"People respond to a genuine/perceived scarcity which exists in the market place"

You know – one of the things which has always fascinated me is the Principle of Scarcity…

“People respond to a genuine/perceived scarcity which exists in the market place!”

Let me give you a couple of examples:

Tonight on the news the presenter announces there’s going to be a sugar shortage. What do most people do? Yes - go immediately to their local store, corner shop or supermarket and stock up on their supplies of sugar!
What’s happened to petrol prices over the last couple of years? They've gone through the roof haven't they – Mostly created by the perceived shortage of oil resulting from wars and natural disasters – for example the hurricanes.
Are you a member of a wine club?...

…Picture the following scenario:

A mailer lands on your door step – printed on the envelope are the following:

Strictly Limited Stocks…
…By Invitation Only

Limited Release Offer

Your Personal Invitation – Open Today!

A Dozen French Favourites…Special Price

PLUS Order Early And Receive A State Of The Art Corkscrew! (worth £19.99)

Look familiar?


The mailer inside reads as follows (précised of course)…

“We’ve scoured the world and managed to find this tiny little vineyard in the southern corner of France. Immediately on hearing about it we sent our leading specialist there to sample the wine.

We have some fantastic news for you.

We’ve managed to secure the only 200 cases of wine to come out of the vineyard this year – and guess what they’re available for you exclusively as a member of the Sunday Times Wine Club.

But wait – we haven’t opened this offer yet to all our members what we’ve done is identify our platinum grade members and I’m pleased to inform you that you qualify for this category.

However, in order to secure your case/s of wine please make sure you respond within the next 7 days as we only have 200 cases and orders will be processed on a first come first served basis.”

What's that all about? – MASSIVE SCARCITY!

Scarcity is all around us in the market place and companies are using it all the time to persuade their customers… with integrity of course to buy more from them – more easily and… more often!

Now, you can create scarcity around 3 things:

Time
Resources
Products and services

So let’s look at these 3 areas relating to the example of the wine club – both the copy on the envelope and also the précised copy from the mailer inside.

You’ll see I’ve highlighted in bold all the key words which impact this principle of scarcity.


Time…

Your Personal Invitation – Open Today!
PLUS Order Early And Receive
To come out of the vineyard this year
Respond within the next 7 days

Resources…

Immediately on hearing about it we sent our leading specialist there to sample the wine.

In most businesses I always think of Resources as being human capital – one of the most important assets within any business.

I’m sure you’d agree finding and retaining the best people in the market place can be a challenge. Once we find them we need to use this to our advantage. Positioning our resource as being scarce is a key way of differentiating ourselves in the eyes of customers and clients.

Products & Services…

Strictly Limited Stocks… Only have 200 cases PLUS Order Early And Receive A State Of The Art Corkscrew!How many of those corkscrews have you got in your draw at home? I think I must have a dozen by now!!!

Summary…

I’m sure you’re already thinking of ways you can use this powerful technique to gain the edge in your business and market place.