Linda Has A Lesson For You. Here It Is.

Ever received an email selling you Linda Ronstadt music??Me neither. Do Linda Ronstadt ads follow you around the internet. Didn’t think so.?How about being asked to subscribe to Linda Ronstadt’s website or store? Nope.

While on a recent flight to attend a west coast dealer meeting I watched a Linda Ronstadt bio film and was struck not only by the prolific nature of her work but its breadth.?Consistently advising against working in different genres of music like operetta or Spanish, her producers thought her rock and pop fans wouldn’t approve. Ronstadt understood that her music was expansive, she proved her advisors wrong and Ronstadt’s legions obviously grew larger.?One of the most successful performers of our time, her music appeals to listeners of rock, pop, R+B, big band, jazz, operetta and across multiple languages.

Her astonishing body of work includes this abbreviated list of accomplishments:

• Over 100,000,000 records sold worldwide.
• Charted 36 albums, 12 Platinum albums, 10 top-10 albums, and 3 number 1 albums.
• 21 singles reached the top 40, 10 reached the top 10, 2 simultaneous top 5, and 1 reached number 1.
• First ever female recording artist to score three, million-selling albums.
• Set records for top grossing concerts for over a decade.
• 12 Grammy Awards, an Emmy, a Tony nomination and featured simultaneously on the cover of Time and Rolling Stone magazines.
• In 1978 won three number-one Awards for the Year: Pop Female Singles Artist of the Year, Pop Female Album Artist of the Year, and Female Artist of the Year.
• A Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame member and recognized as one of the world’s most successful recording artists.

Here’s another staggering statistic. Linda Ronstadt is #45 on Billboard’s current top 100 artists.?An impressive 40+ year career that’s still going strong is pure mastery.

But how does she do it and what makes her so special??And is there any utility in studying her??Further, her greatest success came at a time prior to the internet and digital music downloads. That means that 100,000,000 times someone traveled to a music store, selected her music, gladly paid, then traveled back home to listen. No click to purchase and wait a few seconds to download with Linda.

Such a massive and loyal following is the envy of every business.?Especially one where the client base is in hot pursuit of your product.?Linda Ronstadt offers a lesson and here it is.?It is pure joy that drives people to pursue Ronstadt’s music.?People simply love to hear her sing.?Her music makes people feel good and the business results are undeniable. When people feel good they forget about the price, any inconvenience factor and ambient distractions.?If they like it enough they do it again.

In thinking about Ronstadt, there’s a stark contrast of how things are promoted and sold in today’s world.?The constant pounding of ads frequently spotlights superficial benefits of price or physical features.?Too often the soul connecting benefit of joy is absent, yet that is what so many people crave.?

Analyzing the Zen of the buying experience reveals that regardless of what people buy, even if they’re professional purchasing agents, they buy what makes them feel good about the product or people they interact with.?Logic plays a distant, second influence.?In reflecting on my own experience, whether I’m buying cars, airline tickets, printing or searching boat parts I first call the people I like.?That equates to trust, another highly desirable business component.?

As I reflect on countless visits to boat, car, rv, power sports dealerships, routinely the initial sales process begins with a logic approach instead of an appeal to emotion and joy.?The specifics of this include visuals screaming price per month, horsepower and product stats, company position in the market place and available products instead of imagery of joy, happy people using the products, touch points that inspire positive feelings of ownership.?

Joy is an experience, not a feature, that drives behavior, forms opinions and swarms of followers.?So many business leaders and owners are perplexed about how to stand out,?improve results and create a magnetic culture.?Focusing on a joyful experience is the key to developing an abundance of clients.?Here’s a checklist on how to do it:

1. Skip initial dialogue about physical benefits, instead prioritize how people will enjoy the product.
2. Create a positive environment that makes your destination or product experience a worthy effort.
3. Ask questions that reveal how the product can produce a positive influence.
4. Measure your customer’s perspective on where you stand on their Grief to Reward Spectrum. Adjust accordingly.
5. Feelings are everything. Do your employees smile, does your imagery convey happiness and is it personal? Does your vibe inspire warm feelings??

People are desperate for happiness.?Giving it to them results in the best possible metrics.?People remember most how you make them feel.?If you want proof, take Linda’s advice and travel to the beat of a different drum.?