This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Whatever it is that you're selling, if you can change the mindset of your potential customers from thinking, "Oh, that thing is cool," or, "That looks good," to thinking, "I must have this right now," you're gonna sell a lot more. You're gonna inspire a lot more urgency and action. You don't want people to just say your product or service is good. You want them to say it's necessary. They urgently need it.
But what does that look like, especially if you're selling something that you might think of as boring, or just kind of difficult to communicate? Like, if you're selling cupcakes, you're like, "Oh, I understand how I can get people to think I must have this cupcake, but what if I'm selling a professional service? How can I create that same sense of urgency?" Well, Victor in Mexico City has a question about this. So let's hear it and then dive into the concept of creating a must-have-this feeling. [Music]
Hi, Chris.
This is Victor from Mexico City. I just finished your book, "The $100 Startup," and it gave me really good elements to start my hustle. Right now, I'm just starting my own startup about HR and change management processes. In the chapter, "An Offer You Can Refuse," you mentioned that we should create the must-have-this-right-now feeling for a customer. My question would be, "How can I achieve that my customers feel that feeling considering that what I am selling is a service?
Thanks for your help, and I am looking forward hearing from you." - So this concept of an offer you can't refuse, or as Victor calls it, the must-have-this-feeling. I'm pretty sure that most of us in our lives, even if you think of yourself as super minimalist, even if you're like, "I don't like to shop, I don't like to buy things," I bet that sometime in your life, and probably more than once, you've had this feeling of, "Oh my gosh, I really need this thing. I need to buy this right now." And to take an example of a big company that's really good at creating this feeling, first one that comes to mind is Apple. Regardless of what you think of Apple's products, even if you think some of those products are expensive and actually technologically inferior to some other ones that cost less, I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you, but Apple is very good at marketing, very good at creating that sense of, "I must have this right now." But the question from Victor is how to replicate this sense when you're not selling cupcakes or iPhones. So for him and his idea for a service in HR and change management, from the outside you might think, "Oh God, that sounds kind of boring, all right?" But let's think about that person who is working in HR.
Okay, and then let's also be specific about who we're talking about, 'cause it could be a few different people. Is it the executive? Like the person who's in charge of the whole HR department, is the administrator, the one who's actually running the operations day to day, is it a whole group or is it a team? So whoever you're thinking of, what are the critical needs of that person? What are the critical needs of HR as a department?
What is really difficult with an HR professional's job? And therefore, what would make it much better? Something with hiring or evaluation or reporting perhaps, you might want to ask them directly, or if Victor has a background in this, and that's why he's thinking of having a service with it, maybe he knows the answer, what takes up all their time or is frustrating, or it would truly be a game changer. And in the professional world, there are services that become essential, which is essentially what we're looking at. I think of communication tools like Slack or Salesforce, maybe there's some others.
If you work for certain companies or in certain industries, everyone uses those tools. You're expected to know how to use them, everyone there uses them every day. And that's why these companies have actually become very, very successful making a lot of money. So it is possible to do it with a service, like it is possible to create that same sense. And then ultimately, the last thing I want to point out, which is something that Victor alluded to as well, it's not just about a logical offer.
It's not just putting together something that meets a practical need, like we're talking about needs, but still it's about a feeling. No matter what you're selling, you want to be thinking about emotions. What is the positive emotion that this product or service elicits? And the stronger that sense of relief or excitement or euphoria, whatever it is, the stronger the sense, the more of an advantage you're going to have. And it is possible to inspire that sense of loyalty, that sense of urgency.
I must have this with a carefully crafted service. [Music]
All right, that's it for today. Listeners, if you have a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. Pretty simple, you can ask a question, you might get an answer. We'll be featuring them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects.
Today's notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1106, 1106. We now include transcripts, and you can sign up for a free iPhone. Well, you can probably get one of those things, at least, transcripts or an iPhone. Check it out and be sure you're subscribed. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School.
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