An odd little experience today: I had to run east, and then subsequently west on La Crosse Street. In the area around UW-LAX's campus and the entrance to Myrick Park, someone in a bird costume was holding up a sign about a bird seed sale. I guessed that it was a student fundraiser, which is good. And we do like to subsidize the local birds, so I was fully prepared to throw down a few bucks for two decent causes rolled into one.
Problem was, I couldn't see any indication of where the sale was actually happening. Now, I'm a fairly cautious driver by nature, so I figured that maybe I just missed it by giving the lion's share of my attention-span to the road. Plus, I knew I would be coming back that way in about a half-hour, when I could read the sign held by the person on in another bird costume on the other side of the street a block down.
About half an hour later, the person in the cardinal costume was still there, but as I approached, s/he turned the sign before I could read the subtitle. I think I read something about Myrick Park, but when--a second or five thereafter--I peered up the park entrance, there didn't seem to be anything at all going on, not even a sign of other bird seed customers.
I still feel kind of bad about it, because it was a wasted win-win situation. So the only good I can make of it is to hold it up as an illustration of the difference between marketing and sales. Marketing exists to grab attention, and dudes in bird suits will certainly do that. Even in this town. Sales, on the other hand, is the art of making it a no-brainer for the client/customer to part with their money. It's no interest for twelve months. It's the send-no-money-now CD or book club. It's the offer that expires at midnight. It's the drive-through value-meal deal just off the Interstate. It's one-click shopping.
In other words, it's getting the cash to the barrel-head now, not after there's time to think. But if the customer can't find the barrel in the first place, that's a fatal problem. Because, even in this economy, there seem to be more barrels every day. And--oh, how it pains me to write this--they who make their customers think the least will probably win.
