The 3 requirements to make a Sale

Great insight by Chris Brogan on the core fundamentals of business 

1. You know stuff or you got stuff
2. People need it
3. People will pay for it 

The Triangle

I’ve talked about it this way for years. Imagine a triangle. Here, let me draw it for you:

If you’re doing some kind of consulting or services business. You know something. You can help others with it. Will people pay for it.

That’s the real basic core of how someone chooses to buy something. It’s how YOU should think about your business. I have a lot of people ask me things like, “Hey, I have this podcast and I want to make a lot of money with it. How do I do that?”

The answer is often that you don’t. People don’t pay for radio now. Why would they pay for you? “Oh, but my stuff is premium.” Media companies love to boast about “premium” but you can look at many examples of a lot of “good enough” free content flooding the market until there’s no reason to ever buy premium.

How You Talk About It Matters

Do you have a great product or service but don’t do a great job of selling it. Do you make it clear what the BUYER gets from the experience? 

The BUYER is not interested in the service - he/she is interested in solving their problem. They want to buy - they want to feel that they are getting great value and that they trust you. .

Question Yourself

If you’re working to sell something and it’s not all there for you yet, you might go through a quick quiz:

• Do I produce something that people might be able to use to improve their life or business?
• Do I know and have access to the people who need this?
• Will they pay for it?

If you can’t answer yes to all three questions, you’re going to have a lot of trouble in business.

HOWEVER

If you have 2 pieces of the puzzle - you can find the 3rd!

• If you have the product but no audience, you can market to acquire the audience.
• If you have the audience but no product, you can partner with someone selling something and provide their product to the people you serve.
• If someone won’t pay for something directly, do you know anyone who’d pay to fund/sponsor/subsidize that product for the people who’d benefit from it?  

Never count yourself out just because you’re missing part of the triangle.  

But you must ultimately satisfy all three points.