Today I went grocery shopping and took this picture; the sign says “large red plums,” the plums say, “small red plums.” I actually tried to find the largest plum in the batch and I think I did. In the picture I am holding the plum next to an egg (which is slightly higher in my hand), this gives you an idea of how small this “large red plum” really was. Now, this may seem like something trivial, but the issue is actually a large one. How much do we have to lie to sell something? Companies spend far too much time masking their products and services and not enough time focusing on the features and benefits. It’s rather insulting when a sign lies to your face don’t you think?
What if the sign had said something like “juicy red plums,” or “small but succulent plums?” There are several ways to sell something, one of them is by trying to trick your customers into buying something that isn’t going to deliver what is expected of the product or service (yes it can also be argued that juicy plums is a bad idea as well, good point). This isn’t usually an effective way to sell, but every now and then, you do get the people that fall for it. In the plum case, the “large red plums” were the only ones available, so if I wanted a plum, I had no choice. When it comes to most other products or services this is not the case. There are usually a couple alternatives that can deliver the same product or service that you can, and some of those alternatives may even do a better job satisfying your customers’ needs that you can.
Lying, tricking, masking, or whatever else you want to call it, is not usually the best approach to take when trying sell or market something, especially not in the social media age where “transparency” is supposed to be key. Now, if I felt that I was cheated by a plum, I’m sure others felt the same way. Now, I may be a bit crazier than most, but I wrote a blog post about a plum, what do you think people would do when they feel a company duped them? Remember Jeff Jarvis and Dell Hell? People don’t respond well to bitter company, brand, product, or service experiences, and they will share them with the world. You can’t always please everyone all the time, but you can sure as hell try, and you better.
When trying to get your product or service out there, try to be as honest as possible, you have no reason to lie. If you have a great product or service than people will realize that, there is no point trying to sell them a façade, because in the end, the only person that is going to lose out is you, the one who sold the product or service.
Thanks for reading
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