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March 07, 2014 at 11:58 AM
I’m going to let you in on a little secret here. Secondary market annuities are a marketer’s dream. I’ll talk about a little marketing psychology in a moment.
But first, I want to touch on four core sales psychology principles that move people from being “shoppers” to “buyers,” so you can see exactly how it all fits together with secondary market annuities (SMAs).
The recipe for a compelling offer consists of:
1. Making the offer appealing
2. Being enthusiastic
3. Creating a sense of urgency
4. Giving yourself permission to pester
Let’s look at an example of a retailer that hits the nail on the head every time. The home shopping company, QVC, works exclusively on these four principles, both on television and online.
The host makes the offer appealing: “The design of these sweaters is based on a compilation of the five favorite sweaters I have in my closet today.”
The host is always incredibly enthusiastic. She practically shouts, “These sweaters are fantastic! I cannot wait to buy one of these for myself!”
And urgency and the permission to pester are created as the availability of each item is counted down in the corner of the screen. “There are only five of these sweaters left. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity. It’s going, going … gone!”
No matter what you think of QVC, it’s massively successful, and people from all walks of life are glued to it every day, calling in and submitting online orders.
Smart marketing with psychology
So, now that we understand these four core sales principles, lets back up to marketing psychology. Marketing is what gets the phone to ring. It’s what alerts the customer to the launch of a new flash sale or the availability of a new product on QVC.
So, how do we first market effectively, so we can then sell more? Rather than draw parallels, it’s more effective to quote one of the greats.
Here are three gems from Peter Drucker that will tie all this together.
1. “The customer rarely buys what the business thinks it sells him. One reason for this is, of course, that nobody pays for a ‘product.’ What is paid for is satisfaction.”
2. “There will always, one can assume, be a need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
3. “Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available, i.e., logistics rather than salesmanship, and statistical distribution rather than promotion.”
Look back at the QVC example. QVC knows exactly what its customers want, and it appeals to all their needs and desires. The marketing drives prospects to the “store” on television or on the Web. However, what makes it all sing is that the presentation and delivery is a complete recipe for a compelling offer, and thus sells through the products.
So, at the end of the day, QVC is really only on the hook for logistics — making sure that what is ordered arrives at the purchaser’s home quickly and in one piece. What does this have to do with secondary market annuities?
