Michael Kobold guest lectured in our class earlier this week, and he successfully sold his non-profit mission to me before he even explained it. The documentary that he produced about Nepal was heartbreaking and definitely showcased a pain that needed to be solved. I thought that this was interesting, though, because rather than selling me a solution to my pain, he sold me a pain that I now want to solve.
Up until this point in the class the term “moving someone” didn’t seem to make that much sense to me. I understood why we used it, but it seemed to make convincing someone that your product is the best solution to their pain a more difficult feat than it should be. After all, if a solution really is the best, then the solution should move the person, not the sale. The sale should just show the person that the solution is the best.
Now, though, I see that moving someone is entirely what sales does. Especially social sales. In social sales you are asking someone to take on a new pain and to help find a solution for that, which is probably a much different process than commercial sales. I hope that we go further into these differences as we continue our Sales in the Startup class.
testacr22
I think this is such an important point to know and understand in not just social sales but in all sales. Just that simple mind change can mean all the difference in your interaction with a customer that makes or breaks a sale. Communicating a story gives a personal connection to others that makes a sales experience enjoyable.
You really hit the nail on the head with your post. Michael perfectly demonstrated moving people and creating a pain with in the first few minutes of his presentation. It was great to listen to him and see the techniques and traits we are learning in class being used.
It is very interesting to see what we have been learning about happen before our eyes in class. Seeing this also helped me realize that I see people selling things to me and others everyday without even realizing it.
Appealing to most people’s empathetic nature is what’s so great about Kobold’s initiative. And frankly, I’m not sure how much traction an effort like this would get outside of the United States. We live in a truly remarkable country where social enterprise and impact investing are changing the condition of people’s lives not just nationally, but internationally as well. I, too, hope we can be of some help to Kobold in making this project come to life.
You are completely on the right track here, I would add a powerful story is essential to properly selling the pain. When I hear that there are 5 million children starving in Africa that is startling, but when I hear specific stories about what these people go through in Africa then I connect on a deeper level.