Worldwide Salon Marketing

The Sham Wow Guy – and Lessons for Your Salon Business

by Greg Milner on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 2:12 pm

If you've watched TV in the last year or two, you'll have seen this guy

On Saturday morning just gone, as I was contentedly reading the paper over a nice cup of tea, my delightful wife Michelle casually mentioned that

“oh, and by the way honey, we’ve been invited to a demonstration of that kitchen thingy this afternoon at your brother’s place.  I thought you’d like to take a look, so I said yes.”

I groaned. “Er…gosh, yes darling. I can think of nothing better. The only other thing I’d rather do is have root canal surgery.”

(Of course I went. Happy wife, happy life.)

The ‘thingy’ was one of those all-singing, all-dancing gadgets, called a Thermomix. German-made, can’t buy it in stores (can’t even buy it in America, apparently), only sold by in-home demonstration. And eye-wateringly expensive – mere coin-change out of $2,000.

My brother’s wife, a glamorous but practical woman, had raved about it. They even took it with them on their boat, she said.

Seven minutes after that, immaculately-kneaded dough had been removed from the Thermomix’s bowl and was baking in the oven. By the time the bread was ready, a steaming, al-dente seafood risotto had emerged from the very same device.

And I, the skeptic, was already reaching for my credit card.

So was the only other couple there.

Such is the power of demonstration.

You can talk till you’re blue in the face about your product or your service. But nothing beats the power of demonstration.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for two years, with no electricity, you cannot have missed the ShamWow guy, Vince Shlomi  (“You following me camera guy?”) flogging absorbent towels on TV.

They’re his own product. He got them made for him in Germany (“You know the Germans always make good stuff…”) and told NBC he’d “sold literally millions of them…”

Here’s what’s instructive:

Advertising is – rightly – described as Salesmanship in Print. But no matter how compelling an ad, it’s like comparing a pushbike to a bulldozer when it comes to the power to drive prospects to hand over their cash.

Yet so many salon & spa owners are somehow disappointed when their (poorly-crafted) ad, flyer or letter fails to generate a stampede of hungry customers.

So here’s the trick: make it easy for your ad, flyer or letter to do its work, by not asking it to do too much.

If all you ask your ad to do is to get prospects to put their hands up and say ‘hey, I could be interested…’ – and then get them in for a powerful demonstration of what you’re selling, you’ll find your response rate goes up dramatically.

Selling hair extensions?

“FREE 24-minute Demonstration Reveals How Women with Longer Hair Can Have Better Sex Lives, Attract Richer Men – Call NOW, only 12 Places Available!”

Flogging cellulite remedies?

“Embarrassed by Unsightly Cellulite? Give me just 7 minutes and I’ll show you how you can eliminate it forever, with no exercise, no surgery, no pain – FREE in-salon demonstration 7pm Monday, Only 11 places, book NOW and you’ll walk away with a FREE Mystery Gift valued at $28 000 000 000!”

Let your advertising raise the leads. If you’re selling a big-ticket service (say, over $100), don’t make your expensive advertising beat it’s brains out on a lost cause.

Sell with the demo. It’s that powerful.

A post by Greg Milner The odd idea, a bit of prodding, a nudge here and there, a little fun, and the occasional dose of brutal reality. Greg is co-founder and CEO of Worldwide Salon Marketing, a writer, direct response marketing consultant, specialist marketing systems adviser and coach.

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