Seth Godin had additional thoughts on my disagreement with him regarding how to approach sales presentations if you're in the group being presented to. You can read Seth's original post here, and then my response on the Seth Godin Post-Game Show here.
Seth comments back today:
To amplify (a previous reader's) comment, it's pretty simple: if your behavior can get the presenter/sales rep to do a better job, and it's your job to get them to do a better job, then why not change your behavior?
To do otherwise, to blame the presenter, is slacking off.
This has nothing to do with Permission Marketing, because PM is based on the idea that you are asking the listener to "pay attention" and you must earn the attention.
My post is predicated on the fact that the audience is ALREADY getting paid to pay attention. Yes, of course the onus is on the person at the front of the room to be amazing, to earn it. But the audience is always part of the deal. Ask any comedian about the difference between a good room and a not so good one.
Great thoughts from The Great One. I agree with some of it, disagree with other parts...
I agree with Seth when he says that the behavior of the crowd that is there for the sales presentation can be a key ingredient in a better presentation, and will even lead to more salient information being shared between buyer and seller.
I also agree with Seth when he says that permission marketing is all about asking the listener to pay attention and that the person asking must earn that attention.
Where I disagree with the Seth's premise is that those two points that I listed above, which The Great One seems to be implying are the responsibility of those on the receiving end of the sales presentation, are - in my opinion - the responsibility of the sales professional doing the selling.
At the end of his comment, Seth brings up the illustration of the comedian performing in a good room vs. a bad room. His point is that the crowd can enhance the energy, the give and take with the comedian, etc. It's true that a fun, raucous crowd adds to the experience of seeing a comedian perform. It can do the same with a sales presentation.
But when I read that, my first thought was, "Is it the job of the audience to energize the comedian so that the show is better? Or, is it the job of the comedian to energize the crowd through great material, an original presentation, and expert interaction with the crowd?
I've seen Jerry Seinfeld perform live twice. In both cases, he was getting paid (and I was one of the people shelling out the bucks to pay him) to make me laugh. He did. I laughed so hard I cried. I had a great time. Original from start to finish, fresh approach, great give and take with the sell-out crowd...he was a true professional. He can come back and "present" to me anytime.
I compare that with going to see "King Kong" last summer. I had heard all the plugs that this was a great, great movie...the re-birth of the enjoyable movie experiences...THE movie to see last summer. About mid-way through, I found myself "faking" laughs, forcibly getting myself jazzed-up for the action scenes, and working hard to feel the love story between Kong and his beauty. At the end of it all, I walked out feeling like I had done all the work and that the movie had kind of coasted on it's public relations laurels.
What I'm trying to say is that it's still my contention that the sales professional is the individual that needs to be compelling...they need to be great...they need to be amazing, along with their product or service. When I listen to a sales presentation, I am getting paid for it in the sense that those presentations usually take place during working hours. But I hold the view that if I devote time to listening to a vendor, and that vendor is either incompetent, lackluster or a combination of the two, it's my responsibility to get back to something else productive as soon as possible. It's my responsibility to devote my time in making my business and my job as productive as possible, and that may necessitate me ending your sales presentation as soon as possible.
If I'm visiting a website, and that website is poorly presented or has no relevant information, I'm going to click away from it in a heartbeat. It's not my responsibility to keep searching pages, e-mailing the webmaster with questions to try and get more out of the website experience, and spending more time than I probably should trying to understand the website. It's the website's responsibility to capture my attention, and make a case as to why I should spend time there.
I will say this. Seth's heart is in the right place...it would be wonderful to interact with the kind of crowd he advocates in his post. That's what people should do if they were all professional, courteous, under-worked individuals. They aren't, of course, but it would be great. If Seth Godin could be Business God for a day and apply his thinking to business at every level around the country, I'd be thrilled. But, this is the real world. And in the real world, I'm busy...I'm bombarded with selling messages...I'm overwhelmed with product and service choices. If you want my business, you'd better stand out from the crowd.
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