So……2020 is ALMOST over. And, I’m sure that most of us won’t be too sad to see it go, bye-bye.
To top it off, I can’t help but laugh to see the new (& improved) Yule Log. Let me start by saying that I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. But to swap the classic cracking fire-wood logs with a burning Darth Vader body puts the icing on the cake to an interesting 2020. (in my best Yoda voice: “Confused therefore I am”)
So let’s end 2020 with a special Holiday GIFT from me to you: My Top 3 (sales) Quotes that I ‘live by’ to help me get thru the day!
#3) The Cost of Being Wrong is Less Than the Cost of Doing Nothing – <Seth Godin>
This is worth saying because nobody likes being wrong. Most people would rather do nothing than be wrong. Even if it costs more.
Marketing and business branding should never stop, period. If your business is busy today, it may not be tomorrow. You cannot afford to not be marketing, especially in today’s competitive and polluted marketplace. The cost of being wrong (but at least being visible in the marketplace) is far less than the cost of sitting on your hands, doing nothing, hoping for something to change. We live in a world today that is like nothing we have ever experienced before. It is now easier than ever to gain attention from the right people. All you need is help to make sure that the attention you gain is constructive, sustainable and will make you money!
“Do or Do NOT – there is NO try” – Yoda
#2) Approach Each Customer with the Idea of Helping Them Solve a Problem or Achieve a Goal, Not of Selling a Product or Service – <Brian Tracy>
A great mentor of mine once told me – the reason why we have two ears and one mouth – is to shut up and LISTEN to what the client has to say! If we don’t know where the ‘pain’ is……..how will we know where to help ‘fix it’.
If you go to the doctor with an illness, he or she doesn’t start to operate on-the-spot. They ask a bunch of questions (& probably run some tests) to get to the REAL root of the issue. Same thing is true in sales. The client MAY ‘feel like’ they know what the problem is, but until you diagnose the problem (behind the problem) you may have them throw ‘bad money’ at bad money and then you have a REAL problem on your hands.
“I‘ve Got a BAD Feeling about This” – Han Solo
& the #1 Sales Quote is…………<drum-roll please>:
#1) Success Comes from Standing Out NOT Fitting in. Simplicity is Good – Significant is Best – <Don Draper>
Ok……..so my FAVORITE quote comes from a fictional character on a TV show. It doesn’t mean it’s not true.
The question you have to ask yourself (or your client) is: “do you really want to be everywhere your competition is?” Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond. If it’s the latter, fitting in MAY also get you lost in the ‘clutter’. Where’s Waldo is a great example. Do you want to make prospects search really hard to try and find you? Probably not. Make it an easy path to (at least) be ‘IN THE CONVERSATION’. If they don’t know you – they won’t buy from you.
“Your focus determines your reality.”– Qui-Gon Jinn
I really hope you enjoyed my Top 3 Sales Quotes. If you made it all the way thru this post, then there is NO ‘return’ on THIS Holiday Gift……even WITH a receipt! LOL
Merry Christmas to ALL and to ALL a good night!! and – MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU – in ’21.