Just took a trip to the Texas Hill Country area and browsed in a few tchotchke* shops in Fredericksburg, Texas.
One store sold a variety of jams and it reminded me of The Jam Study.
If this store wants to sell more jam, they need to read this blog!
In a study conducted by psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper from Columbia and Stanford University they observed the following buying habits: On one day there would be a display table with 24 different kinds of jam. On another day, at the same store, shoppers were given only 6 types of jam choices.
Drum Roll… drum roll…
More display choices created more interest by shoppers.
Less display choices created more sales.
“The study shows that while choice seems appealing, at first sight, choice overload generates the wrong results. If a person is presented with too many choices, he or she is actually less likely to buy.”
Since this study, there has been more research on the topic in other areas within the food and clothing industries… with the same results.
Why this matters to you
As leaders in your organizations are you confusing your marketplace, your VPs, or your teams with too many options or protocols or data? Are you giving too much info on your emails, in your meetings, or within your presentations? Are you over-communicating?
A confused listener tunes out.
A confused buyer says no.
Your takeaway
Less is more.
*Tchotchke: Yiddish word for knickknacks and collectables, AKA “dust collectors”.
Author: Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself®, a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate. She lives in Dallas, Texas and did NOT purchase any jam at this Fredericksburg store pictured in this blog.
Don’t request even a few minutes of our time for a phone call or to watch your video.
Your top critical component to pitch your business
Explain how you can solve our problems.
You’re a Problem Solver.
Let’s unpack this concept.
Pitching Your Business Step 1: If you are solving your prospect’s problem(s), then you must know the challenges, headaches and concerns of your target.
Pitching Your Business Step 2: Do your due diligence on your target. Understand their world and their issues.
Pitching Your Business Step 3: Begin your pitch with your intel on them. Let your prospect know you’ve done your homework.
Now I’m going to go and delete all the daily Linked In messages and emails we get that want to share their company story, their services, their stuff.
We do not care about you. We only care about what you can do for us. Start with your research about my company and be my Problem Solver, and maybe… then… I’ll engage with you.
Author: Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself® , a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate. She lives in Dallas, Texas and thinks baseball is boring; but selling is an art.
“I communicate well at in-person meetings – from Board of Directors down to town-hall events – but not so much on Zoom,” says one of my SVP (Senior Vice President) clients.
The videoconferencing tool, Zoom, now boasts over 300 million users worldwide – up from 10 million in December, 2019. And Silent Zoomers appear in every one of those meetings.
You are losing valuable input by NOT accessing their voices.
Meetings Can Crush Your Soul
Dolly Chugh, a Harvard-educated, award-winning social psychologist at the NYU Stern School of Business, admits, “Meetings can crush your soul.” Chugh’s wise observations about meeting default patterns*:
• Whoever speaks first sets the direction of the conversation. • The higher-power, more extroverted, majority-demographic people are more likely to take up disproportionate airtime, receive credit, be given the benefit of the doubt and interrupt others. • The larger the group, the less meaningful the conversation. • Whatever we did in the last meeting, we are likely to do again in the next meeting.
Epiphany: We can do better at meeting management – as the chair or participant. A virtual format can even be an advantage on how to improve the paradigm.
3 Tips for the Meeting Chair
Have a facilitator. Zoom incorporates the Host Feature. Use it wisely. Be a “host” with awareness. Ask for participation equally amongst your group. Create a meeting culture that expects participation from all.
Share different perspectives. Being virtual means you can invite from outside your usual group. Examples: a customer during a meeting on branding, a field employee in a discussion about market strategy, or the book author at a book club. Use your virtual platform to break out of your regular network.
Rotate in and out of smaller discussions. In the virtual world you can do this with a click. Chugh says, “The key to a good breakout is clear instructions about timing, purpose, and deliverables (if any). No need to endure default big group discussions.”
3 Tips for the Silent Zoomer:
Make a pact with yourself to say something at your next meeting.
Write problem solving comments in “chat”.
Be the one to ask another Silent Zoomer for their opinion.
In a perfect world you’ll have facilitators with high EQ for all of your inclusive meetings. In reality, the Silent Zoomer must also take responsibility.
After purchasing a pair of glasses online the company emails my receipt. The info on this note is clear and concise. And there it is. Just after confirming my mailing address and ETA the note says:
“Did you know we sell polarized sunglasses too?”
Brilliant. Do you see the Three Words That Sell?
“Did. You. Know.”
It’s not a hard sell. It’s not even a soft sell. It’s a perfect sell. Because it’s not really selling… it’s suggesting. You ask a simple question that begins with the Three Words That Sell: “Did you know”.
Ask your sales and marketing teams. Ask your Board of Directors. Ask your VPs. What else do you want to sell? Our Speak For Yourself® suggestion to you: Add this “Did you know” question to your emails, receipts, web site, blogs and social media.
Did you know we offer a free 20-minute phone consultation critiquing your sales pitch?
Did you know we’re often called “Ledge Whisperers” because we offer executive 1:1 coaching on speech anxiety?
What to learn how to cook filet mignon? There’s an app for that. Looking for good places to go mountain biking? Yep. There’s an app for that, too. There are apps for every iphone/ipad user. Here are 3 excellent iphone and ipad apps for public speakers:
Speaker APP 1 – mPrompt: mPrompt is a “teleprompter” app that allows you to use your iphone (or ipad) screen as a teleprompter. You can download and edit the speeches directly to the app and change fonts and colors of words to remind you to emphasize certain points. The speed of text flow is also customizable. It can be used with an LCD projector or on its own! At a low price of just $1.99, this app is perfect for those who want to regulate speech flow and speed.
Speaker APP 2 – Infonet Presenter: Infonet presenter is an all in one presentation displayer that can download many types of files. It is perfect for organizing a presentation, copy and pasting photos and videos, and the slides can be used as a whiteboard. This app is perfect for teachers and presenters trying to educate through this medium (appadvice.com)
Speaker APP 3 – KeyNote: Every Keynote speaker should own this app! It is the single most comprehensive and elegant slide presentation creator in the App store. The app comes with built in start-up slides for slide that feature clear, crisp designs. This app makes flawless charts and is compatible with other similar apps. The sophisticated design and animated transitions will have your audiences enthralled.
Just took a trip to the Texas Hill Country area and browsed in a few tchotchke* shops in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Why this matters to you
“I communicate well at in-person meetings – from Board of Directors down to town-hall events – but not so much on Zoom,” says one of my SVP (Senior Vice President) clients.
After purchasing a pair of glasses online the company emails my receipt. The info on this note is clear and concise. And there it is. Just after confirming my mailing address and ETA the note says:
