Two weeks ago I attended an event for entrepreneurs (physical event) where the guest Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of Mindvalley was talking about something that made me think. It was a question and answer session. I don't remember the question that was asked but remember the interest with which the audience was listening to the speaker at that moment. He was talking about his recent lunch or maybe dinner, with the founder of GoPro company. Here is the dialogue between the two of them:

 

"So you sell cameras, don't you?" asked Vishen
"No" was the answer

"Then what do you sell?"

"We sell the feeling... " 

So Vishen repeated: "They don't sell the cameras, they sell the feeling. The feeling that their products evoke and the feeling you will have after buying the camera. He wanted to say that emotions drive a customer experience that will help your business grow. Business can be boosted only then when it sells not a product or service but a feeling that a specific product or service creates in the minds of its customers. 

 

That moment I thought to myself: "Oh what an unexpected statement". And what a revelation! To be honest I have never thought about it from this perspective. And then I asked myself: "Which feeling do I sell to my clients?" I instantly knew the answer - peace of mind! Obviously, I was not the only one who left the event that evening being lost in thought and started seeing my virtual assistant business in a very different way.

When my children were small every morning I took them to the kindergarten. There was a teacher assistant there, a very nice and kind-hearted old woman, she helped children get dressed, served them food, comforted those who cried, in other words, took very good care of them, she put her heart and soul into her work and children loved her a lot. 

 

Every time when I left my little ones with her and had to go, I had such an amazing feeling of peace. I knew 100% that they were in good hands and would be taken care of, I knew that I left them with her as if with their grandmother, I trusted her as I trust myself or any other closest person in my life. That was the feeling of complete peace of mind. That is the feeling that I sell to my clients instead of services and the feeling which I didn't have at the beginning of my journey when I started my first business.

But let's get back to GoPro. After making that interesting statement, Vishen was describing a GoPro commercial that connects emotionally with consumers showing happy skiing people feeling themselves like heroes.That is the feeling GoPro is selling. Being a hero! I was curious what exactly he was talking about and after returning home, started searching for that commercial. I found many of them including the one he mentioned and yes, it made sense! 

 

And which feeling does your business sell?

 

As a matter of fact, this approach is not new and there are multiple companies that sell their products and services evoking specific emotions in customers' minds. They have been successfully doing it for years. But there are still those which have never thought about approaching their marketing this way. No matter which kind of business you have, there is a feeling behind it and every single business can find that feeling! 

 

While doing a bit of research on this topic, I stumbled upon an amazing book "Sell the feeling. The 6-step system that drives people to do business with you". I committed to reading at least 20 pages a day and going to finish the book at the end of this week. It is not a boring guide with a particular number of steps you need to take to sell something, it is written in a form of a novel, it`s really fun to read and not to mention it is absolutely free! I must say it is a truly valuable book and I strongly recommend it to anyone willing to learn the art of selling. Every business owner will benefit from it. You won't regret it, I promise!

 

Happy reading!

Natalia Sharma

Business Development Manager