The Chameleon Approach to Sales Success
The Chameleon Approach to Sales Success
Patrick quickly got out of the ad-sales business and into the laminated-map business. Each map only cost ten cents to begin with, and once he got them laminated, he'd mark up the price and sell them for a good amount of money. Local businesses, such as gas stations, towing services, and delivery services, gobbled the maps up. When the Soviet Union fell apart, opening up an entire new market for schools needing updated maps, Patrick's business got an even bigger boost.
Patrick's once-struggling business soared to success because he'd figured out how to be a chameleon, adapting his approach to his product according to what customers wanted and needed. It's easy to become discouraged when your early attempts don't pan out. When Patrick was faced with obstacles to his success, he worked around them by pinpointing and capitalizing on what his customers really wanted, and how to deliver it to them.
If people let you know that they're more interested in one product than another, adapt to what your customers want. Avon started because a door-to-door salesman trying to sell books gave away free perfume as a promotion — and female customers preferred the perfume. Edwin Cox sold aluminum cooking pans door-to-door with little success; people didn't want them because they were hard to clean. His solution: combining steel wool with soap to create cleaning pads for the cookware. When the pads proved more alluring to customers than the pans, S.O.S. Scrubbing Pads were born.
So many popular products were the result of previous inventions not working out. Rather than viewing them as failures, their creators looked at what they had, and found new ways to market it. A company trying to invent artificial rubber ended up with a putty-like substance that could pick up the image of your favorite Sunday comics. They packaged it in plastic eggs and the profits were, well, silly. Decades later, a toy company trying to duplicate that success ended up with the recipe for Slime. And let's not forget about a certain high blood pressure medicine whose side-effects were much more attractive to the public than its original purpose. That medicine is now better known as Viagra.
Allow yourself to be as changeable as a chameleon, willing to try putting a new spin on what you have to offer. When you pay attention to what does and doesn't appeal to your customers, you'll realize what people want now and you'll have a better chance of continuing to do business with them down the road.
The Chameleon Approach to Sales Success - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Cherry's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Patrick Keane took a job selling advertisements on the back of local street maps; the maps on one side, the ads on the other. He began selling the maps door-to-door, hitting 50 businesses a day. Problem was, with all the folding and unfolding to show them off, Patrick's maps began to look the worse for wear, making them less attractive to customers who'd already been a tough sell. Patrick got an idea; why not laminate the map ads to keep them looking fresh? Once he did that, he was surprised when the customers ignored the ads, asking instead how they could get their hands on one of those laminated maps! A business was born.
Patrick quickly got out of the ad-sales business and into the laminated-map business. Each map only cost ten cents to begin with, and once he got them laminated, he'd mark up the price and sell them for a good amount of money. Local businesses, such as gas stations, towing services, and delivery services, gobbled the maps up. When the Soviet Union fell apart, opening up an entire new market for schools needing updated maps, Patrick's business got an even bigger boost.
Patrick's once-struggling business soared to success because he'd figured out how to be a chameleon, adapting his approach to his product according to what customers wanted and needed. It's easy to become discouraged when your early attempts don't pan out. When Patrick was faced with obstacles to his success, he worked around them by pinpointing and capitalizing on what his customers really wanted, and how to deliver it to them.
If people let you know that they're more interested in one product than another, adapt to what your customers want. Avon started because a door-to-door salesman trying to sell books gave away free perfume as a promotion — and female customers preferred the perfume. Edwin Cox sold aluminum cooking pans door-to-door with little success; people didn't want them because they were hard to clean. His solution: combining steel wool with soap to create cleaning pads for the cookware. When the pads proved more alluring to customers than the pans, S.O.S. Scrubbing Pads were born.
So many popular products were the result of previous inventions not working out. Rather than viewing them as failures, their creators looked at what they had, and found new ways to market it. A company trying to invent artificial rubber ended up with a putty-like substance that could pick up the image of your favorite Sunday comics. They packaged it in plastic eggs and the profits were, well, silly. Decades later, a toy company trying to duplicate that success ended up with the recipe for Slime. And let's not forget about a certain high blood pressure medicine whose side-effects were much more attractive to the public than its original purpose. That medicine is now better known as Viagra.
Allow yourself to be as changeable as a chameleon, willing to try putting a new spin on what you have to offer. When you pay attention to what does and doesn't appeal to your customers, you'll realize what people want now and you'll have a better chance of continuing to do business with them down the road.
The Chameleon Approach to Sales Success - To learn more about this author, visit Paul Cherry's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Paul's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 EQ Coaching Report New Sales Leadership Paradigm Law of Attraction How To Get Media Attention Increase productivity |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Debt Blogs
Learn To Get Out Of Debt | |
 |
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
