Please do not take this the wrong way, no offence is meant in any of this post I really liked most of the people I met on holiday – it’s just an observation.
I recently got back from our summer holiday, a lovely cruise around the Mediterranean. We’ve done similar in the past but what made this different was that we were cruising with an American Company with mainly American guests. I’ve been to America before and even 1 or 2 Americans have found their way to living on our little island in the middle of nowhere but I’ve never had the chance to get to know so many so well. Just by observing how they handle different situations the cultural difference in how we shop between us Brits and you guys is massive and I wanted to share some of that.
In my internet marketing efforts I’ve always done much better marketing to Brits and Europeans, I don’t know why that is but it just seems that I relate better to people this side of the Atlantic. Our cruise helped highlight some reasons why that might be.
One great example was a trip we took to see some ruins. As part of the excursion we were also taken to see a leather factory, this is fine and helps offset some of the cost of the trip. We’ weren’t told about this beforehand so it was a bit of a surprise, but like I say no biggy. Once we’d had our fashion show it was then time to look around the factory and buy something if you liked, no hard sell. The first difference visible was the difference between what Turks, British and Americans consider hard sell. The Turks were being pushy, there is no other word for it. “You try this on”, “You like you buy”, “Try them all on and decide which ones you want”. I wasn’t about to spend between €500 and €8000 on a leather jacket on a whim and made it clear that whilst everything was very nice we’d not be buying. If I did want to buy something I’ll ask you about it. Obviously on hearing the accent they knew no meant no and they went off to find some “better” customers. Despite all the initial protests about not being happy about being taken there in the first place and then despite mumblings about not buying anything within half an hour carrier bag laden American after carrier bag laden American ended up leaving the shop. Well if you charge it then its not real money right? I know that some of those people were not in a position to drop that sort of cash on a whim. I should also add that part of the reason I didn’t buy is because I’ve heard this pitch lots of times in the past, everybody claims the world’s best, everybody claims the best prices, everybody claims the most durable leather. I understand it’s their job to try and sell me something that I don’t want or need and I accept that happy in the knowledge that they’ve got no chance. From what I saw the American mindset seemed different, please don’t take this the wrong way because it’s not meant to be insulting but it seems to be that you get worn down? Those horrible yellow laden sales pages I see that I don’t understand how they sell anything now make perfect sense. The most outlandish and implausible claims are not a problem – everything seems to be taken at face value and if you say it over and over you will bag a sale. Guilt them into buying “something” is how I’d describe it.
Another fine example of this was in the art auctions that took place on board the boat, on sea days, when there was little else for the budding arty type going on. There were some nice pieces, I’m no expert but I could see and appreciate the work that had gone into some of the originals. But this was like no auction I’d ever been to before, this was a show, a 90 minute sales pitch complete with audience participation, whooping and clapping. Never mind being caught up in the moment if I’m spending decent money on something then I want value for money and in today’s internet age there are no excuses for not knowing what something is worth. Of all the art sold in those 3 auctions (and there was a good amount sold) I’d guess that probably 5% was sold to non Americans. I took the liberty of looking up the price for one piece that was being sold for bids of $60000 + 15% buyers commission. I could send you to a link now where you could buy that same piece of art for less than $10000. It’s all about the razzmatazz, the pre sell, the hype, of passing on a burdening feeling that make people feel like they have to buy something or feel guilty about it. I didn’t feel guilty. My wife won one piece of art as part of the show and even the postage on that would be enough to get you a decent picture elsewhere.
Of course I realise that Americans going on a European cruise are not going to form a good cross section of the general population, you’d expect them to be more intelligent and wealthier than the average. Even taking this into account it has opened my eyes to WHY so much of the internet marketing stuff that I’ve never understood in the past works. Diet Pills, Teeth Whitening, Get Rich Quick Schemes, how could anybody fall for those sales pages? For my own part I’ll be sticking to building content that is very heavily weighted towards the British and European market, I’m no good at gushing over something that isn’t that great, I’m much happier writing about things in a matter of fact way and I guess that’s why I am the worlds worst affiliate marketer when it comes to selling to the North American demographic.
I started this post by saying that I don’t want anybody to take offence and that’s how I’d like to finish it as well. I made some good friends on that holiday and I’m sure that as likely as I am to call them naive in their buying they would be just as likely to call me tight with money 