Craig Garber

Seductive… or sleazy: What's your take?

Ever heard this one?: Know who the easiest person to sell is?

A salesman, supposedly. But I’m not so sure that’s right. I guess it depends on what the salesman is buying, right?

I know when I sold life insurance I bought a hell of a lot of insurance. And when I was a financial planner I invested heavily in mutual funds.

And if you could peek into my office right now, you’d see I’m practically wall to wall packed in here with information products, books, and all sorts of media about marketing, selling, psychology, and all that good stuff.

So maybe that old adage about how “the easiest person to sell is a salesperson,” has some wings to it.

I’m always fascinated by things that are properly planned to take advantage of known human behavioral habits, especially when it comes to selling.

For instance, the other day I stopped to fill up my car with gas at a station on the other side of town. I’m not usually driving by this station, mostly because I use the other “main road” into and out of town, but listen to what happened.

I pull into the bay, grab my credit card out of my wallet, and slide it into the pump’s electronic swipe register. I grab the pump and automatically go to push the button to the farthest left to get the el cheapo gas.

I’m just about to push the thing — on “automatic” — when I see at the last minute, that this isn’t the el cheapo gas. No siree.

These guys have gone and switched the whole thing up. On these pumps, the most expensive gas is presented first, on the far left. Each successive button to the right, then gives you a cheaper option.

I’d bet anything that most people automatically do what I did, and reach for the button furthest to the left, because that’s the habit we all have (and by “we,” I mean those folks who put inexpensive gas into their cars). I’d also bet that most people don’t even notice what’s going on, until it’s too late — if at all.

To me, this is smart marketing. Why not play right into the hands of how people are going to behave?

After all, they didn’t do anything wrong — the gas is clearly labeled on each pump, as are the gas prices.

I remember years ago, when I was a small boy. We were on vacation, driving from New York City to Florida. My parents were heavy smokers then, and the thought of buying inexpensive cigarettes in North Carolina tobacco country, was very attractive to them.

They stopped into an old country gas station — this is back in the days when the attendant would come out and fill up your tank — and asked how much the stogies were.

The fellow told them, “30 cents each, 3 for a dollar.” Well, they were so used to getting a bargain when you buy multiples of something, and they were so overwhelmed that cigarettes were less than half of what they were paying for them back home, they wound up getting the “3 for a dollar” deal, without even thinking about it.

A couple of hours later, I remember them discussing this in the car, about how they were blind-sided about the whole deal.

See, that’s just taking advantage of human nature as well. Fair play, as long as you’re not hiding anything and you’re giving full disclosure.

Anyway, what’s your take on all of this?

Do you think things like this are seductive? Or, do you think they’re sleazy?

Post your opinion on my blog and let me know: http://blog.kingofcopy.com

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Discover the more ways to leverage human nature in “4 Steps To Making A Small Fortune Using A Non-Launch Launch In A Very Conventional Business” in this month’s Seductive Selling Newsletter. Take your free 30-day test-drive of Seductive Selling, and check out the goofy Video to see the 15 bonuses you get with your free trial at http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

And for all the King’s products, go to http://www.kingofcopy.com/products

Comments? Leave them here on my blog — I want to know what you’re thinking:

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7 responses to “Seductive… or sleazy: What's your take?”

  1. Debra White Avatar
    Debra White

    Definitely sleazy. There is a lack of transparency in operating like this. Quite possibly a lack of integrity too. Of course that all depends on your worldview. But regardless of your ethical position, it certainly requires the customer to be on her guard and so undermines, rather than builds, trust. Not the way I’d recommend anyone to go out their business if they are in it for the long haul. I hope the gas company had some other good reason for switching their buttons around, like consistency or something.

    Having said all that, the psychology of buying behaviour is fascinating. My local supermarket recently introduced a new line of expensive biscuits and launched them with a two-for-the price-of-one offer. Guess what happened? Next time I went in there I was already conditioned to pick up two boxes of those delicious gourmet biscuits and did so automatically before realising the launch offer had expired! Now in that example I got totally sold by the quality of the product which I probably wouldn’t have tried at all if not for the original launch incentive. And I was introduced to a new and pleasurable experience, thereby providing me with as much benefit as the supermarket. So I vote for this one as seductive.

  2. Jorge Pinkus Avatar
    Jorge Pinkus

    Perhaps you could get by with that kind of “sales tactics” if your aim is just selling once to your customers.

    I would seriously think twice about going again to refill my gas at that station.

    But what the sales professionals must develop now is the trust of the market, not just trying to obtain a couple more dollars on one transaction for one customer.

    "Buyer beware" is the phrase that comes to mind. Shame for you for doing it once to me. Shame for me if I go there twice!

    Yours in success,

    Jorge Pinkus
    Your Success Voyager Guide & Coach
    http://SuccessVoyager.blinkweb.com

  3. Rich Avatar
    Rich

    Well it certainly plays into the hands of how can we manipulate the buyer in a way that makes it look like they have not been manipulated.

    So my take is the intention of the person is to be manipulative for their own profits. They want the client to do something that they do not want to do. Getting the easy sale.

    Why dont they get a copywriter like you to write some copy as to why there clients should be using the better fuel. Wouldnt that be a great thing fill your car and get a sales piece as to why next time you should use better fuel.

    Rich

  4. Brian from NY Avatar
    Brian from NY

    Come on folks, it’s seductive!

    Understanding buyers behavior and WHY they buy is probably the most important thing to spend time on no matter WHAT you sell.

    Switching buttons on the gas pump isn’t sleazy, it’s the right thing to do if it works. If you didn’t watch what button you hit, is it someone else’s fault, or YOURS? People shop gas stations for prices, that’s all…they’ll go back if the price is right, but they might push the right button next time!

    People tend to walk around all day in a semi-consious state of mind, living on auto-pilot. As marketers, we have to know this, and know how to use this to our advantage. That’s what marketing is all about. It’s no different than using brightly colored packaging to attract buyers, celebrity endorsements to create trust, or expiration dates on special offers to create urgency…it’s all the same.

    You shouldn’t be in the marketing business if you have that strong of a concience for this stuff. No matter how you slice it, no matter how you dice it…marketing is designed to help sell something. Any bit of overindulgence, overselling, or sparkly packaging can be considered sleazy by someone.

  5. Craig Garber Avatar
    Craig Garber

    Thank you Brian. Finally, someone with sanity came along and said something. There’s absolutely no WAY you can find this sleazy. The only folks who call something like this sleazy have abdicated all personal responsibility and decision-making prowess, over to “someone else.”

    And when you do that, rest assured, paying a few pennies more per gallon is mild compared to the screwing you’re getting from others. You just haven’t spotted it, yet.

    There’s no lack of transparency (all the pumps are CLEARLY labeled), as some said, there’s just a lack of clear thinking on the buyer’s part. You’re right Brian, most people are damn near comatose — at high noon! That’s why you go through the stores and all they’re selling at the front is “energy drinks” and “energy shots.”

    Shit, I have so much energy I can’t get rid of mine fast enough to let me even have a decent night’s sleep some days.

    You don’t lose customers because you are a shrewd marketer, you lose customers because what you sell has no value.

    By definition, being a “shrewd marketer” is actually what gets you customers.

    What, do you think I’m not going to buy gas there again because they’re smart enough to do what everyone else is too stupid to do?

    They’re astute enough to understand behavior patterns — not only will I buy from them, I’ll try and study what they’re doing and learn from them!

    You want to know what is sleazy? When some wingnut Senator calls me with a voice blast asking me to vote for one of his cronies — now THAT’s sleazy. See, even though I’m on the National Do Not Call Registry, because he’s an elected official, these laws don’t apply to him.

    Want to know what else is sleazy? When you read ads that say things like, “Even if you do nothing, the money will come rolling in like a tidal wave.”

    That’s sleazy.

    But guess what? It’s what people want to hear — but the people who buy that stuff, they are the ones who are short term customers.

    Remember, be a hard opener and there’s no close. Be a weak opener and let every Tom, Dick and Harry into your funnel and you’ll waste time having to close them and weed them out, all day long.

    But setting up your counter space to take advantage of people’s “duh” habits — that’s not sleazy, that’s just smart.

    Thanks again, Brian.

  6. Debra White Avatar
    Debra White

    You canNOT be serious!?

    I used to sell life insurance and mutual funds, too. I seem to recall from my professional exams a distinction between the principle of “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware) and the principle of “utmost good faith”. I prefer to work with the latter.

    Operating in a mindset of caveat emptor is essentially a win:lose mentality rather than a win:win paradigm which, I assert, is what the customer is looking for these days. Caveat emptor allows for the possibility of winning at someone else’s expense and erodes trust. So what if customers are on autopilot? – Where do you draw the line here? Do you consider it fair game (or shrewd) to exploit the elderly, the less confident, less mature? – the illiterate, the woman who’s left her spectacles at home or the guy who’s worried about his partner, his kids, or issues with his biggest client? Why would anyone respect that sort of “sales” tactic? This sort of dog-eat-dog mindset went out of fashion long ago, along with the culture of the 1980’s.

    Another thing that went out of fashion long ago is this idea that there’s only one right answer. I find it interesting and revealing that the only person you thanked, Craig, for taking the time to contribute here was the one who agreed with your point of view. And considered it acceptable to publicly disrespect the rest of us.

    But, you know, your communications will resonate with and attract those who hold similar values to you, and I wish you luck.

    P.S. I’ve already unsubscribed.

  7. Craig Garber Avatar
    Craig Garber

    you can always tell who’s making money… and who’s not. What you think about most, is very indicative of how you spend your time.

    ’nuff said on this one.

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