Do you need a sales scheme if you have a good product?
written by Allan on November 30, 2009
My wife has a friend that sells MonaVie, it's a health juice. The company signs up independent distributors. In turn these distributors can setup other independent distributors "under" them, it's a bit of a pyramid scheme/multi-level marketing. These distributors will give you a "free" bottle of the juice, hoping you buy more, if you don't buy more juice they try to charge you for the "free" bottle ($40).
Does a good product really need a sales "scheme" behind it? Yes it does. If your product is just "good" you'll need some clever way to get the word out. However if your product is "great", you do not need a scheme. When was the last time you talked about how awesome Amway products are? Customer, users and clients talk about great experiences and bad experiences. Employ no scheme, just deliver a great product and experience they'll talk about.
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Allan loves his family more than breathing. He lives in Panama City, Florida & grew up washing cars at his family's car washes. Oh and Allan hasn't worn underwear since 2004.
8 Comments
So true. I’m often surprise why companies concentrate on “making money” than deliver a great product. It’s true that a company needs to be profitable in order to survive and grow, but many companies fall (or start) in a hole of “money obsession”, that they don’t see their product anymore. I don’t get it.
Option 1: Make a good juice and think of some strange scheme to get money from your otherwise probably rare customers.
Option 2: Make a great lovely juice.
I couldn’t live with option 1 and I don’t really get why companies fall for option 1. In the end option 2 is probably the path which brings you more joy, more fun, more love and money from happy paying customers, which leads to a healthy company.
100% accurate. Time and time again I see that the “wins” come from meeting a need or providing a great client experience not pushing products. Our regional asks all the time for the “script” or sales strategy – If I were using a “script” I wouldn’t be any good at it because people can pick up on authentic passion vs a sales pitch.
Salient points Allan. Ala Godin’s ‘Purple Cow’. In a sea of mediocrity – only outstanding products and services generate sustained profitability. Growing of their own momentum / volition because of an intrinsic value they offer that is hard to copy.
On a side note, I’ve always wondered why MLM companies think consumers are going to believe that getting it from a distributor is buying ‘wholesale’? $40 for juice?! They’ve just added a very expensive middle man and commission structure to a product’s price point.
Hi Bill, I think MLM schemes work or used work because in that situation people want to believe they’re getting a great deal and they’re an insider on the inside track of something special. The consumer goes into the situation with a yes mentality.
A good or in demand product will sell itself the key is visibility. That is where marketing comes in. MLM schemes work but it seems the companies that have stayed usually have a very unique product or something of very high quality.
Pete, MLM buys a purchased testimonial, MLM is a temporary fix for marketing. If you want long term success you focus on the product.
You’re deadly right! A great product will market itself. The great experiences of people who had tried it will speak for itself. And what’s more? You’ll have repeated customers and they’ll surely recommend this to people they know.
If you have a great product, your consumers will automatically talk about it and there is no need for special scheme.