There’s a post at Marketing Professionals that asks: What’s a great marketer?
The answer to which most people refer is: “A great marketer sells more stuff.” (first comment there.)
Seems reasonable, yes? Sell more, make more. You’re a better marketer.
But is selling more stuff always a good thing?
On the one hand…
Marketers (and sales people) who are driven by the desire to sell more are also the most tempted to do and say things that are not in anyone’s best interest but their own.
Remember when they used to glamorize smoking in the movies? How about the old but smooth alcohol ads?
Today, there’s stuff like Aspartame – the artificial and apparently addictive sugar substitute in diet sodas, also available in little blue packages on counters in every restaurant in America.
But we want to be thin, right?
Or the Chicken McNuggets with butane – lighter fluid – (post here) in them. But we want fast, cheap, salty food, right?
And we have the networkers who make big promises to make sales. (E.g. bad press on product promises, see FreeLife, and Mannatech, or and bad press on business opportunity income promises, USANA.)
But there’s a reason this all continues to go on, despite our complaining about it.
That’s the other hand…
Why does a company sell something that’s possibly bad for you over time, and addictive besides? Why do people offer a quick fix to others for weight, energy or financial success when it doesn’t happen quickly, if ever? Because we buy it. Because we’re a nation that’s into instant gratification.
We use sugar substitutes because we’re obsessed with being thin. We think sugar is bad, so in goes the blue packet (NutraSweet) or the pink one, Splenda, for the coffee. Now we feel justified having that dessert.
We want to believe the claims about the quick weight loss without changing eating habits. Or getting that energy back without more exercise. Or getting some fast financial success. And if there’s a chance it can be done quickly and painlessly (no change of lifestyle on our part) we’re all for it. Over and over and over again.
Aren’t marketers (us included) just playing to ourselves? To our own hopes and dreams of a quick fix so we don’t have to change anything we’re doing, much less overhaul our priorities?
Should marketers continue to play to the national instant gratification habit in order to sell more stuff and be ‘great’?
And if not, then what is a great (network) marketer?
I remeber being a member of the
“do anything say anything crowd
when I entered MLM in 1988.My
sales were lousy and my teamates
were dropping like flies because
I taught them how I was taught.
Instead of trying to get a quick
sale,I ask people to think about
it for 24 hours and refer them
to live customers I have incurred.
Some of them normally tell me, you
must be very confident in your
services,(I am), not to try and
have us buy immediately.I noticed
real quick in this industry, that
chasing money like a mad rabid dog
will have you saying and doing
things which will only bring a
person pure frustration.
Raven
I have been a customer long enough and I have served customers long enough to know that the customer is not always right; however, it certainly can’t be denied that the mere hint of this truth can be most dangerous to the seller’s purse.
That being said, I have to agree that we are doing ourselves a disservice by our instant gratification lifestyles. Our purchasing power will dictate the market as it always has. But does providing the customer what the customer wants make us great marketers or just accommodating ones?
The bottom line is important. It’s one of the reasons we do what we do; however, I think that we can easily damage our reputations and credibility by being caught up in mrketing something that we know isn’t the best thing for our customers, whatever the product is.
I must know as much as I can know about a product before recommending it to a customer. I would never present any product which I knew to be injurious or of poor quality. I couldn’t sleep well at night if I didn’t give my best to my customers. So, if my customers want something which I feel is not in their — or my — best interest, there can be no sale. Does this make me a great marketer? I think so.
I think great marketers are those that have integrity, thick skin, and don’t quit! Over time they are the one that will be making the ongoing sales and keeping loyal customers.
I love the idea of telling people to think about it for 24 hours and then referring them to a current customer.
Since my product is a candle, I loan out jars to people local to me to let them smell and see first hand before making a purchase. It works wonders and shows confidence in the product and customers love it!
It is sad that some people feel the need to make the quick sell and compromise integrity.
The reason I think it still goes on is…
“A truth’s initial commotion is directly proportional to how deeply the lie was believed. When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.” ~ Dresden James
My definition of a good marketer doesn’t fit into the conventional theme.
I feel that in order to be a great marketer one must have more than their wallet in mind. I’ve often wondered how is it that some people can promote/sell products that are, in my opinion, deadly.
I suppose it’s the lure of the kill, or the winning that is predominant in their minds. Or perhaps, who has the most money to buy the most toys. In the process, they’ve “conditioned” people to think that certain things are ok to use and/or ingest. Again, we can refer back to the above quote.
Look at how many people think that shopping at “Whole Foods” is a good thing. When I tell people I don’t shop there any more they think Im crazy and don’t understand why. I just don’t by into the lies tthat are dished out right and left.
A truly educated consumer can pick up any packaged product in Whole Foods and identify numerous ingredients that are not satisfactory to consume… not to mention all the energy and miles it took to get the stuff there. I don’t shop there any longer because those foods are not any better than regular store bought. I’m running out of places to get truly chemical and additive-free food to eat. It makes me angry that they’ve lied to us for generations and have a large proportion of the people conditioned to believe that their organic items are organic when in reality they aren’t.
Now the FDA is about to “approve” that it’s ok for manufacturors to use non-organic ingredients and “still” legally label them “organic?”
People are conditioned to believe that if it comes from a natural food store that it must be ok and natural. It’s not.
Why do you think chains of natural food stores sprouted up practically overnight??? My little warning flags shot up when I started seeing them all over the place. In my opinion, they’ve taken a completely good industry, organics, and have ruined it in order to line their wallets. What it takes today to become certified organic is not the same regulations they operated from 10 or 15 years ago, it is completely different today. In my mind it’s the biggest scam going. Is that great marketing? I think most certainly not.
Is this great marketing? I guess it depends on what you’re conditioned to believe. They’ve really got us wrapped around their little finger.
No, I don’t think we should play into the instant gratification habit, it’s tried and look at where it’s gotten us.
I have no problem with lining ones wallet. I just think a great deal of ethical marketing and proper education needs to be the primary habit above all else.
I would rather have a smaller business/income and operate ethically. As I accomplish that, it makes me feel like a great marketer. My greatness does not revolve around how fat my wallet is. It comes from me knowing I’m doing the right thing.
What’s a great marketer? Someone who will lie, cheat and steal to make a sale. Think about the sales people you’ve encountered in your life. Am I right? That’s what I love about Kim and her New School of Network Marketing. She’s taught us we don’t need to do that to be successful. Honesty and integrity to my customers and business partners ensures I sleep at night. We are great marketers here at Network Marketing Central. If anyone out there is looking for great products and people to work with this is the place. We are a growing and successful group of marketers doing it Kim’s way. Hoorah for Kim she’s showed me a fun, better way to be a marketer.
Cathy Michaels
http://www.pethomebusiness.net
A great marketer puts people at ease because once she’s introduced her product she sets aside her own agenda while listening for cues from the prospective buyer that a match is in the making. No match, no market.
Dianne
Evelyn … great comment.
Ten years ago I moved to Greece. I gave up the ‘good job,’ sold the ‘big house’ the ‘big car’ and made over $20,000 in moving/garage sales (tells you just how much junk I had) and probably donated at least half that much to the Salvation Army (what didn’t sell, went). I came to Greece with six suitcases with the intention of repurchasing my needs. Initially, we rented a two bedroom apartment and I bought what I needed. To my astonishment, I found that needs and wants greatly differ. That ‘less’ IS really ‘more.’ (Less stuff to clean = more time to take your child to the park.)
Evelyn mentions ‘they’ … I’m not sure who ‘they’ are, but they certainly have brainwashed us into thinking our wants are actually needs. That ‘bigger’ is ‘better.’
Not to mention the philosophy of ‘subsidise your income with credit cards and loans.’ What happened to ‘live within your means’? When people need ‘bigger/expensive’ things, more money has to be generated to pay for them. We work so hard and so many hours instead of giving ‘love’ to our children, family and friends, we’re substituting love and fellowship with ‘things.’ (Enter ‘trophy generation.’)
I worked for corporate America when my son was growing up. Don’t even remember his childhood. In Greece, I was afforded the luxury of being at home with my daughter. Talk about gratification?
I totally agree with Evelyn wrt the food industry. We trust the FDA, yet they’re poisoining us. More … more … more. How big can grocery stores get? How many colors can ketchup come in?
Coming to Greece was like going back in a time machine. Ten years ago my cost of living in America was $5,000 a month. In Greece I lived a much better quality of life, was a stay-at-home mom and my cost of living was $1,000 a month. There were very few credit cards and loans were few and far between. Everybody paid ‘cash.’ If you didn’t have the money you didn’t buy it.
Grocery stores had ‘staples.’ Meats and produce were purchased from the ‘mom and pop’ stores who purchase from local farmers.
Ten years later ‘they’ have come to Greece. Credit cards and loans are a dime a dozen now. Chain grocery stores and malls are popping up putting the ‘moms and pops’ out of business. Women are having to go out and work.
In summation … our integrity has gone down the tubes because of the debt we have generated. We don’t have time to ‘think’ about what we’re doing/eating. To research what’s in what we’re eating or how those crops are being cultivated.
When a person has $xxxx amount of debt monthly, all he cares about is making that money … and how he makes it doesn’t much matter, just ‘get’ the sale.
When we ‘downsize’ our material needs, then our need to make money will downsize as well.
A great network marketer? Hmmm, for me it’s helping those women who want products for their family without additives. It’s helping those women who want to be at home with their children and still generate an income.
For me, going backwards was a step forward.
Venetta
http://www.aloecare4u.blogspot.com
Dianne,
You must be an excellent marketer. I love that definition. Way to go.
Nancy Carlson
http://www.perfectmombusiness.com
Today’s consumer is highly educated, and well informed. For the most part consumers know what they want before they start shopping. A great marketer today is one that takes a role of facilitator (guide) for the consumer, in as much as we listen to their specific needs and wants, and help to unfold the particular features which could possibly solve their perceived problem and or benefits that are not immediately apparent upon first view.As a real estate broker of 30 years, I was never an in your face hard sell, I just guided my clients through a successful purchase and an efficient, low stress transaction to closing. I mention low stress, as no major purchase is stress free. The same business principles guide me in my network marketing business, it does help however, that one of my products, a portable, home face and body spa is a great show and sell item. Our industry could be the most sought after business’ if we all took the facilitator approach with our potential customers and prospects.
hi Venetta, the “they” I am referring to consists of many groups, companies and even our own government.
For example: it apparently is fine and legal to advertise addictive psychotropic drugs, just to name one. Watching this 1 hr 43 min. video by Gary Null is but “one” tiny example of who “they” are and the kind of marketing we and our kids are exposed to hundreds of times a day… http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3609599239524875493&hl=en
No one in their right mind would allow big pharma, or any other company for that matter, to control masses of people and essentially dictate to the world what they should consume… unless they are conditioned to accept it. I rarely watch TV but when I do it makes me sik to my stomach to see/hear what’s allowed and what’s “normal” these days.
These companies and people do not have our best interest in mind. The only thing on their mind is… how to control our thinking, behavior and habits so that it increases the contents of their wallets, thus making them more powerful.
I’ve actually begun to find the word “marketing” a negative because of what’s being done in almost every industry. I don’t want any part of that kind of marketing.
It should more rightly be called today, “manipulation of the minds of the masses to provide a select few with fortunes and power over the people.” Oh, and don’t forget to kiss your butts good-bye once they’ve got a grip on you.
This type of “marketing” shows up in NM companies, to greater or lesser extents. Many of them do lie, or bend the truth significantly in order to make the sale or get new recruits.
Look at the bad examples we are bombarded with daily. If I could blurt out, whenever the shoe fit, “liar” I’d be walking around almost all day long saying, “liar, you’re just saying that so you can get what you want!” regardless of whether it was a NM or regular company.
Where’s the “incentive” to be an ethical marketer?
When do the people have time, after working two jobs, to find out the truth so these kinds of things don’t have to be a large part of our world?
“They” are also the people who allow misting of the organic produce with floride, ammonia & chlorinated tap water at our stores. Don’t we all remember hearing/reading never mix ammonia & chlorine together… why then is it widely accepted and still used? Because way back when, someone’s brother-in-law owned a chemical factory???
Even the American Dental Association says… ingested floride does NOT prevent cavities, it actually makes bones and teeth brittle. Yup, there are studies on it, though not easily found. How convenient.
Think about how many factories use treated tap water in the manufacturing of their processed foods, organic and regular. Very few have their own unpolluted wells as a water source.
Look at car commercials, they’re saying you can get a whopping 30 mpg. Ha, 30 mpg is pathetic! I bought a used Prius a year ago, I get 60 mpg, you can bet you’ll never see me buying a regular car again. I won’t buy another until they come out with one that gets 100 mpg and it too will be used and paid for in cash because buying a car is not an income producing asset.
There are tons more stuff like that out there, tons. The average person has no idea because, like the quote says…
“A truth’s initial commotion is directly proportional to how deeply the lie was believed. When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.” ~ Dresden James
We have been living in a well packaged web of lies. It’s more enormous than any of us realize.
And we wonder why so many people are not well in health or well in finances. None of us will have either unless we do something about it and get off their stinking treadmill.