Galileo’s Famous 3.4-Sec. Sales Pitch

Let me share a quick story from several hundred years ago: people used to believe that a heavier object would fall faster than a lighter one. One day, Galileo dropped two cannonballs and found that they landed at the same time. This was significant because one of the cannonballs weighed twice as much as the other. If it’s hard to believe, try this yourself! Take two things that weigh different amounts (like an almond and a bottle of water) and drop them from the same height. They’ll land at the same time.

What this taught the world about gravity was important. Far more important, though, was what the incident represented: a new problem-solving method based on the authority of experimentation and observation. Today, we apply this scientific method to marketing as well as physics. Picture a marketing funnel for a moment. Because it’s a metaphor rather than a physical funnel, gravity doesn’t apply. Instead, the gravity that pulls leads through the funnel is your ability to ethically influence them.

There are several barriers that can prevent you from making a sale or influencing anyone. If someone doesn’t know you, like you, or trust you, they won’t buy from you. Other barriers come into play when they don’t understand you, don’t believe you, or it’s not the right time. (If you want to hear about these topics in more detail, listen to the previous episodes of this podcast!) This means that you can control all but one of these barriers, and you can screen for the last one (whether it’s the right time).

In addition to hearing many more details on all of these topics, you’ll learn about why believability is the toughest of the six barriers, how to conquer this particular barrier through selling an emotion rather than a product, how the role of an ethical influencer is more closely related to storytelling than selling, and more! Tune into this episode, and don’t forget to subscribe so you can keep learning every week.

In This Episode:

[02:02] - Alex talks about the three key insights into becoming an ethical influencer that you’ll learn in this episode.

[02:47] - We hear a story about a warm 16th-century afternoon, when Galileo climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa to drop two cannonballs.

[04:25] - If you drop a feather and a cannonball, the feather will drop slower because of wind resistance.

[05:19] - Galileo’s experiment was important because it was the day the scientific method was born. Until then, people thought that something twice as heavy would fall twice as fast, because Aristotle said so.

[06:38] - Alex explores how the points he has been making relate not only to gravity, but also modern marketing.

[07:43] - Ethical influence is more about storytelling than about selling, Alex explains.

[10:41] - Alex brings up the six barriers that prevent you from influencing anyone or making a sale.

[12:00] - We learn what the most difficult of the six barriers is: believability. Unfortunately, telling the truth alone isn’t enough to guarantee people will believe you.

[13:47] - Alex likes to start addressing believability with emotion.

[16:14] - In coaching, you’re fundamentally selling the emotions of clarity and certainty, Alex explains. A theme park sells fun and joy. Facebook sells a sense of belonging. These are examples of selling an emotion as a way to get people to believe you.

[17:37] - Alex provides a quick review of the specific insights covered in this episode.

[18:43] - If you haven’t already, please go to this link and type in your biggest takeaway from this episode as a review! (If you’ve done that for a past episode, write it down on an index card instead to help you remember it.)

[20:28] - Alex offers listeners a final gift: a free copy of his book Alexisms! To learn how to get your free book, tune into the episode.

Links and Resources:

Alex Mandossian

MarketingOnline.com

Skipio - where mass business texting gets personal!

Alexisms by Alex Mandossian

All Selling Aside on iTunes

The Genius Network