You shouldn’t be in the business of selling products or services.
You should be in the business of selling solutions.
Recently I was in a Home Depot with Melanie in Kentucky, as we came up here to work with Answers in Genesis.
As part of the project, a late night adventure brought us to Home Depot trying to find blacklight fluorescent light bulbs. These 4-foot bulbs are hard to find, so we knew it was a bit of a longshot, but we figured Home Depot was our best chance.
When we got to the lighting aisle, no blacklight fluorescents were in sight, but we asked a man in a familiar orange apron for some help. He confirmed what we were now suspecting—none were available in the store.
Ordinarily we would have simply left the store and given up on the idea.
But that is not how it played out because Mark wasn’t in the business of selling products.
He knew what myself and other Home Depot shoppers really want…..we want solutions.
So instead of turning us away because they didn’t have the product we thought we had to have, he patiently listened to Melanie’s idea, heard what she wanted to accomplish with the size of blacklights they didn’t have, and then brainstormed with her a solution using products they did have.
It cost him 15 minutes of time and some steps through the store.
It brought his company a sale that they would have never earned.
It kept alive a dream that would have ended with no lightbulbs on the shelf.
And it brought fun and joy to 160 kids—-and several dozen adults—who thought the blacklight glow hallway was incredible.
I think we forget sometimes that it’s not just about the product or service, but about the solution.
Take a few minutes this week to ask yourself a few questions.
What problem does my unique audience want to be solved?
What challenges are they facing?
What is keeping them from moving from point A to point B in this area?
What solution are they looking to find?
Answer these questions and you’ll not just gain a customer.
You’ll help someone bring life to their dream.
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