DO I REALLY NEED THIS - THINKING LONGER AND HARDER

(- Copyright ? 2016 by Mike Stewart -)  

Steve Jobs convinced People they needed something they didn't realize they needed - difficult, but he was a Marketing Genius.

More often, People know they need your service, but are searching for reasons not to buy from you - and, based on their fears and biases, they can find many, many reasons.

At this point, almost all business coaches and sales advisers talk about various techniques to allay fears, make yourself likable, recognize and overcome objections, and get a commitment. 

What these advisers do not understand is that everyone, including you, have their own unique worldview. What you say to a prospect, in fact what you say to anyone, should be tailored to their specific worldview. And not just that. What you say should be tailored to your worldview. You should say what you feel comfortable saying, what you think is honest and true. If you do this, you will sound more sincere, and likely, be more successful.

The hidden assumption of these "experts" is that you have never considered this advice and you can easily change your personality and quickly start using their suggestions. On extremely rare occasions, they will offer something You haven't considered.

If you are a great salesman, you are probably already automatically doing what the experts are suggesting. If you are a good salesman, you usually follow most of the advice offered. By working hard, you may be able to marginally improve and, by continuing to work hard, avoid slipping back to your old level (just good).

Expert Advice is mostly a litany of truisms which are not necessarily true addressed to the average salesman detailing how to approach the average prospect. We are all unique - which I view as a good thing. There is no average salesman. There is no average prospect.

I cringe whenever I hear one often repeated truism "You only have one chance to make a good first impression". This advice puts a lot of pressure on people and may actually increase the likelihood of a bad impression.

Before the Internet, you could wait a few years until you were forgotten and then try again for a good first impression. Or if you worked very hard and met a few thousand people, you could take the view that you have a few thousand chances to make a good first impression.

Today, with the Internet, and a world population of several billion, you have millions of chances to make a good first impression. 

To me, expert advice on salesmanship boils down to telling me to take up voodoo and mind reading.

My reaction is not to quit and give up. My reaction is to think outside the box. My reaction is to ask if I can change the rules of the game.

Up until now, the audience of prospects we have been discussing is limited. It may be one person you are talking to at a Networking Function. It may be twenty or thirty at a seminar that took time, effort, and money to put together.

With the advent of the Internet, all of these rules are changed. Potentially, you can reach millions when they are ready to buy. If ninety percent of these are bad prospects, it doesn't matter. Ten percent of millions is still hundreds of thousands of prime prospects.

For all of us, turning this potential of the Internet into reality is the key. But that is the subject of another "Thinking Long and Hard Segment".