Previous articles have focused on the importance of asking good questions in nearly every kind of selling.
One obvious exception came to mind as I idly watched QVC for a few minutes while I waited for my wife to get ready for an evening out.
As she pulled on her jacket and checked her purse for her keys, my eyes stayed on the television. Why was I watching “that ridiculous channel?” she asked.
On the screen was an average-looking, forty-something woman selling cosmetic skin cream that she said contains “essential mineral elements.”
I realized the sales person had somehow riveted my attention to a topic I couldn’t care less about. And she’d done it without asking any questions.
The experience made me admit to myself how much I enjoy and admire the art of hawking and pitching.
When You’re Pitching, You Always Know How Much Your Audience Likes Your Performance
In some kinds of selling, showmanship can be the most important skill. And it’s a valuable skill in virtually all kinds of selling.
For anyone who pitches products to live crowds or through media such as radio, video and the Internet, the campy art of hawking can require as much theatrical flair, high-wattage personality and entertainment value as many higher-brow acting roles.
The ‘Energizer Bunny’ of Pitchmen
Ron Popeil, the self-proclaimed “salesman of the century,” first sold products on street corners and state and county fairs. In the 1960s and ’70s he graduated to selling the Chop-O-Matic hand food-preparation device at Woolworth stores.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “I’m going to show you the greatest kitchen appliance ever made… All your onions chopped to perfection without shedding a single tear.”
Popeil claims to have sold a billion dollars worth of these and other products on infomercials:
- The Veg-O-Matic
- the Dial-O-Matic food slicer (”Slice a tomato so thin it only has one side.”)
- the Mince-O-Matic
- the Ronco Spray Gun
- The Buttoneer (”Attaches any kind of button instantly!…Does hundreds of sewing, mending and decorating jobs. And at only $4.99, it makes a GREAT Christmas gift!)
- the Popeil Pocket Fisherman (”The fishing invention of the century. There’s never been anything like it…and still only $19.95! What a gift!”)
- the Ronco Miracle Broom (”So tough, it eats up nails and tacks.”)
- Mr. Microphone
- the Ronco-Popeil Automatic Pasta Maker (”Makes homemade pasta from scratch in three minutes.”)
- the Inside-The-Shell Egg Scrambler (”Gets rid of those slimy egg whites in your scrambled eggs.”)
- the Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator and Yogurt Maker (”Makes beef jerky for around $3 a pound, and you know what went in it, because you made it yourself!”)
- the Six Star 20-Piece Cutlery Set (”Like a hot knife going right through butter…Guaranteed to stay that way forever…Go through frozen food like it wasn’t even there.”)
- the Smokeless Ashtray (”Does cigar and cigarette smoke irritate your eyes?”)
- The Showtime Six Star Plus 25 Knife Set
- The Showtime Rotisserie and Barbeque.
‘Blonde Bombshell’ Pitches Firmer Thighs and Wrinkle-Free Menopause
Suzanne Somers, another famous American pitch artist, parlayed her iconic status an actress and her “blond bombshell” appearance to sell millions of dollars worth of Thighmaster exercise devices on television.
If you don’t know her from the popular ’60s film “American Graffiti,” or her five-year run in the successful TV sitcom Three’s Company, check these links.
Somers has since built herself into a personal brand and a successful businesswoman who now sells many kinds of products through her own company, including a line of “bio-identical hormone” products for post-menopausal women.
Ginsu Greatness
Is it possible to have watched late-night American cable television without having seen one of the unforgettable ads for Ginsu and Ginsu II knife sets?
If you enjoy this stuff as much as I do, you have to check out the trailer for the little-known movie Pitch People. The DVD is going on my wish list.
Stay fresh.
– Scott Silverback