Selling Your Ideas
Frank Traditi
How many times have you had a great idea, you’re all pumped up to deliver the message, and see if it will fly, then - you hit a brick wall.
Nobody understands your idea. They think it won’t work or that it's too radical of a change. You’re wondering why they don’t have the same enthusiasm as you do. Are they brain-dead?
Sometimes it makes you think twice about proposing changes, new products or ideas ever again. You can become fearful of the responses and put your creative mind in a holding pattern.
Fresh new ideas are the lifeblood of progress. New ideas can spark a new business, bring one back from eventual extinction and deliver a perspective not yet considered. Your ideas are too important to end up on the cutting room floor.
Getting your ideas across takes a bit of selling – but you don’t have to be a salesperson.
Let's look at how you might go about this a bit differently and increase your chances for your ideas to take hold or at the very least, reach an objective ear for consideration.
Here are some basic sales tips on how you would sell your ideas to your
company, boss, new clients, team, friends and anyone who might benefit from
your great ideas:
• Use a simple 3-part plan: Problem-Solution-Result. People understand
pain and problems and want solutions. Then tell them what the expected result
would be.
• Send out trial messages that relate to the idea you have. This could be what-if type questions, brief statements, or soliciting reactions from a select group of people.
• Find people you trust that will tell you your idea is worth pursuing or that you are not even close. Ask them for honest and constructive feedback. This is invaluable.
• Have a contingency plan. If you think it is a great idea but others can't quite see the value, have a plan to put a different but related spin on the idea. Information is filtered quite differently from person to person.
• Create emotion with your idea. Does it spark an emotional response with the recipient? Can they or the organization they represent really associate with what you are proposing? Remember, emotions equal actions. People will always do something when their emotions are surfaced.
• Consider what your audience will react to positively. Does your idea create a new future, better relationships with people, or create a safer environment?
Spend as much time planning how you will sell your idea as you
do coming up with it.
Copyright © 2006, Frank Traditi
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