Buy Me!

[Note: this is part of a webwide series of blog posts about compact fluorescent lightbulbs. January is the darkest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (December might be a bit darker, but with all the candles, trees and dropping balls, we work hard to light it up). To fight off the darkness, bloggers everywhere are invited to create a post with their own riff on why CF bulbs are cheaper, better politically, harder to market or just plain cute.
I first read about this by the remarkable Seth Godin.]





I want you to buy me. I am a bit more than your traditional light bulb, and to be honest a whole lot uglier. But when have light bulbs ever been sexy?

But I do make the world cleaner by using less energy.

However, you will walk past me everyday in the store, and buy the cheaper bulbs won't you? You think its really all a lie, and how can one bulb actually make a difference? You believe that by purchasing me I will only end up costing you more. Plus your not one of those hippie-tree huggers anyway.

I am sorry that my marketing manager didn't tell you a better story about me. About how I last 10 times longer and provide the same amount of light.

Its really a shame that he didn't give that warm fuzzy feeling about saving an average of $30 in energy cost over my lifetime. Or some of the other benefits listed about me on this PDF.

I can't make you change your mind about me, or the environment. No, you already have it predisposed in your mind that global warming isn't happening. And you could be right. But what if your not?

The Selling Point: Your not going to run out and change a light bulb until one burns out. (Unless your like me and decided to do it for the good of mankind.) No, your mind is already made up and there is little I can do to change it until something drastic happens. So I won't try. As a salesman I can't make you think any differently than you have your whole life. I can educate using facts. Not opinions, but facts. So as a sales manager or member of a sales team make sure that you are educating your customers using facts to paint an entire picture for the customer.

So in the meantime, when that bulb burns out, and it will. Buy a CF bulb. Just one, thats all I ask. And see if you like it. In the meantime, you don't have to make a drastic change in your life.
But awareness is the first step.