Question:
How much of what you buy is an act of self-expression? How about what you do for a living or extra income? Here’s a telling story about a lady and her vacuum cleaner.
WalMart is now reconsidering how much to go organic. They’ve noticed that most of their shoppers put the organic food back when they see it’s $1-2 more than the conventional fare. Is that a good response by WalMart?
What kind of person are you looking for, for your product or your business? How should someone who’s a match “see themselves”? I mean of course, see themselves as it relates to either the product (or service) you’re offering or your business.
Hint: this exercise is not as easy it it might first appear.
Hi Kim,
Yes this makes sense. I read through all the posts on Seth’s site in regards to this idea.
I do not purchase certain things even if I can afford them because they do not fit in with how I think of myself.
I believe in green/sustainable products and business practices. I will search out products that meet my value system. I am very hard core about this. I almost always buy small organic producer product over a large corporate organic producer product even if the price is higher.
I have certain criteria about how products are produced and sold that dictates where I will do business and where I will spend my money.
So if a person is shopping at WalMart and they have a perception of themselves as looking for value, the least expensive price on a product, etc, they will not see themselves purchasing organic produce, it’s not part of their value system, even if the price is lower than an organic product at Whole Foods would be.
That makes perfect sense. This fits in with your approach about “call out the name of your customer and/or business prospects”.
Wal-mart is not a place I would ever go to buy an organic product. It has already been shown that Wal-mart is misleading consumers with their organic products by labeling products organic that are not organic.
Organic and Wal-mart do not fit together. The whole idea that Wal-mart can sell organic is in complete opposition to what organic stands for.
I would venture to guess that the majority of people that care about organic are not shopping at Wal-mart.
Regards,
Erin Ely
While I believe in part what people do and buy is based on a perception or extension of their identity, it is also my experience they make those decision based on what they WANT less than what they NEED (perceived or otherwise).
Case in point, how many readers have postoned paying a bill, or buyng insurance, in order to buy a gift, go out to dinner or a movie, or indulge in some luxury purchase?
Discounting the “rob Peter to pay Paul” syndrome, I venture everyone who has ever held a dollar, at one time or another has spent one on what they wanted BEFORE they bought something they needed. (The former is an example of which NEED had a higher priority and I’ll wager that was based on which NEED had a greater WANT as well!).
Point is, we should spend our valuable time finding the people (or business owners) who are already self-convinced they WANT something, and match our benfits to their wants, not their needs.
Then it’s just a matter of LETTING them BUY FROM US!
“No shoes, No Shirt, No Service!”
Same should apply to us…
I was taught that a possibility had to be “Ready, Willing, and Able” in order to be a Prospect. Then it was simply a matter of getting the two of us together so they could buy what I had to offer.
I guess that’s why I was never a “Salesman”… I was taught to be a “Facilitator”
Point is, using Kim’s techniques, the Direct Marketer can identify who’s “Ready, Wiling, and Able” and match our benefits to their WANTS.
We need to refuse service to anyone not prepared to “wear proper attire”!
I agree completely with Erin. I think the more comfortable you become with who you are the more your life and your decisions resemble hers. My family and I constantly go back and forth about products and where to buy them and who from. I have a perspective of whether or not they fit in my world, and if they don’t, well, I won’t buy. I also wouldn’t buy organic from Wal-mart. Organic food, in my world, should be purchased from the farmers who grow them. Farmers Markets, food co-ops and home deliveries keep that kind of vision true and on target. You could never sell me a product that didn’t fit that perspective, no matter how persuasive or logical your pitch.