For Sale: Skin, Bones & Connective Tissue; A Look at Earning Sales with Free Advice by Mike Lions
Channel: Lions and Associates Sales Team Training & Success Building Channel
Date: 2014-08-05

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Let’s face it the idea of luring a customer in by giving something away has been around for over 100 years. The innovative cook that turned bones, skin and connective tissue into the popular dessert that we now know as Jell-O found no success selling his new invention in the late 1800s. He sold the trademark to a local businessman for less than $500. The man he sold it to was a natural salesman that took a new unknown product category and popularized the brand despite a lack of consumer demand and absolutely no merchants willing to stock it. How did he do it? He didn’t quite give away his product; he gave away knowledge by sending his salesmen door to door with recipe pamphlets claiming the optimistic title “America’s Most Famous Dessert”.  During that day door to door selling wasn’t even legal in his targeted areas; however it was ok to knock on someone’s door and give them free knowledge. After blanketing the town with pamphlets about putting whipped cream or custard on fruit flavored gelatin demand was created and the merchants had to stock his product. What a concept, free information that can only be used if they buy his product! Now gelatin is everywhere we look in the form of fruit snacks, jelly beans, marshmallows, candy corn, gummy bears, and of course Jell-O.


Think about this. How many times have you been in the grocery store, stopped for a sample then bought a package of whatever the “Free Sample Display” was selling? We all know that a powerful word in the world of sales is “Free”, who doesn’t love to get something for nothing, right. Giving something away is a powerful selling tool. The word “Free” has the power to grab attention like nothing else and although “Free” is never as simple as it seems it is the most natural transaction of all.


We can even take this a step further and realize that we are more fulfilled when we actually help a customer rather than just take their business and charge them. Earning trust with goodwill while creating value will get you long term clients over and over again. We should also consider that the most successful sales people serve instead of sell and the most successful organizations have total commitment to provide exceptional value.


Many sales people believe selling means taking and if we’re going to make good commissions our heart should be checked at the door, and this business practice has become quite common in today’s society. It seems that we must choose between profit or purpose, money over meaning if you will. Ladies and gentlemen I’m here to tell you that although a business must realize profits to grow it does not mean one must sell their soul to be a success.


In my eyes Helping is Selling and business can be done in a manner that creates both fulfillment and success and this in itself empowers us to be helpful, happy and fulfilled while realizing profits and success. We can all cultivate our core desires for growth to be a better person and bring that to work with us to create a passion for good service which creates both money and meaning.  

 

Here are 8 Principles to Live By in Business:
Realize True Business is Built on Goodwill
Our Deepest Need is Meaning
Provide Exceptional Value
People Hate to be Sold but Love to be Served
Trust is Created When You Give a Sample of Great Value
Continue to Learn, Always
Realize Purpose is the Root of Motivation
Take Action and Never Procrastinate