a young boy celebrating

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After a painful fall that nearly broke my back, I dusted off the old paws after a decade hiatus from barefoot waterskiing.

Now, this is a few years back, but the story (and the message it contains) are worth sharing…

You may be wondering, “Why get back on the water?”

Well, it’s not on account of people asking me to barefoot with them – in fact, there’s been plenty of pressure throughout the years. However, no one (up until recently) persuaded me to give it another go.

This time, someone used such an advanced persuasion strategy, I went to the shed, grabbed my wetsuit, and headed down to the dock without giving it a second guess.

There was no hard sales pitch…

No guilt trip…

No snake oil…

This person just knew exactly how to hit my emotional hot button so perfectly, I anxiously jumped at the opportunity to barefoot once again.

And the source of this brilliance may surprise you…

It came from my 8-year-old son.

All he had to say was: “I can’t believe my dad actually knows how to barefoot? That’s awesome! It would be amazing if I could see you barefoot… can I?”

You see, I take a lot of pride in how my children view me – and while I might not always be their “superhero,” for the time being, simple things (like barefooting) put a twinkle in their eyes.

So… Yup, all it took was one inquiry, and after a decade of vowing I wouldn’t do it again, I saddled back up.

Then, about 20 minutes into it, I took another nasty spill – so I headed back to the boat. My son said, “Dad, you ARE amazing! Can you show me one more trick?”

And of course, I went again…

This got me thinking about some sales tips inspired by his childlike wisdom.

Marketers and salespeople commonly try to sell people features and their own agendas, without taking the time to determine what’s ACTUALLY important to their prospects…

If the car dealership asked (and knew) the most important features my wife was looking for in a car were size (to separate the kids from being on top of each other and bickering), luxury, and storage…

Many could have shortened the sales process to make their pitch more appealing. None took the time to ask (and no, I couldn’t care less about a digital dashboard… In fact, I sort of like seeing a real dial).

I have a coaching client who helps people become wealthy – and yes, that’s great – but people want more than money… They want what money will buy them. Most marketers will say: “Duh, they want freedom!”

The strategic marketer will dive deeper into what freedom means – perhaps the freedom to retire without having to get a job as a greeter in Walmart, or the freedom to be able to attend their child’s baseball game, or the freedom to sleep in their own bed instead of being at the airport 180 days a year.

Whatever it is, it’s their emotional hot buttons that will drive their decisions.

And it’s knowing your customers emotional hot buttons that will give you the power to persuade… And that’s a sales tip worth its weight in gold.

what now?

Continue reading for more resourceful information.

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