Sleeping On an Old Mattress Can Kill You

Should that be the headline of every mattress ad ever written?

Seriously, think about that for a second because most consumers have absolutely no idea how important it is to sleep on a comfortable mattress. It’s important because the right mattress will give them the restorative sleep they desperately need. You think I am being too dramatic? Consider the following.

mattress recycling 3“According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 “Sleep in America” poll, 60% of adult drivers – about 168 million people – say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third, (37% or 103 million people), have actually fallen asleep at the wheel! … The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses.” Read more about that survey here.

Want more? How about Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear disaster in which a nuclear power plant in the Ukraine exploded after negligence on the part of workers who had been on shift for over 13 hours. Thirty people died from radiation within a few weeks from that disaster and who knows how many more in the years to follow. And finally, how about the example from just a few weeks ago in which a train conductor fell asleep in Chicago, causing the locomotive to speed into the O’Hare terminal and crash into the escalator. Luckily nobody was killed, but 32 were injured. (Take a look at that video here.)

sleepy_driver

My question to you: do we do enough in the mattress industry to shine a light on the problem? We don’t talk about it in ads or in the store, and it is seldom, if ever, even featured on our websites. Do you think that I am stretching here on the connection of bad sleep to the mattress? We are quick to say that a good mattress can help you sleep BETTER, increasing your quality of life, so why isn’t the counterpoint to that also true? Remember the last time you slept on a really bad mattress? How did you feel the next day?

My good friend and co-worker John Walsh is always telling me that the four key emotional drivers to the sale are fear, greed, guilt, and exclusivity. We talk about selling with emotion all of the time in this blog and fear is a very strong emotion.

You can tell me all day long that I am going to feel better as a result of buying a new mattress and you will make an impact. You can also tell me that if I don’t pay attention to my sleep health it could cost me my life. See the difference?

What do you think – should we be playing the fear card more? Do we as an industry do enough to make consumers aware of the downside of not buying a new bed? Tell me in the comments.

On a side note…this weekend is Easter. My faith is a big deal to me and this holiday is one of the biggest. It is easy to let the Easter bunny and the egg hunt over power the reason for the holiday so I encourage you to take a few minutes and give some thought to the real meaning. Blessings to you all and thanks for reading.

<artcile source: http://mquinn.com/2014/04/sleeping-on-an-old-mattress-can-kill-you/>

This blog post was originally published on mquinn.com and does not provide medical advice. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and should not be relied on to make decisions about your health. Never ignore professional medical advice in seeking treatment because of something you have read on MattressDepotUSA.com. If you think you may have a medical emergency, immediately call your doctor or dial 911.

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