I teach a Junior Achievement class on Thursdays. Ploch wouldn't know this because he scheduled the Marquette ride on Thursdays from his shop, West County Cycles, at 5:30 once daylight savings time begins on March 10th. While this was in complete disregard of the Pfoodman's personal agenda and that these brilliant students are a far better use of my time, I will look forward to being the Thursday night whooping boy later in the season.
I am posting this here because the students assignment was to visit my website and form some opinions on the company, how it is presented to the community, how we position ourselves to make a presence in what is already a very competitive market. Hopefully they will find their way here, to the blog and get an A+. Students, the secret word: Rockstarsupernova.
In order to give them an idea of how to sell, I thought it important that they form some opinions on the process of how I make personal connections, and how I apply it to my marketing, relating this to their own product sales. I use the "Gladwell Epidemic" concept of networking my brand. Obviously, Pfoodman and I are a work in progress, everything is externalized in order to get feedback and create an epidemic effect on our brand recognition. Pfoodman the brand does not say what we do, it says who we are. The Epidemic concept is affordable and unconventional when it comes to getting the word out. Done right, awareness grows on its own, group to group, pod to pod, audience to audience. We must have legitimacy, a solid and reputable market basket of lifestyle goods and services that have to do with food, in order for us to succeed. We provide our goods and services along side our story, which unfolds daily in front of the community. The human interest element fuels our mission and creates a connection to our prospects. Our company culture contains an emphasis on health, fitness, nutrition, entrepreneurship, motivational re-invention and the outdoors. It is all one big workshop.
So last night I did an hour or so "lecture" on Pfoodman and how our company culture relates to and drives the sales process. Kevin, my favorite bald guy co-teacher, had to duck out early so I was left running the show. There were some really good questions. One issue, the students feared there was not enough value or pizazz in the product to sell it to their friends, that their friends just didn't see that it was worth it. Since the students determined there was more margin and less value in the "platinum" pack, and that their friends might not be the best market, since there is a limited disposable income, they came up with the target market of their parents, "old" people as they called it, people my age. This was brilliant, go where the money is with a product they will use. They have the disposable income, they would be our target. By the way, the product is a combination blockbuster movie card, popcorn, soda, candy combination gift pack that "old people" pre-order and they produce and deliver in a few weeks. There are three levels: a 10 dollar, 15 Dollar and a 20 dollar "platinum" pack.
They were told to sell themselves to their prospects, find an emotional, common connection and make it happen. Examples, stuff like mentioning that they show up after school for a Junior Achievement class, taking the time and effort to learn about business and the process of starting a company, that the product is a labor of their efforts to learn from other entrepreneurs, that they are involved in other things, achieving things, that which makes our world a better place. They are embarking on a mission to change the world and the first stop is at their doorstep and, by the way, it's 20 bucks. Sold. That is the way it is done. Find a common connection, sell yourself.
We explored Guerrilla Marketing, human interest, we explored charitable marketing, the concept of donating a portion of the funds to a charity, in order to make the connection and ride the shirt tails of whatever media attention, human interest benefit might happen. We talked about eploitation, ethics, integrity. We talked about Junior Achievement, Band, Girl Scout Cookies, any type of emotional plea for fundraising.
I am so impressed with these kids; their ability to intellectualize the concepts of perception of value, gross margin pricing, cost of sales, sales and marketing. If you have reservations on the quality of education and the standards of education now days, simply teach a class. There is absolutely no better way to judge the system, the parenting and the community that you live in, than engaging a group of students like this.
Bravo to: I-AM, a Junior Achievement Company
I -AM:
...Innovative...Ambitious...Motivated.
Good stuff.
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