From Seth Godin’s Blog -
Why on earth should a recommendation from me about music or tea matter? Even if you think my blog is pretty good, should my excitement about: Live at the Roxy: Bob Marley & The Wailers encourage you to go buy it?What about my discovery of high-quality tea at half price?
Why would anyone buy Donald Trump’s cologne? (sorry, you won’t get a link from me).
The fact is, we do care. We are almost always in search of recommendations, especially from people who don’t seem to have an ulterior motive. What’s fascinating to me is how quickly we’re willing to assume that someone making a recommendation is in it for the money. Like the President of Pakistan using a press conference with George Bush to promote his new book.
I’d like to believe that most people, most of the time, are hard to ‘buy off’. We’re too fond of our own egos and our own reputations to sell ourselves out for a few bucks.
In most cases, I think people seek out other’s recommendations just to reaffirm a decision they have already made. In other cases, they need to make a decision about a purchase and do not have the time to put into researching it. Instead, they look to someone they can identify with and take his or her word for it. On the other hand, if they already have an established relationship, the judgment of that person’s recommendation based on the trust in their relationship.
When you throw political figures - you cannot help to think that they have a hidden agenda. Their job is to attempt to shape the view of the masses and often telling people what they want to hear. Much like the salesperson trying to close a deal, but on a much larger scale. Imagine how tough that must be. Nobody likes to be sold, people need to believe they are in control of their decisions or the fight or flight instinct comes into play.
If a salesperson gives you a call today, does he or she just want to say hello or do they have an ulterior motive? If your best friend just bought this great new gadget and tells you that you need to get one, does he or she have an ulterior motive? Maybe he or she owns stock in the company or maybe he or she wants to help others experience the same satisfaction they got out of buying the new gadget.
People’s perceptions often get in the way of making judgments based the on facts they are provided in a given situation. Are most CEOs of U.S. publicly traded corporations crooks?
technorati tags:selling, motivation, perceptions, political, marketing, reviews
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