I truly believe that we can never outrun or outlive the question, “What do you do?” We ask our children, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” And even when we retire, people still ask, “What did you do?”
Establishing Expert or a connection with Celebrity Status will accelerate the rate at which people will choose you over the competition, or pay more for your services.
I'm going to use the term “celebrity” to mean anyone whose name can positively influence how your customers or prospects feel. They don’t have to be actors or actresses…they are the “someones” or the “somethings” your customers or prospects can identify with as being successful or prosperous.
Example: If I meet someone in technology, I will mention that I once worked with Richard Brodie, the original author Microsoft Word. They don’t have to know the name Richard Brodie, but they should recognize Microsoft or Word. If not, I add, “He was Bill Gate’s first technical assistant.” Now I’ve added Bill Gates.
Note: I don’t want people to get off track and start talking about the celebrity… but I do want to grab their attention and convince them that I have experience working with, or on behalf of, someone that is successful.
As Shawn Sandy of The Selling Agency reminds us, we have less than 9 seconds to capture someone’s attention (not to give our entire talk track.)
Your sales message needs to be able catch someone's attention, convince them that you work with people like them, and that no one else can do it like you.
People like to buy, but nobody likes to be sold. Most often, people buy from people they like, who are like them, or who are like who they want to become.
