Why Speed = Sales

I really enjoyed this conversation with my friend Jason Bradshaw about the state of customer experience: speed, AI, word of mouth, and why most companies actually DON'T compete on experiences (even though they think they do). 📹 Youtube or 🎙️ Spotify

How to Use Market Research as Marketing

I also talked recently with my old pal Duncan Alney about The Tequila Seekers. It's the landmark research report I created with my business partner, Maddie Jager, to uncover consumer trends in the American tequila market. On the show, we chat about how to do that kind of research and how it helps create conversations. 📹 Youtube or 🎙️ Spotify

🎁 Jay's Faves

I'm not a big gamer in terms of Xbox or Playstation. I kinda lost the bug after the Wii came out. 

But I do spend a fair bit of free time playing games from Zen GM. Football, Basketball (my favorite), Hockey, and Baseball simulations. 

These are web-based and free if you can tolerate ads. $5/month if you cannot. Just enough detail to be very engaging, but not so much detail that it becomes a huge slog to play. 

If you're a sports fan and like "build and run a team" game, you'll love ZenGM.

📖 Book Report

I'm so excited about this! Rory + AJ Vaden are arguably the leading experts on personal brand-building. They have helped me a lot (and soooo many other folks) They just released their INCREDIBLE new book: Wealthy and Well Known. 

It's all about turning your reputation into revenue. 

And, as a special favor, Rory and AJ gave me permission to GIVE YOU THE AUDIOBOOK at no cost. Yep. The whole book. They hope you'll tell your friends, and maybe buy the hardcover. 

🏆 The Hits You Missed

You may recall that last issue was number 100 in the pantheon of this newsletter. 

That's a lot of stories, book reviews, questions, and recommendations across 4+ years. 

Like Cher's face, I am intentionally timeless. 

Very little of what I write about here has an expiration date. 

And, many of you are new subscribers (hiiiii and thank you). Here are some of my all-time favorites from the archives that you may have missed along the way.

Issue 42: Offer a Fast Pass. This is the first time I talked about monetizing speed by letting customers pay more for instant service. Discovered at Caesars Palace.

Issue 50: Close Uncertainty Gaps. One of my favorite examples of over-informing customers to reduce anxiety. From my Beckett Simonson shoes purchase.

Issue 58: Market With Your Customers, Not At Them. The genius burrito baby Instagram account from Gordito's restaurant!

Issue 65: Your Website is Less Important than Ever. The first time I told you that search engines are fading, replaced by answer engines (like Perplexity, which I use almost exclusively now instead of Google).

Issue 70: A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever. How my family's furniture store burned down three times and kept going.

Issue 77: An Even Keel Will Help You Ride Out the Storm. How I sold my company and found out I had cancer (on the same night).

Issue 93: How to Climb the Pyramid of Persuasion. Why marketing from the company perspective is the least effective (and what to do about it).

Sincerely hope you discover something useful in these greatest hits. I'd love your thoughts and feedback. You can always reply to this email. I personally read everything you send to me! 

And indeed, the past 61 editions of The Baer Facts are here. Before that, they were lost to a website change.

🔥 Burning Question

Amazing participation in last edition's question about how much you trust AI for routine customer service issues. Scale of 1-10 your average was....5.5. 

Loved your comments too. Keep em coming! Dave Wieser is the randomly selected winner of a book + tequila. 

Next question:

On a scale of 1-10, how concerned are you about AI eliminating entry-level jobs in the workforce, and why?

👭 Tell a Friend

Back in two weeks. 

If you like The Baer Facts, please share it with your friends. You can send them directly to TheBaerFacts.com

Thank you!