You’re waiting for the approval, the green light, the O.K.
Why?
Faith in yourself comes first. Faith from others in what you’ve made comes after.
Stay Positive & Build It And They Will Come
Garth E. Beyer
Selling
Here’s The Thing About Menus
I love going out to lunch for the sake of staring at the restaurant’s menu. Why?
Because I can read how they describe the meals, what they are trying to sell and how they are trying to sell it. People take lunch to get away from work, I take it to get more into it simply because every product can be written like a meal on a menu. With all the restaurants and menus available to us, there’s a lot to learn.
Seth Godin wrote today about Salmagundi: “Salmagundi is a salad dish, originating in the early 17th century in England, comprising cooked meats, seafood, vegetables, fruit, leaves, nuts and flowers and dressed with oil, vinegar and spices.”
What if we tweaked the description to this: “Salmagundi is a diverse salad dish that will get you to experience variety, the spice of 17th century England.”
By tweaking it in such a way, you’ve done two things.
1. You’ve told the customer how they will feel eating Salmagundi.
2. They’re going to want to know the ingredients and they will ask the server. An advantage because menus don’t sell to people, people sell to people.
Think this through when you’re writing the description to your product. Don’t tell them what it is. Tell them how it will make them feel.
That’s why we buy food, or anything, really.
Stay Positive & More Please
Garth E. Beyer
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Enlighten Others
The Selling To Caring Gap
Bernadette Jiwa, who I admire dearly, wrote yesterday that most people ask, “How do I sell my idea?” when what they need to ask is, “How am I going to help people to care about this?” I don’t necessarily disagree with her, but I think what matters is the space between the two questions.
Let’s throw out some thoughts about the first question: how do I sell my idea?
It’s an honest question. After all, that is exactly what many want to do. But, if that is the question you’re asking, perhaps you have a poor idea because a good idea is never sold, it’s shared. Sharing something doesn’t mean there’s no cost to it, but it does connote gratuity, sincerity and fairness – three traits that most never receive when being sold something.
A quick thought on the second question: how am I going to help people to care about this?
The more meaningful question is “do I care about this?” Jiwa’s question is important because it centers on you: how you deliver, how you act, how you tell the story of your product. What’s necessary, though, is first understanding what it is you’re trying to share with people.
You can deliver your product inside a cake with a story about you making this cake especially for the customer, but if all that is in the cake is a pencil – all that you’ve done falls short. The gap between selling an idea or product and getting people to care about that idea or product lies in understanding the idea or product itself.
If you understand that you’re selling a pencil, it makes how you get people to care about it easier.
Stay Positive & What’s In It For Them?
Garth E. Beyer
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Enlighten Others
Appearance Isn’t Everything, But It’s Something
In continuation with yesterday’s writing about having a presence, I was going to write about having a unique appearance, one that someone in the industry you’re trying to break into doesn’t already have.
Seth Godin (jokes?) that he shaved his head and wore different socks on each foot because no one in his field was doing that. It made him stand out.
For me, I follow Oscar Wilde’s adage that you can never be overeducated or overdressed. I dress in a way that makes me stand out amidst other professionally dressed players.
The idea, though, of standing out in your field by changing your appearance has pitfalls.
“I’m too scared to buy anything from that guy!” is exactly what a friend of mine said when we walked past a table of shiny rocks and gem stones. The seller was wearing a gray tank-top, roughly (and I mean roughly) six foot two, with arms like logs. Not to mention, he was tattooed on his chest, his arms, his neck, and all around his face.
Does he stand out in his stone selling business? I’m sure he does.
Does it work out to his advantage? Of course not.
Yes, as a book salesman, you want to stand out, as a writer, you want to stand out, as a marketer, you want to stand out; it needs to be everyone’s priority to stand out, but don’t catch yourself going overboard. The face tattoos… a bit overboard.
Stay Positive & It Can Be As Little As Having Sexy Pocket Squares
Garth E. Beyer
Enlighten Others
What People Need And Demand: Digging Deeper
Obese people demand more chips.
What they need is almost the opposite. Obese people need to be taught how to be healthy. Obese people need to forget chips and cookies and soda and other “bad” foods. Obese people need to get out more, they need a bike, they need walking shoes.
Digging deeper though, I would say what they really need is hope and confidence and belonging. Meal plans sell hope, that’s why they are so popular. Personal trainers sell confidence, that’s why they are in demand. Sketchers GOwalk shoes sell belonging. Once you buy a pair, you notice everyone else who has a pair and you feel part of the tribe, that’s why they are so popular.
At face value, everyone seems to have a lot of needs. My nana always said that our wants are many, our needs are few. I guess I never realized how true that was until I dug a bit deeper.
Stay Positive & Sell What People Really Need
Garth E. Beyer
Enlighten Others
You Don’t Have To Be An Extrovert, But…
Every now and then I question whether I know more than my dad or not. It seems that I tell him new things, correct him, and remind him of what he said a week earlier quite often. This makes it difficult to pay attention and listen to him when he talks to me about a topic (as if he knows more than me).
And yet, I do listen and pay attention for one reason: I may be 20, but I’m not young enough to know everything. (HT Oscar Wilde)
Aside from a handful of small lessons I’ve learned from my dad over the last week, I want to share the largest one, and it’s this: talk.
Talk to whoever is around you, talk to who you are dealing with, talk to who you’re buying from, talk to who you’re sitting by. Hell, talk to yourself. Get in the habit of talking.
I’ve decided to quit using the word negotiation or any spinoff of it. Just as fine print is dying, so are negotiations. Sure, one can make a sale by going back and forth, but it’s the most unpleasant, unfulfilling, and frustrating interaction in the sales world. Naturally, I want to say my dad is a great negotiator, but he’s not. He’s a great talker.
Just this morning he got my motorcycle insurance lowered by nearly $200. I asked how and he responded, “I talked a lot.”
I am sure this guy has saved more money talking than others have scamming, saving, or negotiating.
Stay Positive & A Lesson Worth Passing On
Garth E. Beyer
Enlighten Others
Sellers Need A Lesson
I went to purchase a motorcycle over the weekend. While I wasn’t as knowledgable as the salesman at the motorsports store, I knew as much about the specific bike that I wanted as he did. Because I researched it and knew as much as him, he couldn’t upsell it.
The flaw with knowledge equilibrium between salesperson and customer is that the only connection remaining is price. There is nothing he can say to make me purchase the product other than giving me a number I want.
The catch is that if a customers knows more, they will pay less.
Dealers of all kinds need to spend the morning before work reviewing what has been posted online. The beauty about information when it comes to selling is that if the motorcycle salesman were to know as much as me, but told me they just read something about the bike online earlier that morning, I would certainly be more interested.
At the most simple form, it just shows the salesperson cares about the product, not just about selling it to anyone without half a mind to research before making a purchase.*
Stay Positive & Consider Buying Privately
Garth E. Beyer
*The internet is now the salesman. While there are still people with that title, their duties are much different. They are there to make a connection, show they care (about the product and you), and be the liaison of trust.
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