Tuesday, July 19, 2011

1 Lesson From Real Housewives of NJ

There are a lot of things one can learn from the ladies of New Jersey and they don't include table flipping, hair pulling or drama though those are all admirable.

Instead, in a recent episode, I learned the art of the sale in action.  And no, it clothing sold at Posche though Kim D. is quite a determined salesperson.  Instead, today's lesson comes courtesy of Soul Diggaz.

Who?  Soul Diggaz.

As many of you know, Melissa Gorga hopes to be a R&B singer one day.  We've heard snippets including her famous misquote of "Amazing Grace" (... that saved a wench like me...) but it's fair to say that she can carry a tune.  In a recent episode, a meeting was autotuned engineered set up with Soul Diggaz, a production team that has worked with brand name artists, came to the Gorga home for a mini audition.

They listened to her sing intently and politely.  When she finished, Corte established his expertise by saying that as he has been singing since the age of two and he can identify singers.  And he said she can sing.  K-Mack politely agreed but then added she needs to practice up to 15 hours per day.

Both Melissa and her husband were extremely happy - though both did take note of the excessive practice time.  Solution?  He started to build a studio in their home where he wanted his wine cellar to be before she sees even $1 from her recording career.

A sale in action.

What just happened here?  It was a masterful sale.  Of course, there must have been numerous things edited out but let's play along with this for a spell.  What happened was kind of interesting.  What they did that could not be re edited or edited out was to make a few statements in this order: they agreed she had a singing voice and she needs to practice.

The reason why it's significant is the affirmation of her singing and the order in which it came... first! As you know, the typical sales/vendor behavior is to create (or play up) some insecurity or fear if you do not purchase their product/service or if you do not buy the more expensive upgrade.

You're bombarded by everything you're doing wrong with the design that you start to see the salesperson as your only way out of this mess. It's what makes the sales profession look so bad and probably why it's called "business development" these days.

Yes.   And.

What's successfully different with Soul Diggaz?  They affirmed her conclusion that she could sing.  And they offered their conclusion that she needed to practice.  They didn't attack her, her conclusion nor did they attack how she arrived at her conclusion.  

Their practice comment was a "Yes.  And." to her instead which was to dissuade her from thinking that talent and success are linked.  And it worked.  She was so happy to hear others agree she could sing that the 15 hours of daily practice was something she more than embraced.  And she wanted to work with them.

What didn't she hear? A promise that she'd be a chart topper.  All they said was she could sing but needed to practice.  And that was masterful.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Please comment below, send an email or visit with us on the 678 Partners Facebook page.  We'd love to visit with you.

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

1 comment:

  1. Certainly a topic of discussion in our next "12 most Likely signs you DID get the sale", perhaps? Masterful sale indeed. Was it true that he was both building a place in the house and also paying them money to coach her? Investing money twice before any return!

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