Selling impressions: what is more important in business than products and services

People all over the world do not buy products and services - no one needs them by themselves. Everyone needs impressions and emotions from the purchase.



In the face of increasing competition, business is obliged to think not about how to sell more, but how to make the lives of customers better. In this case, you can count on real success. In our today's article we will look at what impressions successful companies sell.
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Life style

Perhaps the most famous story of how the company shifted to “selling impressions” and succeeded, this is the case of Apple. After the departure of Steve Jobs, the company went through hard times and suffered one defeat after another. Apple survived because it changed its approach to business - the company stopped selling computers and gadgets, these gray boring boxes that you have to stare at in order to carry out some kind of action.



From the iPod era to Watch, all Apple products have become an element that allows its owner to “think differently” (the famous slogan “think different”), that is, to stand out from the crowd, to be more creative.

Simplicity and speed

It was the emphasis on facilitating the process of making purchases on the Internet that made Amazon the leading global player in the e-commerce industry. This is achieved using sometimes imperceptible, but important for the convenience of things - for example, when making the first purchase, the system remembers the customer's data, and then he does not need to enter from again.



In addition, the Amazon site itself is divided into different sections on specific types of products, making it easy to find. Do not forget that Amazon was one of the first to use recommender algorithms that offer users to purchase products related to their previous purchases.

Pleasant surprises

Mobile operator Virgin Mobile offers its customers a variety of surprises and profitable promotions from its partners (and among the partners are selected brands that the target audience likes). When a client sees a message from the operator that a free coffee mug in Starbucks is waiting for him nearby, this is a very pleasant surprise, which helps to establish an emotional connection with the person.

Uniqueness

The Republic Bike bike shop gave customers the opportunity to participate in the creation of their unique two-wheeled vehicle, offering different design variations. The offer turned out to be so popular that many well-known organizations began to ask the company to hold workshops on how to assemble bicycles for their employees.

Convenience offline on the Internet

Russian companies are also beginning to realize the importance of selling impressions, which is partly due to the difficult economic situation in the country. In our blog, we already talked about how several Nissan car dealers in St. Petersburg managed to increase the loyalty of website visitors by installing a callback widget on their pages.



People who are accustomed to a high level of service in offline auto centers (where they can always quickly get comprehensive answers to their questions) appreciated the opportunity to order a call back at a convenient time instead of having to fill in frightening contact forms (which still need to be found on the website). All this led to an increase in loyalty, expressed in numbers, and thousands of conversations with potential customers, which otherwise would most likely simply not take place.

Conclusion

“Selling impressions” can be a very effective approach to business, but the mere desire to start working on such a scheme is not enough. The whole business model should be built in such a way that users are not deceived in their expectations and receive products and services of the highest quality. Then they will better perceive the story that the business is trying to tell them, and share it with their friends and acquaintances.