FOOL PROOF PURCHASE
This article will explain why I believe Wiggy’s customers
are thinkers.
When I started making the Wiggy’s sleeping bags I knew that
I was making the best sleeping bags in the world. The reasoning was based on my
extensive knowledge of insulations and how best they should be used. Also, how
easily it was to take care of and how long the bags would last as well as how
well they actually performed in the field as in temperature ratings; the most
accurate of any and all bags made since day one of sleeping bag production in
1895 as far as I could research.
When I considered what I was offering I started advertising
that buying one of my bags was a “fool proof purchase”. In the beginning I
published a catalog. The catalog had more written information than pictures.
In the beginning I was soliciting retail stores as well as
doing retail sales via mail order. I would send my catalog to retail stores and
then follow up with a phone call. I would ask if they received the catalog and
if so, did they read it? They never read it, but they did look at the pictures.
I had a salesman in the New England states who was going to be exhibiting at
the local for the area Outdoor Retailer trade show. I asked for the addresses
of all of his accounts. He sent them to me and it was 25. I sent each store my
catalog to review prior to attending the show. I told Peter my sales
representative that he would be lucky if 5 of the retail recipients attending
the show will have read the information in the catalog. After the show I asked
him how many actually did read the catalog. The answer was only one read some
of the literature all the others looked at the pictures and trashed the
catalog.I was not surprised for one
second but he was surprised to find out the truth about how retailers function.
If I was nationally advertised as a lame brain retailer in Columbia S.C. told
me he would carry my product, even though he knew it was the best in the world.
I grew as a mail order company because as I found out all of
the consumers that called or wrote to me asking for my catalog actually read
it. I knew this to be fact because without reading the information in the
catalog, the questions they asked would be as a direct result of just that,
reading the catalog. Further when I spoke with these people they asked more
questions that could not be asked without having read the catalog.
It was at this point that I came to the conclusion that
offering my product with the reference as a “fool proof purchase” was an insult
to my customers and potential customers. People who do research before
purchasing any product demonstrate that they are intelligent. They certainly
are not fools. I continue to get calls from potential customers asking
questions about my products that they have taken the time to read about on the
web site. I always encourage them to continue to call whenever they have a
question. It is my belief that the more you know about the Wiggy’s products the
more apt one is to buy the product. I will never compromise the intelligence of
a caller as I have personally discovered whenever I call a company about a
product I have an interest in.
Considering that I never really advertised nationally for
very long hasn’t stopped Wiggy’s from becoming the best-selling quality
sleeping in the world. And of course I have the most intelligent customers
offering advice to many people about getting a Wiggy’s bag which I dearly
appreciate. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!