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Do you sell products or dreams

Written by: Richard Mulvey

Article Overview: Far to often we focus on the features of a product when we try to sell it.

Do you sell products or dreams

Do you sell Products or Dreams?

In August 1963 Martin Luther King had a “Dream”. Forty three years later we are still quoting him… Why?

Eight Months later at his Rivonia Trial, Nelson Mandela dreamed “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities”

Twenty years later Bill Gates said that in his dream one day every desk in every office would have a computer in it. Well... we have certainly bought into that dream.

You buy a 4x4 because you dream of the bush or of that parking space on the pavement out side the rugby stadium. If you were to buy logically you would probably buy a “city golf”!

You buy a new bath plug because you dream of long, soak in the bath without the water draining away, or you dream of not being nagged by your wife because you forgot to buy it.

You buy a house because you dream of those lovely summer evenings on the patio drinking red wine with your partner.

When you buy new furniture you are dreaming of a beautiful house. A Diary and you are dreaming of a well organised life next year. New clothes and you are dreaming of a beautiful image.
In almost everything we buy, we buy into the dream not the product.

Martin Luther King knew that. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates know that. Richard Branson and Bob Smith know that.

Who’s Bob Smith? Well… When I first started to write I used to do all the shopping. My wife said that if I was going to sit around the house all day doing nothing I might at least do the shopping. I guess that’s fair enough so I used to do all the shopping for the groceries once a week. That is when I first met Bob. Bob used to be one of the car guards near the local supermarket. When I parked my car to do the shopping Bob would come over and great me like a long lost friend and then say “Don’t worry Sir, your car will be here for you when you get back, safe and sound, not a scratch. And you know what? It always was. Bob sure knew how to sell dreams and made quite a nice living from the tips he got from his regular customers. I know that I would always try to park in Bob’s area, dreaming about an undamaged car on my return, and I was never let down.

Dreams are powerful things. Dreams drive the imagination to drive us into action. If you can get into people’s dreams you are helping guide them into future action.

Sales people the world over have discovered that to be truly successful you have to be part of your customer’s dreams.

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