Tuesday, December 07, 2010

A lesson from the Minister for sellers everywhere

Burning house1I'm watching our Minister for Finance deliver his 2010 budget and I'm reminded of a very salient lesson for sellers everywhere;

Give people a tax benefit of €1,000 and you'll barely get a grunt of appreciation.

Try to take the same €1,000 back in tax and the same people will want to burn your house down.

We are far more motivated by fear of loss than they are by the promise of gain.

Now, where did I leave those matches........

7 Dec 2010 22:12:37 | Selling

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Do you have a Jimmy Hendrix working for you? Back in the early 80's, every Saturday night, my friends and I would 'frequent' a nightclub that was ambitiously called 'tingles'. It was little more than a bingo hall with a couple of strobe lights and a few coloured filters that helped distinguish it, by a very fine line, from a 1950's 'country' (i.e. culchie) ballroom. Memory can play tricks on the mind, but I recall the jubulent response from 'the boys with long hair' anytime Jimmy Hendrix was played. It didn't have to be 'Hendrix' of course. Anything by 'The Quo' or AC/DC would suffice.
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A lesson from Elton John I was watching Piers Morgan interview last night with Elton John. Not one to care too much about what people think of him, I was intrigued with his answer to Morgan's question - "is there anything that still gives you a thrill?" His answer was emphatic - "whenever I play a new song for Bernie and I see the reaction on his face. I still get a real thrill from that, because I know that I've pleased him" Most people have a psychological need for approval and a need to be liked. The problem in selling is that our need for approval can get in our way. All too often we are faced with the (subconscious) dilemma - "do I want his [prospect's] money or do I want his approval?" Unfortunately, all too frequently we chose the wrong one. Elton John's reply to Morgans question made me think. Perhaps what we need to instead of looking for approval from everyone we connect with, is to decide on whose approval matters to us and whose doesn't. The approval of your close friends and family's probably should matter. A prospect's approval, often wielded as a bargaining chip (I'll give you my approval if you reduce your price), should never be sought. Without that distinction, we can get caught up in a catch-22 situation of looking for approval wherever you can get it.

Paul

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