Wow, what a long break between posts. Apologies.
An inquisitive mind is essential because marketing is about persuasion and manipulation.Inquisitive minds seek to understand how things work, how to influence outcomes and alter systems. Inquisitive minds don’t accept things the way they are. They ask what, where, why, how, when, will…?
Marketers sell products, yes, but they sell to people. Being interested in people and behaviour helps marketers understand why people do things. I’ll never forget a sales manager telling me one of his best customers in the AV section of a department store bought heaps of VHS tapes. He assumed the customer taped a lot of things. Only after asking the customer did he find out that the customer’s VCR destroyed tapes after a few viewings. By finding out more from the customer the sales manger was able to sell him a DVD recorder. Better outcome for both parties!
To be interested in people’s behaviour will not always be enough. Empathy for a person’s background, beliefs, experiences and desires will help a marketer design better products, deliver greater value and treat the market with respect.
To observe behaviour individually is one thing, to observe trends at a larger level requires another level of insight. Patterns in sales figures, complaints, foot traffic, seasonal demand etc are all potential opportunities to deliver greater value and increase sales as a result. The ability to detect the emergence of a pattern while operating a business day to day is a challenge, but the ability to step away from this makes a brilliant marketer.
Nothing new here, but creativity is potentially the most valuable trait anyone can have. The education system often cops flack for drilling this out of students, but don’t all institutions do this? Tweaking a process, changing a routine, removing an assumption, inverting a relationship – these are all creative processes that have potential to change the playing field of business. Many businesses would seem crazy at the point of creation. IKEA, low cost airlines, online businesses, mobile food vans, pop up stores use creativity to lower prices, add differentiation or deliver a niche offering.
A good memory makes a brilliant marketer because knowledge of the past helps with knowing customers, seeing patterns, linking seemingly disparate concepts (creativity) and providing a library of resources and ideas for future activities. Marketers rely on customers having short memories, but should have long memories themselves.
Creativity relies on novelty seeking behaviour and a willingness to try something new and potentially risky. Fun loving people with a sense of humour are arguably more likely to go out on a limb and talk to other people to get to know them. Those with a sense of humour attract others to them and may even seek to make connections in order to have an audience. Staying light hearted and positive will always help to see the positive of a situation and see opportunities.