Yesterday I was washing my hands at home and happened to glance at the back of the liquid soap bottle when I set it on the sink. The bottle actually had printed instructions on the label! They said: "DIRECTIONS: Pump desired amount of product into hands. Work into a refreshing lather then rinse."
I was flabbergasted. A few questions ran through my mind. First: What kind of person would need directions to use liquid soap? Are there really folks who would mess it up without the instructions? Second: Could it be part of some legal disclaimer? Is the company afraid it would be sued if it didn't explicitly tell people how to use the product? Third: Is it a cleverly disguised marketing ploy? The directions did say to work the soap into a "refreshing" lather, which implies, of course, that it feels really nice.
I don't have the answers. The third question, though, made me think there may be ways to use instructions and disclaimers (in any business) as a supplementary marketing tool. The first sentence of Obbee's website disclaimer, for example, is: "By using this website and/or purchasing goods or services from Obbee, you are bound by these Terms of Use and Agreement." Maybe this would be a better introduction?: "By visiting this wonderful website and/or purchasing Obbee's excellent goods or services..." I'm being a little facetious, but the point is that directions and disclaimers are usually only treated as an afterthought, or just some necessary legal mumbo-jumbo. With a little tweaking, however, they could easily help promote your services or products.
At Obbee we do strive to provide excellent goods and services- In our case, we provide sales leads to the real estate, mortgage, insurance (home & health), debt settlement and loan modification industries. Using the internet to procure prospects, we can even match up clients and professionals in real time. We don't give you instructions, however- closing the deal is still up to you! :)
- Dave
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