Why you should hand out empty ice cream cones

Have you ever stopped in your tracks when you saw something you just couldn’t believe?

When that happens, the power of the unexpected has crashed down upon your consciousness. You have to stop to register what’s going on. Maybe you’ll keep on like nothing happened; and maybe you’ll check it out a little more if it continues to keep your interest.

This is where most failed marketing positioning gets it wrong.

If you’re talking about the same things everyone else is talking about, you’re part of the background noise. Think about someone poking you in the same spot over and over. It gets your attention, and it’s annoying. It’s not going to help the person poking you get what they want.

Let’s say you like ice cream, and they handed you an empty ice cream cone. Now you’re intrigued. The outlook for getting some ice cream just got a whole lot sunnier.

Be careful handing out empty ice cream cones, though. It makes people expect you have a way to get ice cream, and if you don’t have a way of getting ice cream then all you did was get their attention for a moment. Then you have to consider what flavor they want. Start by asking some good questions and you’ll figure out which flavors you have are going to make them happy.

And when you do give them the ice cream they want, putting an unexpected and well thought out topping right on top will make them wanting to come back to you.