Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem Blog

In addition to my work as a business coach, one of my interests is blogging about life in Israel. This is a country full of contrasts – over eight million citizens living in an area the size of Wales. You can see snow and the lowest place on the globe in the same day. Although surrounded by geopolitical extremes, Israel has achieved a decade of high economic growth. My work brings me in contact with an array of new companies, exciting technologies and dynamic characters. Sitting back with a relaxing cup of strong tea (with milk), you realise just how much there is to appreciate in the Holyland. Large or small operations, private sector or non profit, my clients provide experiences from which others can learn and benefit.

I have been asked to give a series of lectures in the Jerusalem region on creating a killer business model. And when considering what makes a strong selling package, I came across a series of massive failures by those who should have known better – remember how Hoover UK promised a free trip to America if you bought £100 of products?

As a business coach and mentor, I find myself asking a question: Why is it that sophisticated executives make such blunders? What is it that they ignore?

I am fascinated by the practical, if not obvious, approach of Mark Banschick.

…. the buying decision is the result of both how well information was transferred from the business to the buyer, and the believability of the information…….customers need constructivist support, i.e. things that make the product or service personally meaningful. (My emphasis).

Interestingly, in this age of Amazon selling, Banschick makes the point that sales are often secured when a potential customer can touch or feel a product.

Cole Shafer takes this argument one stage further.

People buy to move closer to pleasure or further from pain (or in some rare instances both)

Shafer explains that sales are concluded for a wide range of different reasons; emotional, need, herd mentality to name but three. It is the job of the seller to understand what makes their target community tick and what message delivered by which medium is the most effective.

Again, all fairly obvious. However, why do so many of us – corporate and SMEs – miss this? The answers vary from laziness to arrogance through to the ‘fear factor’. What they all have in common is a lack of attention to detail.

So my question to you is what have you ignored in preparing your latest sales campaign? And have you ever considered how much you will benefit from just another 1% growth in sales?

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