The Tuesday Business Corner: I don’t want what I buy. And neither do the people you ‘sell’ to…

When I was living in London, I'd travel between meetings on the back of a motorbike taxi. I would use them because the journey times were quicker and more predictable than my other options. I didn’t choose them because “it’s a motorbike”.

Also, my company recently chose our IT service providers because they could free up our time; not because “we do IT”.

And we selected our accountant because he could help us grow our business; not because “he is an accountant”.

You see, when we buy things, we aren’t interested in the things. Instead, we’re interested in what they give us. Or, in other words, the AFTERs – why we’re better-off AFTER buying.

Weirdly, we often don’t realise we want these AFTERs. For example, I imagine you recently bought a newspaper, thinking you wanted a newspaper. You didn’t. You wanted the news. Glasses? Better sight. Toothpaste? Clean teeth.

Smart companies use AFTERs to persuade us to buy. For instance, Kodak doesn’t sell by discussing their photographs; they talk about preserving our memories. Disney doesn’t sell by focusing on their cartoons. They talk about making our dreams come true.

So when you want people to buy-in to your messages, what do you focus on? Your ideas? Initiatives? Proposals? Research? Yourself?

Or, do you focus on why others will be better off AFTERwards? The time you save them. Or the costs. Or the hassle. The fact you reduce their stress, grow their business, help them look good to their boss… Now, those are great reasons to buy-in.

So, engage others instantly by beginning with their AFTERs. This can be hard to do – after all, your content will be your passion.

But I would never have chosen a motorbike taxi if some motorbike enthusiasts had spent ages telling me about their motorbikes.

And people will never buy into your content unless their AFTERs are crystal clear.

Action point

Next time you’re looking for quick buy-in, start by explaining why the other person will be better-off AFTERwards. If they can’t see why your proposal will take them to a better place, they just won’t buy-in as much/quickly as they could…

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Written by NativeEnglish

Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.