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Let’s check out what the experts advise. By the way, while the following pointers sound bizarre -- they’re real nuggets, so stick with me:
1. Be an authentic liar.
2. Be your own valentine.
3. Fight bull.
Here’s how these successful experts connect with the marketplace – and you'll too:
Be an authentic liar. In his latest book, All Marketers Are Liars, Seth Godin explains “the power of telling authentic stories during a low-trust world.” Mildly unsettling initially , he makes the case that our buyers are literally those who are lying. To themselves. About why they need to shop for from us.
Successful marketers are just providing the stories that our buyers prefer to believe. But here’s the rub: you've got to actually live the story you’re telling. The second a possible buyer smells anything but complete dedication to what you’re selling, you “cross the road from fib to fraud.” It’s simply not ok to possess an honest story. you've got to measure up thereto also . If you’re a cobbler with no shoes, why should your clients take your advice?
Be a task model for what you sell, and zip less. Then tell an honest story about it, to buyers who want to believe.
Be your own valentine. In his hot little book, Little Red Book of Selling, Jeffrey Gitomer takes a tough-love approach to helping us be the simplest version of ourselves we will be.
My personal favorites are:
• No Whining (“Don’t whine to me that the customer won’t return your call. Study voicemail. Don’t whine to me that your boss may be a jerk. Get a replacement one. Don’t whine to me that your company won’t offer you a laptop. Go buy one.”)
• Kick Your Own Ass (“Ever have a nasty day? Ever lost a purchase you thought you had? Ever had someone say yes to you and three days later just evaporate? Wanna know what to try to to about it…? Kick your own ass. nobody goes handy you success…that’s something you've got to try to to for yourself.”)
The heart of Gitomer’s message is put your heart into your work…and if you don’t love what you sell, go sell something else. No amount of cleverly packaged marketing spin can camouflage a missing heart. Your clients will see throughout it and won’t buy from you.
Research shows that folks buy professional services due to trust. In Gitomer’s words, “If they such as you , and that they believe you, and that they trust you, and that they believe in you…then they'll buy from you.”
Let your heart shine through in your words and actions. If you do, your clients will like, believe, trust, believe , and buy from you.
Fight bull. In their recent book, Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide, Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, and Jon Warshawsky provides it to us straight. Stop using words that are meaningless, boring, indirect and obscure. Start communicating together with your own voice, personality, and style.
How many times have you ever sat through mind-numbing presentations, meaningless PowerPoint slides, or felt no reference to (no trust in?) the person trying to sell you on their idea, service or product?
So stop. Just stop adding to the bull that piles up a day in business communications. Talk and write to your audience person-to-person. Ask them simple questions that get to the guts of their wants and wishes . Tell them that you’ve thought tons about their situation and have some ideas which may help them. And roll in the hay without the crutch of slides, silly business-speak, or slick messaging.
In other words, just be yourself.
*WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?
References
Fugere, B., Hardaway, C., and Warshawsky, J. (2005). Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide. New York: press .
Gitomer, J. (2004). the small Red Book of Selling. Austin: Bard Press.
Godin, S. (2005). All Marketers Are Liars. New York: Penguin.