passion

Can you sell something you don’t believe in?

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Imagine you got each of the emails below from someone you know who wants to sell you something.

  1. [FIRSTNAME] OMG, you have GOT to go to this website RIGHT NOW and buy this WIDGET – it’s AMAZING and it will change your life. Truly, it’s that great – I grabbed one for myself and just emailed my entire family to place an order before they sell out.
  2. Em, hi [FIRSTNAME] – my company sells widgets that are better than the widgets you already have. They work really well. Go to our website to place your order.

Which “sales pitch” sounds more convincing?

Unless you are some type of alien being, my guess is you chose #1.

The Sell – It’s about Passion and Serving

 #1 gets the hands-down FOR THE WIN because the person trying to \”sell\” you something isn’t selling at all.  She 100% believes in the product, but more importantly her “sales pitch” was more about helping her friends and family have the same awesomesauce experience she had.

#2 Is probably more the classic salesperson who simply isn’t confident in the product. They are just looking to sell the damn product and try to make a buck.

Without belief – the sell is a lie.

 If you are a salesperson who is struggling – step back and look at the product and/or service you are trying to sell.  What is your belief scale?

  1. You need to believe in the product
  2. You need to believe in yourself
  3. You need to believe that you yourself would use the product and would 100% feel comfortable telling your closest friends and family to use it.

If all 3 don’t apply – you need to up your belief level or quit.  It’s that simple.

Customers can smell BS from a mile away

Let’s cut to the chase and be honest. We’ve all been pitched by the snake oil salesperson – haven’t we?  The robodialers who just get on the phone and dial for dollars – they don’t even know what they hell they are selling.  Or how about the owner\’s daughter who was pushed into a sales role and doesn’t want to be there, doesn’t give two craps about the product, and here you are on the other end expected to buy from them.

So if you wouldn’t buy from the snake oil person, don’t be a snake oil person.  What is snake oil anyway?

Going back to the beginning of this article and example #1.  True sincerity doesn’t need any fancy marketing materials or even a sales pitch – it speaks for itself.

I guess that’s all that needs to be said on the subject of can you sell something you don\’t believe in.  Believe to Achieve.

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Tina Kadish

Tina Kadish – Freedom Strategist at Life is Ideal

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\"TinaOn today\’s Entrepreneur Masters we welcome Tina Kadish – Freedom Specialist at Ideal Life.  She shares her story how she was \’downsized\’ out of corporate and faced with \”what next\”? Learn how she discovered her passions and now helps others do the same.

 

 

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Stop asking “what do you do?” – ask this instead…

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It seems like every time you meet someone new at a networking event, social gathering, or via an acquaintance the first question people ask, besides the standard “how are you”, is “what do you do?” For some reason I’ve always hated this question. I think it started back when I worked for a manufacturing company because it was always so hard to give a 30 second summary of what I actually did. Sure, my official title was Customer Service Rep., but it really didn’t tell people what I did. Of course, I dealt with customer orders, complaints, and questions, but I also worked on inventory, handled the shipping paperwork, sent invoices, and even helped in various other departments when needed.

It wasn’t just about trying to explain my job, I also had to explain what the company did, which could get technical, but we won’t get into that. But all that aside, what does my job really have to do with me. My job doesn’t define me, I didn’t grow up saying I wanted to be a CSR. Even now with a job title of President, it still doesn’t help you get to know me any better does it?

So, after years of answering and even asking the question “So, what do you do?”, I’ve decided that the phrase is now dead to me. I’ve deleted it from my vocabulary. If you really want to get to know people, start asking them “Who are you, what are you passionate about?”. Here’s why. What you do is such a small part of who you are. Let’s pretend you just asked me “So Jenn, what do you do?” my standard response is “Well Joe, I’m the President of Red Barn Consulting, a sales, marketing, operations, and biz coaching and consulting company. I pretty much handle all the day to day operations and make sure everything gets done.” That’s pretty boring right. You really didn’t learn anything about me – other it’s my responsibility to make sure shit gets done.

Now, let’s pretend you asked me my new go to question about who I am and what I’m passionate about. Here’s how I would respond. “ Hi Joe, thanks for asking! I’m a wife, pet mom to 3 cats and 2 crazy German Shepard puppies, and an avid animal lover. I work for Red Barn Consulting, a sales, marketing, operations, and biz coaching consulting company, and I love what I do because I get to learn new things, work from home so I can spend time with my zoo, and I handle all the operations of the company – I make sure nothing falls through the cracks. I’m also very interested in Real Estate, own a 3 family investment property, plan to get my license eventually, and I LOVE to travel – especially to anywhere in the Caribbean. I have a passion for baking, I’m a neat freak, but I also love spending time outside getting dirty, at the gym, or relaxing in my pool. Reading is one of my favorite hobbies and I’m a Harry Potter dork.”

Which question gave you more insight in to who I really am and what I love to do? Where you able to find anything that we have in common? Asking better questions leads to better conversation and truly tells you about who the person is. I don’t care if you are a CEO, janitor, or mid-level manager. I want to know why we should be connecting. What do we have in common. When it comes to networking, it’s not all business – it is personal and that’s how you make those connections. I want to learn about people, what makes them tick, what do they love to do.

Next time you attend a party, networking event, etc. give my new method a try. And make sure you let me know how it goes. Let’s try to start a new trend!

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What’s it REALLY like to be an Entrepreneur?

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Funny story. For several years I was a teacher for the YEA! Young Entrepreneur Academy.  It was an amazing experience – I helped middle school and high school students launch legitimate businesses.  After 9 months, they created a legitimate DBA in the State of CT, asked for money from investors and launched.

On the first day of the class I always asked the students what they thought an entrepreneur was – I wanted to see their vision.  Here are some very real answers:

  • I get to have an office with a chair that spins around
  • I get to be a millionaire
  • I get to have a ton of money
  • I get to do whatever I want
  • I get to take vacations whenever I want
  • I get to be the boss

These were children, but I can tell you that many adults see entrepreneur life through rose colored glasses as well.

Being an entrepreneur IS amazing.  To be honest – I’m not employable – really.  I like being the boss, I like taking vacations when I want – but I also am down for working 80 hours in a week if that’s what needs to happen.

The fantasy driven view of what owning a business is all about is probably one of the biggest reasons many fail – they aren’t prepared for the tough spots.  I absolutely love launching businesses – it’s FUN.  Creating the business plan, designing logos, creating the marketing message, gearing up for the launch – all that is super cool and fuels my soul and creative side.  The rubber hits the road the day after the launch – because that’s when it gets real. You have to run the business, live the business and for most, you ARE the business.

When I was working with the kids and started fleshing out their business ideas – we honed in on what they loved to do and what they were really great at.  When you can combine the combo it works.  Many had hobbies such as sewing, baking, and animal welfare that they felt would make great business ideas.  When I asked them:  Would you like to bake dog treats (or whatever their hobby was) 40 hours a week and spend another 20 working on sales, marketing, and administrative “stuff” – they stared at me in disbelief.  They ASSUMED they would hire other people to do the manual work and they would be sitting in that chair twirling around.

To the children’s credit, they quickly realized that just because you have a hobby doesn’t mean you would want to flip that into a full-time business. Why?  The absolute joy of that hobby could be gone after the first 60 hour work week AND just because it’s a hobby you enjoy doesn’t mean others will pay you for that product or service.

The last point I want to touch on is the money.  You need it and often times lots of it.  I’ve seen many entrepreneurs drain their savings, tap into family and friends, and launch without a solid game plan, solid market research and a long-term vision. The money is gone and the family and friends are far from happy.  Yes, you need to be a risk taker when it comes to money – been there, done that.  You also need to realize there will be many weeks you as the owner will not get a paycheck so you can pay staff and invest back into the company.  Be prepared to be poor.  Some businesses take off immediately and sure, they make millionaires within year one. That is rare – very rare.

To wrap up, entrepreneur life is grand.  It’s hard, it’s easy, it’s frustrating, and it’s rewarding all at the same time.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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