Did You Hear What Seth Godin Said ???

 I read a lot. In fact, I frequently read two hours every night before I go to sleep. That doesn't include my weekend reading.

Not too long ago, I was reading Seth Godin's book,

This is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See.

Seth starts the book with these words,

Marketing is all around us. From your very first memories to the moment before you opened this book, you’ve been inundated by marketing. 

You learned to read from the logos on the side of the road, and you spend your time and your money in response to what marketers have paid to put in front of you. 

Marketing, more than a lake or a forest, is the landscape of our modern lives. 

Because marketing has been done to us for so long, we take it for granted. 

Like the fish who doesn’t understand water, we fail to see what’s actually happening, and don’t notice how it’s changing us.

Seth's "Marketing is all around us" statement was life-altering for me for it encapsulated so of much of my life's experience.

It helps to explain why when I shop near brooms at Walmart, all of a sudden, I start singing, "O cedar makes your life easier."

And when I think of McDonalds, I still catch myself singing, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun," even though the song came out 51 years ago.

Still, I remember overhearing my family watching the 'Dinah Shore' show. In every episode, Dinah sang, "See the USA in your Chevrolet."

A co-worker of mine paid off their mortgage and a co-worker took issue with that. What surprised me was her words, namely that investing in stocks was wiser than paying off your mortgage, were almost verbatim excerpts from a large brokerage firm's advertising campaign.

We've all heard many people state that if you repeat something enough times, people will take it as the God's honest truth.

While 66 years on this planet have made me aware of what is happening; what is really going on. I believe many others do not understanding this phenomenon.

We know that pharmaceutical firms are required by law to disclose the risks associated with their products. I also know that Car Leasing firms are "required to clearly and conspicuously disclose specific information in their advertisements under the Consumer Leasing Act." 

Except for the two exceptions above, most people do not realize that an advertisement is under no obligation to disclose the risks or downsides associate with purchasing their products.

Therefore, they believe they are fully informed before making their purchase, when in reality they are anything but fully informed.

I hope you found this article enlightening.

 

Business Owner, Do You Need a Secret Shopper ???

Do You Need a Secret Shopper ???

Most business owners probably think, "the last thing I need is another expense."

We used to go to church with someone who was a secret shopper. It was easy to see why people would hire he. She would visit stores to see how the product was displayed; to see if the store was clean and to see if the clerk was courteous.

I've experienced many businesses who could really use a secret shopper.  For example,

I lived in Pennsylvania for 17 years. There was a famous hotdog chain which I had never visited. One day when I was running errands, I drove past one of their hotdog restaurants and figured I should try it out.

When I walked in I heard the young cashier say to the other, "I’m gonna take this customer and then take lunch." I had no idea what I wanted so I wasn't able to give him my order.  What made things worse was the look on his face as he grew more and more impatient and irritated. It didn't help that I was the only thing standing between him and his break. I just turned around and never went back to that restaurant.

Our dog has always been very important to us. Hence, her groomer has also been very important. Unfortunately, the shopping center where the local groomer worked was bring closed and our groomer was relocating to another store 20 minutes away. Since we liked the groomer we figured we’d go see her. Well, it was a rainy day and therefore not the nicest day to be out. My wife had left early since we didn't know exactly how much time it would take to get there. When my wife arrived the first thing the receptionist said was, "You’re early". Well, it was hard enough to get there without hearing that. Do you think we ever went back? 

When I was in between jobs. I had my choice of recruiters to reach out to; recruiters who obviously would've earned a commission if they placed me in a role. When I went to one recruiter the receptionist was rude. I don’t remember exactly what she did, but she made me not wanna deal with them. She never should have been in a people facing role.

Another time I was driving with the kids when we decided we wanted donuts. We drove into the drive - thru and announced we were ready to give our order. We heard nothing. After asking one more time we decided we should drive around to see what was going on. No one was manning the window either. When we drove a little further, we saw four employees sitting on tables looking at their phones. We quickly left.

The problem is businesses don’t know about these things. They monitor call center conversations but they never take time to monitor what walk-in customers are experiencing. If they did, they wouldn't lose so many customers and they'd have more successful businesses.