“Black Friday.” Marketing, Sales and Service.

“Black Friday.”

Have you ever wondered where the term comes from?

I did. So I checked it out.

Here’s what I learned about the origin of the term “Black Friday,’ how it’s meaning has changed, and what entrepreneurs and small business owners and managers can learn and implement to their greatest business advantage. And it’s not what you think.

Read on…

The Original “Black Friday”

The original “Black Friday” occurred 1869, when an attempt by two men (Jay Gould and James Fisk) to corner the market in gold drove its price up.

But their strategy was dependent upon as the government not selling the gold it held.

When President Ulysses Grant caught wind of the scheme, he ordered the government to sell $4 million in gold, causing the price to drop and precipitating a stock market panic on Friday September 24, 1869.

That was a black day in U.S. history.

Not Again! “Black Tuesday”

Then On October 29, 1929, the entire stock market crashed.

Panicked people filled the streets, chaotically fighting their way to the front of lines at banks, trying to save their money.

That terrible day – which marked the beginning of the Great Depression – is known as “Black Tuesday,”

Christmas Shopping

So here comes the interesting part…

Around the middle of the 1960’s, retailers began to push the idea that the “Christmas shopping season” (???) “officially” (???) began on the day after Thanksgiving.

It was a simple marketing ploy to drive more retail shopping and sales on that day by loading their stores with seasonal inventory and declaring that customers would find the best bargains of the season – or the year – on that Friday.

Since the chaotic and unruly behavior of shoppers on that day mimicked how people acted when the stock market crashed, those who made the connection began to call that day “Black Friday.”

A “Black Friday” Alternative…

That association / interpretation by the public of their ploy to generate holiday-related sales and profits didn’t please the marketers and retailers.

So they “reframed” the term “Black Friday.”

Using their marketing savvy, they’ve now convinced most people that the word “black” refers to the “black ink” that merchants would use to write down income and profits on their ledger, as opposed to the “red ink” that they’d use to note expenses and losses.

Very clever marketing.

What Entrepreurs and Small Business Owners and Managers Can Learn from The Story of “Black Friday”

Here are two “golden nuggets” that you can learn from this story and implement immediately.

Both of them have the power to transform how you view business and how you do business, and to have a significant postive impact on your bottom line.

Lesson 1: Declare It. “Make It So.”

There is no “official shopping season,” “official Christmas season,” or “official holiday season.”

The Friday after Thanksgiving isn’t an “official” holiday – even though many employers – except a LOT of retailers – give their employees the day off.

All this stuff is just made up by people who want you to buy more from them.

And it works.

Why?

Simply because someone declared it, and “made it so.”

They made a public proclamation that “this is the way it is.” (Of course, what they declared was both legal and didn’t contradict the physical laws of the universe. You can’t make something in your hand float upward simply because you “declare” that the law of gravity is no longer valid.)

Then they put into place a plan of action to influence others to believe that what they said was true, and to act accordingly.

This isn’t the same as: “Fake it till you make it.”

It’s a strategy that involves planning and consistently executing only and exactly what turns what you declare  into reality.

YOU can do this, too!

Lesson 2: Change Your Focus. Change Your Perception.

This story of “Black Friday” and how the meaning of those words shifted from something that was “negative” (unruly, panicked people) to something that is “positive” (more “black ink” profits on the books) points out that:

Where someone puts the focus of his or her attention and how what they’re relating to is “positioned” in their thoughts, feelings or beliefs has a direct impact on their perception, which translates into their reality.

Heady, perhaps, but a very important concept.

Because it means that:

1. Others can influence you by where they direct your attention and how they “position” what they’re having your focus on.

2. You can influence others by where you direct their attention and how you “position” what they’re focusing on.

3. Your thoughts, feelings and beliefs are the result of what you’ve placed your attention on and how it’s been positioned to you, or how you’ve positioned it in your own experience.

Which means that if you change or shift your focus and/or open your mind to another possible way to “position” something in your own mind, you can change your reality.

Marketing, Sales and Service

Are trying to “sell” people whatever you want them to buy?

How do you feel about marketers and salespeople who are seemingly more interested in making the sale than they are in you as a person?

How do you feel about sales pitches that focus primarily or solely on features, without giving you the opportunity to discern if the benefits you’ll receive from that product or service best meets your needs and desires?

How do you feel when someone acts towards you as if they know what you “need” better than you do?

Your prospects and customers may feel the same way.

A simple and powerful way to change your prospects’ and customers’ perceptions is to shift YOUR perceptions of your intent.

Simply ask yourself:

“How can I be of greatest service to people through what I offer (that I will give them and/or sell to them) and how I treat them?”

Your answer will shift your thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

Which will influence your actions.

Which will influence how others perceive and relate to you, including how much they’re willing to purchase from you and how often.

Which will impact your bottom line.

Of course, you still need to do marketing. And you still need to sell. But how you plan for and implement these will change correspondingly with your shift from focusing primarily on convincing people to buy from you to focusing primarily  on being of greatest service to the people in your marketplace.

Too many businesses think of service as “customer service.” The thing that happens AFTER the sale. Shift your perception of service from that, to the perspective of ALWAYS being in service to your prospects and your customers as your primary focus, and the thought that drives your actions and your interactions.

As they say in architecture: “Form follows function.” Build your marketing and sales processes and actions on the foundation of service.

This changes everything.

Do You Have a “Service” Orientation?

What are you thoughts, feelings and beliefs about whether having a “service” orientation, rather than a “sales and marketing” orientation, makes a difference to a business’ bottom line. Do you have your own experience, or a story to tell about someone else’s business? Let me and others know by leaving a comment. Or ask a question. It’s all good.

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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