What This Deodorant Maker Can Teach You About Job Hunting or Marketing Your Services (First They Targeted Their Hottest Prospects Including A Woman Who Caught Skunks – But That Campaign Bombed

Many readers will have used or heard of a deodorant called Febreze. What you may not know is how it came to be. Here’s the story. The deodorant spray was created when one of Proctor & Gamble’s chemists was working with a substance called hydroxypropyl beta cyclodextrin, or HPBCD, in a laboratory.

There is a lesson in this story for job seekers looking for work, and for service professionals and owners of service businesses who want to get really good at marketing their services. How good you get at answering the question, “What do you do?” can have life-changing consequences in your business or career… oh, we don’t recommend even then that you get in the habit of looking in the Forbes list every day! Once a year sounds often enough.

To continue the Febreze story…

“The chemist was a smoker. His clothes usually smelled like an ashtray. One day, after working with HPBCD, his wife greeted him at the door when he got home. 

“Did you quit smoking?” she asked him. 

“No,” he said. 

“He was suspicious. She had been harassing him to give up cigarettes for years. This seemed like some kind of reverse psychology trickery. 

“You don’t smell like smoke, is all,” his wife said. 

“The next day, he went back to the lab and started experimenting with HPBCD and various scents. Soon, he had hundreds of vials containing fabrics that smelled like wet dogs, cigars, sweaty socks, Chinese food, musty shirts, and dirty towels. 

“When he put HPBCD in water and sprayed it on the samples, the scents were drawn into the chemical’s molecules. After the mist dried, the smell was gone. 

“When the chemist explained his findings to P&G’s executives, they were ecstatic. For years, market research had said that consumers were clamoring for something that could get rid of bad smells – not mask them, but eradicate them altogether. 

“When one team of researchers had interviewed customers, they found that many of them left their blouses or slacks outside after a night at a bar or party. [Their complaints went something like this:]

“My clothes smell like cigarettes when I get home, but I don’t want to pay for dry cleaning every time I go out,” one woman said. 

“P&G, sensing an opportunity, launched a top-secret project to turn HPBCD into a viable product. They spent millions perfecting the formula, finally producing a colorless, odorless liquid that could wipe out almost any foul odor. The science behind the spray was so advanced that NASA would eventually use it to clean the interiors of shuttles after they returned from space. 

“The best part was that it was cheap to manufacture, didn’t leave stains, and could make any stinky couch, old jacket, or stained car interior smell, well, scentless. The project had been a major gamble, but P&G was now poised to earn billions – if they could come up with the right marketing campaign.”

(Source: The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg. A really good read – Highly recommend it!)

Making the product was the easy part, but marketing Febreze, a product the market had seemed to be clamoring for, became a thorn in the side for Proctor & Gamble!

So much so that in a moment of despondency one of the women scientists in the team tasked with getting Febreze to sell so P&G could collect those billions asked this bizarre question in one of their meetings, in a small windowless room where they were brainstorming:

“If we get fired, what exactly happens?” she asked. “Do security guards show up and walk us out, or do we get some kind of warning beforehand?”

One of the reasons they were having trouble marketing the product was that their initial inspiration for a marketing message came from a woman who caught skunks! And that had led the team down a rabbit hole – pun intended.

In the beginning, the marketing executives and scientists had brought the product to market and targeted their hottest prospects…

“Stimson and his colleagues decided to introduce Febreze in a few test markets – Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Boise. They flew in and handed out samples, and then asked people if they could come by their homes. 

“Over the course of two months, they visited hundreds of households. Their first big breakthrough came when they visited a park ranger in Phoenix. She was in her late twenties and lived by herself. Her job was to trap animals that wandered out of the desert. She caught coyotes, raccoons, the occasional mountain lion. And skunks. Lots and lots of skunks. 

“Which often sprayed her when they were caught. 

“I’m single, and I’d like to find someone to have kids with,” the ranger told Stimson and his colleagues while they sat in her living room. 

“I go on a lot of dates. I mean, I think I’m attractive, you know? I’m smart and I feel like I’m a good catch.” 

“But her love life was crippled, she explained, because everything in her life smelled like skunk. Her house, her truck, her clothing, her boots, her hands, her curtains. Even her bed. 

“She had tried all sorts of cures. She bought special soaps and shampoos. She burned candles and used expensive carpet shampooing machines. None of it worked. 

“When I’m on a date, I’ll get a whiff of something that smells like skunk and I’ll start obsessing about it,” she told them. ‘I’ll start wondering, does he smell it? What if I bring him home and he wants to leave?’

“I went on four dates last year with a really nice guy, a guy I really liked, and I waited forever to invite him to my place. Eventually, he came over, and I thought everything was going really well. Then the next day, he said he wanted to ‘take a break.’ He was really polite about it, but I keep wondering, was it the smell?” 

“Well, I’m glad you got a chance to try Febreze,” Stimson said. ‘How’d you like it?’

“She looked at him. She was crying. ‘I want to thank you,’ she said. ‘This spray has changed my life.’ 

“After she had received samples of Febreze, she had gone home and sprayed her couch. She sprayed the curtains, the rug, the bedspread, her jeans, her uniform, the interior of her car. The bottle ran out, so she got another one, and sprayed everything else. 

“I’ve asked all of my friends to come over,” the woman said. “They can’t smell it anymore. The skunk is gone.” 

“By now, she was crying so hard that one of Stimson’s colleagues was patting her on the shoulder. 

“Thank you so much,” the woman said. “I feel so free. Thank you. This product is so important.” 

“Stimson sniffed the air inside her living room. He couldn’t smell anything. We’re going to make a fortune with this stuff, he thought.”

But that was before that first marketing campaign bombed. Now they expected guards to come for them when the board decided they had had enough – and fired them!

We’ll get to how Proctor & Gamble eventually sold their product – lots of it – and earned their billions, but first, let’s look at your problem…
 

Are you having a hard time finding a job or marketing your services? You know you’re a catch and all that, or you’re sure your service is the best there is and no one cares more about her customers than you do, plus, you always go the extra mile and so on.

So, why are you having it so tough?

Side note: If you’re a service professional the very word marketing probably send shivers down your spine, but the truth is, marketing your services is not an option, you have to do it. If you’re still not convinced, we’ve compiled some compelling reasons why in the post “Why You Have To Become Your Chief Marketing Director” That’s a must read for service professionals and owners of service-based businesses. 

>>>Click here if you’d rather skip to the part where P&G finally solved the Febreze marketing puzzle<<

So, why are you having it so tough getting a job or marketing your services?

The problem could be that you’re only looking in the places where you expect to find your hottest prospects, whether that’s looking for a job or looking for your ideal customers! This means you could be ignoring the power of “weak ties”…

In the late 1960s, a Harvard PhD student named Mark Granovetter did some research on how we might help (or not help) a stranger who was looking for a job. He studied how 282 men had found their current employment and tracked how they had learned about open positions, whom they had called for referrals, the methods they used to land interviews, and most important, who had provided a helping hand. 

“As expected, he found that when job hunters approached strangers for assistance, they were rejected. When they appealed to friends, help was provided. More surprising, however, was how often job hunters also received help from casual acquaintances – friends of friends – people who were neither strangers nor close pals. 

“Granovetter called those connections ‘weak ties,’ because they represented the links that connect people who have acquaintances in common, who share membership in social networks, but aren’t directly connected by the strong ties of friendship themselves. 

“In fact, in landing a job, Granovetter discovered, weak-tie acquaintances were often more important than strong-tie friends because weak ties give us access to social networks where we don’t otherwise belong. 

“Many of the people Granovetter studied had learned about new job opportunities through weak ties, rather than from close friends, which makes sense because we talk to our closest friends all the time, or work alongside them or read the same blogs. By the time they have heard about a new opportunity, we probably know about it too. 

“On the other hand, our weak-tie acquaintances –people we bump into [infrequently] – are the ones who tell us about jobs we would otherwise never hear about.

“When sociologists examined how opinions move through communities, how gossip spreads… they’ve discovered a common pattern: Our weak-tie acquaintances are often as influential – if not more – than our close-tie friends. 

“Granovetter wrote, ‘Individuals with few weak ties will be deprived of information from distant parts of the social system and will be confined to the [local] news and views of their close friends. This… will not only insulate them from the latest ideas and fashions but may put them in a disadvantaged position in the labor market, where advancement can depend … on knowing about appropriate job openings at just the right time.”

(Source: The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Good read – Check it out!)

So, how do you leverage these weak ties when looking for a job or when selling your services?

The first thing is to get very proficient at answering the question: “What do you do?” Any time you’re introduced to one of these weak ties, say a friend of a friend, or someone your friend works with and so on, make sure this third person gets to know “what do you do?” – even if they didn’t ask! 

In most cases when people get asked this question it's easy to fall into the trap of being too modest, saying too much or delivering what sounds like a sales pitch. But when you’re asked this question, this presents you with a promo moment – to pitch the other person! 

Handle this seemingly mundane “prospecting situation” right and you can ask for referrals, learn about open positions, or quickly educate this weak tie on who your ideal customer or client is, or the best job opportunities you seek. And it can all be done in 30 seconds! 

The best responses when you’re asked “What do you do?” have these characteristics:

• They’re short – no longer than 30 seconds
• They’re sincere – which is why word-perfect scripts often don't work
• They’re specific – should not use generic or buzz words, for example words like “communications” and “empower” 
• They’re engaging – the listener wants to know more 
• They’re interesting – stories work well as a follow up.

First before we look at formulas that work well, you should stop using just a label to tell people what you do. In social networking situations, the question “What do you do?” is often just a courtesy so people introduce themselves with a label. The person responds with “I’m an accountant”, or “I’m a management consultant”.

The problem with responding like this is that sometimes a label is not helpful – because the listener may assume, wrongly, that they understand what an accountant does, or a management consultant.

Today we have many new professions/trades that people know very little about – things such as “digital marketer”, or “social media manager” just to name a few.

Here are some common formulas that work well…

Using the “You know how…” opening: With this elevator pitch you start with “You know how …” then follow up with “What I do is”. For example:

“You know how you sometimes struggle at work because your internet connection drops out and you have to restart your computer all the time? Well, we fix those problems for businesses.” 

Talking in terms of solutions: Avoid boring, detailed explanations of what you do. Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consultant, gives an example of such a response:

“I'm a consultant who focuses on the interactions of teams, especially cross-functionally; raises sensitivity to synergies possible in greater collaboration; and implements processes to enhance team connectedness. I use instruments such as...’’

Weiss suggests that a better technique is to think in terms of solutions, using the following structure.

“I help/work with/assist……… (name of your target market)………………… (name your solution).”

So the previous elevator pitch could’ve been “I help clients improve individual and organizational performance”.

Relate your answer to “problems” you solve for people. In InfoGuru Marketing Manual, Robert Middleton recommends a similar approach as the above, but with more emphasis on “problems”.

Middleton uses the formula:

“I help/work with/assist………… (name of the target market you work with) who are struggling/having problems with etc……… (name their problem).”

Here’s the example he gives:

“I help professional service businesses who are struggling to attract clients.”

Creating visual pictures: When you respond to the question “What do you do” with labels such as consultant, writer, or speaker people don’t listen to your words. Instead they look for images in what you say, according to Michael Lovas. So, instead, you should create a visual picture that’s real for your audience.

He gives the following example:

“Jane, what if you had an emergency and needed someone to take care of your children and your home. That's me. I help families protect the things that are dearest to them.”

Following up: If your listener asks you questions about your elevator pitch here’s what you do…

Ask what industry they’re in and explain how your products or services could benefit them and their business. Follow up with a story.
For example, “We recently worked with a client who…” Then tell your prospect what the situation was before you worked with the client, what you did for them, without going into too much detail, and what happened as a result of your work.

The 30-second “referral prospecting engine”

Asking for referrals in a group introduction: In this last example, we’ll see how you can use a prospecting situation to ask for referrals, or job openings, or to educate a prospective referral source on who your most qualified prospects are – to equip the referral source with the trigger words that tell them when your ideal prospects raise their hands! Here goes…

When you have 30-60 seconds to introduce yourself to a group, or even one weak tie, you can use this time to ask for referrals or for work. In Masters of Networking (Another really good read – Check it out!), Steve Lawson illustrates what a wasted opportunity self-effacing introductions always are.

“I watched a travel agent stand in front of twenty-five business associates and say, ‘I guess you all know what a travel agent does, so if you are going on holiday call me.’ I could almost hear her audience thinking, Nope, can’t take a vacation this week. How much more powerful and effective it would have been if the travel agent had said;

“Last week our agency bought a large block of Caribbean cruise tickets at a ridiculously low price. If you’re talking to friends, clients or business associates, and they complain of being overworked and tired, tell them you know of a travel agency that has some unbelievable three, four or five-day cruises at amazingly low prices! 

"Listen for two key phrases this week: ‘I’m tired,’ and ‘I’m overworked’. When you hear those phrases, think of me.’ 

“By saying this she would have both educated her associates and got them looking for a specific kind of referral for her.” (p199)

Did you just hear that? This is high-impact, low-cost marketing delivered without a lot of hard work – and it’s guaranteed to bring in high-quality clients/customers.

A well-crafted elevator pitch that answers the question “What do you do?” is a powerful tool for leveraging the weak ties in your social network, whether you’re looking for jobs or you’re selling your services.

Take the time to craft a good one for some of the common prospecting situations you face (sit down and put pen to paper!) You have invested a lot of time and money getting where you are. But selling anything, including promoting yourself or your services, can be incredibly unscientific, as Proctor & Gamble discovered with Febreze. And yet, your solution can be as effective, and come from the most unexpected places, as theirs did eventually…

“[P&G] was incredibly good at figuring out how to sell things. In the clothes-washing market alone, P&G’s products cleaned one out of every two laundry loads in America. Its revenues topped $35 billion per year.

“[And yet] Stimson’s team…was on the brink of failure. The company had spent millions of dollars developing a spray that could remove bad smells from almost any fabric. And the researchers in that tiny, windowless room had no idea how to get people to buy it.”

The product was sitting on the shelves, not flying off of them!

“Their first inkling of why Febreze was failing came when they visited a woman’s home outside Phoenix. They could smell her nine cats before they went inside. The house’s interior, however, was clean and organized. She was somewhat of a neat freak… She vacuumed every day and didn’t like to open her windows, since the wind blew in dust. 

“When Stimson and the scientists walked into her living room, where the cats lived, the scent was so overpowering that one of them gagged. 

“What do you do about the cat smell?” a scientist asked the woman. 

“It’s usually not a problem,” she said. 

“How often do you notice a smell?”
 

“Oh, about once a month,” the woman replied. The researchers looked at one another. 

“Do you smell it now?” a scientist asked. 

“No,” she said.

The same pattern played out in dozens of other smelly homes the researchers visited. People couldn’t detect most of the bad smells in their lives. If you live with nine cats, you become desensitized to their scent…

It took a really weak link to discover the people who really loved to use Febreze.

“After their disastrous interview with the cat woman, the team started looking outside the usual channels for help. One day, they went to speak with a woman in a suburb near Scottsdale. She was in her forties with four kids. Her house was clean, but not compulsively tidy. To the surprise of the researchers, she loved Febreze. 

“I use it every day,” she told them. 

“You do?” Stimson said. The house didn’t seem like the kind of place with smelly problems. There weren’t any pets. No one smoked. 

“How? What smells are you trying to get rid of?” 

“I don’t really use it for specific smells,” the woman said. “I mean, you know, I’ve got boys. They’re going through puberty, and if I don’t clean their rooms, it smells like a locker. But I don’t really use it that way. I use it for normal cleaning – a couple of sprays when I’m done in a room. It’s a nice way to make everything smell good as a final touch.” 

Febreze was subsequently positioned as the reward: the nice smell that occurs at the end of a cleaning routine. P&G modified the product a little (more perfume was added to the recipe, so that instead of merely neutralizing odors, Febreze had its own distinct scent), then they positioned it to create a sense of craving – the desire to make everything smell as nice as it looked. When they did that, Febreze became a hit. 

Febreze now offered a solution that was clearly packaged, appealing, and easier to sell to the average person – to a much wider market too!

It’s now over to you – go emulate, work those weak ties.

One last thing… share this post with your friends, get them gagging – with amusement or inspiration. Share buttons are just below this paragraph.