MODERN MARKETING
in our booth. We ran it all afternoon.
The smell permeated the room.
People beat a path to our booth. The
other vendors said, “Next year, we’re
doing the same thing.”
Sure enough, the next year, four
vendors had popcorn machines. We
were not one of them. Instead, we
had logo bottled water. As people
visited our booth, we told them,
“When you see people with popcorn,
tell them how to get here to quench
their thirst.” The popcorn was not
a big draw for any one vendor, but
the water was a big hit. Of course,
with so many popcorn machines, the
show organizers banned popcorn
from the next year.
The next year, when making our hotel
reservations, we learned that the
hotel had Internet access, but not
wireless. The hotel cautioned us that
they had a total of 5 network cables
to loan to guests (it was many years
ago). We gave away retractable
network cables that year.
For those who watched the show
Seinfeld, you’ll recall the episode
when George did the exact opposite
of what everyone expected. Each
time he did the opposite, people
took notice. If you have forgotten
the scene, I tagged it on my YouTube
Channel here.
and resources to help you stand out
from the noise. The answer is not to
do what others appear to be doing,
but it might just mean doing the
opposite. If not, you might just end
up sounding like an adult talking in
a Peanuts cartoon (which is also on
the YouTube Channel).
I’m not suggesting to model your
business after a fictional show, but
staying above the noise requires
different thinking.
I asked an executive recently why
they were chasing a particular piece
of business that we agreed was not
likely to be successful for them.
He said, “All of my competitors are
chasing it, so we need to be in the
mix.” I asked him which vendor
was likely to win. Fast forward four
months, and the vendor he predicted
to win, did. If you are sick of
shrinking margins, constant pricing
pressure, extended sales cycles,
and the feeling that you are viewed
as a commodity, then invest time
Ian Altman is the CEO of
GrowMyRevenue.com. A speaker and
author of Upside Down Selling, Ian
helps companies become outrageously
successful targeting and winning
business.
July 2016
ModernBusiness
7