Many salespeople I speak with tell me they aren’t creative.
I ask them all the same question “Do you see pictures in clouds?”
Here some typical response I get:
- WHAT?
- pictures in clouds? I can’t tell you the last time I had time to waste looking at clouds
- are you kidding?
Here is what I believe, it isn’t that they aren’t creative – it is that they DON’T believe they have time to be creative.
Ask any artistic person you know and I think you’ll find that creativity takes time. It doesn’t matter if the art is painting, poetry, photography, or even gardening; creativity doesn’t come at the snap of your fingers.
It also takes practice and repetition like any skill.
If you have children of your own do an art project with them… if you’re like me and don’t have children I’m sure you know some parents who would love to lend you theirs!
Next time you’re stuck in traffic – look for pictures in clouds instead of getting frustrated (remember seeing bunnies, horses, etc in clouds when you were a kid?).
Begin to use metaphor and story to get your point across.
The more practice and repetition the easier it will become.
Your challenge for the day is to create (ie be creative!) a product/service email using one of the weird holidays I found for today:
Learn About Composting Day
Put A Pillow On Your Fridge Day
End Of The Middle Ages Day
OR if you need a little more time, tomorrow will be “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It Day.”
Have fun with this exercise and make sure you keep practicing the essential sales skill of creativity!
two additional notes:
1. Thank you Martha Miller for letting me steal your cloud photo!
2. For more on using creativity in sales, tune into Sales Coaching over Coffee June 27th for my interview with Anne Miller, author of The Tall Lady With the Iceberg: The Power of Metaphor to Sell, Persuade & Explain Anything to Anyone (Expanded edition of Metaphorically Selling)
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