Harvey Mackay Column for the week of November 9, 2009 Sales – Up Close and Personal Print Forums Refer Page

In the Broadway musical "My Fair Lady," Professor Higgins has driven his prodigy Eliza Doolittle to exhaustion teaching her how to speak proper English. The professor shows little acknowledgement of her hard work, even when her pronunciation improves markedly. Later in the play, Eliza is again frustrated when her would-be sweetheart Freddie talks about his affection for her in romantic phrases—but keeps his clumsy distance and doesn't kiss her. "Words! Words!" Eliza explodes. "I am so sick of words! I get words all day through. First from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do?" Then she admonishes him: "Don't talk of stars burning above; if you're in love, show me! Tell me no dreams filled with desire. If you're on fire, show me!"

There is a profound lesson here for sales people, as well as lovers. Or, for that matter, for anyone trying to persuade someone to their point of view. An old proverb says: Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. But involve me, and I'll understand.

Everyone in sales is familiar with the four Ps—product, price, place and promotion. I think there should be a fifth P—personal, as in make it personal.

There are any number of ways to personalize your product and approach. I'm not just talking about making things personal by customization. Plenty of products out there can have a name or monogram stenciled on, from jewelry to towels to furniture. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses offer some level of personalization for their products. And this trend is certainly not slowing due to our ego-centric marketplace.

But to really hit close to home, I'm talking about making things personal by helping people understand how they will be affected. Showing people what a product or service will mean to them. Taking the pitch right to their level, so that it seems the product is made for them and no one else. Because in reality, it is.

A personalized approach is even more important today with so much of our communication on a very impersonal level. People order on-line and do their banking at ATMs with no social interaction. Infomercials clog the airwaves, followed by automated phone ordering. Even grocery and home improvement stores have self-checkout lanes, making it possible to shop with a hundred other people and not speak to anyone. We've lost a lot of that human touch.

Ever notice how the most effective commercials on television have a spokesperson who could be your next-door neighbor? Someone you could trust, someone who would be completely straight.

A prime example right now is the health care debate. Doctors and patients are telling their stories, sharing very personal experiences. Both sides of the debate know that those representatives will be more effective than the politicians who are absent from the ads, even though they will be making the decisions.

Politicians in campaign mode operate quite differently. They shake hands and make appearances in the tiniest of towns, just to reach voters. A surrogate wouldn't have the same effect.

Similarly, when you have an opportunity for face time with a customer, make it really memorable. Seemingly mundane products are necessary to most businesses, but your approach needn't be boring.

Our company sells envelopes by the millions, but I still get excited when I can help customers improve their business, present a sharper image or streamline procedures. Who knew an envelope could do all that? What I am selling isn't the envelope; it's what the envelope will do for them.

During World War II, the U.S. government began offering soldiers a life insurance policy with a $10,000 benefit if they were killed in combat. In one unit, a young lieutenant delivered a polished presentation on the details of the plan. No one signed up. Then an older sergeant quietly asked the lieutenant if he could talk to the troops.

"Men," he said, "if you get this life insurance and you get killed, the government is going to send your family $10,000. If you don't get this insurance and you get killed, the government isn't going to send your family anything. So who do you think they're going to send up to the front lines—the ones who'll cost $10,000 when they're killed, or the ones who won't cost anything?"

All the soldiers immediately signed up.

Mackay's Moral: If you want to really grab your audience, use a personal touch.

The Author Harvey Mackay is a nationally syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate. His weekly articles appear in 52 newspapers around the country, including the Chicago Sun Times, Rocky Mountain News, Orange County Register, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Arizona Republic. http://www.mackay.com/ Copyright, Harvey Mackay. All rights reserved.