Dropped Jaw Syndrome, Your Fastest, Most Reliable Market Test

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 by: Dr. Lynella Grant

Business owners should be more like doctors.

Forget selling and start asking your customers where they hurt. Broken leg? Ulcer? Empty wallet?

Don't sell, diagnose. And what are you as a doctor
looking for? Well, of course: that ever-illusive, yet ever- profitable
disease called Dropped Jaw Syndrome.

OK, it may not be in any medical book. But Dropped Jaw
Syndrome, however rare, is known to anyone who’s ever tried to sell
something. The customer walks into your store, listens to your pitch
and falls into an awestruck trance. "I'll take three of them."

Joking aside, the dropped jaw, or at least its
symptoms, are the fuel behind every sale. When a customer is persuaded
to buy, their reaction isn’t logical. You’ve connected with the part of
their brain that decides if you and your product are believable, the
limbic system. Sure, you still need to persuade with facts, but logic
is a distant second to their desire to buy, their reflexive dropping
jaw.

Diagnosing Dropped Jaw

The key is finding the dropped jaw, tracking the symptoms
back to their source. But it’s there. And it’s quite easy to find once
you stop thinking about your product for a moment and focus on the
customer... I mean, patient.

Don’t believe me? Well, put on a white coat, hang a
stethoscope around your neck and do some market tests of your own. But
this is a test you have to do face to face. Forget the demographic
studies, sales plans and benchmark reports, and get in front of a
customer.

Now, take his temperature, make your pitch. And follow it through the customer’s reaction.

Did his jaw drop? Hmm. You must have done something
wrong. Try again, but listen like a doctor searching for a heart
murmur. Ask a question, offer information, and then hear the subtleties
of his response. And when you’re diagnosing a customer, instead of
trying to sell your product, something changes.

You become more attuned to the subtle dropped jaw and
related body language. And you ask more accurate questions. You notice
which of the claims and benefits penetrate the customer’s protective
indifference, sparking real interest. Of course, most salespeople
already do this to a degree, but it must be done intentionally,
consciously.

The true advantage of Dropped Jaw Syndrome comes from
changing your role for a moment, from selling and telling to assessing
what customers want, even when they can’t say it in words. Demand that
you live up to their desires. Because if you’re not dropping jaws,
you’re in danger of falling behind the competition. Worse, you’re
probably overlooking your company’s uniqueness.

Diagnosing Your Pitch

In searching for dropped-jaw reactions, some companies
have made unbelievable claims central to their promotions. We’ve all
seen the TV commercials where "Crazy Joe" says he’s so insane he’s
practically giving away the furniture in his store.

Better are claims that are striking and stand out from
the competition, but don’t over-promise. Consider "Have it your way"
(Burger King) or "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" (Timex). In
establishing your own unique proposition, the dropped jaw test is quick
and reliable.

Customers, whether they know it or not, are very good
at distinguishing between businesses they trust and those they don’t.
Let them tell you how you’re doing.

Building Customer Confidence

I discovered the Dropped Jaw Syndrome years ago. It
started with my claim that I can assess the health of a business by
looking only at its business card. And when I would point out the
subtle messages on their cards, most of them unintended, people’s jaws
would drop.

The value of the dropped jaw test is the perspective it
imparts. By listening to the customer or putting yourself in her shoes,
you’re more likely to notice the "small potatoes" signals you’re
sending. Such telltale signs aren’t based on the business size or age.
But once you recognize them they can be easily repaired.

As you play doctor, it’s your job to notice what hurts
the customer and cure it. When you find ways to make your customers
jaws drop, you’ll take their pain away. And that will make your
business a healthy one.

©2003 Lynella Grant

About the Author

Dr. Lynella Grant is an expert on the signals that make up the body language of a business. Author of The Business Card Book and Stop Looking Like Small Potatoes. Visit http://www.giantpotatoes.com. Off the Page Press (719) 395-9450 mailto:grant@giantpototoes.com

grant@giantpotatoes.com

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