The Costanza Principle
January 28, 2007
If you are a fan of the sitcom Seinfeld, you will no doubt recall George Costanza’s strategy of doing the exact opposite of what he normally would do to turn his life around. Of course it worked for George who got the girl and the job with the strategy.
I can’t help but think that others have inadvertantly had success do to this principle, what I like to call the Costanza Principle. For example, the whole open source movement ~ i.e. giving software away for free instead of selling it has ironically made hundreds of millionaires.
Lots of other people have taken the Costanza Principle and applied it to their field of work. For example, Michael Port applied the principle to sales:
Standard Suggestion: "Always Be Closing"
Costanza Principle: "Always Be Opening"
Explaination: Why? Because you never know when a complex sale is going to be “made.” Our job is to continue to open doors not work to close them. How do you do this? With an always have something to invite people to offer. Stop selling and start inviting. Deliver so much value that you think you’ve gone to far and then deliver more. The people you’re meant to serve will then raise their hands and ask to buy from you.
Standard Suggestion: "There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute"
Costanza Principle: "Our Customers Are Smarter Than We Think"
Explaination: Well, obviously this typical sales shtick is low vibrational and absurd if you’re selling high value services. But we still hear it all the time as part of the typical sales mentality. Why must we continuously disrespect our customers—the people we’re supposed to be serving (serving being the operative word)? I’m spoken down to all the time by people selling me a wide range of products It doesn’t matter whether I’m buying new hardwood floors, stereo equipment, or a salmon filet at the market, I am perpetually perplexed at how people talk down to those whom they wish to sell to. The odd thing is… it is actually a lot easier to sell when we respect the intelligence of our customers. And when we do, they tell us how to sell them what they want.
Standard Suggestion: "Speed Selling (AKA Close Early and Close Often)"
Costanza Principle: "Slow Down!!!"
Explaination:
I do almost everything quickly. Ask anyone that knows me and they’ll tell you that patience is not my greatest virtue.
But there is one thing I do slowly–sell. Which is the opposite of the typical selling paradigm, isn’t it?
Why must we rush that process? Why must we set up sales processes and bonus structures and incentive plans for closing sales quickly? Why must it always be about the end of the month, or the quarter or whatever?
I’ve been searching for a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for some time now and believe that I’ve found the system that I’d like to use. However, in order to use it, I need to have an application built that will integrate all of my customer and client data between my online system and this new CRM system.
The salesman that I’m dealing with is a really nice guy. He’s been super helpful. In fact, he’s extended our trial period for the software a number of times because my programmer needs to access it to create the app and it’s taking longer than expected to build, as is often the case in software development.
One problem though… this lovely salesman keeps calling and emailing with great urgency at the end of each month to see if I’m ready to close the deal. In fact, he calls each time letting me know that it’s the end of the month and he’d really like to hit his numbers so he’s hoping I can make something happen before the end of that week or, worse yet, the end of that day.
Now, again, he’s a really nice fellow, but I’m not buying this system for him. And I’m certainly not buying it according to his time frame so he can make his numbers.
The point is, we often set up processes that are meant to incentivize our sales people, and all they do is put pressure on our sales people to then put pressure on our potential customers.
What if we reversed the process? What if we rewarded our sales people for building trust over time? What if our sales professionals were offered bigger bonuses when they made more (and more meaningful) contacts with potential customers over longer periods of time? What if we offered a bigger bonus to a salesperson because they made a sale three years after first contact rather than 3 seconds after the first contact?
What if, just once, we thought about the not so distant future rather than just the next few minutes? Not only will you have happier prospects but you might also just have better customers. At least think about it… please?
Standard Suggestion: "Don’t Sell the Steak, Sell the Sizzle"
Costanza Principle: "Sell the Steak (AKA Sell the real value)"
Explaination:
I know. I know. A little sizzle is helpful—as long as it’s part of the story of the product and reflects what the product actually offers. When I hear “don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle” I immediately loose my appetite because it invariably leads to over-hyped totally unrealistic promises (aka: lies). Which, as you well know will diminish the trust and credibility you are trying to build with potential clients. I’ve been working on cutting out the unnecessary and extraneous hype from my language, my writing, and other marketing materials. I’m not 100% there yet but getting better.
Look, here’s the thing. Many sales professionals “have” to sell products that are far from a 16oz. perfectly aged and seasoned filet. They may be trying to sell left over scraps and they are forced to try to find a way to create some sizzle. But you don’t have that problem. (If you do, get out of that business.) You offer a remarkable product that a highly targeted, very specific group of people or businesses would go nuts for.
Just tell the truth. People really like that. Remember, our customers are smarter than we think.
