Business Leaders: do you have a Selling Purpose?
Here is the way Spencer Johnson1 presented this concept in 1985:
"MY SELLING PURPOSE
is to help people get
the good feelings they want
about what they bought
and about themselves."
He went on to add:
"I quickly reduce my stress
because I no longer try
to get people to do
what they don't want to do.
When I sell On Purpose,
it's like swimming downstream."
(I did not add the underlining...that was in the book.)
Now, that advice can apply to:
- Sales people,
- Leaders,
- Everyone who wants to sell an idea, &
- Everyone who wants to inspire other People.
I propose it be applied to all 4.
Leaders need Purpose...and they should do things On Purpose.
Leaders need to explain their Purpose to the People who are following. And, Leaders need to repeat, repeat, repeat...ideally, using sticky stories.
Leaders should aim to have less stress...that applies to them and to their followers...that only makes good sense...Right? Purposeful, focused action generates less stress than haphazard, unfocused fire-fighting...Right?
And, the bottom line...
People want to feel good.
Footnote:
- 'The One Minute Sales Person', Spencer Johnson (1985)
Reader comments (6)
Comments from the original blog platform, 2008–2021.
Rick ·
"Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph." James Allen 'As A Man Thinketh', (1903)
rick baker ·
"A person who has a why can deal with any how." Friedrich Nietzsche
rick baker ·
"The reason most people go through life with big dreams but fail to achieve them is because they ask themselves "how" before they know their "why". Dr. Doug Hirschhorn '8 Ways to Great', (2010)
rick baker ·
"Energy, the will to achieve, the courage to try, fail, and succeed - these are all fueled and given motivation by purpose." Ron Willingham ‘The Inner Game Of Selling’, (2006)
rick baker ·
“Do not flatter yourself that you can be really happy unless you are useful. Happiness and usefulness were born twins. To separate them is fatal.” Orison Swett Marden ‘Pushing to the Front’, (1911)
rick baker ·
"You can think of your purpose as the essential message of your life. In a well-staged play, every word, movement, lighting effect, costume, and prop - or its absence - delivers a message." Laurence G. Boldt 'ZEN and the art of making a living', (2009)