Show, don't tell
Many years ago, there was a salesman who worked for Corning Glass.
It was the year that they introduced safety glass for the first time.
Unlike other glass windscreens at the time, it did not shatter. This was because it contained a plastic layer sandwiched between the two pieces of glass.
The young salesman hit the road with the company’s new product. A year later, he was the top performing salesman in the whole country.
His colleagues desperately wanted to know his secret. How did he sell so much more than anyone else?
He explained that he asked someone in the factory to make him some small square-shaped samples. He took these along with a ball peen hammer on his sales calls.
Having met the prospect, he would waste no time in asking “Would you like to see a piece of glass that doesn’t shatter?”
He would then put the sample down, take out his hammer, and bring it down firmly on the glass.
The prospect would instinctively recoil and cover his eyes. However, when he saw that the glass had not shattered, he was amazed.
After that, the salesmen would take out his book and write up the customer’s order. It was as simple as that.
Don’t tell people what the benefit is. Demonstrate it.
