Red Auerbach: Making it about them

On NPR's "Morning Edition" this past Sunday, they reported on the death of Boston Celtics' basketball coach, Red Auerbach. In an excerpt from an interview, Auerbach said that a great coach will tell players what to do so they will absorb it, so they will react. "It's not what you say; it's what they hear." (Link to audio here.)

It's the same for self-promotion. That's why you shouldn't get hung up on what you say. Think instead about what your prospects need to hear, what hot button issues they are trying to solve, what goals they trying to reach. Then say what you do within that context.

Here's the example Peleg used in our Pricing and Marketing workshop in NY a few weeks ago: "I help non-profits raise a lot of money." Nothing about design or the end product. The prospect's response, "Oh, how do you do that?"

Comments

[Dani Nordin]

This is probably one of the best and most timely bits of advice I've heard in weeks. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about who I need to be reaching and how to reach them, and this sounds like a great way to make it clear to the folks I need to reach what I can do for them.