SALESAlways Add, “Which Means …”
To boost the impact of your sales presentations and really, really ensure your prospective customer understands the benefits of what you’re selling, always add “which means …” after every feature you name, says Wizard Of Ads author Roy H Williams. “You can add these words verbally, or you can add them silently, but this habit will bridge you into language the customer can see in their mind,” he writes in his weekly Monday Morning Memo. Williams provides the following examples:
- “This blade is made of Maxamet steel, which means you’ll never have to sharpen it.”
- “This is a 52-week radio schedule, which means your name will become the one people think of immediately and feel the best about.”
MERCHANDISINGMaintain the Urgency
The idea of scarcity is central to economics — and retailing. Yet you wouldn’t know it from some jewelers’ merchandising. “Don’t display multiple same items. Only put one on display at a time; keep the ‘urgency to buy it before it’s gone’ feeling,” says John Nicolosi, a GIA Accredited Jewelry Professional.
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SELF-IMPROVEMENTAsk About Your Blind Spots
Ask people for feedback, and they sometimes tell you what you want to hear. Ask them about your blind spots, and they’re more likely to tell you what you need to hear. So says organizational psychologist Adam Grant in his new book Think Again: The Power Of Knowing What You Don’t Know. “Gains in self-awareness often begin with the question: What do other people know about me that I might not realize?” he writes.
PRODUCTIVITYGet the Right Stuff Done First
Not an original tip, but an incredibly important one, which in this iteration goes by the mnemonic M.I.T. Nope, it’s not the fancy college in Massachusetts. It stands for “most important task.” At the start of the day, work out the most important task that you have to do and, this is key, do it first. Don’t clear out your email, don’t check Twitter, do your M.I.T. “Get it out of the way, and the rest of the day is gravy,” says Leo Babauta, founder of the Zen Habits blog.
DOING GOODBack to School, Back to Community Roots
With the arrival of August, your local community’s thoughts turn to school. “This is a great month to provide a promotion donating a portion of each sale to the local school of the consumer’s choice,” says Megan Crabtree of Crabtree Consulting. “Not only does it invest in the youth of your community, but it also shows you’re supporting the community’s growth through education.”
MANAGEMENTCompliment More
Few things are more powerful than a compliment, but many people hold back from saying nice things out of fear the other person will find it annoying, that they’ve heard it all before, or that they’ll stumble over their words and deliver a poor one. But these concerns are groundless, says Vanessa Bohn, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Cornell and author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power Of Persuasion, And Why It Matters. “Just worry about getting the words out because people like hearing nice things about themselves. It turns out they make people happier than we think,” she says.
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