How often do you see a butterfly? When you do, how would you describe it? You certainly wouldn't say it was ugly would you?
Infrequent Occurrences
Butterfly gardens aside, the vast majority of us would agree that seeing a butterfly pass by us is a thing of beauty. We will usually point it out to our children, wanting to make sure everyone sees the butterfly. That’s because we so them so infrequently. Think about it; if you saw them all the time, like flies or mosquitoes, you would not be so excited, and you would only be pointing them out so they didn’t land on someone’s food or bite someone’s leg.
When we see things infrequently, they usually appear more valuable or beautiful to us. This happens with everything from rainbows and sunsets to dolphins in the ocean. We know it is rare, or that there are limitations on how often it will happen, so we automatically place a higher value on it.
The Business World
This same concept can work in your business as a sales technique. What you really need to do is think of what it is that you can sell or provide as a limited edition or on an exclusive basis. The concept works with everything from luxury cars to shoes. It even works with things like concert tickets.
Take, for example, Kid Rock. In January of 2011, he decided to throw a birthday bash concert for turning 40 in his hometown of Detroit. Within 19 minutes, he sold 45,000 tickets to that show. Not only was the amount of tickets limited, but Kid Rock turning 40 only happens once, so it was exclusive and limited. As a result, the fans jumped on it!
Creating Exclusivity
At this point, you may be thinking that you don’t have anything that is a limited edition or available on an exclusive basis. You may look around and, with nothing jumping out at you, turn away and assume it can’t work for you. Not true! It can work in just about every type of business, and it can work in yours, as well.
If you don’t yet have an exclusive product or service, that is fine. Now is the perfect opportunity to create one! These limited edition or exclusive products and services may only become available to a particular sector of your customer base. And that’s perfectly fine, because they will likely be your big spenders.
All you need to do is determine what you can offer as part of your business that is limited or special. You don’t want it to be widely available to everyone, or it will become the status quo, which is where you are now. Make one of your packages, products or services something special and limited. Put it out there and then see what happens to your sales numbers. You will likely be pleasantly surprised!
Keeping it Rare
So keep it in mind that butterflies and rainbows are rare, making them that much more special to see. You can do the same thing in your business. You just need to think about what would make for a great limited-edition product or service, and then capitalize on it. And when you decide what it is that you are going to feature, really play it up as being special, limited or rare, just like you would with a butterfly to a young child. Hey, if they can do it every December with the Chia Pet, there is no reason you can’t do it, too!
By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
