The Clash burst on the music scene in 1977 and over the next 26 years they released 14 or so albums. Deeply hidden in album titles, song titles and in their lyrics were marketing and sales lessons that are only now, in June of 2008, being deciphered by the nation’s top sales and marketing coach … me.
I’ve painstakingly taken the time to listen to many, many of their songs on my SIRIUS satellite radio while driving betweens sales and marketing gigs, presentations, restaurants and golf courses.
Let’s step into the world of The Clash and see what kind of gems they’ve hidden for us to find.
Give ‘em Enough Rope
It’s really easy to see that The Clash were way ahead of their time, as this is purely an attempt to tell the businesses of the world that they absolutely must give away plenty of content if they ever want to successfully sell their products. Whether it’s blogs, podcasts, instructional guides, audio how to’s, e-courses, whatever, however, this much is true:
Every business is in the information business.
And when you give away that information, you simple must …
Rock The(ir) Casbah
We’ve talked before about the need to make it an event, to go big or don’t bother going. But the truth is, that’s the truth. There’s way too much noise out there for you to get noticed doing the same, tired, old things you’ve been doing (poorly) for all these years.
You have to involve the people and rock their casbah. Ask them what it is they want to know or be able to do. My friends Bill and Bryan call it finding the pain in the customers mind. Unless you find their pain point and find out what that pain is costing them, you’ll never be able to establish a value for your solution.
Without establishing value, your just another not-so-pretty face in the crowd and your possibilities are slimmer than if you can show that your solution is less costly than the current pain. It also helps it it’s nicer, cleaner and smells good, too.
After you’ve rocked their casbah, then it’s time to make sure you don’t …
Train In Vain
Track the tweaks you make to your marketing or sales process and then test another tweak against the current one. Never change just to change. Only change if you can establish the process and use it as a test.
There are some phrases that just don’t work, when talking to a prospective client.
One that I hear people make is: ” I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything. “
If that’s the last statement you make to me, I’ll be calling one of your competitors before you get back to your vehicle.
Instead, let’s try this: ” Don’t worry about it, I’ll get it done for you. What else can I do for you while I’m doing that, because that’s not going to be all that tough ?”
Guess which one I use all the time and guess which one I’d never use ?
Make a list of all the phrases you use on a regular basis and chart them against your sales success and sales failures. Get rid of the one’s that always seems to pop up during those times that you don’t get the business.
Simple, eh ?
If you’ll try these tips, you’ll never have to wonder …
Should I Stay or Should I Go ?
Last but not least, is this little gem.
Some salespeople seem to not know when to get up and leave after they’ve made a presentation. I happen to be able to sense that moment and can actually describe it in infinite detail.
The very second you hear the words you came to hear, um, like: Yes, for instance, start planning your getaway. Don’t lollygag around and keep talking, because you just might erase the yes and turn it into a no.
If it was a no, you heard, then don’t stick around and beg for a yes, because it ain’t gonna happen.
Just be a professional and ask if there’s any other instance they have where you might be of service.
Okay. It’s your turn.
Do you know of any lyrics, song or album titles from The Clash that we might be able to glean a little gold from ? The comments were made for that type of thing, so use ‘em.
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