Whether you enjoyed the attention-grabbing approach of the bearded pitchman with the extra loud voice or were irritated by it, when Billy Mays passed away last summer, you probably thought you’d never again feel pressured to buy what he was selling.
No, he won’t be coming to your TV late at night promoting any new products, but as he often said toward the end of his pitches, he’s “not done yet,” when it comes to offering something of great value to you. Billy Mays’ legacy for business people isn’t “Mighty Putty,” “The Awesome Auger” or any specific product; it’s his overall marketing prowess.
While hollering about your portable restroom business on TV might not be an approach you are comfortable with, there are lessons to be learned from Mays, because it doesn’t matter whether he amused or annoyed you, the guy could SELL. Here are some lessons he provided:
Lesson No. 1: Be enthusiastic.
Maybe Mays’ enthusiasm was over the top, but he certainly communicated excitement for whatever he was selling. So should you. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you don’t believe in your company, who will? Start by inserting a little, “Hello, Billy Mays here,” volume and inflection into your phone-answering voice.
Lesson No. 2: Solve problems.
Imagine Mays selling the services of a portable restroom company. He’d say, “Are you tired of people complaining that the restrooms at your event are smelly?” And go on to explain how the frequency and quality of cleaning provided by the company he was promoting would eliminate this problem. Or he might say, “Want to throw an outdoor party but dread all those people tracking dirt and mud into your house when nature calls? Keep the party and the dirt outside by renting portable restrooms.”
Mays sold products by asking a question he knew people would answer with a “yes.” That question was: Do you want this or that particular problem solved? All products and all services exist to solve a real or perceived human problem. In every sales pitch, focus on how your company will solve a customer’s problem.
Lesson No. 3: Don’t just tell … SHOW and tell.
It wasn’t just Mays’ booming voice that sold products; it was his demonstrating that the product worked. If you want to up-sell a customer to your nicest units, show them how spacious they are. Pound on the walls to show how sturdy they are. Hang your coat on the hook and comb your hair in the mirror. Give the customer a sniff of the deodorizer scents. Flush a flushing unit and activate the motion-sensitive light. Seeing is believing.
Lesson No. 4: Use testimonials.
Mays’ commercials often featured “real” people touting the benefits of the product. This is effective since potential customers can relate to existing customers and trust people like themselves more than salespeople or celebrities. Ask your best customers if you can print a testimonial from them in your marketing materials or include it on your Web site.
Lesson No. 5: Listen to customers.
Before taking a product pitch national, Mays would test it “on the street” and in limited TV markets to get people’s feedback and make changes based on what they had to say. Take both positive and negative comments into account and use them to improve what you’re selling.
Lesson No. 6: Know what you are selling and believe in it.
Mays tested products extensively before selling them. He knew every feature and benefit of a product; he knew how it worked and he knew what people liked about it. If you haven’t been sniffing deodorizers or slamming restroom doors, you don’t know what you’re selling.
Lesson No. 7: Be unique.
No matter how good someone is at selling, providing inferior service and cheap products won’t sustain the growth of a business. However, Mays showed us that people often choose a decent product that’s marketed differently over a superior product. Were the products marketed by Mays really better than products sold in stores, or was it the unique marketing that sold them? You won’t build a business by providing inferior service, but let’s say Company A and Company B provide the exact same restrooms and the exact same quality of service, but Company A drivers wear tuxedos. Who are potential customers going to remember and call? Why does everyone in America know “Auto Glass Specialists?” Because they’re the guys in the little red trucks. They accentuate their uniqueness.
Lesson No. 8: Call people to action.
“Order now!” Mays would shout. Don’t just put information out there; tell people exactly what you want them to do, and when. What do you want people to do after visiting your Web site? How about, “Reserve a restroom for your event today,” or simply “Call now for an estimate.”
Lesson No. 9: Know your price point and make customers believe they are getting a real value.
Mays once said the best things in life are free and $19.99. That was the sweet spot where he determined he could really sell things. What he did was determine the price where customers felt like they were getting a value, but there was still a profit to be made. This doesn’t mean drastically undercutting the competition. It might mean pricing your services higher than the competition but throwing in something extra or accentuating something you do to make customers perceive you are giving them a better value. Mays knew customers would perceive two items for $19.99 as a better value than one for $9.99 and would be more likely to buy even if they only wanted one because they felt like they were getting something for nothing. I looked at several portable restroom company Web sites and here are a few statements they used to try to build the value of their service:
• “Renting restrooms through our auto-generated database takes only a few mouse clicks.” Added value: time and effort saved.
• “Free delivery and pickup.” Added value: something for free.
• “Provider of portable toilets, temporary fence, temporary storage and other services.” Added value: one-stop shopping saves time, plus the real or perceived savings when services are “bundled.”
Remember: Uniqueness + problem-solving = higher value.
“But it gets even better.”
Maybe the best lesson Mays taught us was the value of personal branding. You are your company. And if you listen to your customers, believe in what you do and offer a quality product or service at a price that is perceived as a value, customers will reward you. We don’t all have a bucket of OxiClean in our laundry rooms because we need it to survive, do we?
