The Magic Ingredient
Yes that is a B&W striped paperclip you see on the left. You may be wondering why I use that image when I write an article on the magic ingredient in selling? Well let me start at the beginning...
Yesterday when I was at the bank counter (adding shells to the pile) I looked down and there was this darling little paperclip sitting there all lonely and abandoned. To whoever left it there it was nothing more than a convenience passed. To the bank teller it was litter. To me it was like finding a cute kitten that needs a loving home.
You see I have an unusual love for paperclips. When Punks were decorating themselves with safety pins I was using paperclips. I no longer use them as jewelery (well sometimes maybe) but I do collect special specimens that find their way to me.
Is he mad?
Right now you may be thinking that I need to get out more, watch a movie that isn't Star Trek and all that. Maybe but that isn't my point here. I use this paperclip to show you 2 points that are true magic in sales:
1. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - easy to say but sometimes hard to really understand. Can you see that the ugly lady next-door is of beauty to her husband? Can you see that beauty for yourself in your heart or do you simply assume it is there because it is the right thing to think? To see your own likes is easy but to see the world from the point of view of another is harder. Some people never get it at all in their lives. No one will ever buy something they don't desire. People will always buy when desire is greater than the cost.
2. Passion Sells - I have said this before and will probably need to say it a million times more. If you didn't already read the 2nd paragraph of this article please do. Did I tug at your heartstrings even a little with that poor abandoned paperclip/kitten? By showing my passion for paperclips I will have moved you in some way. Next time you see a paperclip you will see it slightly differently. That is a sale right there. If that idea germinates in you then you are on your way to becoming a paperclip lover too. You will remember this article as being the start of your new passion. That is a great sale.
I have also spoken before on the traditional sales training approach to closing sales and how it really doesn't work very well. Getting your head around the 2 points above puts you well on your way to creating sales opening.
If you products aren't already objects of love then you need to either find new customers, alter the product, or add passion to the sales presentation. Even consider all three. Given time and exposure you are on your way to your first million.
If you can already see how your products are objects of Love to your customers (and not just because you will it to be) and you can sell them from a position of passion (which you cannot fake) then you are generating customers who will not need to be convinced or cajoled into signing, they will already be asking you how they can get your products in their lives.
Your salesman needs to get out of the way at this point and let the order be made. You just need a good method of taking cash and delivering the product.
If you want me to work with your business then please visit BRM Web Consulting
