Thursday, 14 May 2009

You Can't Put a Price on Happiness

Actually you can. In fact, armed with nothing more than a calculator and a twisted sense of morality, you can put a price on just about anything.

It may seem somewhat harsh to suggest that you can put a price on someone’s emotional state but what marketeers are most interested are people’s feelings. That flashy new sports car will make you feel good. That new aftershave will make you feel sexy. Red Bull never actually gave me wings, but on many occasions it did make me feel energized. Unless I drank three in a row, in which case it made me feel dizzy.

Now what inspired this blog was something that happened here in the office a couple of days ago. Recently we sent out a selection of gifts to some new potential customers. One of those gifts was a mobile phone stand that you put on your desk. It’s quite a snazzy design that really needs to be seen in the flesh to be appreciated. If you’d like a sample – just ask.



So someone receives this sample and is very excited about it. She instantly loves this product. Now that first part is important – we’ve created an emotional response – we have someone who loves the product and is excited by it. Now we move on to phase two:

“We’re delighted about how you feel about that product. Just imagine if you could provoke the same reaction in your own customers, how would that be for your business?”

Now we all know what her answer is don’t we? It’s a loaded question. We don’t just send out random gifts to people because we’re all such lovely people. I mean we are lovely people, but that’s not the point here.

So then comes the burning question – how much? The good news is that this particular item is on special offer for the month of May and the price is now just a little over £3.

And that’s when it all goes South.

She’s planning on buying 1000 of these and £3 is just far too expensive for her. STOP!!!! Back up a few paces here. You’ve got the opportunity to get 1000 of your customers feeling good about you. You’ll either open new doors of communication or at the very least you’ll maintain those which are already open. You’ll be in the strongest position to introduce new products and new services. Your customers will be ready, willing and able to spend money with you……..and all of this will cost you only £3 per head.

And yet £3 is too expensive?

I’ve preached on and on about the power of focussed, targeted marketing campaigns which will do more for you than any random advert in a newspaper or magazine. It costs less and makes more – what more do you need to know?

So can you put a price on happiness? Yes you can – right now it’s about £3.

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