A Newsletter about a Newsletter

A story:

It took over two hours of dropping her line in the water and fish stealing her bait before she caught her first fish, a beautiful bluegill, which she named “old granddad”. My six-year-old daughter Evie was thrilled, and she was hooked.

Hooked in the way a marketing pro gets hooked when they find just the right words to have a successful campaign, or when a sales pro closes their first big deal.

We love this feeling. It is what keeps us in the game.

Most don’t get it often. Many get discouraged and quit. Some continue to try hard with limited success. And the ones we want to focus on today are almost always successful.

So what can we learn about success from a six year old fishing?

A lot, actually:

She was very clear on what she wanted; Catch the fish. Not just any fish, but “old granddad”.

She did her market research. Before she baited her hook for the first time, she threw different types of bait in the lake and learned that the fish liked bread. Bread was the bait her fish wanted, and bread was the bait they got.

She put 100% effort and focus on her goal. Evie is loquacious and loves to talk (nonstop) but when it came to fishing, she sat for hours without speaking. She did not want to distract herself or the fish from the task at hand. When it is time to work, work; when it is time to play, play.

She did not give up, the fish took the bread off of her hook thirty-two times before she caught her first fish. Would you take 32 no’s to get one yes?

Why?

In a previous newsletter, you learned that “Effort plus Correct Theory equals Profound Results” The successful in any field “ out effort “their competition. The greats added “ correct theory” to their hustle, allowing them to produce consistent profound results.

She was willing to learn and adapt. She noticed that at certain times of the day the fish were hungry, and at other times they were not. She went to work when the fish were hungry and left them alone when they were not.

Let’s look at two components of her strategy that you can use: Bait and timing.

If your prospects are not buying you might be using the wrong bait.

So what is the right bait?

It is not your product, it is what your product can do for your prospect.

Sales and marketing pros know to focus on the benefits of a product, not the features.

Which benefit should you focus on?

My daughter could have tried to put the whole loaf of bread on her hook; she knew it would have been too much for the fish. In fishing and in sales, less is more.

Don’t bait your hook with all the benefits of your product. Only focus on the one or two benefits that are most important to your client.

How do you find out what is important?

You ask and you observe.

As Mark Twain said, “ There are two reasons people buy, the reason they tell their wife and friends and the real reason” To be successful, you need to find out the “real reason”.

Something Cool:

About a month ago, I launched issue 1 of the ControlPro magazine. It features the “Best of the Best in 2023” and focuses on some of the people in our Industry that are doing great things and not, in my option getting the recognition they deserve.

The Smart Briefing gives you weekly updates and things you need to know right now. The magazine will take a deeper look at topics, such as, the best BAS systems, or best sensors, etc. you get the idea.

Click here to read the magazine.

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These are just a few of the types of articles you get whne you subscribe to teh ControlTrends Smart Briefing

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Stay Smart,

Eric