Businesses Should Ask What You Want For Christmas

You know that feeling you get when you receive a present from someone you love that you're not crazy about? You want to try to show enthusiasm and appreciation, but inside you struggle because the gift just doesn't appeal to you.

I was reading some articles at lunch today about how companies have been struggling to connect with their core audience. They cited figures, focus groups, branding methodology, design UI testing, demographics, psychographics and on and on. While each of these approaches has their place, many decision-makers are paralyzed from the 'too many moving parts problem. How can even the best experts make a decision with all of this information in a blender? Which do you prioritize? What data takes precedent? Which is gaining or losing relevance?

The more I read, the more it became clear to me that they're probably not doing enough simple interaction with the apple of their business eye.

It reminded me of a Christmas present of years ago.

"What do you want for Christmas?"

When Christmas season arrives you'll inevitably begin to ask your kids or nieces and nephews what they'd like for a present. Sometimes they'll even do you a favor and innocently (or not so innocently) drop hints about the latest cool toy or shoes. If Jimmy wants a certain something, it's going to have specifics. It's a good idea to really listen to him describe the color, cool factor and why he'll be over the moon if he could just have a pair of Heelys.

One Christmas as a kid, when my mother asked I said "the only toy in the world I want is a Transformer." Christmas Day came and I tore into my present only to discover that my parents had accidentally bought me a Go-Bot. I was bummed - and didn't do a good job of hiding it!

Go-Bots were not Transformers. They simply weren't as cool. This 'coolness' is the reason why the Transformer brand is still going strong with blockbuster films and merchandising. My parents hadn't remembered the brand name, they just had 'toy-that-transforms-from-car-to-robot' in their minds.

Luckily they had the receipt so we were able to exchange the gift for a Transformer. This is not the case with your business. Often you don't get a second chance for brand impression or sale.

When it comes to marketing, a simple discussion with pen and paper will suffice. Write down the wants and needs, put a survey on your website. Remove the guess work and make sure to remember the specifics. It's what separates you from a competitor. Focus groups are great, but they have to practically be done in a sensory deprivation tank with electrodes and lasers pointed at someones head to get the proper results.

When in doubt think Christmas.

Tim Andren is a small business marketing expert and author.

Tim is President of Impact Business Tools, a marketing publishing company that creates powerful marketing tools for the small business owner.

[http://timandren.com/]

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