Who Are You Selling To?

I've been watching a lot of HGTV's House Hunters recently. Too much if we're being completely honest. And there's something I've noticed a few times in recent episodes.

There are times the realtor will gush about a feature of the house, talk about how it's perfect. Then, once he's done the big reveal, the clients express their dissatisfaction. This will always result in a cut to the realtor talking to camera about how he felt he "hit this one out of the park" and how it was a "great kitchen/bath/ect."

For some reason the relator can't understand that his taste is not everyone's taste. That not all customers want what the best practices for the market says they want.

This same problem presents itself in marketing. Just because we find something interesting (although a decent barometer) doesn't mean the person watching/reading/using the ad will. It's important to get inside the head of the person we're talking to instead of assume they'll like something because we do.

This is old wisdom but the more I see examples of it not being followed the more it needs to be brought up. The person you're selling to probably isn't you.