*In my earnest desire to help people achieve their fullest potential, I wrote this article Stylishly without compromising its Substance. It is my hope that you learn some valuable lessons on the need to balance Style and Substance.
In today’s word, the “If you can’t sell, you won’t survive” one-liner is no longer a cliché by salespeople but a hard fact to everyone from babies, children and students to professional doctors, lawyers, businessmen and even street sweepers. It’s a reality that everyone is a salesman.
Everyone is a salesman because everyone has something to sell. A student needs to sell the idea to his teacher that he deserves an A grade by studying hard, getting high grades in quizzes and exams and answering all oral recitations. A lawyer trying to win a case needs to persuade the court that he is right through his well thought arguments. Politicians are busy selling their platforms, character and track records through massive marketing exposure with the hope that people will buy them through their votes. Yes, each and one of us are selling all the time. We sell our skills, ideas, and even ourselves to everybody. Those who are in denial of this fact are destined to a life of failure. Simply,
The distinguishing difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people are excellent “salespeople” than unsuccessful people. That’s why it’s not such a surprise to see not-so-smart people who are great at selling get far ahead in life than their highly educated and skilled counterparts who don’t know how to sell what they have.
Successful selling has two factors: Style and Substance.
Style are qualities we perceive with our senses. These are things we see, smell, hear, touch, taste and experience like the beefy, mouthwatering aroma of Mcdo’s Big Mac, the attractive, “hot” figure of a good looking man/ woman who we happen to pass by, or simply the warm hug of encouragement from a love one.
In contrast, Substance are qualities we don’t perceive with our senses. These may be in the form of a person’s character, values, beliefs and motivations. People are able to perceive these “invisible” qualities through its manifestations. We can tell if someone is a man of integrity when he does acts of integrity or someone as hardworking if we see acts of handwork.
In the 21st century (compared to the Industrial Age of the 18th century), it’s no longer our target markets chasing us but us doing the chasing. In the world we live today with the advent of technological advancement thus making competition stiff, organizations and individuals cannot get one step ahead through superior goods and services only but can only do so through the effective edge of selling. Putting it simply, you don’t sell the product; you sell the brand, the experience.
As individuals, these concepts are applicable when we sell our skills, ideas and ourselves. Thus, having a transcript of record with straight A’s, the shiniest resume, the best skills and ideas and possessing the values of discipline, hard work and ambition are never enough when we can’t sell these to our target market who may be in the form of our peers, employers and family members.
As simple as it is, selling is simply about communicating our Substance (goods, skills, ideas, talents) with Style (catchy, unique, and interesting). If we can sell, we can be successful.
Style is the manifestation of who you truly are and not a function of people’s expectations and wants. It should be anchored with your Substance. It’s about being true to yourself and to your audience. Thus, Style should not replace Substance. If it’s not the case, then we are fooling ourselves.
You don’t need to know all about the technicalities behind professional selling to know how to sell. Selling or combining Substance and Style is a right brain activity that requires nothing more than your creativity. You can do this by investing your time on reading materials about effective presentation and marketing, taking up classes on human relations and communication or, simply, getting out of your comfort zone by smiling more and becoming more sociable and friendly. To think about it, these things cost you nothing at all! It’s important to remember that people today will only buy if they perceive something to be value adding. In your case, you need to add value to lives of people if you truly want to be successful in life.
I see successful selling not as a medium of manipulation but a process of creating win-win relationships. The end of combining Style and Substance is not only about adding value to oneself but to the people we sell to. To be truly successful in life, we need, thus, to help others so that we can help ourselves.
Happy Selling!
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