NFIB

Don't Underestimate Your Customers
04/ 11/ 2002

It was H.L Menken, an American humorist, who said: "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." If you based intelligence on what we see in lowbrow movie humor or inane TV sitcoms, perhaps you'd think Menken was right. When it comes to purchasing power, however, the American public is very savvy. Successful small businesses know this and act on it. In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses shows why tailoring your marketing and sales efforts to intelligent consumers will help you reap rewards.

Just ask veteran salespeople what they think about the intelligence of their customers. Almost to any person, they'll say that their best customers are clever, adept at figuring out the real cost of things, and know how to spot inflated sales hype. In other words, people are smart and they're always looking for ways to receive greater value in what they purchase.

For this reason, you'll do better in your marketing by assuming that people will respond to intelligent, rational offers of true value. This doesn't mean that people buy based solely on intelligence and rationality - it's just that you'll find more success, in the long run, when you offer people complete knowledge and information about a product. This enables them to know not only that they're receiving all the features they want, but also the best price.

Excellent examples of this can be found in highly competitive industries, such as electronics and computers. Consumers in these fields often analyze every detail before making a buying decision. The varying features of modern electronic and computer equipment can be mind numbing at times, but sales reps in both retail and online electronic/computer stores invariably find that customers ask exceptionally detailed, knowledgeable questions. Based on the answers, customers choose the brand and store from which they'll make their purchase. These consumers are savvy, and are highly motivated to find not only just the right features on their equipment, but the best price in a competitive marketplace.

One interesting example showing the intelligence of the average consumer is the drawing power of lengthy magazine and newspaper ads. Over and over it has been proven that ads with extensive text draw more than ads with a relatively small amount of text. You might think the opposite would be true. After all, people have short attention spans and get bored reading, right? They do sometimes, but not when they're gathering information about a product they're going to buy. When people are going to put down their hard-earned money, they want to know about every detail. Even full-page newspaper ads draw well, simply because people will read every word about something they're interested in, and are considering purchasing.

Undoubtedly, almost every reader of this article has purchased some electronic or computer item. While you were gathering information from ads in magazines or from brochures (both of which frequently contain far too much hype and too little hard facts), were you completely satisfied? Or did you continue to talk with any knowledgeable person you could find? It's very likely that you kept asking questions until you knew just what you wanted-and had located the best possible price. Everyone is like this. It doesn't matter if you're buying a new DVD player or a flea collar for your dog.

For this reason, base all your marketing on the assumption that people will buy from you if you supply all the information they need to make a decision. Not every one actually will buy, of course, but you'll undoubtedly find that by following these principles your closing ratios and profitability will rise.

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