Legend Point: Trust offers the short cut to “yes.”
Many people will tell you to sell benefits, not features. Advice like this is always interesting and typical of Facebook mentality. The fact is that sometimes it’s true and sometimes if you sell benefits to one group of people they won’t trust you.
Fact: Know who you’re talking to before deciding whether you will be selling benefits or features or both in tandem.
* We know that if you want to sell an expert or someone who is accomplished in a field you talk about features and skip the benefits. Scientific Fact.
Of course, experts get to become experts by investing a lot of money in their fields of interest. So the people who are not experts…trying to sell experts with benefits, go broke wondering what went wrong. Works for me….
* We know that for people who aren’t experts in a field, benefits are superior to features in persuading. Fact.
* Recently I’ve talked about the fact that value can be very important but competes closely with a person’s experience with a product or service.
So is this the end? Experience?
Your experience with a product, service or ME, is VERY important… but there is more.
Let me illustrate. (That’s a big word for me…)
You have an iPod. (I do too)
Why?
An iPod isn’t close to the best mp3 player in value.
An iPod’s features don’t match competitors’.
An iPod’s benefits don’t hold a candle to competitors.
It doesn’t store as much, have as good of a picture or …anything…as good as it’s competitors.
And….
It’s more expensive than it’s competitors…significantly.
So what’s up?
50 years ago, THAT wasn’t a very likely scenario….
When you see someone with an iPod, what do you think of? What do you think about them?
I think: “hip.”
I think: “In group.”
I think: “Fits in.”
You go to Starbucks.
Starbucks is *not* the best Coffee (Coffee with Kevin Hogan is the best….)
Other coffee is just as good. But you spend 5 times as much money and go out of your way to go to Starbuck’s and avoid the better, less expensive product.
What’s up with that?
When you think of going into a Starbuck’s, getting your Coffee, looking at all the people…what do you think? What do you think ABOUT them?
I think: “In group.”
I think: “Status.”
I think: “Label.”
The Evolution of Sales
Selling and marketing…and, of course, branding, is evolving. It continues to be more about trust, consistency and identity along with the experience a person has.
Legend Point: The way people buy now is more about IDENTITY.
My daughter walks in the house the other night (this was in 2009!) and says, “Oh, I didn’t know you had another book out. Finally, a good cover.”
Now, I don’t know about her judgement, but the cover on Covert Persuasion is Red and Black. (True Crime section colors and of course red is a great selling color) Obviously the other 14 covers were too, “not hip.” Covert Persuasion, I can promise you, is “hip.”
It tells me just as much about her as it does the book cover.
More and more people are buying a product or service because they identify with the group (or want to!) of people who buy the product/service.
You ever go in a bookstore, see a book with a weird cover and not want to buy the book even though you really want to read it?
We are that sensitive to our identity and the identity we want others to see in us.
People buy a product or service because they have beliefs about that product/service that are favorable enough to make the purchase. They aren’t going to research it all out (like I do). They are going to buy the brand that is hot and trusted and makes them feel like they are part of the group that is represented by that brand. They will buy something they don’t like if it LOOKS like it will give them the “right” identity in the eyes of their peers. That’s true for you, me, our kids, darned near everyone.
Similarly, we will just as often buy something that matches our identity whether it fits what’s culturally “in” or not.
I don’t buy the “hottest” car. I pretty much buy the car with the best resale value…. As long as it isn’t bright yellow or pink, I probably don’t care about the color. Car status doesn’t mean much to me and my identity isn’t wrapped up in a piece of metal with four tires. BUT, that is not true for the majority of American adults.
Their identity is very much wrapped up in an automobile.
Perceived Identity
Let’s talk about identity in a service that is close to me…
Name and reputation. Your perceived identity means a lot to what happens to you in the world…and what you can do in the world.
Coke has the number one brand in the world. (Think Google, Windows…think Coke)
The “Coke” brand is estimated to be worth half of the company’s gross sales.
Half.
That’s quite a goal to shoot for.
You and I want the feeling that people have about our name to be so “good” that they say, “yes.” “Duh”. Can I have a Coke? Can I have a Kevin?
Regular or Diet???
Buy name. The name is what gives you the certainty as to the value or experience of the product/service/person.
Elton John.
You go to the concert. It will be edgy. Sarcastic. Fun. Funny. Touching. A complex man and incredible performer.
It’s going to be good. Really good. Every time.
Just like a Coke.
You can count on it.
Reputation. Name. Certainty.
And of course there are some people who don’t like Elton John for all the same reasons that his identity is so resonant with others…. So he’s himself squared.
Elton John knows his audience. He gives of himself at every performance. 100%.
You and me too.
Coffee with Kevin Hogan
Who reads Coffee?
Smart achievers who trust KH and the information disseminated. But at first it isn’t because “I said so,” it’s because what I say is what is proven. Coffee readers are sick of buying into BS. Coffee with Kevin Hogan is pretty much the peak of value and experience on Monday morning for learning stuff that is unique and incredibly useful…and have fun at the same time. They tend to be both savvy and spiritual. Features matter to Coffee subscribers. Experience does too. Most important is identity. Coffee readers know they are a cut above (or will be) everyone else in their field. My kinda group.
Speaking of my kinda’ group…
Making a Case for Identity
UNICEF and other groups helping kids in various places in the world, will receive the help of Coffee with Kevin Hogan this Christmas….has a powerful identity. It resonates with me. And I identify with other products, services, goals, etc. Just like you.
So of course features and benefits still matter. Experience will always matter. But more than ever…trust, getting to “yes” today is about identity. I buy what helps fulfill my identity with myself, my identity in the group(s) I want to belong to, and my place in society. Where products and services meet me, I buy them. I buy from whom I trust. I buy products I trust. I work with people I trust.
Value matters. Think of the value in Coffee every week. And unique value. (Who else writes about this kind of stuff? No one.) But it’s more than value. It appeals to who you are inside. Someone who is ahead of the crowd, finds the crowd fascinating, wants to understand the crowd and themselves more.
Coffee is a little “edgy” at times. You need that because you can say, “Did you see what Kevin wrote today, he said, blah blah blah….what do you think about that.” And then you can await the response to see how it flies! We all need that to expand our comfort zone.
Otherwise we sit in the hamster wheel….and the hamster wheel is big in the identity department isn’t it?
Speed Trust
It’s about people instantly recognizing who you are…having heard of you by reputation, knowing you are not just consistent and valuable, but that when you say something, it is so.
Develop Your Personal Mastery Skills to Help You Achieve Trust
The Three Disciplines: Personal Mastery, Charisma, Self-Discipline with Kevin Hogan, Psy.D.
Discipline: “training, activity or regimen that develops or improves a skill”.
There are many levels of excellence in life. Personal Mastery is a discipline that is developed over time and with experience; and with the help of the skill of Self-Discipline. The two work together to bring you to a level of excellence. Charisma and personal magnetism allow you to interact with others at a level of excellence and influential elegance that makes you the “go-to” person, the expert, the one in demand. For the first time, the Three Disciplines are offered as a package. 2 high quality digital audio CDs are dedicated to each area, for a total of 6 CDs plus a complete manual to accompany you on your journey.
More information about Self Mastery
