Neat Real-World Analogies

There’s an impressive school of thought that if you’ve a complex point to get across, the winners do so by boiling everything down to terms a 5-yr old can understand.  Sales trainers often compel reps to imagine their dear old Granny.  If you can’t get her to catch your drift, then neither will prospects.  The ‘KISS’ mnemonic encapsulates this thinking, so that you remember to ‘keep it simple, stupid’. 

I recently came across a wonderful use of this thinking with a customer of mine constantly battling with one key competitor.  The products offered are naturally similar, but one aspect of differentiation has emerged with pricing models.  The one firm provides rigid packages yet at an overall saving, whereas the other allows for the client to build up an a la carte portfolio of product.

A case can be made for both approaches of course, but I did like the way one senior rep talked me through his ‘buying a car’ analogy.  He explained that when you buy a car, would you prefer to take the basic model, then add on the optional extras you want, or be told which bundle of trim and fancies you had to have, regardless of their ‘value’?  If you’ve an ipod, why have to take the 6-cd stacker?  And likewise, if say the ‘go faster’ stripe with rear spoiler fan may not be your thing, can’t you not bother?