Tangibly Speaking
How timely.
The Cool factor for this ad? A 10. And psychologically smart too.
Kudos to the Blue Sun.
As it happens, later today I’m presenting six effective ways to teach and coach to selling products and services that are less tangible than others. The audience is a group of motivated sales leaders. One of those six ways was one I didn’t expect to see in seat 19B yesterday.
As my flight was descending into Minneapolis yesterday afternoon, I was forced to shut down (ok – hide) all electronics –so I picked up the Sky Magazine to read. I flipped through the ads for the best plastic surgeon(s?) in the world and the many lunch dating services (I would definitely need the former before I could take advantage of the latter – and um..of course, er.. not be married.), but then I fell upon on page 58. Oh Joy!
Here it was! An “in print” example of working around what many sales and service people face who try and create interest in, or sell, intangible products – It was a wonderful means to get people to actually just “try it”!
The TechnoMarine ad copy says “Lift here to experience Blue Sun on your wrist”. And there gloriously lay, a perforated cut out you could lift out and place on your wrist.
I know what the makers of Blue Sun are thinking- that it’s one thing to read about the watch and see nice pictures but to “see” the watch on your wrist? – now, that is something.
I know a “watch” is not intangible or abstract like my training focus later today but TechnoMarine knows that selling a watch in a magazine is for all intents and purposes an “abstract” timepiece trapped in a two dimensional pixilated prison. And what I know about selling abstract products and services also applies here in that you have to often “try it” or “experience it” before you make a decision or even move the sales process forward.
Pretend you are selling a financial management dashboard or a social media business portal – you have to get your clients hands on the keyboard and immersed in her screen and that dashboard a bit first –like the ubiquitous test drive. It’s akin to having that faux paper watch wrapped around your wrist to see how it fits.
What I love about the watch ad is how quickly you can experience it. Boom! Lift it and wrap it around your wrist. Easy Peasy. And there is a QR code on the back and you can learn more about it. The Blue Sun ad is like the steroid version of the “scratch and sniff” print ads.- one swipe and you’ve got the experience – but in this case you can really wear it.
The broader point is simple too. “Try it” opportunities that allow you to test drive products – even when those products aren’t super abstract or intangible like a watch or a new car, (pardon the pun) are key. They always were and they always are. In the crazy world today where we have less and less time to get our prospects attention – it’s important especially when your product or service is not crystal clear immediately, to create those opportunities when a client can “wear” it.
Keep creating those free trial apps, the Freemiums, the virtual realities and the test drives for abstract and intangible products and services. And if you ever get a chance to put a perforated cut out of your product in an airline magazine – do that too.
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Mark McCarthy's Blog 