I’ve learned that that key to selling anything is to speak directly to your potential buyer’s “pain” points and position your product, service, or solution to address it.
That being the case, I’ve found that people who aren’t trained sales or marketing professionals prefer to do everything BUT address pain points. None clearer than the billboard I saw in Clarksville, TN this week.
Now if you look at it, you’ll probably have several questions:
- Who is Mr. Murples?
- If he’s the baboon with the big glasses, what does he know about buying a car?
- If he does know about buying cars, how do we know that their prices are the lowest?
- Why is Mr. Murples so huge when the car that has the low price on it is dwarfed?
Does this billboard do anything to convince anyone they should buy at this dealership?
Now I have nothing against this dealership or Nissans for that matter. I even like baboons (but I’m not a fan of bow ties, on humans or baboons). I do have something against spending hard-earned cash on crappy advertising.
And because I do, I’d like to offer up some suggestions for the next time you’re trying to sell something (or yourself) to someone.
- Identify Your Potential Audience. Who are they? What do they like? How do they think? In the case of a car buyer, think about what demographic might be interested in a Nissan. Everyone loves buying at the lowest price. Do Nissan buyers like baboons with bow ties and glasses?
- Identify their “Pain.” In the case of car buyers, low price is certainly important but what about a buyer-friendly experience where there is no haggling over the price? We want to attract the right people to the lot. Not sure what you’d attract with a bow tie-wearing baboon.
- Figure Out the Best Way to Reach Them. Billboards might be great when marketing to people on the road. That may be where your buyers are. Possibly having a baboon on the billboard gets attention in a sea of other car dealer, law firms, and insurance agencies who seem to dominate the billboard methodology. But does this really work? Which leads to…
- Measure Your Results. I’m not sure how one would track who comes in based on seeing Mr. Murples. If the dealership actually polls potential buyers, they’d be wise to count just how many were drawn in by the ad. If Mr. Murples is driving up sales, keep him around. If not, move on and maybe try NOT using animals.
These lessons work in sales and in interviewing for jobs. Take some time this week to reexamine your sales and marketing strategy. Mr. Munro thinks it’s a great idea. You’ll have to ask Mr. Murples his opinion.