GOODMAN ON MARKETING
You Have An Ugly Baby

I hate to tell people that their baby is ugly, but that is what I am paid to do.

Why do people pay me to do this?  Mainly because our clients know it's hard to tell the parents, to their face, that they think their baby is ugly. We have all been there, haven't we? “Oh, let me see the new baby.” Then, at the moment of seeing the baby for the first time and you almost lose it.  What do you say?  Come on, when you are put in that spot and have no vested interest in stating the truth, we lie, a white lie, but we cover-up what we truly think to save someone's feelings.  We do not comment, “Is it supposed to smell like that?” or “It must take after your crazy Uncle Bob.” No, we just comment, “Hey, good job,” or “Um, well, yeah, it's cute, you must be proud or at least relieved, right?”

I get paid to be brutally, objectively, and sometimes, statistically honest in telling why their baby is ugly.

Their baby may be a new business idea, new product concept, branding change, channel support, representation, image, pricing, promotion, or the product in general.

At the low point, we may come back and tell them that they need to throw the “baby” out, bath water and all.

Other times, more on the upside of my job, I can tell them what needs to be changed to make their baby (new promotions) beautiful and desirable.  This change may be in size, coloring, name, cost, functionality, usefulness, etc.; some DNA overhauling.  Sometimes, it's the little things that just need to be tweaked.

Occasionally, it's the need to start over and explain what the true DNA makeup is (opportunities) for a beautiful baby (business idea).

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholders and when the beholders are the people (the market) who are willing to pay for the beauty, we sometimes need to “Just Ask” before we start to consummate a new baby (new product launch).  When we know who the beholders are, and we know how to contact them, the only things holding us back are our own preconceived perceptions of what beauty is.

Recently, we had a client who was the best salesperson for their new product.  In talking with him, you could see how proud and excited he was about his new baby.  He had his hands over every bit of DNA of this new creation.  I didn't have any knowledge about their species of baby, and he had me convinced that they had a beautiful baby.  I really bought into his perception; I was a believer; I was ready to be a champion on how beautiful this new baby really was going to be.  Then, I talked with the market. I came back and stated that we needed to restructure the DNA completely if you truly wanted to make a beautiful baby. I had to tell him to his face, with his peers surrounding him, the brutal truth… “Your baby is ugly.” As I saw the disappointment in his and some of his colleagues' eyes (really true sadness), I saw something else. I saw relief in the eyes of some others that were hoping to stop the creation of this baby.  They looked at me and you could almost hear them whispering, “Thank you.”  Back to my client's eyes: his fear now shifted to my eyes.  I started thinking, “Oh crap, I'm not going to get paid for this project.”  Then the client spoke: “We didn't want to hear this (about my baby), we have spent a lot of effort on building this (new baby); we needed to.” He continued, “You just saved this company a quarter of a million dollars. Thank you.”

That research was followed by others that helped identified the DNA of a truly beautiful baby that was delivered (no kidding) about nine months later with almost a unanimous market opinion of: “Oh, what a beautiful baby; I want one.”  Want a beautiful baby, too?  Ask the right questions before you conceive. n
Jim Goodman is the president of Customer Ease, a marketing consulting and research company in Des Moines.  Jim founded the CEO Center (Creative Entrepreneur Organization) for assisting in the growth of Iowa businesses.  Jim is also an adjunct professor for Drake University teaching Entrepreneurship and Marketing Research.

To reach Jim: jimg@customer-ease.com or 515-471-1301.