Don’t Be a Schmuck, Vote

Anytime I think I’m witty and start to fantasize about making a living using my sense of humor, I visit T Shirt Hell and realize that I should never, ever, quit my day job.  BTW, this site is sooo NSFW.

If you are a part of the one in seven undecided voters, let us offer a few bits of advice:

• Most of your friends, family, and neighbors are no more “up” on the current political issues than you are, they just act like they do.  Do your own homework.  Start with www.factcheck.org.  Hang onto your hat, but you will find that both camps have taken “creative licenses” throughout this campaign.

• When it comes to most subjects, especially politics, most Idiots talk longer and louder than intelligent people.

• Biggest clue you are talking with an idiot:  “I get all my news from Rush Limbaugh“.  Rush Limbaugh (who really is an idiot), Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann, Hannity and Colmes, etc., are entertainers, not journalists.  I know this will come as a shock to some, but seriously, if Sean Hannity came on air and said “You know, I can really see both sides of this issue” he would lose his job.

• Fox News is conservative, NPR is liberal.  Treat accordingly.

• Obama is not going to raise your taxes.  McCain is not going to cut your taxes.  The President doesnt have the power to do that.  Congress does.  *Gasp*

• In that respect, you need to pay more attention to whom you are voting for Congress.

• In case you are wondering, most polls indicate the rural America is conservative, while most metro markets are more liberal.

• With the exception of 2000, the electoral college elects the President, whichever candidate receives 270 electoral votes wins.  So while one candidate may be leading in the popular vote, that only gets you so far.  For example if Obama gets every vote in CA, he receives 100% (55) of electoral votes.  If McCain wins 50.1% of the FL popular vote, he gets the states 100% (27) votes.  Now here’s the fun part, if you take out CA from the national polls and recalculate, this race is almost dead even.

• We are fortunate to have two viable candidates to lead our country over the next four years.  Just remember how excited you were to vote for them, because the guy who wins this thing is going to need all the support he can get.

Good Luck.

Sasser

How to Trash Talk Your Competition

The last presidential debate was by far the best.  In the first thirty minutes McCain was on his game while Obama looked a little flat.  Then McCain, in the midst of responding to a question on attack ads, got flustered, his emotions took over and the tide changed.

The more I learn about John McCain, the more I admire him.  For example, HBO recently aired a documentary on the use of torture in Iraq by U.S. forces, it was pretty damn disturbing.  McCain was shown leading the congressional hearings into the practices depicted in the photos from Abu Ghraib and the efforts to restrict the use of these types of tactics.  Watching him grill and admonish the U.S. military brass you couldn’t help but think “Thank God”.

So what happened?  Why is this political veteran with a great track record not wiping the floor with a relatively untested, inexperienced Obama?  For starters, a series of campaign gaffes, inconsistent financial strategies, and, quite frankly, good ole fashioned bad sales practices have resulted in his current standings.

Inspired by McCain’s attempts to make “Bill Ayers” relevant, for this post, we will talk about the right way to go negative on your competitor.

Whether you are trying to convince people to vote for you or buy from you, throwing out negative information about your competition should be done with planning, credibility, and precision.

There are two common scenarios in which you should be prepared to go on the offensive against your competitors:

• When the prospect asks “So why are you better than _________”

• When your solution offers a specific, verifiable advantage over your competitors in a relevant area.

I used to compete against Microsoft in the Content Management space and so often I would get the

“So, why should I buy your solution over one of the biggest, most famous companies in the world?”

Start off your response by complementing your competitor.  (Read that again if you have to)

Hillary vs. Barack

I can’t tell you whose going to win the election, quite frankly I am not quite sure for whom I am voting, but I will share that in terms of sales performance, Barack is outperforming the competition by a wide margin.

If you care to debate my opinion, you must first go listen to the CBS’ 60 Minutes podcast of the Feb 10th show, you can also find it on iTunes. This is the episode where Barack and Hillary are interviewed.

You will notice among Barack supporters there there is this feeling of joining a movement that has not been experienced since the 60s and that his campaign is somehow bigger than than the candidate. Now in the 60 min interview notice how Barack talks about “We Can Do It! Working together we can change this country”. The Sales Warrior knows and recognizes that one of the tactics generating Barack’s success is that he is selling a “Vision of the Future” aka “A Solution Sell”.

Go dig out your old copy of Solution Selling and re-read the first chapters. Now compare that with what you see in the political races. Do the tactics look familiar?

Hillary and McCain are making the classic mistake of selling on feature/function (ok, their past experiences).

Hillary – “I am ready Day 1″ (notice the “I” instead of the “we”),

McCain – “I have the experience” (same thing)

So Hillary and McCain are trying to get themselves elected President, Barack is trying to get us all elected President.

Trust me, its easier to sell on “The Dream” vs. on “The Reality”.

I wrote a brief post for my friends at www.salesteamtools.com on the topic of speaking in “WE” instead of “ME”. Check it out this week.

If you care to help me decide for whom I should vote, leave a comment, or email me at sales.wars@gmail.com

Thanks

Sasser

P.S. FastCompany has put together a slide show on how to build a brand like Obama’s.  Click Here