A Paradigm Shift, part 1

I've been doing some "deep thinking" lately.  The question: "How can I sell more hand-made furniture?".

Let's assume I suddenly have a much larger advertising budget. I run ads on TV. I place ads in Architectural Digest. I'm more ubiquitous than Oprah. Assume all of this - and I submit that I still have not addressed the fundamental question: "How can I sell more hand-made furniture?"

Today, I realized that to know the answer to that question, I've got to ask another - "Why do people spend more money than they intend to?".

• Because the product is presented really well. Walk into your local Brooks Brothers and ask yourself how they are selling $295 dress shirts. It's not about the quality. Sure, they are well made. But I strongly suspect that their markup is much higher than on a $40 dress shirt. 
• Because they are buying a brand name. It's a fact that people will spend more on brand names than on store brands. The societal paradigm is: Buy name brand products. They are better.
• Because they don't have time to think about it.  We have all done it. And we'll all do it again and again. And we'll do it because for the vast majority of us, impulse control is very difficult if not impossible. Stores and showrooms have a big advantage here - a potential buyer can hold or sit in the item. It's in this moment a sale is made or lost.

• Because they can defer payment with credit cards. This helps a lot in the justification department.

• Because the product is trendy. People go mad and money is not an issue when it comes to trends.   Corporations hire people to spend time on urban basket ball courts or in clubs to spot and create trends, because people will spend much more they ordinarily would if they feel left out of one.  

• Because they are trying to buy a lifestyle, or at least the appearance of one. People buy Tag Heuer watches because Brad Pitt or Uma Thurman wears one. That's it. And when they have made up their minds to buy one because Uma wears one, they feel justified in their action because of the quality of the watch. Status. We need people to know that we can afford an expensive widget, because they will assume we are successful, and better human beings than we really are.

• Because the product is overpriced.  Logic doesn't always apply in marketing, despite my best efforts. It gives people a sense of power to be able to afford a $295 dress shirt. This goes hand in hand with buying a lifestyle.

• Sex Appeal. There is a disconnect here.We know we don't look like the person in the ad, and won't wearing the same garment, but we want to try, and well, we've been staring at the ad for so long we can't remember any other brand anyway, and why would we (until a younger, prettier ad comes along...)?

• Because the product is deeply discounted. Or so customers are led to believe. I have this strange notion that we should all be honest and straight forward in our marketing efforts. I say if a fair price for a table is $5000, then price it that way and be done with it. But a furniture store would sell the same table in this manner: "Corithian Mahogany Finish dining room table. Original price: $7500. Sale price: $4997."  In this case, the store simply raised the price and then took 25% off, then pulled the shade-under trick so that the five drops off. The furniture store offer looks better to most people, who go mad for a bargain, even if there isn't one (or $3 in this case). We like to be lied to. We expect it.
• Because the product is high quality and the price is fair. My favorite. Some people actually buy products (I'm one of them) when they know (or choose to believe) the transaction is straight forward. "Handmade furniture built right here in America by someone who cares". "Honest pay for an honest day's work". I really want this one to work better than it does. 

There are a thousand more reasons people spend more than they intend to. Some are industry specific, such as the end-cap game in super markets. But in the end, a great marketer and salesman understands that making sales and advertising products are two very different things.

In part two of this article, I'll lay out some concrete steps custom makers can take to start making sales, as opposed to simply advertising.