Marketing - It Is All About Getting Your Attention - Northern Italian Lady Gets It Right! Umm Does She Ever!


Selene

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Check out the pictures of this creative Northern Italian entrepreneuress!

Ladies, Would This Woman Keep Your Man Out Of The Starbucks?

Friday, February 24, 2012

article-2105339-11E04848000005DC-987_306x423.jpg

Not for the quality of her coffee and aperitifs, but because she had started appearing for work in highly revealing outfits.

Hundreds of male customers flocked there day and night, leaving their cars double parked in the surrounding streets.

Now women in the small northern Italian town of Bagnolo Mella have declared Le Cafe out of bounds to their menfolk – and 34-year-old Miss Maggi has become a national celebrity.

Several wives from the town have been on TV to complain. One said: ‘It is outrageous and should not be allowed...

Bagnolo’s mayor Cristina Almici said: ‘We have received several complaints from women about the bar and we are looking at what we can do with regard to public order.

‘We can’t stop people from going to her bar and I know it is very popular with men in the town – personally I don’t see any problem with how she looks or dresses. 'If anything, it’s the men who go there who have a problem.’

She added, however: ‘My husband is certainly not allowed to go there
.

“My husband is certainly not allowed to go there.” Guys, can you imagine your wife saying that? Or maybe she doesn’t have to, because you already know the places you’re “not allowed to go.”

UPDATE! More photos...and, guys, more (ahem) INTERESTING photos, of Laura Maggi are here.

============================================

Cream and sugar with that espresso, signore?

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A male customer of mine - who really wanted what I was selling - shut down completely after his wife said, "I thought we decided that you weren't going to get that." That was the most memorable objection I've heard out of all of the "I have to go ask my wife"'s. Heh, I don't remember a wife ever referring to her husband as "the boss".

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A male customer of mine - who really wanted what I was selling - shut down completely after his wife said, "I thought we decided that you weren't going to get that." That was the most memorable objection I've heard out of all of the "I have to go ask my wife"'s. Heh, I don't remember a wife ever referring to her husband as "the boss".

That's a bullshit objection. I always try to qualify whether the person can make the decision. Of course they can lie about it. You should look into the Sandler system.

They have an excellent approach to objections, e.g.:

Decision-Making Process: The Why and the Who

Everyone is a decision-maker until it's time to make a decision is a common Sandler Training saying. During the Decision-Making Process, the buyer is deciding to buy or not to buy and you as the seller is trying to qualify or disqualify whether it would be a good fit to work together. These decisions in theory are straight forward - black and white, but in reality, there is a lot of gray in between.

During class, asking the "why's" was thought to be the hardest questions to ask during the Decision-Making Process. Why do you do it that way? Why have you given up trying? Why have you not reached a decision? The why do I want to qualify or disqualify them?

Another important point to keep in mind is the “who.” Knowing the Cast of Characters, the black and white knights during the sales process. A point, Michael S. from Campus CE made during class is knowing the individuals who may not have the power to say yes, but do have the power to say “no.”

Here are five steps to the Decision-Making Process to remain in control of things:

1. Review (from our last conversation we discussed this pain, pain pain. [softening statement] based on our conversation, we agreed on spending this amount $. does that sound about right?)

2. Gather information (open with the W's and how. ie. Which one is hardest for you to do? When do you want to start the registration process etc.)

3. Keep them talking using the (dummy curve, reverse, active listening, negative reverse,and active listening)

4. You (the salesperson) will qualify them or disqualify them.

5. Establish the Ultimate Up-Front Contract (repeat the pains, action items, to present or not, and the next appointment).

Quick Exercise: Reflect on the last three “Think-It-Over” situations you have encountered. Determine three things you could have done, either prior to the event or at the time of the prospect's indecision, which would have allowed you to obtain a clear yes or no decision.

Copyright 1983-2011 Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.toptier.sandler.com/pressitems/show/3299/586 <<<< here is the link - it would not let me import the cartoon.

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Thank you. I don't always know (or ask) if the person with my up is a decision-maker. And I rarely try to identify if the person is a good or bad influence. I just take the abuse if he or she wants to get in my way.

What do you sell? Are you an outside salesman?

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Thank you. I don't always know (or ask) if the person with my up is a decision-maker. And I rarely try to identify if the person is a good or bad influence. I just take the abuse if he or she wants to get in my way.

What do you sell? Are you an outside salesman?

What is you want to buy?

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Bryce:

A serious rather than a Sandler answer is I have been both an outside and inside salesman, I have sold:

1) ideas as a teacher;

2) myself as a candidate for school board and other offices;

3) insurance and the Defensive Driving Program;

4) fund raising - really difficult inside sales;

5) mediation [currently] ; and

6) Rand and objectivism since I was about 15 or so.

Adam

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  • 2 weeks later...

The general trend of marketing and the switch from America being a production driven economy to retail, I think, is the focus on profiting from people's weaknesses rather than their strengths. I believe a big part of rational self-interest is sustainability... and that's what seems to have been thrown out the window. Everything's now: grab what you can while you can.

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The general trend of marketing and the switch from America being a production driven economy to retail, I think, is the focus on profiting from people's weaknesses rather than their strengths. I believe a big part of rational self-interest is sustainability... and that's what seems to have been thrown out the window. Everything's now: grab what you can while you can.

Calvin:

Isn't the purpose of marketing and sales to make the sale?

ABC as Dennis Miller says, Always Be Closing...works in all phases of life.

Adam

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And the point of making the sale is...? It depends on what you're selling, doesn't it?

What's the point of marketing, for example, for a cigarette company?

If everyone was limited to spending money they had earned, sales would be an honorable vocation. It is certainly useful to be a competent salesperson, but only in a society where people are so willing to be influenced.

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What's the point of marketing, for example, for a cigarette company?

To sell their product to the most amount of buyers.

You should restate your question as an ethical one.

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Okay: What's the point of relying on people's weaknesses in order to sell a product? It's irrational because it's unsustainable.

Maybe it is moral to sell cigarettes. You kill off the people dumb enough to smoke. Then when it's no longer profitable, you can sell something else.

The downside is that most of the dumb shit people've bought in the U.S. was on credit... and the productive people are the only ones with any way of paying for it. That lesson will be: Don't let your government control your currency.

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Okay: What's the point of relying on people's weaknesses in order to sell a product? It's irrational because it's unsustainable.

Maybe it is moral to sell cigarettes. You kill off the people dumb enough to smoke. Then when it's no longer profitable, you can sell something else.

Calvin:

What if a budding entrepreneur developed a completely safe cigarette?

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Now you're trying to get into what marketing could be, which I think of as informative rather than influential.

With your example, I don't even know what legitimate information you could relay. You could say it's safe, and that would appeal as an alternative to regular cigarettes. How would you stand out among competing safe cigarettes, though? "Smoother, tastier..." I don't know what use there is to that.

I hate consumers that make advertising such a popular career path just as much as the people who come up with bullshit advertisements. The consumers just shouldn't be that dumb, and obviously, credit card companies and banks should not have allowed people to spend a shitload of money they couldn't repay.

In an ideal world, I don't think you'd have a job marketing those cigarettes. You'd have privately run, reputable product review resources that would give people all the information they needed on products before they bought. Advertising should be free, if you've got a good product.

You see a point for advertising, because it works. But do you think the consumer will eventually outgrow their willingness to be lead?

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You see a point for advertising, because it works. But do you think the consumer will eventually outgrow their willingness to be lead?

I hope you don't mind me adding in an opinion even though the question wasn't addressed to me.

I think a certain amount of consumers, the intelligent, reflective ones, will outgrow it. But there will always be others to take their place. There's a reason products aimed at children are so heavily marketed; it's creating a mindset, a need for instant gratification. Children understand advertising before they understand money or its value.

I think that some consumers, those who spend money they haven't got on inessential items, have to be falling back psychologically into that child's mindset when they make their purchases, because obviously their decisions aren't based on rational thought.

The adverts that irk me the most are the ones selling beauty products, containing nonsensical pseudoscience and statistics based on tiny sample sizes. I won't buy those simply because they insult my intelligence as a consumer with the way they're marketed.

What does increase my good opinion of a product and of the company selling it, however, is honest, informative marketing. If the product is of value, then it doesn't need a lot of bluster, nonsense or irrelevant images of conventionally attractive women to convince people of that.

As far as safe cigarettes are concerned, yes, safe itself is the selling point.

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As far as safe cigarettes are concerned, yes, safe itself is the selling point.

Revah:

Lol. Precisely.

I think that Calvin has lots of internal battles about advancing his argument and seems to miss the obvious.

Adam

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All sugared drinks should be outlawed as they promote obesity and diabetes, especially corn sugar.

--Brant

don't forget the candy bars!

All but maple sugar, of course.

What about wine, he whined!

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As far as safe cigarettes are concerned, yes, safe itself is the selling point.

Revah:

Lol. Precisely.

I think that Calvin has lots of internal battles about advancing his argument and seems to miss the obvious.

Adam

Obviously something was missed because I didn't disregard the safety as a selling point:

How would you stand out among competing safe cigarettes, though?

I don't understand your argument coming from an Objectivist. The idea that it's okay to rely on the weaknesses of others... It's irrational because you're depending on something while hurting it simultaneously!

And about the future of marketing... The Internet is gearing up a new generation of consumers that is going to be a total game changer. Sorry, but you may see the day when the average person is actually not dumb enough to buy just anything.

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Obviously something was missed because I didn't disregard the safety as a selling point:

How would you stand out among competing safe cigarettes, though?

I don't understand your argument coming from an Objectivist. The idea that it's okay to rely on the weaknesses of others... It's irrational because you're depending on something while hurting it simultaneously!

And about the future of marketing... The Internet is gearing up a new generation of consumers that is going to be a total game changer. Sorry, but you may see the day when the average person is actually not dumb enough to buy just anything.

Calvin:

I did not posit a competition between safe cigarettes. However, if that were the case, you would sell them by price, taste and a variety of other "features" and "benefits."

Second, I am not a big "O" objectivist.

Third, I do not get your point in the following quote:

I hate consumers that make advertising such a popular career path just as much as the people who come up with bullshit advertisements. The consumers just shouldn't be that dumb, and obviously, credit card companies and banks should not have allowed people to spend a shitload of money they couldn't repay.

Hate is a pretty strong word.

Secondly, it is not your call as to how people chose to live. Freedom allows people to make choices. Good ones, bad ones and outright stupid ones.

If the government under Jimma Carter had not meddled in the banking industry with their social engineering backed by a Federal regulatory gun, maybe we would never have gotten to the level of crisis that exploded four (4) years ago.

Finally, if the centralizing of power, backed by the increasingly choking regulatory state was not stoked with deficit spending we might not have had this disaster either.

Adam

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Now you're trying to get into what marketing could be, which I think of as informative rather than influential.

With your example, I don't even know what legitimate information you could relay. You could say it's safe, and that would appeal as an alternative to regular cigarettes. How would you stand out among competing safe cigarettes, though? "Smoother, tastier..." I don't know what use there is to that.

I hate consumers that make advertising such a popular career path just as much as the people who come up with bullshit advertisements. The consumers just shouldn't be that dumb, and obviously, credit card companies and banks should not have allowed people to spend a shitload of money they couldn't repay.

In an ideal world, I don't think you'd have a job marketing those cigarettes. You'd have privately run, reputable product review resources that would give people all the information they needed on products before they bought. Advertising should be free, if you've got a good product.

You see a point for advertising, because it works. But do you think the consumer will eventually outgrow their willingness to be lead?

My, my. You hate so we should relate? Agree and hate out of an argument none? WTF!

--Brant

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Secondly, it is not your call as to how people chose to live. Freedom allows people to make choices. Good ones, bad ones and outright stupid ones.

I don't care how people want to live, as long as they're not being herded by someone else. I hate them because I care about the state of the world, so by not thinking for themselves they are hurting more than themselves.

I want to see people succeeding in business that actually deserve it. Everything's out of whack; it's clear that it's far more important what people think of your product than what the product actually does. Look at the music industry and how big a market their is just in kids around the ages of about 8-12...

I fucking HATE this: crying-1.jpg

If the world was run by free markets, and this could still happen, I'd accept it, but I don't think it's possible.

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Calvin:

Step back and think about what you are saying.

Adam

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You see a point for advertising, because it works. But do you think the consumer will eventually outgrow their willingness to be lead?

I hope you don't mind me adding in an opinion even though the question wasn't addressed to me.

Hi Revah,

Please never worry about such considerations here. Once a topic is posted everybody is invited to pile in with their opinion; that's the point. The more the merrier.(or as often with some of our more pessimistic brethren, the more the moroser).

You mentioned on other thread that you felt you were making a "late start" with your writing but not so. At age 24 you already write very well, that is the main thing. Plans and schedules can be rearranged.

I'm glad you are here...OL, like Mars, needs women!

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