One day a few summers ago, I was riding around western Connecticut in my friend Melissa’s Mini Cooper. I don’t remember how we got on the topic, but I said to Melissa, “I have a confession to make. I watch QVC just to watch it.”
“Oh my God, so do I!” she exclaimed,
“I thought I was the only one,” I replied with glee.
“No!” Melissa said. "I do it all the time.”
We giggled like schoolgirls, barely able to breathe at the kindredness of this newfound information a mere 10 years into our friendship.
Some months later, I met a new friend for dinner and made the same confession. “So do I!” she said. And I knew at that moment that Jackie and I were at the start of a great relationship.
And no, neither Jackie nor Melissa nor I are at risk of being on an episode of Hoarders anytime soon. I watch way more QVC (or have it on in the background as I wash dishes, or putz around my house) than I buy. And I probably buy more than I should.
So what is it about this channel?
It is the perfect mix of storytelling and improv.
“Imagine this color inside your microwave!!” squealed QVC and SharkTank Queen Lori Greiner.
It was a shield with 2 magnets which attach themselves to the top of the microwave so that it is always there for you to pull down and place on top of your food, thus preventing the food from splattering. And this was the first time it was presented in colors! (And judging from my microwave, I should have bought it.)
“Let me tell you the value story,” says one of my favorites, David Venable.
And he tells the story of the great price. “If you bought this at the store it would cost 'x' but today we are adding this attachment and this feature and selling it LOWER than the store cost.”
From a storytelling stickiness standpoint – it is unexpected, emotional, and simple. Three story telling elements (and a great price to boot!).
But wait, there’s more!
“Imagine this, you can wear this to work and then throw on this scarf and it looks so chic for cocktail hour. And the color, I mean, you had me at black!” croons Isaac Mizrahi, who loves, loves, LOVES EVERY color presented. And yet he always wears black.
And if something just ran out? It’s okay, they will take the item off the table, or the rack, and tell you a new story of how the gadget, the food, the cookware, the dress, the shoes (I highly recommend Vionic, by the way) will change your life. (It did!)
Here’s the thing:
1. They know their audience (mostly women).
2. They know how to pivot when something goes wrong; and
3. They can improv a story about anything!
What pivot will you make today? And what story (ideally true) will you tell someone you work with that will makes their life just a little bit better?
By the way, just for the record:
Isaac, David, Shoe Shopping with Jane and Amy Strand are my favorites. (I have a vision that David lives on the other side of the fence of my back yard and brings me tasty food and Isaac lives next door to style me when necessary just as Jane drops by with shoes!
E-hem… But that’s my story for another day...
Comments