Recently I’ve been helping a few friends/clients develop their programs.  It’s one of those side skills I never realized I was developing through all the years I spent in the high school, college, and corporate classrooms.  But I love helping people take their ideas and turn them into actionable programs that will change people’s lives.

The most common mistake I see program developers make is just wanting to tell others about their knowledge.  We discussed this a little last month – Telling Ain’t Training!  But when it comes to marketing and selling programs or ideas, people aren’t buying information.  They are buying or investing or committing to value.

Value – as a noun –  refers to something’s worth, usefulness, or importance.  Something of value has meaning to me.   

But value is inherently personal.  What I value you might think is trivial.  What you value I might see as a waste of resources.  Values run deep with all of us, and the wise communicator (and sales person!) will strive to understand value before ever opening his or her mouth.

I do this exercise in workshops when we’re covering speaking to value.  You can play along now as you read.  Suppose I was able to give you $5,000 with no strings attached.  You don’t have to tell the IRS.  You don’t have to tell your spouse.  There is no stigma attached to it.  No one expects anything of you and your money.  You can use the cash however you see fit.  What would you do?

$5,000 is the product.  What you do with it is what you value.  I’ve heard answers—all good!—ranging from “pay off debt” to “take a vacation” to “give/invest to give it all away to buy a specific item.”

Watch this video (4:16) to see an extension to a typical sales methodology that is more likely to motivate your buyer.

I won’t judge your values.  But I will take note of them, for if I understand what you value, I can likely motivate and sell to you.  This is persuasion in rhetoric parlance.  And at the core of persuasion is the idea of value.

For instance, a lot of online programs (including ours) will sell something at a price and say it’s a “$1,900 value”. Then there will be a list of everything you get for the sales price.  But if that list includes something I won’t use, is the value really $1,900? 

I’ve seen organizations claim to  hold real estate “worth $40 million” (usually based on another sale and extrapolating per-acre pricing to a different parcel).  But the parcel they own would never sell for that (remember the three most important words in real estate: location, location, location). Is it really “worth” what they claim?  What is the value of a parcel of land that no one is willing to buy?  Or at least not buy at the asking price?

Years ago when I was teaching, a sales student asked me, “What do people value?”  With a slight caveat that it differs from person to person, off the top of my head, I came up with four. Later I added a fifth. I think they encompass most, if not all, people on the planet.  Figure out what someone values and it’s easy to get them gifts, motivate them to action, and sell them your products and services.  I’ve seen lists that have other values, but usually they map nicely to this list of five.

1. Money (or usually, what it can buy).  Most people don’t care about money, per se, but they love cars, vacations, clothes, experiences, houses, and the ability to give.  Money is a means to the end when material things are valued.

2. Time (or usually, what you do with it). If I changed the question above to “I’ll give you a week off with no strings attached,” you’d give me insight into how you value time.  

3. Relationships. People matter. And when they matter, we change our schedule, our behavior, and our attitude.  This includes connection and the need to belong.

4. Peace of Mind. The Eagles sang of this… the peaceful, easy feeling.  No worries.  No hiccups. Order to the universe. When we value comfort and peace, we spend time, money, and effort to get it.

5. Legacy.  This could include growth, recognition, and contribution.  On the positive side, this is what people will think of us and what lasting impression we leave behind (usually after we die).  But on the negative side, this is our desire to please others. Social media can be a plague to this value system.

Also note the result of each of these: ACTION.  If you really want to know someone’s value system, watch their behavior.  I’ve said for years that if you show me your VISA statement, your calendar, and your thoughts, I’ll know your value system. And if I know what you value, I can offer you messages and products that will interest you. This is yet another reason to spend time getting to know your audience before you craft your message.

In a recent workshop where we worked through the group personality dynamics, I opened with the phrase, “It’s hard to judge someone you understand.”  Stephen Covey said it like this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. These are all messages cut from the same cloth. It’s Rule #1.  

Communication Matters!  What are you saying?

Alan, your Online Stage Coach