It is annoying and it feels villainous: using the fear of the Corona virus to offer your product at exorbitant prices. This sales technique is booming these days. While companies provide instructions to their employees on how to prevent contamination and take care of their employees by, for example, canceling foreign business trips, there is a population of companies that eagerly exploit the fear in the human brain. Fear sells and it sells well, but the success is short-lived and with (hopefully) legal consequences.
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| Ron Eman ISA Training & Coaching |
Last week it was shown on TV that a company offered a face mask, disinfectant soap and a nasal spray against the Corona virus for 'only' € 150. There was some laughter about this on a talk show. With this product on offer, no more answers are given or a solution is sold, but in my view the pockets are briefly filled unethically by playing on people at their most vulnerable: full of fear.
Fear in itself is a very useful emotion. Since ancient times, fear has caused us humans to avoid danger, protecting ourselves through the signaling function that fear has to prepare the body for action and alertness in a flash. That we take advantage of people's fear is quite common in humanity. After all, a doctor also makes money from his sick patients and a funeral insurer praises its services by playing on our fears, because you don't want to saddle your loved ones with high costs, care and an unarranged cremation, do you?
These are quite common ways to get people to take action, again by playing on fear. But this form does have a positive side. Doctors and funeral insurance companies sow and reap gradually, maintain relationships, relieve worries and do what we customers consider ethically responsible. This sales technique keeps you informed of your customers' wishes and remains relevant to your target group, no matter what happens. Even after the Corona virus. In this form, your customer chooses a solution, not out of fear.
Let us not be tempted by short-lived and unethical actions and scare potential customers. But keep selling based on your belief in your product, your organization and the focus on the customer. The company's management defines what ethics are and gives employees the space to remain true to themselves by dealing with (potential) customers in an honest and personal manner. Then selling remains a profession!
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