Karaoke…

 Poetry slams, open mic nights and karaoke - the ”original” user-generated content.  Who could have guessed your local watering hole would be the precursur to one of the web’s most profitable trends?

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C’mon, dare me – say I shouldn’t buy it.

 
Something curious happened to me the other day.  We were having connectivity issues and, in talking to the Comcast (my isp) guy, he mentioned cable ‘insurance’.  Basic idea is this – if there’s a problem with your internet and they send a tech out to your address, one of two things will happen:

a) the tech will find out the problem is their fault and fix it free of charge
or
b) the tech will find out the problem is your fault and you pay a $50 service fee.

However, there’s an insurance policy.  So, if I have the insurance in place and the tech comes to my place of business and finds out the bad connection is my fault, I’m not charged the $50 – it’s free. 

Long story short, the tech/salesperson on the phone told me he didn’t think I needed the insurance.  Contrary to what I would have assumed should happen, this instantly piqued my interest.  Here was a guy specifically telling me NOT to buy the insurance, so I stopped, hesitated, then proceeded to weigh the cost (which was low) and benefits of the insurance and ended up buying the insurance plan.

I later thought about this peculiar transaction.  If the sales guy had given me the ’sell’, told me about all the benefits of having insurance, etc etc, I undoubtedly would have said no.  Is this because I hate to be pitched?  Possibly.  But more than likely, the ‘pitch’ itself is what devalues the service.  If you have to ’sell’ me on the product, it’s probably a piece of crap.  However, as in the case of the cable insurance I purchased, the fact that I was told NOT to buy the product opened me up to wanting to really scrutinize the offer.  Something that, had I been given a regular sales presentation, never would have happened.

I’m so numb, so jaded by sales pitches, that someone has to literally tell me, “Don’t buy my product“, to get me to take a look at their offer. 

The lesson here is this.  If you’re trying to sell people something, they’re wise to your ways.  This is old news, yes.  There’s talk everywhere of banner blindness, drops in ad effectiveness, etc, etc and this scares a lot of people.  It shouldn’t though.  If anything, I believe it’s a good thing.  It means that those individuals and companies that shoot straight, tell it like it is and whose mission is to simply and completely meet the needs of their customers/traffic/audience, win.  Do that and do it well, and your sales will reach heights that no amount of fluffing could achieve.

Image courtesy of PA Pundits

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