Ever tried to convince someone to try something new? If so, you’ve probably also met someone who doesn’t want to try anything new. They are set in their ways and don’t want to listen to you.
If you wait for people to change their own way of thinking, you may just go out of business waiting.
It’s not that your idea is bad, mind you. It just that inertia keeps most people from leaving the well-worn track they call life. Others call it a rut or a one-track mind.
For example, most people over 70 still want to get their checks back every month. It took five or ten years to get people to leave useful messages on home answering machines. Many older people refuse to use ATM cards. Many younger people can’t live without a cell phone within reach. You know the drill. People just don’t like change. And, without a really good reason, they’re not about to leave the comfort of where they are to join you in your endeavors – no matter now good they may be.
You need to point out how change will benefit them – what’s in it for them and why they should jump the track they’re on to come over to your way of thinking or doing business. There’s truth to the old saying that you need to sell the sizzle, not just the steak. If you want to stay in business, you must give people a good reason to try something different.
In today’s financial environment that’s more important than ever. People are afraid of the future. They’ve lost confidence. You need to help them feel confident in you and the future you offer. If you don’t? Then get used to the tracks your customers are on because they’re going to stay there.
Want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment so others can learn from you.
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Hi Walt
Well said. I remember attending a seminar where a buffalo farmer was explaining how to install electric fence. Someone asked him “how do you get a 2500 lb buffalo to go where you want it to?” He said “you have to make the place where you want them to be the kind of place where they want to be.” He didn’t know it, but he described the essence of my job as a sales engineer. Evidently the art of persuasion has universal application.
Blessings
Don
Fear of the the unknown? The counter to this reminds me of everyone’s favorite radio station: WII FM, what’s in it for me. Those who can communicate an appealing benefit to a 3rd party will surivive- thats the challenge of sales.
Not much new in this formula.
[Posted in the Risk Management & Insurance Professionals group on LinkedIn.com]
90% of heart bypass patients who were told to change their eating/exercise habits or they would die, had not changed 2 years later (or died). So if you’re not going to change even if you’ll die…
These facts are the premise of my book [America's Corporate Brain DrainAmerica's Corporate Brain Drain] which shows why the best and brightest have left big companies–because the majority of people refuse to change and support innovation. It’s also why small businesses and entrepreneurship is the future.
http://www.braindrain.biz
Posted on theMeatBall / GE Alumni group on LinkedIn.com
Walt,
I have not yet had time to read all your thougths but am impressed with what I have read so far. Your thoughts are like reading the best of the best of readers digest…somthing for everyone. Keep up the good work. I am sending you an invitation to join me as a contact. I would love to have you. Thanks
Bill
Hi Walt,
Once again after reading your post find myself compelled to add my thoughts.
Very often, WHO gives the suggestion seems to determine whether people will change their opinions/habits. Have you noticed how teenagers will accept any suggestions by their peers and resist any by their parents? I have had occasions when a suggestion I had given my mother in law was rejected outright. A few months later the same idea was told to me as something wonderful. I would be pleasantly surprised that she had tried out what I had suggested until she told me that her sister had given her this wonderful new idea!
So no matter WHAT the idea is, it is not just HOW it is presented but also WHO presents it can determine whether it is accepted by the recipient.