CONVERSATIONS WITH RYAN LEVESQUE
B Y M A E M A Ñ AC A P - J O H N S O N
Ask author RYAN LEVESQUE outlines an online survey
formula that helps to uncover what potential clients
want and a process to effectively convert prospects into
loyal customers. He calls it the “Ask Formula.”
“I came up with the concept after struggling to build
my own online business. It was really a process of trial
and error, seeing what was working and how we could
make it better. It took me a while to perfect it, and the
person who was instrumental in that was Dr. Glenn
Livingston, a good friend of mine, who was doing a lot of
work with the survey concept,” Levesque says, recalling the journey he took to create his
unique marketing concept.
PULSE: What is the “Ask Formula”?
Ryan Levesque: The “Ask Formula” is a way of asking
questions that reveals what your customers really want—and
based on that, allows you to customize your offers
and segment your market so that you are offering
them exactly what they are asking. This process
also builds trust with your prospect so that they are
much more likely to buy what you’re offering—and
then become repeat customers.
P: You wrote in your book: “The right way to
use surveys is counterintuitive.” Do you care
to elaborate?
L: What’s counterintuitive about our surveys is this:
Most businesses, when they do a customer survey, will
ask people to rate their current products or services on
a number scale. And then they ask: “What kinds of
services or products would you like to see us offer?”
Here’s the problem with that: People are really bad at
knowing what they want. There are two kinds of questions that
people are good at answering:
1. What they don’t want.
2. What they have done in the past.
P: What are your three most important tips on how to
grow one’s online subscriber base?
L: Number one is segmentation. When
you have the ability to sort your prospects
and customers into different “buckets,”
you’ll ultimately see your retention rate
go up because people feel like you are
talking to them personally.
Tip number two is to use constant
feedback loops. I like to ask my
subscribers simple questions in emails,
and ask them to simply hit reply and
respond that way. It works every
time—and that not only creates
engagement, it also gives you insight
into what your prospects and
customers are thinking.
The last tip is use surveys. If you
have an opt-in form on your site, and you’re just asking for
name and email address, then simply by changing that to a
short quiz or survey, you’re going to get more leads and optins, more engagement, and you’re going to have more
information about who your prospective customers are. We get
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
22 PULSE
n
December 2015