Set It and Forget It!

I listened to a short autobiography recently about Ron Popeil, the founder of Ronco. If you are up anytime between 2:00-4:00 a.m. and had the TV on, chances you saw Ron and his unique products.


Ron is the inventor of the Showtime Rotisserie Oven, "Set it and Forget it!" as well as the GLH-9 spray on hair (Great Looking Hair) His show formula was usually to come out to a live studio audience, demonstrate how these products work, get some feedback from the audience on how great the invention was, and offer a "remarkable" offer that couldn't be refused.

I remember stumbling upon these as a UWM freshman after a long night of umm...studying. Even though I had $6 in my checking account and could never buy one of these things, I always ended up watching the remainder of the informercial.

Did anybody buy this stuff? And why did I always watch way longer than I should?

Well, people did buy...a lot. There have been 7 million Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Ovens sold in the US. In 2005 Ron Popeil sold Ronco for 55 million.

I didn't know the answer to why I always tuned in to Ron's informercial until reading Michael Dalton Johnson's excellent article: "Isn't That Amazing!" Johnson explains that the reason these products sell is because of the salesmanship of the pitchman. A link to the article is here:

http://alturl.com/hwphe

Dalton Johnson explains about salesmanship. There is the buy one get one free offer, or the testimonials of the studio audience, but the because the pitchman (in this case Ron Popeil) is incredibly pumped up about their product, the informercial succeeds. They are charismatic and they truly believe that you the customer, are better off with this in your home.

Most of us don't have a camera in front of us every day, but through enthusiasm and salesmanship, I believe we can more effectively influence and lead others. If I genuinely believe a job is a great fit for a potential candidate, and I approach my call or meeting with confidence and enthusiasm, my success rate skyrockets.

I can't imagine it's any different for a HR Manager telling a group of employees about a new benefit package, or a GM addressing a manufacturing floor about the company's potential strong 4th quarter. Have conviction about your message, and people will follow.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to hide my credit card in case I'm inspired to watch Ron Popeil cook a turkey in 2 hours!