Free Samples - Part II

     I was in a local Subway recently, and was offered a small morsel of their new brownie to try.  I hate brownies - you have to have milk to wash them down.  But it was a small piece.  Lo and behold, the free sample resulted in me purchasing four brownies to share with people that were coming to the house.  They were that good.

     Similarly, I do lots of work on the computer at the local Panera.  I usually get coffee, but every now and then it's a great lunch escape.  Their free samples of bread at the door lets me consider something new instead of simply resorting to "the usual."

     The latest brain research shows that once your mind formulates a "yes or no" decision regarding a choice, it will formulate reasons (whether valid or not) as to why that choice is the right one (whether it is or not).  There are up to nine reasons on the average that are created in support of the position taken.  The bottom line to this is that if you really want to be open to all possibilities, say to yourself, "That's interesting," rather than choosing a positive or negative stance.  Such a response triggers the brain to seek out and evaluate supporting positions or refutations.  Once an opinion is formulated, it takes constant exposures to different information to simply begin to break through the decision that the brain has reached for you.

     Puts the current political campaigns into perspective, doesn't it.  Indeed, THAT's why there are so many political commercials out there, and why marketing messages about your school have to be consistent and constant.

     But what's this got to do with free samples?  The only other way the mind will change is when is it jarred into a personally uncomfortable position.  We see this when people have nothing to say about their school until someone says that their school is closing.  On a greater scale, it's one thing for people to say they're concerned about the unemployed, the struggling, the people adversely affected by the economy - until they suddenly find they ARE one of the unemployed, the struggling, the people adversely affected by the economy.

     On a smaller scale, take your school.  Just as walking into a Panera and having a different style of bread offered to me when I walk through the door forces me our of my comfort zone immediately, what would happen if you, parents and children were standing outside the door after Mass, and offering parents with young children a month of free tuition at your school?  Print up vouchers and have a table and a big sign that says "One Month For FREE."  Advent wreathes are sold there; hoagies from the cheerleading squads are sold there; even the Boy Scouts sell popcorn there.  So, why not a "Try it for 30 days on us" opportunity?  Granted, this might not work with children in grades 3 through 12 when the social aspects of school start to kick in, but for those in Kindergarten and First Grade, especially with sacramental preparations on the horizon, it might be worth a shot.  Aggressive?  Yes - however, you have a product that you know is THE place for the whole child to be formed!

     But you have to bring sound marketing principles into it.  Don't just do it for one week, and then say it didn't work.  Just like the "never ending presidential campaign," try it for at least 9 weeks - like now through the end of the year to prepare you for the second semester.  Those 9 exposures might be just what's needed to overcome those 9 reasons parents' brains have created telling them it's the right choice for their child not to be in your school.

     More on brain research next week - including an experiment with the sense of smell.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2008 (Original Publication Date: 20081027)

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