Sell the result, not the tool

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We often get caught up in the whiz bang nature of the tools, products and services we offer, without stopping to think about what people really do with them.

Sometimes one of the smartest things you can do is take a tool and package it in new ways, with new names and uses – look no further than what they actually do, do with it and rename it that.

An alert Duct Tape Marketing reader Julie Magro pointed out this fine example from Amazon just as I was writing this post. Instead of a laser level and stud finder, this enterprising marketer is selling a “laser decorating kit.” Now I know people have used these tools as such since they were invented, but naming it made it unique and I suspect opened some sales doors.

What would stop you from packaging services and even processes in the same way?

Got any good examples to share?

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Posted by: John Jantsch on Dec 06, 07 | 2:02 pm
Category: Marketing messages | Tags:

Comments

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Ryan Holiday

"People don't buy paint, they buy painted walls."

Ben Smith

I don't know John, maybe it's just my cynical nature, but I find things like this annoying and more likely to look for another product. It seems like the person is taking an ordinary, unoriginal device (a stud finder) and pretending that it's extraordinary (and that seems dishonest).

Selling a stud finder as a tool for decorating (like having example uses on the back), seems fine, but actually naming it a decorating device, seems, well over the line and more likely to tick people off.

John Jantsch

C'mon Ben, you already own a stud finder and you don't decorate. They weren't trying to sell to you. But a whole lot of people who want to hang pictures, decorate didn't even know a laser level existed and certainly would not have considered it a tool to hand a photo with - you can't be dishonest to someone who doesn't know the truth.

Eve Morris

I agree with John & Ryan, its about thinking about it from the customers perspective - not the company/product perspective. You dont create desire about a tin of paint - you create desire about how fantastic your room will look when its decorated, and which friends you'll invite first to see your great new room... thats the picture we should all be painting with marketing communications

Andrew B. Clark

Sure, I have the same exact tool, but my wife didn't have a clue what it was until I showed her the benefit...

SHE FOUND A STUD...

Okay, all joking aside - the marketing of this "everyday" tool is unique in that they packaged the benefit instead of the product... I think it was a great approach. And they probably didn't sell any to contractors or professional designers, but the thousands of DIY addicts, wandering, glossy-eyed through Home Depot, may see it a say... "Whoa, cool."

Great find, John.

Keep Cooking
Andrew

Niki Sherman

I agree. I would NEVER look for a stud finder. But if its going to help me hang straight pictures (my always droop cause I eyeball it), then I'm all for it. Look at the Virtual Assistant. I've been a "secretary, or administrative assistant" for years in my own business. But people went "Why do I need a secretary"? Now that I'm a VA, I'm getting a lot more work because I have recreated myself. Still doing the same things, but with a new and different title -- makes a lot of difference.

John Jantsch

That's it, I'm getting my wife one of these for Christmas - I'm taking the diamond stud earrings back to Tivols.

MattT

My first thought was, "Why would I decorate my laser?"

Matt L

Whew, at first I thought we were going to have to hear the drill and holes analogy again... nice recovery :)

Lisa Wilder

You can't be dishonest to someone who doesn't know the truth?! That line made me do a double-take. My first reaction was that you couldn't possibly have said that. I must have read it wrong. But, no, I didn't read it wrong, so I'm going to guess that you didn't mean it in quite the way it sounds. Assuming that...I'd love to hear you expand on what you did mean when you made that statement.

John Jantsch

Lisa,

Making you do a double-take from time to time is a good think I think!

You did catch me on that statement. I was reacting to an earlier comment that claimed that he thought this kind of packaging was a tad dishonest because you were just calling something common by a new, fancy name to get more people interested in it.

What I was trying claim is that if someone doesn't know what a laser level is (the truth) then it couldn't really be dishonest to repackage it as a decorating kit to appeal to them.

Can you light without dark, can you know joy without sorry, can you . . .no I wasn't really meaning to head down any path that might get that deep.

We could debate the moral, ethical and philosophical branches of the statement as they might pertain to the world as a whole, but I'm too tired from hanging Christmas lights for that right now.

Lisa Wilder

LOL! Thanks for the clarification, John. I suspected as much, and in that context, I agree.

In fact, even if someone knows what a laser level is, I see nothing dishonest in packaging it in a way that highlights a particular use for a specific (perhaps untapped) market.

I wasn't meaning to head down the much-wider and more complex path of the moral, ethical and philosophical aspects of the statement either. That's exhausting just thinking about it.

It simply struck me, from a marketing perspective, as a statement that was out of alignment with who you've demonstrated yourself to be here on your blog.

Thanks for taking the time to clarify the comment, John. I hope you're enjoying a lazy Sunday now that the Christmas lights are hung.

John Jantsch

Lisa,

"It simply struck me, from a marketing perspective, as a statement that was out of alignment with who you've demonstrated yourself to be here on your blog."

thanks for noticing!

Jim Smith

John:
I totally agree and although the world started shifting from product orientation to customer orientation over two decades ago, some of us still bury ourselves in the feature function richness of our products as opposed to how they help the customer get rid of a particular pain that the customer is suffering from.

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