I must get about 5 emails a week from different dudes, from unheard of countries, who want me to take possession of some dead guy’s millions of dollars. It’s a scam that has been invading people’s inboxes for years now, and quite frankly I’m surprised that some people still fall for it.

Ya know what…?

…I stand corrected. I say that I’m surprised, but when you really think about it… There are, unfortunately, still people amongst us who have never heard of this scam – and can easily sucker into one of these guy’s traps.

I remember when I first received one of these scam emails. I have to admit that I actually gave the proposal a double take. The email that Abagoolu Poococky (Or whatever his name was) sent, was actually pretty damn convincing. If I was a little less intelligent, I might have hopped on a plane to meet this scam-man – He was THAT convincing!

This guy was essentially spitting a sales pitch my way, and he managed to spark some serious interest in me. After all, who in their right mind would pass up an opportunity to cash in on a mega payday? I don’t know about you, but Mama taught me that it was ALRIGHT to take candy from strangers… especially if that candy was money… and that money could buy your self a private island and total freedom from corporate America. How nice would that be? (I kid, I kid… Mom never said that.)

So how can an illegitimate businessman influence a person of intelligence into helping him score an ungodly amount of foreign cash? Let’s analyze his sales pitch a bit, and see just how talented this man really is at influencing a prospective client. As we proceed with the dialog, see if you can relate any of this scam artist’s sales techniques to your own business.

We begin with Mr. Poococky starting his pitch by introducing himself to me…

“In Brief Introduction,

Please accept my sincere apologizes if my email does not meet your business, or personal, ethics. I will first introduce myself as a staff member of the Private Clients Section of a well-known bank here in Cotonou, Benin Republic.”

Well how nice of him! He gently introduces himself, and seems to sincerely care about how I feel towards his sudden approach. I appreciate the courtesy he’s showing me, and he has opened me me up to hearing more of what he has to say.

The lesson to be learned – Yes persistence is a virtue in sales, but you must first develop gentle relationships with potential customers by making them feel comfortable with you as a salesman. Good salesmen always begin their pitch by selling relationships with people, not products. Mr. Poococky realizes this, and makes sure his prospect is not overwhelmed by his attempt to sell him something.

And the dialog continues…

“One of our accounts, with holding balance of (£9.8million British Pounds Sterling) has been dormant and last operated four years ago. From my investigations, and confirmation, the owner of the said account, a foreigner by the name of John Shumejda died on the 4th of January 2002 in a plane crash in Birmingham.”

I’m intrigued! This guy is telling me a story of mystery, wealth, and death! There is true drama here! He has definitely gotten my attention, and now I’m trembling with excitement to learn more! Mr. Poococky has thrown a “Purple Cow” in my face and I can’t seem to turn my attention away from it.

The lesson to be learned – As Seth Godin says… “Your product must be REMARKABLE.” There needs to be a story attached to a product so the customer can become entertained with it. People like to be entertained, and don’t want to separate themselves from what excites them. This emotional connection not only makes the individual want to participate with your business, but it also makes the person want to tell their friends about their discovery.

And we continue…

“You can view this CNN website to read more about the crash…

www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/04/england.plane/”

Just when I thought his story was too crazy to believe, he throws an article that CNN wrote about the crash. If CNN says all of this is true, then IT MUST BE TRUE!

The lesson to be learned – Testimonials are a tremendous sales tool. If you can back up your pitch with documented proof of past satisfaction from existing customers, you just might influence the person into buying. Mr. Poococky showed me proof, from a reputable source, that this incident took place – And I can’t help but believe him at this point.

Proceeding with the pitch…

“I have confidently discussed this issue with some of the bank officials, and we have agreed to find a reliable foreign partner to deal with. We therefore propose to do business with you, standing in as the next of kin of these funds from the deceased. These funds shall be released to you after necessary processes have been followed.”

What? You want me to claim his millions? Of course I’ll partner with you! …Now we have reached the money-shot of the sales pitch… The call to action! Mr. Poococky has fired me up to a boil with his intriguing sales pitch, and now I can’t help but bite as this opportunity.

The lesson to be learned – The “call to action” portion of the sales pitch must be strategically announced when you feel that the customer has been adequately excited. A good salesman can read people like a book – So it should be easy for you to recognize the signals that customers display when they are foaming at the pocketbook to buy, Buy, BUY!

Mr. Poococky ain’t done with us yet!

“This transaction is totally free of risk and troubles – as the fund is legitimate, and doesn’t originate from drug, money laundry, terrorism or any other illegal acts.”

Doesn’t it feel nice to be comforted during stressful moments of our lives? This opportunity has now become a big deal to me… yet I can’t help but feel a bit timid towards proceeding with this monster of a transaction. Mr. Poococky’s relaxing encouragement has given me the necessary comfort I need to pull the trigger on this deal.

The lesson to be learned – If you operate a business that sells big ticket items, you must sympathize with your customer’s hesitancy to invest so much of their hard earned money on your product. Now this can be tricky… You want to sympathize in a way that makes pulling out their credit card easier; as opposed to, you sympathizing to the point that you further confirm their subconscious thoughts of backing out on the deal.

Most of you that read this blog probably already have a good grasp on these sales techniques. However, sometimes we get lazy and fail to implement these basic principles into our pitches. Consider this article a refresher course on Sales 101, that’s taught by Mr. Abagoolu Poococky.

Wishing You Continued Success…

Mr. Abagoolu Poococky

And…

bizMAVERICK…
Brad Williamson

Become a Friend on the bizMAVERICKS MySpace page!

Often times, when we’re looking for feedback on our products and services, we go to our trusted customers for opinions on what we’re doing right and wrong. Market research has always been dependable… Right?

Well, I’ve got some advice for you…

STOP always trusting your customer’s insight because, more often than not, they are flat-out lying to you! I know that sounds nuts, but it’s true. And unlike your customers, I’m not going to sit here and lie to you about why.

To understand why your customers would want to spit lies at you, we must take a moment to analyze the customer/human psyche. What you will gather from this analysis is quite upsetting because it proves that a few of us, as customers, are a sad bunch of pathetic posers. Here is just one example of how customers roll over us business owners with their ridiculous lies when approached with a situation of market research…

Envision a customer who walks into a liquor store, shopping for a bottle of vodka, and the owner approaches him for some small talk and a casual observation of his buying habits. The customer believes that vodka is a tasteless/odorless drink – So he’s come into the store to simply pick up a cheap $10 bottle of McCormicks Vodka; because after all, he’s just going to mix it into a few cans of Red Bull and will never really taste the vodka anyway. His thought is… “Why buy the premium stuff, when the dirty stuff will do the same trick for half the price?”

Well, that was the plan until the store’s owner approached him in an attempt to gather some valuable market research on his customers. He thinks he’s about to really figure this customer out from the questions and observations he’s about to make. Unfortunately, the poor guy doesn’t even know what’s about to hit him… He’s about to be knocked on his ass by a big fat lie, straight out of the patron’s deceptive mouth!

The manager approaches the shopper before he has picked up his bottle of McCormicks. He wishes the customer a “Good evening,” and begins to try and figure him out with some vodka small talk. He asks the customer which of his vodkas he likes the most…

“Hello… Are we looking for some vodka tonight? Which one is your favorite?”

The customer is thinking… “Oh crap… I can’t admit that I came in here for the cheap stuff! I gotta sound like a person of sophistication! I also don’t want to offend this man by purchasing his least expensive product! What should I say!?”

Finally, in desperation for a rebuttal that comforts his ego, and flatters the manager’s inventory, he says… “I prefer DIAKA Vodka.” …He’s only saying this because the bottle, that he saw on the shelf out of the corner of his eye, looks expensive and fancy. He takes a closer look at the bottle and notices some additional information on the product…

Looking suave he says to the manager… “Did you know that DIAKA uses a diamond filtration process? I’ve made a pact with myself to never drink AAAAANYTHING that hasn’t been filtered by the kiss of a diamond.”

Are you listening to this guy!? He is completely out of his normal character! What about this situation makes him feel like he should compromise who he is as a person? He is screwing up this guys research! Not only did the customer not originally know that it was possible to filter vodka with diamonds, but the only way he can afford a bottle of the gimmicky swill is if he spends 4 days of his salary on it! A simple study of this individual’s buying habits has now turned into a sad display of someone who has no confidence in himself.

So the manager says… “Hmmm, that’s very interesting. Do you drink DIAKA often?”

And the dumbass says… “Oh yea! All the time! My friends go through a bottle of it every weekend!”

…So the manager is now thinking that he has found out some golden insight on DIAKA Vodka from this trusted customer…

“Not only does this customer enjoy DIAKA, but he also has many friends that drink it every weekend. The store currently only stocks 10 bottles of it at a time – I might want to consider ordering a larger quantity due to the explosion of popularity the drink could potentially experience.”

So the next day, the manager orders 5 times what he normally purchases. The customer, who truthfully only wanted a cheap bottle of McCormicks, has lied to a store manager about a product because he couldn’t bear to admit that he was a simpleton who doesn’t buy top shelf liquor. This lie that he told will result in the store having a surplus of a drink that probably won’t sell very well due to its expensive price.

The manager was initially proud of himself for the market research he had performed. He thought that he was dealing with a high profile customer who had an exquisite taste in vodka – So he believed every damn word that came out of the customer’s lying mouth. Don’t you feel bad for the guy? He just lost a lot of money because he believed what he thought was truthful insight from an affluent customer.

The point of all this is that there is an infinite amount of situations where a customer would lie to you during market research. Sometimes, the customer doesn’t even realize that they are lying. It has become “Normal” for people to try and say the “Right” things when partaking in this type of conversation. These attempts to cater to other people’s emotions, as well as an unwillingness to look bad in front of other people, unfortunately result in instances of MRM (Market Research Miscommunication). The lesson to be learned here is that the next time you ask your customer for an opinion, make sure to think twice about what they tell you. Don’t focus so much on the surface of what they have to say… Dig deep into their thought process, and find out WHY they said what they said.

Wishing You Continued Success…

…bizMAVERICK…
Brad Williamson

Become a Friend on the bizMAVERICKS MySpace profile!