A Word from A
WAHM
"It's
All in the Packaging"
- ©
1999, by Cheryl Demas
-
- My girls have one kind of odd restaurant
habit. They tend to freak out when the server doesn't understand
that they want exactly what they've ordered. If there's a "Cheeseburger
Deluxe" on the menu, one daughter will insist on ordering
the Cheeseburger Deluxe, except ... no onions, no cheese, no
lettuce, no tomato, no ketchup, no mayonnaise, no mustard, and
no sesame seeds on the bun. "So, ... you want a plain hamburger?"
The poor unsuspecting waitress will ask.
That's all it takes,
"No! No! No!" She'll
scream, "I want the Cheeseburger Deluxe! With NOTHING ON
IT!!"
Or, when asked what she would
like for a beverage, one of them will say, "You know Root
Beer Floats? Well, that's what I want, except ... I don't want
ice cream in it."
"So, ... you just want a
glass of Root Beer?"
"No! No! No! I want a Root
Beer Float! Except NO ICE CREAM!!"
They both do it, and I guess
it's probably my fault, (like everything else.) For example,
last summer we were checking out the department store sale ads
in the newspaper. I saw a cute Calvin Klein bathing suit in an
ad, and soon we were all at the mall, picking out suits.
We found a few nice suits, but
not the Calvin Klein number from the ad. We set up base camp
in a fitting room and I started trying on suits.
"How are we doing?"
I heard the approach of a saleswoman.
"To your positions girls!"
I shouted.
I have my girls trained to take
their positions at fitting room doors, like armed guards, whenever
we hear a saleswoman coming near. It never fails that a saleswoman
will try to poke her head in the door just as Iím squeezing
a pale, cellulite thigh into a too tight suit.
They successfully blocked her
entry.
"I'd like to try on the
Calvin Klein Bikini please. The one that's in the newspaper ad."
I shout through the door, "Except ... I'd like it in black,
with a control panel on the tummy, extra support under-wire cups,
and a skirt to cover my thighs."
"So, ... you want the Big
Mama Minimizer Suit?"
"No! No! No! I want the
Calvin Klein Bikini!" I shouted. "Hello? What does
it take to get service around here?"
You see, it's all in the packaging.
Who would want a plain hamburger, when you could have the cheeseburger
deluxe?
My kids won't eat scrambled eggs,
but add a little green food coloring and they devour "green
eggs and ham." They won't eat oatmeal, but add a little
honey and we're eating porridge, just like the three bears.
Everyone is like this I think.
We all want to feel special.
Are you taking advantage of this
in your business? Are you making each customer feel special?
Are you giving them plain burgers or the Deluxe package?
You might have the best product
on the market, but if you sell it with a plain wrapper, you won't
be reaching your full potential.
I was thinking about this the
other night when we were out for family pizza night. My daughter
ordered the Pepperoni Pizzazz Pizza, except ... no pepperoni.
"Oh, no," I held my
breath ... "Don't say it." I thought.
"So, ... you want a Plain
Cheese Pizza then?"
Here we go again ...
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