Because They Haven't Got The Imagination

I simply couldn’t resist blogging this.

Super-inventor John Crawshaw Taylor.

I’d normally shy away from posting too much caught via the Brexit Bashing Corporation. When they let through a glaring typo like above, I feel a little happier doing so.

This lifetime career retrospective radio half-hour comes with a Sales magnet of a header; “You can’t sell ideas”.

Luckily the two-minute clip highlighting this section is worthwhile listening for any solution seller.

Surely someone responsible for a key component in one billion kettles – as well as small motors in cars currently numbering 600 million units – warrants an ear.

You can’t sell ideas because everybody is against what you’re trying to do.

People think that other people will want to do your invention for you.

They don’t.

They haven’t got the drive. They haven’t got the wish to make it succeed

Nothing is easy in an invention. It’s something new by definition.

And so it’s difficult to make and you’ve got to do it yourself.

And you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is. I’ve never borrowed any money, ever. I’ve always tried to get something going, and then live off the income. And then invest and then move forward in that way.

…

And also you should never take a new idea to the Buyer of a Company.

You should always take it not as an idea, but as a final form.

So, if I made a new kettle control, I didn’t take the new kettle control to the Buyer.

I came and I got a design company to make me a beautiful new shape of a kettle and I put my new control in the kettle, and I took the kettle to the Marketing Director of the kettle company.

And he says, “wow!”

And you’ve sold it.

…

Because they haven’t got the imagination to see how you can use it.

The interviewer chipped in with their as-trained summary, which as typical misses the full bullseye point somewhat; ‘they’re more likely to be convinced by a snazzy looking kettle than a bimetallic thermostat’.

There’s a trio of selling steers here.

Never talk to The Buyer. Surely for our kind, that is a given. Yet this case goes further. Only talk to the person that recognises the Need. Why would a buyer care about a kettle control at all? It’s just another widget to them. One they currently, blissfully, do without.

Proof of Concept sells. So we may not be able to demo a working prototype for all our proffered solutions. But perhaps we can go part way towards a fully working product/service? Obviously we must avoid doing unpaid work on spec, but seeing sells.

It’s Up To You. Or to cite the old ten-two-word adage; if it is to be, it is up to me. You’re the salesperson. Nothing appears by magic. Make it happen.