By Alan Graner
There are rational fears and irrational fears.
But when your response to a fear is disproportional to the actual danger posed, then you, my friend, have a phobia.
Indiana Jones hated snakes. And snakes were the only animals Tarzan feared. Yet the vast majority of snakes are as harmless as the rubber snakes you buy in a novelty store.
That’s the beauty of phobias: they don’t make sense.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Although President Franklin Roosevelt was trying to calm a nation suffering through the Great Depression, what his statement literally described was phobophobia—the fear of fear.
What about your fears? Do any of the following feel…familiar?
|
Fear |
Meaning |
| Arachibutyrophobia | Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth |
| Automysophobia | Fear of being dirty |
| Barophobia | Fear of gravity |
| Chrematophobia | Fear of money (the germs on it) |
| Eisoptrophobia | Fear of mirrors |
| Ergophobia | Fear of work |
| Gallophobia | Fear of France |
| Hypengyophobia | Fear of responsibility |
| Kathisophobia | Fear of sitting down |
| Lachanophobia | Fear of vegetables |
| Levophobia | Fear of things at the left side of the body |
| Macrophobia | Fear of long waits |
| Metrophobia | Fear of poetry |
| Mythophobia | Fear of false statements |
| Ombrophobia | Fear of rain |
| Peladophobia | Fear of bald people |
| Pentheraphobia | Fear of your mother-in-law |
| Phonophobia | Fear of echoes |
| Pogonophobia | Fear of beards |
| Pteronophobia | Fear of being tickled by feathers |
| Sanguivoriphobia | Fear of vampires |
| Scriptophobia | Fear of writing in public |
| Sophophobia | Fear of learning |
| Uranophobia | Fear of heaven |
| Verophobia | Fear of words |
Thanatophobia quote
“I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
–Woody Allen
What does all this have to do with marketing?
Simple. Your prospects and customers also have fears. They are afraid of:
- Trying new products/services
- Late deliveries
- Defective merchandise
- High costs
- Downtime
- Risks
- Getting blamed
…you know the list.
Their ultimate fear, of course, is making mistakes that cause them to lose their jobs, which can lead to paralysis. Unfortunately, doing nothing can also get you fired,.
Therefore, your challenge is to take as much fear as possible out of doing business with you.
Next: Overcoming prospects’ and customers’ fears
Image: Popular Publications
Alan Graner is Chief Creative Officer at Daly-Swartz Public Relations, an Orange County, CA marketing communications firm. If you’re afraid of losing business, contact Jeffrey Swartz at jeffreyswartz@dsprel.com.
