Sunday, February 17, 2008

Harry Beckwith on Being Competitive

Trying to understand what motivates people and why they choose one product or service over another seemingly identical one?Harry Beckwith This obsesses "Harry Beckwith – best selling author of "What Clients Love."

The following are Harry truisms about the topic of being competitive these days:
• Your biggest competitor is not a competitor; it's your prospect's indifference.
• Your second-biggest competitor is not a competitor; it's your prospect's distrust.
• Prospects decide in the first five seconds.
• Prospects don't try to make the best choice. They try to make the most comfortable choice.
• At heart, every prospect is risk-averse. Risks are always more vivid than rewards.
• Don't create something that everyone likes; create something that many will love.
• Your most valuable salesperson is the person who answers your phones.
• You must improve constantly, because people's expectations rise constantly.
• Whatever you are doing, do it faster. Speed always sells.
• People don't care how good you are. They care how good you can make them.
• The best companies don't make the fewest mistakes; they make the best corrections. • You cannot convince someone you have a superior product at a low price. Make up your mind.
• Despite all the warnings, all people judge books by their covers.
• People hear what they see; you must communicate visually.
• When in doubt -- which is almost always -- people choose what feels familiar.
• If it takes 50 words to make your pitch, I will buy from the person who can do it in 20.
• People don't learn from descriptions. They learn from stories.