Nine out of ten cats prefer

Dave Malone, Evolve Consultants www.evolve.ie

Trivia time: The average Irish Person watches in excess of 30 hours of every week. The most popular programmes on Irish TV are programmes such as 'Coronation Street', 'The Late Late Show', 'Fair City' and 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'. All these shows are on commercial channels, which means that they are frequently interrupted by advertisements. The people who produce the 'ads' for TV channels are aware that TV audiences have short attention spans and low tolerances for boredom - so they only have 15 to 30 seconds to develop interest, show how their products fill a need, and close the sale. They use comedy, music, on going story lines, animation, well-known personalities, and anything else they think will keep you watching.
Whether you advertise on television or not, you can learn a lot about sales just from watching commercials. Study what you see on television and see how you can apply it to your own selling.

  • What words are used?
  • How do advertisers make their points so quickly?
  • What do they do to keep viewers' attention?

Some of the lessons television can teach us:

  • Social Proof. - 'Nine out of ten cat owners prefer XXXXXXX'.
  • Use testimonials whenever possible. People believe other people and trust their preferences.
  • Visual Impact - People remember what they see better than what they hear. If they can actually touch the product and try it out, you are another step ahead.
  • Keep as much product on-hand as possible.
  • Show the customers how it works and when possible, let them try it.
  • Keep it short and simple.
  • Take a break - take a "XXX XXX". Don't data dump your customer!. Remember that attention spans are short.
  • Know your product well enough to be able to highlight its best qualities quickly and clearly.
  • Repeat for impact! Television advertisements repeat their messages more than once in a commercial ( "The XXX detergent doorstep challenge", "XXX whiter than white" New / improved XXX gives a whiter than white brighter finish"
  • Ask for the business. Television advertisements are filled with closing lines: "This weekend only!", "For a limited time only!", "While stocks last!"
  • After your presentation, try to close the sale. That doesn't mean you have to be as pushy as some of the salespeople on television, but the best way to make sales is to ask for the biz!

 

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