Marketing and Sales in life: Lesson One

I know nothing about marketing and Sales, but I'd love for my career to have everything to do with them, someday. I've been reading a lot, and most people have one thing to say about marketing- it is ubiquitous. You can look for snippets of marketing, everywhere, and apply things you've read, heard and learnt to daily life.

Presenting, my very own, Lesson One.

DISCLAIMER: This WILL disgust you. Don't say I didn't warn you. But it's a big, weird world out there and I write about the real world, more or less, so, brace yourself.

Let's begin.

Situation: Seven of us decide to watch the noon show of the movie "Nine" in a well-known multiplex. A Whopping THREE people cannot make it, even after the tickets are bought. If you must know, Reason: Illness, doing it's city rounds.

Ideal solution: Let's sell the remaining three tickets somehow!

Pitfalls:
- People would rather watch some other movie.
- Most people already have tickets.
- One person who did want to buy a ticket wasn't happy with back row seats.
- We got close to stalking people. Boundaries were mentally re-drawn.
- If you didn't know this already, being a salesperson is hard. Firstly, no one really wants to hear you out, and secondly, "No" is almost always the answer.

First thoughts: Our first thoughts were that we needed to get our demographic right. We targeted couples, groups of girls, groups in threes, people who looked likely to watch a movie like Nine. I really don't want to get into the details of this. We actually thought we were "Understanding our Demographic".

Shocking Revelations: It turns out, our first ticket was sold to just one person who'd come alone to watch the movie. One guy. "Hmm", we thought. Single people?

The "But of course" moment: Wham! Guys had turned up solo to watch the movie Nine, what with it's all-star gorgeous, seductive looking women cast. We didn't think that was the case, but were shocked to discover that this indeed was. Ah well, shock or no shock, it's time to move to the next step.

CAPITALIZE: And that, indeed, is what some of my friends did only too well. Changed our understanding of our "demographic". Capitalized on our new understanding.

End Result: We sold all three tickets, to three total strangers, each of whom had come to watch the movie alone, all three being men. 1+ 1 + 1.
Hallelujah.




Lesson learnt: When in doubt, reconsider your demographic. Always get your true demographic right.

Ta-da!