The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product fits him so well the product fits him and sells itself. Awesome thought from Peter Drucker. Let me tell you two awesome stories on how successful marketers use promotional strategies to sell without selling. Both are stories that I experienced firsthand.
Promotional strategies … here is the first story:
A landscape gardener ran a business that had been in the family for two or three generations.
The staff was happy, and customers loved to visit the store, or to have the staff work on their gardens or make deliveries – anything from bedding plants to ride-on mowers.
For as long as anyone could remember, the current owner and previous generations of owners were extremely positive happy people.
Most folks assumed it was because they ran a successful business.
In fact, it was the other way around…
A tradition in the business was that the owner always wore a big lapel badge, saying Business Is Great!
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The business was indeed generally great, although it went through tough times like any other. What never changed, however, was the owner’s attitude, and the badge saying Business Is Great!
Everyone who saw the badge for the first time invariably asked, “What’s so great about business?” Sometimes people would also comment that their own business was miserable, or even that they personally were miserable or stressed.
Anyhow, the Business Is Great! badge always tended to start a conversation, which typically involved the owner talking about lots of positive aspects of business and work, for example:
the pleasure of meeting and talking with different people every day
the reward that comes from helping staff take on new challenges and experiences
the fun and laughter in a relaxed and healthy work environment
the fascination in the work itself, and in the other people’s work and businesses
the great feeling when you finish a job and do it to the best of your capabilities
the new things you learn every day – even without looking to do so
and the thought that everyone in business is blessed – because there are many millions of people who would swap their own situation to have the same opportunities of doing a productive meaningful job, in a civilized well-fed country, where we have no real worries.
And so the list went on. And no matter how miserable a person was, they’d usually end up feeling a lot happier after just a couple of minutes listening to all this infectious enthusiasm and positivity.
It is impossible to quantify or measure attitude like this, but to one extent or another it’s probably a self-fulfilling prophecy, on which point if asked about the badge in a quiet moment, the business owner would confide:
The badge came first. The great business followed. And that my friends is the best social business strategy that I know of.
With the advent of the Internet, the number of marketing options available to both budding and experienced entrepreneurs has become staggering.
Mark Schaefer is one of my favorite marketing experts, who usually has good stories and examples to share. I recommend you check out his website.
Promotional strategies for business … here is the second story:
Recently, my wife and I bought several Turkish rugs from Mehrdad Moghadam, Vero Beach’s Steve Jobs of Oriental rug merchants.
If I could run my company as well he could sell, I’d have the most successful marketing agency in the state of Florida.
Technically speaking, Mehrdad didn’t really sell us anything. He simply created the conditions that allowed us to buy. I know many of you think this is really just a clever form of selling, but I would argue otherwise.
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How did Mehrdad work these magic conditions, when we weren’t really sure we were ready to buy a rug, let alone 2?
Sell without selling … establish rapport
He effortlessly … established rapport
He had beautiful rugs … and knew them better than most people know themselves
He loved … what he did
He shared his knowledge … with great emotion
He gave us … all the space we needed
