Thursday, March 24, 2016

Focus Groups


All the smart people use focus groups, right? Well, except for Donald Trump.

Several decades in the retail car biz made me a cynic about focus groups. We would get called into training sessions where the car company “suits” would waste our oxygen going over the results of their latest focus groups. Since I met only two or three “suits” I would have hired for my crew I didn’t spend a lot of mental energy on their presentations.

One mean, nasty, rude and graceless manager I worked for was also the one I made the most money with.

In the sales process, the salesperson makes a presentation to the customer then returns to the “tower” (the back and forth customers “hate). The exchange would go like this.

“Boss, the customer wants, blah, blah, blah……”

Kinsman, “I don’t give a fuck what the customer WANTS. Find out what the fuckers will DO.”

Therein is the weakness of focus groups. They are “wish” forums.  And, as Art Kinsman would say, “Wish in one hand and shit in the other. See which one fills first”.

So along comes Trump (see, I do get to a point) who ignores the whole industry of tea leaf readers and their sophisticated tools and goes for the throat.


“Hey, American public, what will you do right now”?  Kinsman would have loved him.

8 comments:

Old NFO said...

Yep, that's exactly what he's doing... LOL Re the tower, any time a salesman headed for it, I headed for the GMs office. I usually got the better deal! :-)

Well Seasoned Fool said...

You being the one in fifteen or so with your shit together before coming to the dealership.

Momma Fargo said...

Poop in a group. That's what we need. Heck with those hocus pocus groups.

Ami said...

Saw something the other day about Trump. The fact that everyone in Washington is trying to figure out how to stop Trump instead of wondering what they did so badly that Trump seems like a reasonable choice tells you everything you need to know about what they think of you.

Well, at least the election isn't boring this year.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

We need a leader.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

I'm enjoying their discomfort. And the (P)regressives are freaking out.

Coffeypot said...

To me and my experience, focus groups are for weak, insecure, undecided folks who need the support of other same types to make a decision. Not being well healed in PC, I have walked out on more than one and even told one facilitator that he was full of shit and was wasting everyone's time. He pouted for a week or so until he needed me for a project. Then it was all buddy buddy. I don't do buddy buddy well, but I do my job well and gave him what he needed. But I didn't smile.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Reminds me of a fool who wanted to do "team building" at a car dealership. Team building with commissioned salespeople who would step on their mothers to get an "up"?