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Guest post by: Sandy Schussel Become an Author

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In the Great Swamp Race, two runners led the pack.

Fred was running this grueling race through twisted vines, muck and mire in the alligator-infested swamp, motivated by his desire to win the gold medal by crossing the finish line first. Ted, on the other hand, might have started out with the same intention, but his speed and determination at this moment came from his desire not to be eaten by the alligators waiting hungrily for dinner along the swamp trail.

If you were selling running shoes to Fred, your best approach would be to help him picture the glory of crossing the finish line ahead of the pack. But Ted would not respond to that effort at all. To sell running shoes to Ted, however, you have to talk about the alligators.

If you are selling services to a potential client or patient, or if you're selling an idea to your employer, you probably have been selling only gold medals-talking about all the wonderful things to be gained by accepting your offer:

This will help you retire comfortably.
This will get you the best possible price.
This will make you feel great.

But if you're only selling gold medals, you're missing all of the people who are running from alligators. For them, your message should be more like:

This will keep you from having to go back to work a few years after retirement.
This will help keep you from being trapped into accepting terrible offers.
This will keep you from feeling run down.

The problem is that you often don't know whether your prospective client is concerned about gold medals or alligators. While you can try to find out through great questions, why not simply suggest both:

This will help you retire comfortably and you never have to worry about going back to work after you do.
This will get you the best possible price, so you never have to be trapped into accepting terrible offers.
This will make you feel great, so you never have to feel run down.

Want to grow your business or get ahead at work? Talk about both gold medals and alligators.

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