The soft sell, belief and Apple speculations.

So I was going to write about believing in yourself as it relates to selling, but I’m in a conundrum. I kind of know what I want to say but I don’t believe that I can concisely put it out there in such a way that readers will get the gist. But I do believe that it’s in here somewhere, so here it goes.

What I am trying to get at is that you are a much better salesperson when you believe in the product you represent. It comes across in a different way than a “top-ten sales technique” pitch. As a consumer, you don’t feel like you are being sold as much as just being told. An implied sense of friendship comes across that builds a sense of trust. Great salespeople must make quick friends and probably make friends quick as a result of being so good.

I love the simple soft sell because it is really not selling. When I used to train staff I would tell them that the best way to sell anything was to simply say it. You don’t have to “sell it” with any technique, just “tell it”. Tell the consumer what you are selling. It surprisingly works. I think it is the human element. That implied trust connection. I also would tell staff to just be themselves…and then add the caveat of, “to be themselves as long as they were happy”. Well they got the point.


In Apple news there is more chatter about the video iPod. It is still in the rumor stages as no one has seen any verified pictures. It is said to be an iPod brand device similar in size and style to a Sony PSP that will be able to play movies and video in that widescreen style. This would be a nice addition for my business to be able to show clients work examples in a variety of formats (DVD/mpeg-2, QuickTime, Video Podcasts, etc.) without the need to lug around a laptop or DVD player.

Also there is talk about a new high-end Apple product release slated for after the July 4th holiday based on the “Woodcrest” processor. It is strictly a rumor but even so the Woodcrest processor is supposed to be geared for the Xserve (Server based system) products. Alas where are the towers. Maybe during the Apple World Wide Developers Conference in early August in San Francisco we will get some new products.

I remember reading a article about how the new processors and configurations can allow for future designs of more than two chips per core. That would totally blow the doors off of system power. But could the programming keep up? Now that dual chips, duo-core and quads are a reality who knows what the next jump will be.

Thanks and see you next week.

CM