Marketing Lessons Learned from QVC
If you ever want to see a selling machine in action, simply turn on QVC for “In the Kitchen with David” or “Down Home with David” starring David Venable. This guy can market and sell products like no other. Granted, the television platform highly influences his sales and marketing approach, but if you pay attention to the framework he follows, you may learn something worthwhile.
Here’s what I’ve observed whenever I happen to catch one of these programs:
- Hook-em. The lead-in to every product starts with either a value statement or a strong benefit. Having a great “hook” is imperative.
- Features and benefits are clearly emphasized and demonstrated to perfection. I’ve never seen a product segment where I wondered what on earth it was supposed to do and why.
- Emotion appeal and urgency. The benefits are intertwined in the product presentations with easy take-aways such as time savers, convenience, simplification, etc. These are balanced with emotional appeal and urgency – “you can’t live without this…you’ve got to get this today…or, you can afford two at this price”
- Product options are described in terms that resonate with the buyer – whether through color choices or special features that allow you to do extra things. These often cinch the deal.
- Repetition is used, but not annoyingly. Venable has a smooth method of reiterating the facts, features, benefits, value and options without being a nuisance. It’s all designed to make the buyer comfortable and at ease.
It seems that no matter what QVC is pitching on any particular day, that same framework is used. Obviously it works, or we would see a different approach or some kind of variance.
What can we learn from this?
Whether you’re selling a product or service, you must have a process. Too many times we lean on a stale methodology that just doesn’t work anymore. And, we have a tendency to lead with features instead of benefits and expected value.
Your marketing framework should make the customer the hero. Show them how your product or service is going to improve their business, save time and money, increase productivity, or create efficiency gains. Put them at ease so that they can make an informed buying decision that allows them to feel good about their commitment.
Emphasize the value-based aspects of your offering that will make an improvement with their business or solve a problem. Then, clearly communicate this through your digital media (website, eblasts, presentations) and even print-based materials. Learn from the best at QVC and make it work for your business.
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