GarthBox

There’s very little that will make it more clear to others that your idea will work than if you present both the reasons for it as well as the reasons against.

Only having reasons for, is interpreted as salesy. It’s misleading. Or worse… They think you’re short-sighted. You haven’t thought the idea through. You’re being ignorant.

If you want to earn someone’s loyalty, tell them why they shouldn’t believe in you first.

“We might not be able to offer you the best product, but we’ll give you the best experience.”

“I can’t compete on pricing, but I can guarantee that you’ll leave knowing that it was worth it.”

It’s all about quieting the devil’s advocate before he has a chance to speak up.

 

Stay Positive & Being Convincing Starts With Being Truthful About What You’re Not

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You are faced with two options after you learn a lesson.

Starting with the best option, you can plan future executions with your new knowledge. You can ask yourself, “How can I apply this lesson in the next project…hour…meeting…”

This option is about looking forward, utilizing the information as soon as possible, and bettering yourself from this moment on.

The second option is to be frustrated that you should have known better. You may even blame others who put you in that position. You replay the lesson learned moment again and again.

This option is about you becoming stuck in the moment leading up to the lesson learned.

It’s clear what needs to be done, right?

 

Stay Positive & Unstuck

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A new decision, as in, a decision that’s different from the one you’ve already made can bring down the moral of a group the decision impacts.

Not to mention, it’s a struggle personally.

The key to making it easier for others to understand is to keep track of the fresh facts you’ve gathered on your way to making a new decision.

The best way to prevent retaliation, resentment, and frustration from a team is to bring them up to speed on the facts that have influenced your new decision.

Once they know what you know, they can believe in the decision again.

It’s only when you don’t bring them up to speed that teams and the work their doing and the way they work together begins to crack.

 

Stay Positive & Extra Points For Storytelling The New Information

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The old school way of thinking is to create something and work to convince people they need it. Find the solution first, then look for the problem.

Much more the norm now is to look for the problem and then create a solution for it.

Yet, so often that solution only benefits those who buy in… selfishly it helps your bottom line, but if it’s not significant enough to get others to buy in too, why not create something that helps more people with less?

Consider the type of alarm system on cars. The loud alarm deters carjackers from your car, but there’s no reason they won’t go to your neighbors car without one. This type of alarm protects you, but not others who aren’t investing in it around you.

Now consider the silent alarm. The one that goes off, alerts you and the authorities without making a sound to the thief. Once the carjackers are aware of there being silent alarms in an area, they won’t take the risk of trying your neighbors’ car.

Your car and the car of all those around you becomes that much more safe… merely because a product was designed to help more than just the person paying for it.

How can your product or service help more with less?

Or, if you’re the consumer, what can you invest in for the greater good of you and those around you?

 

Stay Positive & We Before Me

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In the past, “okay” was a positive response when customers were asked about their experience.

Now “okay” is another way that customers say they are disappointed.

Okay isn’t good enough any more.

 

Stay Positive & What Are You Doing To Ignite A Better Response?

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When was the last time you closed a door on an option?

Likely not any time recent. That’s because people are wired to leave their options open.

I recall a time that my significant other and I put off buying new dinner plates because we couldn’t decide between red or blue. We’ve all had similar situations. Getting a Ram means you won’t get the Silverado. Buying one phone means you won’t get the other and vice versa.

The problem with indecisiveness is the cost of waiting.

The old tale is that there is a donkey standing between two haystacks of identical size at two opposite sides of the barn. The donkey stands in the middle of the two haystacks, not knowing which to select. Hours go by, but he still can’t make up his mind. Unable to decide, the donkey eventually dies of starvation.

Death was the consequence of indecisiveness.

While this is an emphasized analogy, it drives home the point that every minute, hour, day you postpone a decision, the greater the consequence becomes.

 

Stay Positive & Decide

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You can yell at a toddler to walk faster, but they’ll just walk slower. This is disconnected marketing at its finest. We pull people toward what we want instead of giving them the push they need to go where they want.

The boss tells her employee what she needs to bring to the presentation this afternoon instead of giving her the push to bring her best self, that it’s her moment to shine and that she’s got the gumption to do it.

Every smart marketer is always asking where the target wants to go (and why) and, more importantly, uses that knowledge to decide what to say, when to say it and exactly how to say it.

Marketing isn’t about finding the right way to say “Quickly. Let’s go!” It’s about listening and understanding why they would want to go there in the first place.

 

Stay Positive & Read Their Map, Not Yours

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