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I'm writing this week's More Clients while on vacation in Mexico.
Imagine sitting on a verandah, overlooking coconut palms and the Pacific Ocean, sipping a pina colada, and listening to Cuban music on headphones (close as I could get to Mexican music) as I send you my thoughts on marketing your business.
I'm taking a break from my series "Ten Dumb Marketing Mistakes which I'll pick up when I return next week. But let me tell you how I ended up in Mexico in the first place.
Sometime near the end of March, after being deluged by forty days and forty nights of rain (only a slight exaggeration) my wife declared: Why don't we go and stay somewhere warm and dry next winter? How could I argue with that?
Not a bad idea.
But pretty soon this god idea turned into an even better one (in her mind).
"Why don't we go to Mexic and buy a condo so we can visit Mexico anytime we want to?" Pretty soon she was researching condos on the Internet and found an irresistible deal: One week at a high-end condo resort in Mazatlan for just $50 per night (in exchange for a condo sales pitch, of course).
Before I knew what I was in for, we were booked. The fact that they had wireless Internet sealed the deal. I could check email a couple times a day, write my eZine on Monday, and otherwise relax in paradise for some much needed rest and renewal.
Now about that condo sales pitch.
I know what you're thinking. You imagine me being locked inside a room for six hours while they put on the hard sell, and that I'm now the proud, but reluctant, owner of a condo in paradise. (Great investment, honey.)
Well, no, not exactly.
What I experienced instead was a very pleasurable selling experience. If Independent Professionals could sell this well, they'd all be rich.
On Sunday morning we met with Robert E. a man with a broad smile, high energy and endless enthusiasm. I've never seen anyone who was so sold on his product. The condo we were staying at (Costa Bonita) had a few units for sale and we toured several of them. It really is a beautiful property in a gorgeous setting.
But Robert reserved most of his enthusiasm for the new property (same developer) just a mile down the road that is in the middle of construction. The artist's renderings were stunning, but the property itself was currently a mass of concrete and iron rebar. As we walked around the barren floors overlooking the Paciific, Robert was ebullient. "And this is where your master bedroom will be! Look at that view. Isn't it amazing?"
Robert and his wife had actually bought a condo there themselves and the building was already ninety percent sold out. Only about eight units are left. Talk about a seller's market. Robert wasn't worried about selling to us. The way things were going, the building would be sold out by the end of June.
We also found out a little about Robert. Three years ago he was living in Montana selling pre-fab log homes. After a devastating divorce, he found himself in Mazatlan looking for a real estate job. Upon visiting Costa Bonita he met the sales Manager, Debbie, fell in love and got married!
He then went on to become the star salesperson at Costa Bonita and their new property down the road. Talk about reinventing yourself.
What can you learn from Robert?
Well, it certainly isn't sales techniques. Robert doesn't have many (you know, the blatant, annnoying ones). But he has a simple formula: 1. Have a great product that you have real confidence in. 2. Fall in love with that product and express that passion in everything you do.
As Independent Professionals, we all have (potentially at least) a great product (professional services that make a difference) and if we're not passionate about those services, who will be?
We haven't bought a condo yet; we're not sure it's right for us. But I do know one thing for sure. If we don't act now, there won't be a condo left to buy. Robert will make sure of that!
The More Clients Bottom Line: The best tool you have for marketing and selling your services is a natural confidence in what you have to offer and a true passion for sharing that service with others.
Share your thoughts on this topic of selling with passion.
mostly (and not always), i have found - in myself and others - its not that the passion is missing. its just that it is hidden below our thinking that if we get the structure right (tecniques, technicalities...), we will get our act together. and we miss the mine-field of passion - the force or source.
it comes from (and also IN) the trainings we receive through out our lives (formal or informal) to shut out that which is e-motional, human... and go for 'the system'.
so bringing in passion, i feel, is about uncovering it rather than developing it.
like thoughts, passion is either there, or not. cannot be 'produced.
Posted by: biren shah | June 20, 2006 at 12:28 AM
Passion is important, but I'd like to suggest something about where passion comes from.
Obviously, it's not hard to be passionate about a well-constructed condo with a breath-taking view of the beach and ocean. Add Robert's personality and it couldn't help working. In fact, probably a fairly dour personality could sell this product.
How do you develop passion for a product in a dirty, tough business?
This week I worked with a truly superb company that makes a heavy industrial work-horse product. They also happen to be voted consistently one of the best companies in the world to work for and they own the US market for this product (70% marketshare for some variations).
Passion for their product just pervades the company. At every level, in every detail, that fact is inescapable. How do they do it?
They believe, and repeat, and demonstrate in their actions that they intend to "get the product right!" They will delay introductions, stop development to rethink something, and genuinely agonize over every detail. If there is a big disagreement, they keep working on it until they find a non-compromise solution that everyone agrees now makes the product "right."
When it finally goes to market, everyone is behind it. Everyone, from the assembly person on the factory floor to the sales force to the top executives. Their frequency of repair under warranty is so low (1.2% of sales) that it's beyond the ken of their competitors (the best of whom is over 5% of sales). And this product, that does tough work in nasty environments 24/7, has won design awards in competition with Mercedes cars.
You can develop passion for a product. Commit everything to getting the product right. Then the passion is there and it doesn't go away.
Jerry Fletcher
MAG 16
Posted by: Jerry L. Fletcher | May 30, 2006 at 10:16 AM
Dead right - when you've a great product and you really believe in it, it sells itself. The trick is to find the people who need that particular product / service - they'll pull it right out of your hands.
This *always* works far better than trying to use dodgy sales techniques tp push it onto folks who don't need what you're offering.
Enjoy your holiday Robert!
Karl.
Posted by: Karl McCracken | May 30, 2006 at 08:59 AM
This is simply the best foundation: I believe in what I offer. Thanks for the fabulous reminder from paradise.
Jacquie
Posted by: Jacquie Hale | May 30, 2006 at 07:52 AM