A Critical Marketing Lesson from My Bachelor Party

Note: Not an actual picture from the bachelor party...

Pop quick hotshot: when you hear the words, “bachelor party,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

If you said, “strippers,” then you’re like most people. If you said, “a Tom Hanks movie,” you probably need to get out and see more movies…

I recently had what many people would consider to be “an incredibly lame bachelor” party. There were no strip clubs, no exotic dancers, and wives and girlfriends were even allowed to attend for some of the activities – and that included my fiancée!

And you know what? It was perfect. I loved it, I had a great time, and it was exactly what I wanted (which is the point, right?)

I have a great group of friends, none of whom minded that we didn’t do some of the traditional bachelor party “stuff.” Like me, they just enjoyed the opportunity to spend a weekend hanging out together.

My fiancée knew we had no strip clubs planned for the weekend, and she was a tad concerned that I would one day look back on the event and regret not doing the strip club thing (I won’t).

She pulled my best man aside and told him that he really should take me to a strip club that weekend (yes, she’s pretty awesome. Unless you consider the possibility that she was planning on attending an “all male revue” for her bachelorette party and might have been worried that she would feel guilty if I didn’t do something similar. Nah, that couldn’t be the case…)

Now my best man was torn between what I told him I wanted to happen at my bachelor party and what my fiancée told him she wanted us to do.

At one point, he brought it up:

“You know, if you want, we could still go to a strip club.”

“No, I’m good. I don’t think we need to do that,” I said.

He went on, “well, yeah, but Amanda really seemed like she wanted to make sure you went to one, and I want to make sure she’s happy.”

Clearly he cares as much or more about keeping my fiancée happy as he does about keeping me happy. Smart man…

I of course was having none of that.

“That’s dumb,” I said.

Seeing that my words needed further explanation, I continued.

“Look, I get it. But at the end of the day, the bachelor party is about me having a good time. And I don’t think a strip club is going to accomplish that. Let me worry about what’s going to make her happy.”

Game, set and match. We skipped the strip club and had a great time.

The Marketing Lesson

So what’s the big marketing lesson from this? Easy:

To be successful, you must identify your customer’s wants and needs and then fill them. 

Simple, right?

In my story, I was the customer (selfish I know, but it was my bachelor party so it makes sense that it be geared to making me as happy as possible, right?)

Attending a strip club was what others wanted. It was what some felt we should do. And it was something that I explicitly said I didn’t want to do.

It seems pretty obvious when we’re talking about a bachelor party. But I have heard tales of best-men and friends setting an agenda of what “should” happen, or what they want to do, and the bachelor himself ends up having a pretty bad time.

The same thing happens to small business owners when marketing their business as well.

Instead of identifying their ideal client and then uncovering and satisfying their needs, they get caught up in trying to sell what they themselves believe their potential client needs. Or worse, they just sell what they want to sell. Then they wonder why the heck they are having such a tough time building their business.

It’s actually pretty simple: figure out what your target customers want and then offer it to them. Get out of your own head and stop focusing on what you think they want.

If they want strippers, give them strippers. If not, then don’t. Put your focus on what your prospects and clients want, and you’ll be well on your way to business success.

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Do you want help creating and following an awesome marketing plan to grow your small business? Then sign up for some Smart Ass Mentoring now!
 

About

By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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