How to Sell an Elephant? Practical Influence Tools.
Most of us have been to shopping malls and airports where there are always these importunate “consultants” or stallholders approaching you with a new-technology-extra-bio mask for your face or a micro-synthesized-nuclear-powered cream for your hands so that your skin will become as of a baby after the usage of these products.
Believe it or not but if you get hooked by this kind of consultant, you will tend to buy all this stuff in 99% of the cases. You do it entirely unconsciously, realizing what an unnecessary thing you have just bought already after the purchase.
Well, the question is: “Can one learn this skill of effective selling?”, which is crucial for an entrepreneur or any business person willing to succeed on the market. The answer is – YES, you can learn it, but it’s not as easy as you may think as there is a whole psychology behind it.
The best way to illustrate this is to give you some practical example from a real world. This woman is indeed an expert in what she does, meaning – selling an elephant or absolutely any kind of product she would be asked to sell. Her presentation was straight on point and at the end she “sold” what she wanted: her product and the attention of the audience.
So, how did she do it? Let me tell you.
Before she even entered the room, on the screen with her presentation, there was the very first slide where it was written the name of her company (it was her surname + a fancy additional word) and a title: President, not even a CEO but the President. (This small remark on the slide made a very good impression of her importance and status. Everyone had already a feeling that this was some kind of a very important executive and the owner of her own business coming to give us the speech).
When she entered the class, the first thing you could notice the way she and her assistant were dressed. (Yes! She brought an assistant to translate her speech to English. This element also added to her image of a “very important person”). Both of them were dressed like film celebrities, outstanding and stylish clothing, very trendy, just right on point. (It created an immediate Halo effect – judging a person’s competences and status based on the appearance. In that case, it worked very well).
After a few moments of her appearance in the room she greeted and met everyone personally (15-20 people) with a handshake and a big and cheerful smile directly looking into the eyes of the person in front of her. (It immediately created the feeling of “respect” from her side towards the person. This gesture broke the ice and made the first very good impression of her. Her big smile and a very friendly, positive attitude made her seen as a sincere and positive person overall).
Then, she started. Her presentation was like a miracle, like this kind of state when you feel like you are getting hooked and influenced but not realizing it in that particular moment. She was boosting her credibility or “expertise” throughout the whole presentation until the very end. First, she showed us some tangible prototypes of the products she has done for almost all luxury brands you can imagine on the market including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Aviator and others. (She associated her name with all these famous luxury brands to demonstrate that all these brands trusted her and worked with her. It increased her trustworthiness). After that, she continued talking about her past experiences of successes such as making a presentation in Asia and at once finding 5 distributors ready to sell her products, or a story how she found investors for her new business from a circle of friends and “trusted” people one investing 300’000 $ and the other 100’000 $ in her new start-up of producing the products for removing the women’s make-up. (These all stories made her seen a successful entrepreneur and a trustworthy person).
Somewhere in the middle of her presentation, she made a “small show” using the product to remove her make-up in front of the audience. (That was one of the most impactful gestures. Firstly, she boosted her credibility in the eyes of the audience, and then she used her own product on herself in this kind of visual way. It created the trust that she does not only talk about the product but uses it herself).
To conclude, in the end, she gave some small presents to each person sitting in the class. That was a peak of excitement, everyone just loved it. (This showed so much kindness and friendliness, leaving a very good last impression about the speech).
Anyways, here is a great example of the techniques from a true expert and practitioner in her area that you could use to build your credibility and trust, improve your presentation and make it more impactful. Consequently, you will be able to sell anything to anyone in this world. It does not necessarily have to be a product, but an idea or opinion. Remember: “The only way people will buy from you is when they trust you, and when you show them your competence and credibility.”
If you would like to read more on this topic, here is a great article you can check out: www.racked.com/2017/11/7/16553220/mall-kiosk-worker
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