Thinking Outside the Box
You know that business about the box, and thinking outside the box?
What if it's a myth?
What if there is no box? What if there's you talking and your prospect listening … or not.
Think Seduction
A seduction metaphor is far more apt.
Chances are, you know a thing or two about seduction … you give a little information, but not enough for the … er, um, … prospect to make a go/no-go decision, and you certainly don't try to close the sale right up front. That little bit of information is enough to get the prospect to focus on what you have to say. Even if the prospect is interested, chances are he wants the seduction to continue … he wants to be wooed.
So, when (and only when) you have the prospect's attention, you give a little bit more information. That information clearly takes into account what you've learned about the prospect because now … you're having a dialogue.
Don't Just Spew
Ever tried seducing someone by just telling her everything she needed to know about you to make a decision? Of course not! You wanted a positive outcome, and you knew that a simple recitation of essential information was unlikely to yield that result.
See what I just did? There you were ready to hit the delete key, and I … got you to pay attention … to care about what else I had to say.
The problem with that old box metaphor is that it implies that if only you said the right words, your prospect would:
- 1. listen
2. care
3. open his checkbook
And that is the crux of the myth.
Even if you're shouting the right words over the side of that mythical box at your prospect, you're unlikely to have success engaging the prospect's attention because you're not creating desire on the part of the prospect and you're not … having a dialogue. Sure, some prospects are easy, and you'll want to grab that low-hanging fruit right away, but after you've got those, you'll have to work for the rest.
How do you engage your prospect in a dialogue?
Put Yourself in My Shoes ...
First, put yourself where your prospect is. What is he caring about when you come along? His mind was probably not a blank slate waiting for you to make your case. How do you manage the dialogue?
Part of seduction is keeping the prospect interested, so we'll talk about that next week. (Interested?)
Alexis Marketing, founded by Alexis Dalianis Gutzman, award-winning author and online marketing veteran, can help you determine what the right thing is to say -- then help you say it right.
