Tell different people the same thing, instead of the same people different things

[Andy Black]

"Tell different people the same thing, instead of the same people different things."

I came across that line a few weeks ago and it gave me a bit of an aha moment.

I'd gotten quite comfortable talking about different things to the same people in this forum (granted there's always new people joining but you know what I mean).

So I ventured out of the safe(ish) harbour of the forum and into the wild blue ocean that is Facebook and Facebook groups. I've joined new groups where people didn't know me and bounced around making friends, helping people, supporting people, and engaging with people. I've been invited to do group workshops, radio interviews, and onto podcasts - all to talk about the same thing. Dayum, but I felt like a broken record repeating my founding story again and again and again (the story where I help an electrician keep a roof over his head).

But each person I tell that story to has never heard it before. The morals of that story seem to resonate now as every time I've said it in the past 10 years. Funny that.

Anyway, that's my experience implementing the advice above.

What if you ventured out and retold your story to new people and audiences?

 

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[Stargazer]

You just highlighted why most sales people do not do as well as they ought to.

When they start they learn the very best way to present their product/service to a customer developed over thousands of sales calls.

Literally the combination to the safe.

When they start they are just focused on saying what they have been told - partly because they are thinking what comes next rather than listening to the customer - and Hey Presto! they make sales.

Once they have internalised that 'script' over time they are more relaxed in sales meetings and start to add or remove things as they see fit, and worse, go off topic because they think ' I've said this before'

Well not to the person you are speaking to right now you haven't.

It's why there is such a high turnover in sales staff. 'It doesn't work' is their mantra despite the fact they were selling no problem when they started.

Dan

 

[Andy Black]

You just highlighted why most sales people do not do as well as they ought to.

When they start they learn the very best way to present their product/service to a customer developed over thousands of sales calls.

Literally the combination to the safe.

When they start they are just focused on saying what they have been told - partly because they are thinking what comes next rather than listening to the customer - and Hey Presto! they make sales.

Once they have internalised that 'script' over time they are more relaxed in sales meetings and start to add or remove things as they see fit, and worse, go off topic because they think ' I've said this before'

Well not to the person you are speaking to right now you haven't.

It's why there is such a high turnover in sales staff. 'It doesn't work' is their mantra despite the fact they were selling no problem when they started.

Dan

Very interesting. I hadn't thought of it from that angle - that people who's job is to say the same thing to different people every day start deviating!

 

[ProcessPro]

"Tell different people the same thing, instead of the same people different things."

I came across that line a few weeks ago and it gave me a bit of an aha moment.

I'd gotten quite comfortable talking about different things to the same people in this forum (granted there's always new people joining but you know what I mean).

So I ventured out of the safe(ish) harbour of the forum and into the wild blue ocean that is Facebook and Facebook groups. I've joined new groups where people didn't know me and bounced around making friends, helping people, supporting people, and engaging with people. I've been invited to do group workshops, radio interviews, and onto podcasts - all to talk about the same thing. Dayum, but I felt like a broken record repeating my founding story again and again and again (the story where I help an electrician keep a roof over his head).

But each person I tell that story to has never heard it before. The morals of that story seem to resonate now as every time I've said it in the past 10 years. Funny that.

Anyway, that's my experience implementing the advice above.

What if you ventured out and retold your story to new people and audiences?

My takeaway: 'But each person I tell that story to has never heard it before.'

 

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