By the Ocean
Sunny 77 Degrees
6:59 a.m.
“You should buy this” is probably the worst way ever conceived to get someone to buy something.
“You probably shouldn’t buy this” is a much better start. Much closer to the truth. Much more powerful. Much clearer. Way more attractive.
“You probably shouldn’t buy this” creates ZERO resistance in the mind and body of the buyer. There can’t be resistance when there’s nothing to resist.
Giving your prospects things to resist is the real problem with traditional selling.
The minute they know which way you want them to go, there is resistance. There is doubt. There is skepticism. There is controversy.
Why not just stop caring which way they go? Then you can step back and become an objective third party. You take your focus OFF the sale to any one individual and put it on something far more important: the destination to which you are leading people.
“Are you getting on the train or not?” becomes the only question you have to answer.
Misplaced caring is the source of more suffering in business than just about anything else I can think of. Maybe a poor self-image beats it out, but it’s close!
Wanting it for them MORE than they want it for themselves is how you create a miserable life for yourself.
Care about the journey you’re on. Care about where you’re leading those who have committed.
The rest can be on the receiving end of the systems you’ve created to sift and sort. You can still be valuable to those people. I’d actually recommend that. But do it in a one-to-many kind of way that doesn’t put your focus on someone who hasn’t earned the right to receive it.
Traditional selling is a path that runs counter to what your prospects want. It’s force on force. In martial arts, that’s a great way to get killed.
I come at things from a completely different angle. The path of least resistance.
If you want to be a trusted advisor, someone who is respected and welcomed as an invited guest into the lives of your prospects, this is a better way to go.