A Monday Morning Memo from The Wizard of Ads
“Intangibles are the most honest merchandise anyone can sell. Theyare always worth whatever you are willing to pay for them and they never wear out. You can take them to your grave untarnished.”
Robert Heinlein
Two weeks ago I faxed you a memo called Intellect and Emotion: The Critical Balance, from which you may remember the following question. ”Does the customer typically buy the best value, or does he buy what he feels to be the best value? The truth is that human beings usually do what their emotions dictate, then find the logic to justify it.” Nothing is quite so important as emotion in advertising and selling. Regardless of what you sell, the important things to remember are always the intangibles.
As experts in your industry, you and your salespeople see your product far more intellectually than does your customer. The benefits you see in your product are different than the benefits your customer sees in your product. You see things which make your product different from your competitor’s. Your customer sees only what your product will do for him and chances are, your competitor’s product will do the same thing.
Your customer will buy
whichever product he “feels best” about.
Let’s make sure he feels best about yours.
Advertising may increase the customer’s emotional predisposition toward your store, as well as increase the number of selling opportunities you will have, but it will always take a salesperson to close the sale. Good advertising will begin the process of selling, but it is a process which must be completed on the sales floor. Do your salespeople know what your ads say? Are your salespeople in step with the spirit and thrust of the message you are advertising to the public? Listening to your salespeople should be like hearing a continuation of your ads. If your advertising and your salespeople aren’t saying the same thing, we need to bring the two together.
The most effective selling organization will be the one whose who external sales message (advertising) is in perfect harmony with it’s internal sales message (sales presentations). If your advertising staff is marching to the beat of the same drummer heard by your sales staff, there will be synchronicity. And who is that drummer your ad people and your salespeople are all straining to hear?
It’s you, of course! Let us hear from you!
Roy H. Williams
