Marketing Lessons from Lunatics

Website design By BotEap.comSome of the best salespeople are those who are willing to be seen as crazy. I learned this lesson more than a decade ago when I was walking on the Ohio State University campus. Equipped with nothing but a Bible and a megaphone, the crazy [that’s what we called him] he always had at least a dozen people in circles around him while he preached. On a daily basis, she would stand on an overturned bucket in the middle of the busiest section of campus. Whether by design or luck, this man did three things with his listeners that were essential to getting his message across:

Website design By BotEap.com1. He interrupted them.
2. He compromised them.
3. He educated them.

Website design By BotEap.comThese are not the keys to a new kind of magical marketing; they are simply the core elements behind all successful marketing. You can also apply this to your own business. Start by interrupting the person receiving your marketing. To successfully interrupt someone, you must be able to break their normal routine. This can be done with countless devices, and you’ll need to figure out which one works best for you, your message, and your comfort level. For some, simply using a non-traditional, eye-opening medium does the trick quite well. For others, the use of abrupt humor with a clever twist breaks up the clutter and noise that fills the head of the person you’re trying to reach. Our company advocates the use of handwritten envelopes and highly personalized adjustments to the standard marketing medium inside the envelope. Be selective! If you can’t interrupt the recipient’s mindstream, you won’t have a chance to go any further in the process.

Website design By BotEap.comSimply save your post for another client. If, and only if, you can completely interrupt your customer’s train of thought, you have a narrow window of opportunity where you’ll find your next challenge: engagement. Engagement can be simply defined as the ability to make someone stop, think, and respond in terms of you. Engaging your customer should not be confused with your education. When done correctly, it provides your customer with the mental bridge between getting their attention and educating them with a proper solution. Engagement occurs when you are forced to stop and assess your situation in a way that prepares the client to want to be educated. Your client must be excited and thinking, “Okay, you have my attention. What are you going to do with it?” Then, and only then, when you can successfully interrupt the customer’s normal mind stream and properly engage them as a unique individual, will you be ready to educate them on your unique value proposition. Every company in the world has something that provides help, answers or solutions to the people they represent.

Website design By BotEap.comThis will be your chance to stand on your overturned bucket and yell through a megaphone about yours. As he strives to communicate his unique value proposition, he should look only for a place of clear understanding, instead of focusing solely on trying to make a sale. Selling through effective education can be quite simple if you are properly communicating what you have to offer. If you were trying to sell the cure for cancer, you would need to accomplish only two things. You would need to be able to identify and reach those people who needed your cure, and then you would need to be able to clearly communicate the fact that you really do have the cure for cancer. As you evaluate your unique value proposition, you’ll discover that you have a cure for something, you’ll discover that there are plenty of people who want what you have, and you’ll discover that you just need to master these basics. marketing principles to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.