The plane ride that made me a better marketer

Long week of meetings.

Delta flight: Columbus to Orlando.

I’m sitting in 8A and 8B approaches.

We make small talk. We’re both headed home. Days of meetings.

He works in food sales. I work in tech marketing.

We both fly Delta because we take the cookies home to the kids as “presents” (shh).

A little about my company. A little about his.

Flight safety instructions commence and we go silent.

About 20 minutes in, 8B turns to me.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ll kick myself when I get home if I don’t ask you this. You see, you’re my exact target audience. You’re my buyer. And yet, you’re not buying my product. If it’s not too much trouble, I just want to ask you a few questions. I’ll learn so much.”

As a marketer, I am intrigued. I spend the next 45 minutes talking about when, where, and why I buy chicken for my family. Sounds pretty dull, but 8B is all over it.

It turns out that my top priority for purchasing chicken (organic) isn’t even in his value proposition (fresh, flavorful, better quality). He leaves with 2 pages of notes and thanks me profusely.

This is my eureka moment. I realize I want to be 8B. I want to talk to people who aren’t buying from me.

From then on, every job I take and every new product I launch, I look for ways to talk to people who aren’t buying from me. Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes I become a bit of a stalker.

Regardless, it’s worth it.

Marketers: go forth and find your 8A!