Earlier this year, legendary grill maker, sports commentator and occasional heavyweight boxing world champion, George Foreman, passed away.
To anybody with the smallest knowledge of boxing, Foreman was of course famed for his legendary power - supposedly enough to split a heavy boxing bag.
Despite losing his most legendary bout, The Rumble In The Jungle, against perhaps the most famous athlete in history, Foreman was revered (and feared) for his ability to crush his opponents, no matter how well-prepared they were.
In his bout with Michael Moorer - where Foreman became the oldest heavyweight champion at age 45 - Foreman by his own admission knew he was down significantly on the scorecards, but all he needed was to line Moorer up for the right shot and he knew he could get them out of there … the rest, of course, is history.
Even if his opponent was in no way ready in their own mind to capitulate, Foreman had the tools in his arsenal to “seal the deal”, so to speak.
Many businesses I encounter treat marketing and sales like Foreman treated his opponents in the ring … that is to say that no matter how “un-ready” the customer is to buy, the right messaging here, or the right flurry of touchpoints there, and you can force the prospective customer to buy from you in the same way that Foreman was able to force his opponents out of the ring - one way or another - no matter how strong-bodied and willed they had been mere seconds prior.
I find that there is still an all-pervasive belief in many businesses that - given enough firepower with the force of a Foreman fist - you can simply bend a prospective customer to your will no matter whether they actually have any need to consider your solution … no matter how improbable their circumstances would make a purchase in the immediate future.
In other words, if you beat said “target” around the head with enough marketing jabs and sales crosses, then they will eventually fall to the canvas and be counted out, and you are then crowned victorious with the purchase order belt.
The problem with this approach is that it the vast majority of your market (see the 95:5 rule) isn’t in the ring with you right now. They’re not ready to buy, and they’re certainly not waiting to be knocked out by another ad or email or pixel-based push down the funnel. They’ll make a purchasing decision only when a genuine need arises - and when that happens, they’ll typically choose from the small handful of brands they already remember.
So if your strategy is built on the idea that enough perfectly-timed jabs and powerful right hooks will “convert” the unwilling, you might be fighting the wrong fight.
The smarter play is to build familiarity and trust long before the bell rings - so that when your buyer finally steps into the ring, you’re in a better position to win.