How to Market and Sell to People Not Like You - Kelly McDonald

I attended the #IFA2024 Annual conference in February and attended a very engaging session with the above title. I didn't know what I to expect going into the session but I walked away with a few gold nuggets.

I'm recapping my notes from the session below. If you want to check out Kelly McDonald , you can follow her YouTube here, watch an earlier version of this presentation here, or check out her website here.

Opening bulletized notes

In diversity - there is what's called the Big 5

1 - Race

• Only 5 races.? Everyone is in these categories
• Black, White, Asian, American Indian? and Other Pacific Islander

2 - Ethnicity?

3 - Age?

4 - Gender?

5 - Sexual identity?

• Neuro diversity is a new segment - emotional disorders and learning styles
• 12% of the population is a grandfamily.? Where the grandparents are fully or partially supporting or raising the grandchildren
• There are generational differences and perceptions of good service
• Business thrives when people are different.?
• The bedrock of innovation is diversity of thought.??
• “Good people - always have choices.”? ~ ?

9 strategies to grow your business

1 - Use diverse images in marketing

2 - Eliminate pain points

• “People don’t buy any products and services.? They buy solutions.”
• Ikea acquired Task Rabbit because they were providing a solution to their customer's pain.
• Every company has pain points.? Asking your customers - is how you research your company's pain points.

Start with your best customers and ask

• “If you could change one thing about us, what would it be?”
• “What are you hearing from our customers good or bad, ask your team once a month?”
• Note - What can we improve is too big of a question - it’s too macro.??
• “What would you do in the next 90 days to make us better?”?

3 - Use consumer insights and tap into values.?

People spend money on what they value.?

With Millennial and Gen Z values?-

• Diversity is expected.?
• Self-expression is encouraged
• Pet-friendly businesses are IT.??
• They would rather join a cause than a club.? Clubs exclude people.? Causes include people.? They don’t exclude people.??

Women put tremendous stock in what people say.??

• Ask women customers what their favorite thing about working with your company. Write it up as a sentence or two.? Then ask, "Do I have permission to put this online?" Get those statements of proof of concept and great customer experience from other women. ??

Black customers are most swayed by a brand's values and their diversity practices.??

Asian Values & insights - business card handling is important.??

• Extremely respectful and formal.?
• Grab with two hands and the info facing the receiver.
• Take it with two hands, study it, and say something specific about the card.?
• Acknowledge something about the card

Southeast Asian

• They ask tremendous questions
• In the US we have recourse when we are cheated - in India they have none
• They want no surprises
• Transparency across the board.?
• Market to them that your business is legally sound. 17 years in business says you are doing things right. Promote awards for accolades.? This inspires trust.??

America - We value speed and efficiency.? Second is results

Other cultures don’t work this way.?

4 - Give people what they want?

Women like lots of options.??

Men want their choices simplified

• The magic number for men is 3 - this is science.
• Example - We have 200 speakers but let me walk you through my top 3??

No one wants your big long long-honking email.? Bullet points and white space are the most effective

5 - Be the good guys - show your soul.??

• Doing good is the new cool!?

6 - Be open to the intersection of random.?

• Don't shut down the weird things.? Don’t shut down?
• Don’t discount things that don’t make sense.??

7 - Agree to disagree

• When people say, "I agree to disagree.”?
• These words don’t work.? They create a distance and separation in the relationship.??
• Instead use, “I see it differently”.?
• This is effective, disarming, and not judgemental.

8 - Provide solutions not excuses

• Only 5 words any customer cares about - “we’ll take care of it”
• Teach these 5 words to your staff.??
• Be that company that takes care of it.??

9 - Helping beats selling?

• “If you help me - you don’t have to sell me.”??

Final tip, Turn on captioning on Zoom meetings.? For those hearing impaired but not speaking up about it.?

This was a fun session. The content was interesting, the engagement activities created introspection and the energy was really high in the room. It was a 2-hour session and it flew by. Thanks, to Kelly McDonald for her content and the experience.

My comments

It's important to remember that no matter who is sitting in front of you, at their core, they are a loving soul. Their differences are at the surface. Their "presence" is what matters.

If we can treat them with the same reverence and respect that we would treat our most cherished figure, honor their right to be, honor their divinity, and allow them to express themselves as they are called to, it would be a lot easier to love more people unconditionally.

I know for me, it's super easy to love because I don't feed my fear and my mind-full of ego's need to create separation. I step into the loving presence I hold. I notice that presence in me and in them. Then I center in on that connection with them.

You can too. You can unconditionally love any human. They need you to love them. You can restore them to their strength and power by seeing them - in their light. You have the power to see others and yourself as that loving presence and ultimately it's the only thing that really matters.

Be the light you are. Be the love you are. And see the love in them.