Your company flaws could make you more approachable

Observation:   Ever felt uncomfortable (or disinterested) at a cocktail party or meeting when talking to someone who pretended to be just a little too flawless?  Lots of people feel that way; enough that scratch-and-dent marketing strategies are the focus of this week’s Trendwatching.com newsletter and briefing.  Click here to see it.

Implications:   We’ve all had plenty of experiences with products or services that didn’t function according to plan… or companies that didn’t live up to our expectations.  When that happens, we don’t tend to focus on the problem, but on the way that problem was handled.  A company that denies underperformance tends to aggravate our frustration; a business that faces an issue head-on tends to mitigate it.

I dare say that everyone has been through this at one time or another.  So that makes “flawsome” a marketing strategy that many folks can relate to; they know companies, products and services are not perfect, so the ones that start a conversation on that premise—if done carefully and while still delivering value to the consumer—tend to strike a chord with consumers.  After all, the consumer wants the true benefit they anticipate when buying your product or service... not a too-good-to-be-true image or advertising campaign.

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.