Chapter 1

DON’T SELL THE STEAK –

SELL THE SIZZLE 

WHAT WE MEAN by the “sizzle” is the BIGGEST selling point in your proposition – the MAIN reasons why your prospects will want to buy. The sizzling of the steak starts the sale more than the cow ever did, though the cow is, of course, very necessary! 

Hidden in everything you sell, whether a tangible or an intangible, are “sizzles.” Find them and use them to start the sale. Then, after desire has been established in the prospect’s thinking, you can bring in the necessary technical points.

The good waiter realizes he must sell the bubbles – not the champagne. The grocery clerk sells the pucker – not the pickles, the whiff – not the coffee. It is the tang in the cheese that sells it! The insurance man sells PROTECTION, not cost per week. Only the butcher sells the cow and not the sizzle, yet even he knows that the promise of the sizzle brings him more sales of his better cuts.

For instance, let us take a certain modern vacuum cleaner and see how many “sizzles” we can develop to get the prospect saying, “I want!” instead of “Oh hum!”: 

1. Positive Agitation. 
2. Time-to-Empty Signal. 
3. Dirt Finder. 
4. Automatic Rug Adjuster. 
5. Non-kink Cord. 
6. Instant Handle Positioner. 
7. Non-tangle Revolving Brush. 
8. Grit Removers. 
9. Lint Removers. 
10. Dust Removers. 

These ten big “sizzles” will make people buy this particular make of vacuum cleaner. The construction, the mechanism, and the prices are important, of course, but the “I want” points, as Paul Lewis puts it, are labor saving, more leisure, cleaner homes, and health.

Therefore, the vacuum cleaner salesman must advise himself:

Don’t sell the price tag – sell less backache!

Don’t sell construction – sell Labor-saving!

Don’t sell the motor – sell comfort!

Don’t sell ball bearings – sell ease of operation!

Don’t sell suction – sell cleaner rugs!

Health, comfort, labor-saving, leisure, and cleaner homes are the “sizzles” in this particular vacuum cleaner; construction and mechanism the “cow.”

Are you beginning to see what is meant by first finding the “sizzles” in what you are selling, before even attempting to form the words to convey the “sizzles” to the prospect?   

Put on a pair of “sizzle specs” now and look at your own “sales package.” Then write down the one, five, ten, or twenty “sizzles” you find – in the order of what at first blush you believe will be of importance to the prospect.  

THEN LEARN TO HAVE “YOU-ABILITY”  

O NE BIG QUESTION is running through the prospects mind as you are showing your merchandise and telling your sales story, and that question is: 

“What will it do for me?”

Therefore, almost everything you say or do must be said and done in such a way that it ALWAYS answers this important question! You must develop a NEED for your product in the mind of the prospect – for until he realizes a need, you will make little sales progress.  

Now all of the “sizzles” you list for your product may create a NEED in the mind of the customer – but remember that although these “sizzles” may be of equal importance to you, they may differ in importance to the prospect. If you have “you-ability,” you will be able to take your “sizzles” and fit them to each prospect with uncanny accuracy!

 “You-ability” is the ability to get on the other side of the fence – to put on a pair of invisible “sizzle specs” and see your product through the EYES OF THE CUSTOMER. “You-ability” is the ability to say “you” not “I” – and the ability to present the “sizzles” in the order that the CUSTOMER considers important.   

SUMMARY OF WHEELERPOINT 1

Buried in every spool of thread, in every row of safety pins, in every automobile, in every insurance policy, in every grocery, drug, or toilet goods item, are reasons why people will want to buy it.

These big reasons we call the “sizzles.” 

Before you even start to see your prospects, you must line up, in your own mind, the “sizzles” they will consider important. You will then have a “planned presentation,” based on all the information you can get about your prospects and your selling package.

You will find that the use of the word “you” in your sales presentation will have far more results than the word “I.”

Being able to say “you” instead of “I” is known as “you-ability.”      

Remember the first Wheelerpoint: “Don’t sell the steak – sell the sizzle.” Then with “you-ability” in mind you can convey these “sizzles” effectively to the prospect in the “telegraphic” manner explained in the next chapter.  

It’s the sizzle that sells the steak – not the cow.

Prev | Table of Contents | Next