Smores And Sales

by Alicia Arenas on December 29, 2009

As I was searching the web for Christmas presents, I came across this wonder of modern science.

Yes! For a mere investment of $9.98 you can purchase a microwaveable s’mores maker. This handy gadget will help you eliminate burned fingers and drippy chocolate.

And that is the problem.

You see, making s’mores is not just about the s’mores. It’s about the experience – your eyes burning from the wood smoke, taking your mittens off to break the graham crackers in 1/2, practicing your timing over the fire so the marshmallows are toasty but not charred, futily trying to get the marshmallow spread over the chocolate without breaking the graham crackers, laughing at your friend who has sticky, chocolatey marshmallow goo on his face.

What does this have to do with sales? Quite simply, the s’mores gadget solves problems, but eliminates the meaningful experience.

The Experience You Provide is as Important as the Solution

“People make buying decisions at an emotional level and justify those decisions with logic.” Kelley Robertson

Every great sales coach will tell you that if you want to make money, you need to find people’s pain points and solve their problems. That is true, but it’s not enough. You must solve people’s problems and provide them with a powerful, positive, emotional experience. Each interaction you have with your clients, from the moment they visit your website or read your tweets to the moments after they purchase something from you is building a series of experiences. It is the accumulation of these experiences that will cause your clients to become loyal and long-term or to look somewhere else.

What can you begin to do today that will go beyond solving a problem for your clients and create an indelible experience that will generate customer excitement, word of mouth advertising and ultimately increased sales?

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{ 8 comments }

theredrecruiter December 29, 2009 at 5:05 pm

Great post Alicia!

In recruiting, we are tending to move in the virtual direction… and it concerns me that we will, at some point, remove the “human touch” piece of the experience.

Thanks for sharing!

Michael

theredrecruiter December 29, 2009 at 11:05 pm

Great post Alicia!

In recruiting, we are tending to move in the virtual direction… and it concerns me that we will, at some point, remove the “human touch” piece of the experience.

Thanks for sharing!

Michael

Kevin W. Grossman December 30, 2009 at 8:38 am

Absolutely! You must get to know them and how they tick, react, overreact, and what kind of fires they stoke.

I'm reading “How We Decide” know by Jonah Lehrer. Highly recommend it.

Alicia Arenas (@AliciaSanera) December 30, 2009 at 11:00 am

It is definitely “easier” to create amazing experiences in a traditional business setting. You are right, we will need to work harder to provide the person touch virtually as well. We'll be covering this in the January Boot Camp.

Alicia Arenas (@AliciaSanera) December 30, 2009 at 11:06 am

Thank you for the book recommendation! I'm reading and loving The Experience Economy by Pine and Gilmore. I love your suggestion to find out how our customers overreact. I haven't thought about that before and I think it's fascinating. Thank you for adding to the conversation!

Kevin W. Grossman December 30, 2009 at 2:38 pm

Absolutely! You must get to know them and how they tick, react, overreact, and what kind of fires they stoke.

I'm reading “How We Decide” know by Jonah Lehrer. Highly recommend it.

Alicia Arenas (@AliciaSanera) December 30, 2009 at 5:00 pm

It is definitely “easier” to create amazing experiences in a traditional business setting. You are right, we will need to work harder to provide the person touch virtually as well. We'll be covering this in the January Boot Camp.

Alicia Arenas (@AliciaSanera) December 30, 2009 at 5:06 pm

Thank you for the book recommendation! I'm reading and loving The Experience Economy by Pine and Gilmore. I love your suggestion to find out how our customers overreact. I haven't thought about that before and I think it's fascinating. Thank you for adding to the conversation!

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