Selling Ideas

How do you sell an idea? An intangible? How do you go about selling a thought? The answer is simple: you sell the benefit of the idea! When people go to buy a vacuum, for example, they seek something that will help them clean in a timely manner. They are not buying a vacuum; instead, they are buying the ability to vacuum. They most likely aren’t going to buy a vacuum based on looks alone. Instead, they purchase the vacuum based on its ability to vacuum, its brand, its reliability, its suction power, its chord length, and so on.

To effectively sell an idea, the process is the same. Whether you’re pitching a new business idea to a board, a new product idea to investors, or trying to sell a concept to a paying customer, try focusing on the benefits this idea will bring instead of the idea by itself. When people are familiar with the benefits and the likely advantages that an idea will bring them, they are much more likely to be on board with the idea.

American business executive, conference speaker, and author Jay Abraham says it best: “Sell the benefit, not your company or the product. People buy results, not features.” When we are selling or pitching an idea, it is imperative we keep this at the forefront of the strategies we employ.

An easy way to understand this is by looking at the things people commonly purchase. Why do we purchase food? It’s not because of how it looks, or the status that comes with it; it’s to eat. The benefit of the food we are purchasing is that it temporarily quenches our hunger. When we are purchasing a lawnmower, we are purchasing the benefit of being able to maintain our lawn. The just of this concept is that people make investments and decisions based on the benefits of their choices. When we shift our strategy to accommodate this way of thinking, we’ll be able to sell our ideas with ease.

In conclusion, next time you’re trying to sell an idea, focus on the impact that idea will have. No matter the context, when you effectively frame the possibilities a given idea will bring the individual that purchases it, they are much more likely to be on board. When we just focus on the idea and fail to highlight the advantages it will bring the consumer, company, or whatever entity we are selling to, they – more often than not – will not find them by themselves. It is up to the person selling the idea to communicate the benefits, possibilities, and positives of purchasing their idea!