Page 185 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

176 SELLING CREATIVE IDEAS REQUIRES ITS OWN CREATIVITY

Know the individuals, know their priorities, know what turns them
on, and know what scares them. In the advertising business, I worked
with a good many very smart people. Most were middle managers, and
most had a certain level of fear of their top management. You need to
recognize that. I have heard people in the ad business say, “If the idea
doesn’t make their palms sweat then it isn’t a good idea.” I say, if it
makes their palms sweat, they’re less likely to be allies in helping you
sell this idea, and they’re more likely to be obstacles.
I’m not saying you can’t present an idea that might make them a lit-
tle nervous. I’m just saying that you need to know them, know what
makes their palms sweat, do your homework, and do your best to avoid
the terms and context that might lead to sweaty palms. Sometimes it
means answering the objections before you show them the idea. That
doesn’t mean saying, “Here’s an objection you might have, and here’s
how I’m going to answer it.” It simply means providing the informa-
tion, the context, and the examples before you show them the idea.
That can be quite easily done.

Know What and Who Is Behind Your Audience
If you know your audience, you’ll know the important issues and the
sensitive places and how to deal with them. If you don’t know your
audience, you won’t know these things and how to deal with them. You
are, essentially, operating in a minefield.
I like to know my audience’s audience extremely well. Again, if
middle managers are fearful of upper management, then I want to
know the upper management, too. If I can’t get to know upper man-
agement personally, I want to know them through speeches, through
articles they’ve written, through the annual report. In fact one of the
best selling tools I’ve used (it may sound like manipulation, but I mean
it absolutely sincerely) is the phrase, “In your annual report your
chairman says . . .” Of course, the annual report! This is the direction
the company is headed. I’m helping the individuals I’m working with
to align themselves with the direction of the company. Wow! When I
point out that my idea is based on what their chairman says, it comforts
them, takes some of the risk out of a new idea, and in many cases helps
them to like it before they’ve even seen it.

“Two Rabbis Walk into a Massage Parlor...”
Have fun when you sell. You know, there’s a good reason that old-time
salesmen used to walk in and open with a joke, like a regular Shecky