Take for example, a bag of candy. Let’s say, Maynards’ Swedish Berries, just because I’m having them right now. Imagine the pack of candy on the candy section of the supermarket you always go to, hanging from the little iron hook that holds 10 other identical packs of Maynard’s Swedish Berries. Now, try to imagine all the time, effort and resources put into that product just so YOU would look at it and then purchase it for maybe, 3.99 CAD.
Think through the packaging (design, color, font, size), the brand, the brand’s history (building customer loyalty), the promotions listed on the package, the nutrious facts, the “Questions? Call: 1-866-xxx-xxxx” section, where exactly the product was placed on the aisle (eye level? crouching level? too-high level?), how far into the candy section it’s placed, which other brands are neighboring it and perhaps promotions at the front of the door to lead you to this product in this aisle. It’s overwhelming! Based on my gut feeling, the creative directors at the company probably had a long meeting as to which color to use for the packaging, and this would be based on research as to what their current consumer base is (men? women? adults? children? basketball players?) or perhaps even the current trend (hannah montana? maybe we should work something out with the hannah montana series and then put her on our packaging?), which means more money and more time utilized.
Now here’s what once made my thought process stop for a while: the element of luck; something you can’t control, but yet, in my opinion, can control your sales. Think back to that supermarket you always go to. What if you just felt like having Maynard’s Swedish Berries? What if it suddenly rained outside? People hanging out right outside the supermarket may come in to get some shelter, and while they’re at it, might suddenly feel like buying a pack of Maynard’s Swedish Berries to cheer themselves up. So at this point, I naturally thought, well, if sales is determined by luck, wasn’t that a waste of resources?
But actually, no it wasn’t. Sales is only affected by luck. Why would people just “feel like” having Maynard’s Swedish Berries, it’s because they’ve had it before (consumer loyalty), was satisfied, and now crave it again. And if it rained outside, for the extra inflow of consumers coming in to the supermarket, Maynard’s Swedish Berries had to make sure that it looked attractive enough or that it had some sort of sustainable competitive advantage over it’s neighbors (perhaps the fact that it is “made with real fruit juice” or that it’s “resealable”) so they could attract new customers.
So after all, the research was worth it. I believe there is indeed a luck of element in your ending sales, but it is the time, effort and resources that lets you and your company transform and turn that luck into sales.