Debates

Okay, I’m a little interested in the US presidential debates.  Over the past years I’ve likely watched more of them than our own Canadian debates.  The thing that strikes me is that very little of their comments are “off the cuff.”  Obama was just waiting to use the “horses and bayonets” comment.  It was evocative, and well-written.  Some Whitehouse staffer spent much time crafting the phraseology that Obama would use when the opportunity presented itself.  Yet the president skillfully and thoughtfully delivered the line as if it were spontaneous.

That’s how we need to sell.  We need to have those finely crafted scripts in our minds, just awaiting the right moment to be revealed.  The diamond becomes “a mystical rainbow factory” or “the most enduring symbol of love you’ll ever give her.”  Rhodium plating is clearly and quickly explained.  Answers to why a Rolex is so much more expensive than a Bulova and how it can be that your $2,000 sapphire ring is so much more valuable than the “free sapphire” they got for visiting a jewellery store in St. Maartens and answers to why the guy down the street can beat your diamond price by $2,000.

There are two ways to develop your well-crafted answers.  Do this business for 25 years or more and eventually discover through trial and error what works and what doesn’t.  Or, you can spend some time each week working on your own (or even better as a team) developing the best responses to “FAQs”.  The internet has mastered this technique.  Good e-tailers have spent much time developing their answers to consumer’s common questions and put them in print.  Their answer is the same perfected answer every time.