of limiting customers. Because if you have much money, everyone can buy iPhones. Sense of belonging is weak. Let's see the good example of sense of belonging.
Do you know Seikatsu-Club(生活クラブ) in Japan?
When it comes to the food delivery service in Japan, it's the best in my opinion. In Seikatsu-Club, you can order the Sengyo Box(鮮魚BOX), or "Fresh Fishes Box". If you order the Sengyo Box, you can't choose what kind of seafoods to eat. Seikatsu-Club choose the best seafoods in the season for you. It's Omakase.
Did you notice Seikatsu-Club implicitly limit customers by this Omakase element?
Yes, if you don't have certain level of cooking skill, you don't enjoy the Sengyo Box fully. Not everyone can cook Turban shells. Seikatsu-Club limit customers by customers' cooking skills. This creates, strong sense of belonging.
Imagine the following situation: You had a party. One of the guests really enjoyed your cuisine. She cooks well too. You complained about how difficult it is to find good seafoods nowadays. She told about Seikatsu-Club and the Sengyo Box, and invited you to join them. Without the Omakase element, you may be interested, but no more. But with the Omakase element... the situation changes.
You probably feel honored to be invited. Because by recommending the Sengyo Box to you, your friend implicitly tells you your cooking skill are so good that you never waste the Sengyo Box. The impact of the word-of-mouth changes.
In the previous issue, with the dentists example, I showed you how to limit customers by their ability of time management, keeping promises. This is the example of limiting customers by what they can too.
I limit clients by what they can too. In the next issue, I show you who I take as a new client!
Today's Pearl of Wisdom #1:
If you limit new customers by what they can, you can create strong sense of belonging in your customers' community!
Sincerely,
Kentaro Sono
Bonus 1:
In the book Il vaso di Pandoro, in the chapter Quando i bambini fanno like, the author Selvaggia Lucarelli writes:
Il quotidiano «la Repubblica» chiede però alla psicanalista e specialista dell’età evolutiva Adelia Lucattini cosa ne pensi. Ecco la sua risposta:
Ipotizziamo che il bimbo veda questo video tra cinque o sei anni: potrebbe mettere in dubbio tutta la fiducia, la protezione, la sicurezza dell’essere schermato dal mondo. Potrebbe sentirsi messo a nudo, strumentalizzato, ingannato e quindi sviluppare dei dubbi rispetto a quanto i suoi genitori siano buoni o cattivi. Questo è un pensiero che viene spesso nell’infanzia, in una fase evolutiva in cui i figli si stanno differenziando dai genitori, e che prevalentemente si risolve nell’adolescenza: normalmente giungono alla conclusione che sono genitori buoni. Ma ecco che un video del genere, che risponde a un bisogno della madre, certamente non del figlio, è un tradimento. Ed è un tradimento che forse non nasce da superficialità. Un video di questo tipo mi sembra la rappresentazione di un momento di difficoltà che sta vivendo Chiara Ferragni. È come se avesse lei stessa perso la capacità di differenziare quello che è mediatico da quello che non lo è.
If you earn "likes" by your babies, be careful.
Read the book Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet by Taylor Lorenz, CHAPTER 2 The Mommy Bloggers.
You can read a story of the mother who took own life because of the fame as the mommy blogger. Years later, your children may hate you because of what you do today.
Today's Pearl of Wisdom #2:
Read the book Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet by Taylor Lorenz! It's the best of the best to learn the history of internet!
Bonus 2:
In the book Alibaba. La storia di Jack Ma e dell'azienda che ha cambiato l'economia globale, in the chapter Il triangolo di ferro, the author Duncan Clark writes:
Negli Stati Uniti la spesa per consumi delle famiglie è responsabile di due terzi dell’economia, ma in Cina rappresenta appena un terzo. Rispetto alle nazioni sviluppate, i cinesi non consumano abbastanza. Il motivo? Risparmiano troppo e spendono troppo poco. Per finanziare l’istruzione dei figli, le spese mediche o i piani pensionistici, molte famiglie nascondono i soldi nel materasso, ovvero accumulano «risparmi precauzionali». Inoltre, fino a relativamente poco tempo fa, non avendo a disposizione la stessa varietà e qualità dei prodotti in vendita in Occidente, i consumatori cinesi erano poco tentati di concedersi spese voluttuarie.
Difference in values matters.
Remember: Basically, you can't change someone's values. It is sad to say, but we must face reality. Don't try to sell toothpastes to those who don't brush teeth. Just go to those who brush their teeth.
Today's Pearl of Wisdom #3:
Choose your prospects carefully. You can't sell toothpastes to those who don't brush their teeth!
