…ARE TO YOUR LUNGS.
WARNING: This article refers to topics you likely find “heated,” and trigger worthy. I hope you read anyway. Because the “secret” to successful selling is also the secret to successful LIVING, successful EVANGELISM, successful ACTIVISM. And there is a common “sin” that kills them all.
Ask any marketer (me, included) and they’ll tell you that the FIRST thing you have to do is GET THEIR ATTENTION. TRUE!! But, friend…
1) NOT at any cost; and
2) you can’t stop there. Attention is JUST the first glance… it is NOT the end goal.
Because I’m a Christ-follower, let me start with stories of “my own kind.” It GRIEVES me greatly to see Christians “evangelizing” with what used to be referred to as “fire, hell, and brimstone.”
I see them on Facebook… NOT ONLY does my stomach turn, but I immediately look away and keep scrolling. I KNOW that they are turning people away from “our” faith… creating, EVEN MORE, stumbling blocks for people to come to know the Jesus I know.
And as an aside, I roll my eyes thinking about how foolishly they’ve cherry-picked their Bible reading.
SURE, they get my attention…
But at what cost????
With their poorly thought out attempt to get attention (at any cost) they are turning people off, closing minds — perhaps with cement — and actually LOSING INFLUENCE over people whose attention and a relationship they ALREADY had. I’m sure there are a handful of other “Christians” who applaud what they’re doing, but I can say this: I hope to never meet them.
These posts turn my stomach… because I know how much damage they are doing.
Consider the professional athletes not standing for our national anthem. In effect, they’re doing something similar…. getting attention, SURE… but at WHAT cost?
And this, also, grieves me.
Because NOW, instead of social injustice, we’re talking about advertising dollars and NFL viewership…. Imagine the OTHER conversations we COULD have had… the open dialogue… the TRUE and EFFECTUAL collective activism… something creating REAL change….
Yes, FIRST… you must get attention. I give you that.
BUT, you must do so in a way that DOES NOT IMMEDIATELY shut minds and cement them closed AGAINST your cause. You CANNOT do so in a way that instigates an INSTANT argument.
Because when you OPEN with a comment, conversation or gesture that incites INSTANT argument… you lose.
In evangelism.
In activism.
And, of course, in selling.
I’ll never forget the vacuum sales person who came to my home — unannounced — to sell me a vacuum. I let them in because they were giving away a free snuggie as a gift. The entire pitch was wrong, but it started with them vacuuming a portion of my floor and then shaking their heads in sadness and disgust over the FILTH of my carpet.
Now, keep in mind, my husband keeps a VERY clean house… and always has. There may be times when the kitchen is cluttered with dishes or my books and notebooks are scattered around, but there is NO FILTH in my home. (I wrote about it back in 2010, and it is a pretty hilarious read)
These “salespeople” even USED the word “filthy” to describe my carpet — or at least the 2-foot section they were “cleaning” for demonstration purposes.
Anyway, needless to say….
they opened in a way that made me immediately want to defend my home’s cleanliness… AND get them OUT of my filthy home.
In other words, they killed the sale…
right at the beginning.
They got my attention alright,
but to what END?
Here’s my point… if you want to influence people (for your faith, your cause OR your brand) you will HAVE to do so in a way that DRAWS PEOPLE in…
If you get their attention — but in a way that SHUTS them DOWN or gets them in DEFENSIVE mode — you’ve lost. And if you BELIEVE in what you’re selling… whether it be your faith, your cause OR your product… you’ve just done THEM a disservice.
So, yes.
Get their attention.
BUT do so in a way that invites MORE and further and deeper dialogue.
Otherwise, you’re dead in the water.
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More Later… but for today…
Enjoy Small Business Saturday by Shopping SMALL.
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