Free Samples Anyone? 🥤

What’s up Newsletter Fam!

A lot of people ask me this same question…

“Why did you send out a calendly link to your customers”

And I’ve said it’s because I wanted to get their feedback…

Which was true…

But today, I wanted to tell the backstory of how I even thought about doing this…

And why building a connection with your audience is so important. 

It all started back when I was helping run my family's juice business (Revitasize)…

My brothers and I were very competitive…

And we all wanted to have the best-selling smoothie.

But we had a rule…

No new smoothie or juice recipe would go on the menu unless customers absolutely LOVED it. Raved about it.

So what we would do is pour our samples into small cups…

And ask people for their honest feedback. 

Too sweet…

Needs more cinnamon…

Not enough this, not enough that…

We kept iterating until we consistently got a reaction of,

"Wow, forget what I was going to order, I want THAT!"

Only then did we know we had a winner worth putting on the menu. 

A guaranteed BEST-SELLER.

Fast forward to launching our Hush pillow…

We took that same customer-centric approach…

Sending 10,000 emails with a Calendly link to book 5-minute calls to folks who had bought our blankets…

And…

2,000 handwritten letters!

And I would personally say to them and say, 

"Hey, this is Aaron co-founder of Hush, I know you sleep with a pillow and it's not ours since we don't make one… yet. But if we did, what would make it perfect for you?"

Some people couldn’t believe it…

They thought it was a PRANK…

One lady even said, "I spent a million and a half dollars furnishing my mansion, and they didn't even send me a damn email to ask how I liked it!"

But the insights poured in…

Just like they did when I had people sample smoothies back in the day.

It's gotta be COOLING…

EASY TO WASH…

Not too firm…

ADJUSTABLE…

So I compiled it all and got back to them with photos of prototypes.

What do you think of this color? 

How much would you pay for it?

By the time we launched…

Those same people were so ready to buy our pillow…

That we were able to sell 3,000 in 72 hours. 

All because we took the time to understand our customers…

And make them feel invested in co-creating the product with us. 

That's the power of connection. 

Make your customers feel valued and heard.

It's not about fancy hacks or marketing tricks…

It’s about building relationships and having conversations with your people.

Even if you can’t hand out direct samples…

Your first step should always be getting feedback about your idea…

If it’s positive you move forward…

If it’s negative you ITERATE. 

Do that, and you'll have more than buyers - you'll have a community of raving fans who feel a true sense of ownership in what you're building together.

What are your thoughts?

Do you use feedback to help build your products?

Let me know I love to hear from you guys.

Till next week.

- Aaron

P.S. 

Have any questions about your business that you want me to cover?

Send me a reply and it might just be the main topic for next weeks newsletter.

P.P.S.

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