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Sell the Whole Story and Motivate Everyone to Buy

Written by: Barry Maher

Article Overview: Are you selling the whole story, inside the company as well as outside?

Sell the Whole Story and Motivate Everyone to Buy

"Do you want to buy some magazines?"

If you stood on a corner and asked passersby that
question, how many people do you think you'd have to ask
before someone said, Yes? Or even, Maybe.

The first real job I ever had—-where they gave me a
paycheck and took out taxes—-was selling magazine
subscriptions door to door when I was 16. They’d ship a
bunch of us over to some distant neighborhood and set us
loose on the poor souls who lived there.

I can still remember the first line of my pitch. “Hi, I’m
Barry one of the boys in the neighborhood.” Well I was Barry,
and I was a boy and I was in the neighborhood. But I certainly
didn’t live there. Not the way to sell: and even at 16 I should
have known better.

In the neighborhoods we worked, on Saturdays and early
evenings, people would occasionally come to the door whom
we didn't want to waste our valuable sixteen-year-old time
pitching. They'd be drunk or crazy or underage or so
obviously impoverished they'd never pass the credit check.
Because we sold large, expensive package of magazines. In
order, to get rid of one of these people as quickly as possible,
we only had to ask one question, "Would you like to buy some
magazines?"

The answer was always immediate, and it was always,
"No." No one ever even asked what magazines we were
selling.

It's like the old saw about a guy standing on a corner
propositioning every passing woman, figuring that sooner or
later one would say, "Yes." Maybe. But by the time it
happened he might be too old to be able to do anything about
it.



Great Ideas Don’t Motivate by Themselves

David Oglivy, founder of the Oglivy & Mather ad
agency said, "In the modern world of business, it is useless to
be a creative original thinker unless you can also sell what you
create. Management cannot be expected to recognize a good
idea unless it is presented to them by a good salesperson."

"In my thirty-five years or so of observing people in
organizations," organizational expert Thomas L. Quick notes,
"I've concluded beyond question that the people who get
things done and who are most effective in getting the results
they want are those with superb selling skills."

You and your ideas and your vision are your
products. How well have you been selling them to those you
need to reach? Have you been keeping your own strongest
selling points hidden, hoping that they're self-evident, or
figuring that the upper echelon of the company should be able
to puzzle them out on their own? Are you even sure what the
most effective selling points to them might be?

If you want one of your people to reach new heights,
how well have you sold that vision to her--in a way that she'll
understand not only intellectually but emotionally and
motivationally? Are you even sure what the most effective
selling points to her might be?

Besides being CEO of the company of you, you've
also got to be the national sales manager and the number one
salesperson. If you aren't selling yourself and your ideas, who
is?

Who?

Too frequently when we want something in business,
we simply ask our bosses, our subordinates, our co-workers or
even our customers, "Would you like to buy some magazines?"
Without doing any selling. You need to ask; if you don't ask you
don't get. But if all you do is ask, you've got about as much
chance of getting satisfaction as that love-starved guy on the
street corner.

# # #

Copyright 2006, Barry Maher, Barry Maher & Associates

This article is adapted from "Filling the Glass: The
Skeptic's Guide to Positive Thinking in Business," which
has just been cited by Today's Librarian as "[One of] The
Seven Essential Popular Business Books." Barry Maher
consults, speaks and writes on sales, management and
employee and customer motivation. Contact him and/or sign
up for his free email newsletter at www.barrymaher.com.

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Your advantage over others - Sell using your USP - unique selling proposition. Why should people buy from you, instead of your competitors? Think about it, why are you so great? It may be a hard question, but finding the answer can multiply the effectiveness of any advertising or marketing activities you undertake.
Re: When do entrepreneurs retire, if ever? - Why would you ever retire when you love what you are doing? Sell the business and start another one maybe - but retire - NEVER! You should all read, The 4 Hour Work Week - By Timothy Ferris. He talks about building your business so that you can take mini 'retirement's throughout your life, instead of saving it all up for when you are old. Great concept - what do you think??
Re: SES Toronto - Day 1! - ...oh and even though it's 21 secrets, why do you have [quote:1gz722fe]Tip #22: Use Your Thank You Page to Sell[/quote:1gz722fe] on your blog? Are you holding out on secrets or are you adding your own? Hope to see you at the next conference!
Favorite Christmas Movie - Hands down- for me it's the original (black & white) version of "Miricle on 34th Street" and I have seen the colorized version, but still prefer to watch the B & W version. Coming in second is "A Christmas Story" which is set in the 1940's where the little boy wants nothing more than a BB gun for Christmas. And last, I would say it's a wonderful Life (with Jimmy Stewart).
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