On Wednesday 21st January, I stayed up to watch the news at 1.30am, to watch President Obama’s acceptance speech. Whatever your political views or from whatever country you come from, this was a strong message of “Hope”. In fact the word was used on a number of occasions in his speech, such as “ America: in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these times with hope and virtues.”
The next morning I switched my computer on and read my daily blog from Seth Godin, the US Marketing Guru, it discussed what marketing was: the selling of hope.
In these turbulent times it seems the driver in business and politics is HOPE, but does this apply only to the big end of town or does it also apply to your business.
What is HOPE?
Before looking at how you can use it as a marketing tool in your business we need to define the word “Hope”. According to the Longman Concise English Dictionary, hope is defined as “desire accompanied by expectation”. This could be the definition of the role of marketing and selling in any business.
Consumers take in the messages that businesses communicate to encourage them to visit stores and they come with an expectation that businesses will deliver what was promised. Customers are in a “hope” frame of mind. The retailers’ role is to turn “hope” into reality.
Consumers today are hoping that things will get better in the economy, they are also looking for signs that businesses are positive and proactive in the market place. They are hoping that retailers will exceed their expectations.
Market Hope not Products
If I go back to Seth’s message, retailers are in the job of selling hope, not products. Hope is in short supply and if you were the company that sold hope you would have a marketing advantage over your competition. Customers have generally become cynical and if you can convert this into hope then you have an advocate for your business.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and take yourself through the journey customers hope will happen when they do business with you.
They HOPE
1. That you will reply to their phone call on the same day as they rang.
2. You will greet them when they walk into your store.
3. You will have what they came in for or that you will offer a suitable alternative.
4. Your team will show them empathy and care about their needs.
5. You will deliver the product when you said.
Customers have their hopes dashed so many times when they go shopping. As a result they feel the only HOPE they have is that they will find a bargain.
If we took a lesson from Obama or Godin we may find that sales could improve.
Why not share your hopes with your team members and get them. To walk through the hopes of your customers. Then introduce some new strategies in your business that makes HOPE a reality.
After going through this article, it seems that "hope" can be used to encourage potential customers to become loyal to your business. In the case of old customers, it can be used as some kind of a loyalty reward. I have a question, though. What if the managers use the "hope" on their employees? Won't that create a chain effect? I mean, if they're motivated by giving them what they hope for, they'll be able to deliver great service, right?
Posted by: Philip Jackson | April 20, 2011 at 09:55 AM