How to cure green frog arm disease

Say you wake up tomorrow and look down to see your arm is covered in slimy green blotches. What are you going to do?

It’s not an emergency, it’s just weird looking. On your way to the doctor you pick up your phone and ask your best mate, Google. You type in something like ‘slimy green blotches on arm’. Seems like it’s pretty rare, but it’s not unheard of. You check off the features that everyone talks about: the slimy green blotches, the tiny blisters and the tingling feeling on your tongue.

As far as you can see, you’ve probably got Green Frog Arm Disease. Looks pretty gross, but they can fix it. Pretty easily apparently.

The doctor’s still a ways off, so you’re digging hard into Google. What is green frog arm disease? Causes of green frog arm disease? You’re seeing lots of weird and wonderful photos. Green frog arm disease contagious? (Actually it was your wife that made you check that last one.) Treatments for green frog arm disease?

You find out the quickest way to fix your arm is with this injection. You’d be clear in 48 hours but it’s super expensive and not widely available. There’s also a pill that’s easier to get. It’s very effective, but takes a few weeks until you’re all clear. Then there’s a cream which only takes a few days, but it burns like crazy and smells strongly of old sock.

You’re hoping this doctor can get his hands on the miracle injection, but incase that fails, you start looking into this cream. You can’t go to your cousin’s wedding this weekend with a green arm, so the pill is not an option.

Okay, looks like the cream might be the go. There’s a new one out called Frog Off that doesn’t burn. Even comes with a choice of two pleasant fragrances: lavender or eucalyptus. How delightful. And it works even faster if you use it with a compression bandage. Awesome. There’s a pharmacy right here. Why wait for the doctor to tell you what you already know?

Okay, there is no such thing as green frog arm disease and you won’t be waking up with a slimy green blotches tomorrow. But if you’re in the business of selling any kind of product or service these days, it might pay to heed the lesson of this little fable.

It’s tempting, when you’ve got an amazing product like Frog Off, to go out there and start shouting about your innovative burn-free balm with the delightful choice of scents. Because you know that yours is the only cream out there that won’t burn a patient’s arm off and you know that with every other cream, if the burn doesn’t get them, the stink will. So it’s a no brainer. To you.

But your customer may not be there yet. It’s a long way from ‘why is my arm green?’ to ‘I’d prefer lavender thanks’. And the more you can help them along the way, the more chance you’ve got when they get to the end.

The first step, outlined in my silly little story, is what’s called Awareness. Don’t get tricked here, it’s not brand awareness (which is what the customer knows about you). No, this is awareness of the symptoms. So even before a person figures out their problem, they can start searching for information about the symptoms they’re experiencing. Depending how complex the problem is, it might be awhile before your future customer figures out what’s wrong, so there’s plenty of opportunity for you to show up and talk about all the symptoms. If you’re lucky, you might even get them on a trajectory toward you from the very beginning. Once they’ve figured out what the problem is (‘Oh, I’ve got green frog arm disease’) then a person moves on to step two.

Step two is Consideration. Now they know what they’ve got, they will seek to understand it. They can get a bit more specific because they know where to look. Once they’ve got a good grasp they’ll be ready to look into solutions. Maybe not specific products yet, but in general, comparing the injection to the pill and the cream. They might all be valid options, but each will appeal to different customers based on their circumstances. A person could go back and forth here, digging deep to find out about specific brands, then drawing back to compare other options. It’s all about pros and cons. Then they eventually get to the one or two solutions they think they like. They can just about smell the lavender.

Step three is the Decision. They’ve weighed it all up, now it’s time to choose and buy. At this stage, the customer is potentially armed with a lot of information and they’ve got their favourites. They have probably ruled out a few options that don’t suit them, and they’re ready to buy. A deal or special offer could tip the equation one way or another.

It won’t always be so linear. And it won’t always be so drawn out. But I hope this helps you think about what your customers are doing in a different way.

I’m sure you do have a wonderful product. But before you go back to shouting about the delightful scent, I hope you can stop for a moment to sit in your future customer’s chair and wonder, why is my arm green?