I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Since I was exposed to business at a very young age, I could already spot a snake oil salesman from a mile away.
These type of sales people usually talk a lot. They are masters at manipulating emotions and getting you to feel comfortable with them. They sell you a dream – more often a grandiose one. They talk more about themselves than they talk about the actual product that they are selling.
Whenever you encounter a salesman who talks a lot, walk away. They are usually covering their shitty product through words and emotions.
A good product that solves a problem can be explained in a sentence or two. If the salesman spent 30 minutes explaining a product, run away. The product is not a product yet, it is still an idea.
A few years ago, I remember vividly reading about Theranos. Elizabeth Holmes pitched the idea of sampling a really tiny “pinprick” of blood from a person and performing numerous tests like for cholesterol, diabetes, and etc. Once I saw the photo of Elizabeth Holmes with that super tiny sample, my BS meter was super active. How could that super tiny sample from a fingerprick tell me if I have diabetes?
Ultimately, it was revealed that Theranos really did not have a product. The blood sample was too small to even make a test. They raised over $700 million though.
The point that I am driving here is that we need more people who sell with authenticity and integrity. Create a product or service that genuinely solves a problem – one that gives a lot of value to its users.
If your product solves a problem, you don’t need to manipulate people. You just need to present the facts about how your product solves a problem. That’s it.
Sell with authenticity. We need more honest people in this world!