My housing group had formal this past weekend. As we were getting ready to go, we decided that we wanted a place to have a campfire afterwards. My roommate called many different places with potential campfire sites in the hopes of securing a solid spot. It was kind of like cold calling because Wesley (my roommate) had to sell himself as well as the group to the owners/managers of these spots. This was a good example of Clarity:
The principle is exemplified in the part of the site manager. The manager of the site that we ended up going with asked a lot of questions. He wanted to clarify exactly what Wesley wanted out of the site. He obtained clarity by asking good questions. He wanted to know if everyone was at least 18, if we would be drinking, how many people would be there, etc… Basically the manager wanted to know if this would be a rowdy college party. Wesley reassured him that it would be a smaller get-together with no drinking and nothing too crazy. Based on what Wesley told him, both parties decided that this place would be a good fit for what we needed to do.
Wesley also used good selling principles. In his past experience, he noticed that site managers would get concerned or turned off if he told them that there would be upwards of 50 people and 25 cars. Instead he used good word-tracking. Instead of saying “housing group formal” he would say “a small dinner and dance.” He would also mention Grove City College in case the manager had heard of GCC and the reputation as a Christian school.
The site worked out very well and was a great fit for what we needed. Marshmallows were roasted and good times were had by all.
This is a solid example of nonsales selling! I like that you mentioned that Wesley was not only selling the group as a whole but was also selling himself, as that is very much the case.
Great post! I like how you showed the different type of selling taking place. Both that of personal selling and selling a group!