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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