Sales & Content Marketing

Kevin (me): I am a 30-year telemarketing and content marketing veteran. Wait, before you overreact, let me explain. I was actually the friendly one, who tried to help people. You’d be amazed with the number of times I got in trouble for not cheating people. That means I have experience in sales and integrity, but I also have a technical background in nuclear power. I was a jeweler and goldsmith, which is how I got a firm grasp on emotional sales. I've learned a lot of lessons about honesty. Here is one I will share with you.

I had a boss who would lie and manipulate the people who came in to the jewelry store, just to get sales. Funny thing was, I, who was a rookie at the time, got almost as much sales. He seemed to get a lot of chargebacks for returned merchandise, which resulted in him starting each month in a sales deficit-hole. I rarely got any chargebacks, so that made us almost even. Because of this lesson, I won’t ever take a shortcut just to get a sale. I will always look into the best interest and needs of my clients.  

The biggest thing I have learned over the years in telemarketing is that, “All sales are emotional.” This means boring, fact ladened web pages do not sell. Features do not sell. It’s the benefits that sell. AIDA (Attention Interest Decision Action) is the key. This is a significant concept, that also spills over into the overall web design. Everything is needed to help with the process.