I have a friend who’s convinced the government or Russians or Martians (or…whoever) listen to every cell phone conversation he has.
A few years ago, the friend (I’ll call him “Bob”) dumped his regular cell phone and began buying pay-as-you-go “burner phones.”
Bob pays cash for the phones.
“They can hear me,” Bob says. “But they don’t know it’s me.”
Bob is squeaky clean (I think). He’s not a drug dealer. He pays his taxes. He doesn’t have a cheatin’ heart.
He’s just a little unhinged. Or maybe he’s smart. (There’s such a fine line between paranoid and careful.)
I thought of Bob this week while watching my favorite TV show, “Better Call Saul.”
The main character, Jimmy (a.k.a. Saul) works at a mobile phone store.
Prepaid phone sales are slow.
So Jimmy buys some of that gaudy orange and yellow window paint (the kind you see at used car dealerships) and writes in four-foot-high lettering on the storefront: “Is the man listening? Privacy sold here.”
Sales skyrocket.
That’s some smart marketing, Jimmy!
“Better Call Saul” is a crash-course in smart marketing and copywriting. Really. I’m not kidding.
In the burner phone episode, Jimmy delivers a brilliant pitch to the leader of a biker gang who ends up buying a pile of phones. Even the most seasoned sales champion could learn something here.
Check out Season 4, Episode 3. Jimmy ad-libs a pitch for copy machines that they should reprint in sales training manuals.
Take notes in Seasons 1-3 as Jimmy pitches his legal services to senior citizens.
Brilliant stuff.
If you know the show and the Jimmy/Saul character, you know: He happily works for and with drug dealers, tax dodgers and cheating spouses.
Don’t worry about that. That’s not the point.
The point is this: Jimmy/Saul brilliantly assesses what motivates his prospects. He knows what they desire and what they fear. And then he tells (true) stories about how his products or services can fulfill the desire or address the fear.
Jimmy doesn’t sell mobile phones. He sells privacy.
What do you sell?
Tom
MarketVolt
p.s. I can help you re-define what you sell — so you can sell more. It’s something I do for clients all the time. It makes their sales pitches better. It makes their content more focused and relevant. It helps the bottom line. And for those of you who work for nonprofits or schools, the same principles apply. You are “selling” something — even if you don’t think of it that way. If you want to learn more about how this works, give me a call (314-529-1431) or email me.