DISQUS

Duct Tape Marketing: How to Sell Anything to Anyone

  • john waire · 10 months ago
    great post john. sound advice on a friday...the day of the week when i'm most receptive :)
  • Joseph T. Dager · 10 months ago
    So what you are saying John, it is not about me or my product? It is about my customers needs and wants! Why is that so tough to get? I say it, but I struggle doing it.

    I think I might hang a mirror up with Customer written on it. It might remind me to think that way more often.
  • MarketingTwins-Randy · 10 months ago
    This moves beyond "sell the sizzle, not the steak" - This is: sell them not the sizzle of your product but the sizzle that would offer them greater peace, prosperity, happiness - and this is likely something not even related to your product. They come to us for the function we perform - but they TRUST us (resulting in loyalty and referrals) because we care enough about them to offer the stuff that really matters. *GULP**REALIZATION**DUH*: Maybe my product is important to them, but it's not MOST important in their lives.
  • Jared O'Toole · 10 months ago
    To many people focus on their product and trying to push that product. Instead of thinking what their customers actual want and developing a product or service to meet their needs.

    Everybody can write a book or do consulting work but are you writing for you or for the people reading it?
  • Jeremy Lattimore · 10 months ago
    John, your articles are always insightful. This is an excellent point. Did you notice in KC that the Trane dealer is now using this idea on the radio? They say they sell nothing but clean, comfortable air.

    It is more important to sell to people's needs/wants that to sell your products. You are also right that you want to become the go to guy.

    Great article.

    Jeremy @ Refocusing Technology
  • Adam King · 10 months ago
    Great article John. I have to say, though, that it has left me a little confused. I understand that its all about the customer, but why would being a "one-stop-shop" benefit a very niche market? Isn't the idea of a niche to be a focused offering to a focused group? I know I'm missing some things here, for sure. Also, in a niche market how do you suggest discovering what the customer REALLY wants? I truly want to offer that to them.

    Great work as always! Thanks so much for all you do for us.
  • Kris Bovay · 10 months ago
    This concept is diversification both on a horizontal and vertical level ... hard to do but yes if you can do it well you can not only become very valuable to your customers but you can also increase sales and minimize risk! Something to aspire to.
  • Fabian Marquez · 10 months ago
    Agreed in spades. You've grabbed onto something here that is both elegantly simple and still far out of reach for most businesses. Is it that we can't be all things to all people, or that we haven't quite tapped into a universal appeal. I hate to beat a dead horse (and I'm certainly not one of their evangelists), but Zappos is a relevant model. People need shoes and personal attention in their shopping experience... POOF! Zappos sells a bazillion shoes. Anyhoo great post!
  • John Jantsch · 10 months ago
    @Kris - ooh I like that . . . diversification both on a horizontal and vertical level - I am so going to use that.
  • Chuck Jeffery · 10 months ago
    Was it Phillip Kotler who pushed the idea that marketing is defined as a process to meet your customer's needs? Maybe...Imagine that...Meet your customer's needs to make a profit.
    It only makes the game more fun that their needs are changing, not to mention that all customers are not looking for the same needs to be satisfied...One person wants a car to do the job, while the next wants a car to satisfy his ego. It's intriguing to realize that customers and clients frequently don't really know what they need.
    John, thanks for posting on a fascinating marketing topic.
  • Judy McCleery · 10 months ago
    John's right, this is brilliant in its simplicity, and I bet many of us have adopted some of these practices for some of our favorite customers/clients. I did this by taking my digital photography skills and teaching a beginner's class for the local recreation dept. I've done three six week sessions a year since 2006 and I have gotten a client out of each session. I'm getting ready to post the lessons to a blog to expand my audience beyond the local region.
  • Used Tires · 10 months ago
    I am a strong believer, that some people are born with good selling skills in the real world. I also believe that sometimes, a voice of a person, can help in their selling. No offense... but someone with a SUPER annoying voice, it is going to be SUPER hard to overcome that!

    Great Article!

    Till then,

    Jean
  • sweaty palms · 10 months ago
    Selling is a skill just like playing a sport is. Of course some people have a easier learning curve but at the end it just comes down to practice. If you practice enough you'll get the skill and it will be very easy to convey the value of your products.

    Just my 2c.

    Andy
  • modeling22 (modeling22) · 10 months ago
    [Article] How to Sell Anything to Anyone : http://is.gd/lwLP
  • Web Design Dude · 10 months ago
    I went into a store the other day to buy a big tv and all the guy was trying to sell me was a whole bunch of features. He wanted me to buy the one he liked the most. He did not take the time to ask me what I wanted so that he could give me the best solution.

    I am not a salesman but I surely am a client and so often have people not thought about me while trying to sell to me.

    So yes what you say makes perfect sense.
  • Justin · 7 months ago
    Identifing the needs of your customers is all that matters. The quicker you identify those needs the greater opportunity you'll have to provide them with what they want. They really want to buy, give them their options and let the options sell for you.