Real Leverage

People spend a lot of time creating “Sales Scripts” or “Pitches” or “Chassis Plans” to use like a cookie cutter when selling ideas, concepts, products, or services. And of course, they do work. Except when they don’t, and sometimes, they won’t. Because when you’re trying to sell me vitamins, you’re not going to get anywhere. Or tools. Or many other things in which I have no interest. In fact, if you sell tools, you will never sell me any. Guaranteed. So how can you benefit from spending your valuable time with me? How about the six thousand people that I could refer to you? Would that be more valuable to you than a quick buck sale?

Most salespeople are too desperate to think beyond the immediate gratification of a sale. That is why they will never be anything but a salesperson. What would happen if you stopped talking about your products and yourself (nobody is interested, anyway) and started talking about the one subject everyone is VERY interested in - themselves? If you took the time to ask me a lot of questions about my hopes, dreams, fears, vision, challenges and problems, my family, my values and my sore toe, you might find some area that you could contribute to, some problem you could solve, some introductions you could make, that would be very valuable to me. And then you would get my attention and my wish to reciprocate, perhaps by enthusiastically referring you to my entire database.

I regularly get people saying to me, “I want to do Joint Ventures, but I don’t know where to start – I am looking for a Joint Venture.” That simply means they don’t yet understand what a JV is. Can you ask someone open-ended questions about their life and their goals? “If a genie leapt out of this ketchup bottle and offered you three wishes for your life, what would they be? When you say ‘wealth’, what, specifically, do you mean? How much? By when? WHY? What would you do with the money? Why do you want to be healthy? What would constitute success in that area of your life? Could you elaborate? Tell me more…” The more you know about someone, the better you can help him or her by linking them up with solutions and being paid for it – THAT is a Joint Venture. Not trying to force a square peg into a round hole because you need to meet your sales quota. Do you realize that your prospect likes his dog a lot more than he does you? That his dog's health and happiness may be more important to him than your products or your health? Perhaps you should talk about his dog... smart salespeople do, you know.

Many salespeople are like cult members – they can’t stop trying to force their products down your throat at every opportunity. Their blinders prevent them from taking any interest in you. I know a few cult members, and believe me, they are the most selfish, egotistical people around. They have snake oil to cure headaches, save gas in your car and improve your memory. They want to sell you stuff you don’t need or want, can’t afford and don’t even like. They blindly deny the fact that any other product or service even exists. Instead, they could become your favorite person in a short period by helping you achieve your goals – they could secure your undying love and loyalty instead of selling another bottle of placebo effect or an exciting chance to lose money with the next Enron.

It takes time to understand the unlimited power of Joint Ventures – the opportunity to be well paid for helping people to get what they want – and sadly, some people are so heavily conditioned and desperate that they will never understand the concept. However, those who do, obtain the ultimate leverage available. Give people what they want and you’ll get anything you want. More information: www.jvwisdom.com