| The name may not excite you. While this may
be a drawback for this product, besides the "me too " sounding name, it is
nothing like a sugar substitute, neither in messaging nor in experience. And that explains
Michael Silver’s success in making the firm the 6th fastest growing company in the US
as assessed by the Inc. 5000 survey. Just Like Sugar is not a sugar substitute. It is a
sweetness substitute. Sugar is a bad substitute for sweetness, much like the other
commonly available substitutes - like the pink or the blue sachets that you find at most
restaurants.
In fact, I would call this product "Heartful
Sweetness" or "Healthy Sweet" or something else like that. Perhaps, I would
have spent a little bit of resources on marketing research to come up with a name that
would make better marketing sense. Sugar is just as bad for health as the others. There is
plenty of research to prove this point and most of us already know that. It does not need
any proving.
But make no mistake; Mr. Michael Sylver has a whole series
of marketing and sales lessons to teach. Here are a few reasons why he and his firm have
done well.
1. UNBRIDLED PASSION:
Nothing in this world sells like your passion does. If you are not passionate about what
you do then you are undercapitalizing your own self as a sales person. Don’t sell
that which you are not passionate about. Your own true beliefs attract people and lack
thereof can undermine your own efforts. Trust and like-ability are fundamental to any
sales processes and passion supports both. The greatest salesmen have been those who have
believed in the idea and talked about it with consummate passion. All religious activists
substantiate the validity of this assertion. Think about it. This is the reason Mike
Sylver is perhaps the best sales person that the company has.
2. DEMONSTRABLE USP:
Having a USP or unique selling proposition is almost a no brainier. Of course, and
obviously, that is a great strategy for growth. The issue most of firms face is their
inability to do so. There are many ways to make your product or service differentiated.
When bananas and meat can be differentiated anything can be. Most of firms get stuck at
trying to make the core product different and ignore that a lot of other factors make a
product, from packaging to marketing. There is plenty of scope and ways to differentiate
your product - and it is much easier for services to do so. Mike has done that well - just
like sugar is just like sugar without the harmful effect of all other sweeteners. But it
is not his ability to create such a product that is the reason for his success but it is
his ability to convince us of the truthfulness of his assertions. You know it as well as I
that good products do not necessarily sell and those that sell need not be the best. The
key word here is demonstrable. You hear Mike talk about his product and you will want to
try his product. This takes us directly to the way he has been able to convince us of the
value of his product.
3. VALUE FORWARD SELLING:
As my friend Paul DiModica puts it most firms fail to put their value in front of them
that can easily be grasped by the prospect. Instead the value remains hidden, clear to
customers but untrusted by the prospects. The reason is that most firms and sales people
fail to see themselves from their prospects eyes. Mike does not do that. He knows exactly
what the customer wants to hear and can rattle the sales talk with ease and finesse. He
developed his talking cards well in advance. There is no confusion about the value of his
product, unlike most less successful firms and products or services. You can view the
video of my talk with Mike and learn for yourself what I mean. Visit www.8020ceo.com.
4. BUSINESS STRATEGY:
Unlike many others who peddle their ware, he has a business strategy. He is not selling
sugar substitutes. He is selling public health. He is not going after the end user. He is
going after the major decision influencers. He does not plan to sell sugar substitute to
major player like coke at huge discounts. He intends for them to want to use his products.
He is not just making sachets. He intends to create a movement towards healthy sweets
within his low hanging segment of the market. He is thinking strategically when he is
going after schools boards and evangelists. In a sense his channel partners will do his
bidding.
5. LEVERAGED PR:
His alacrity to use PR is amazing. He will help you, if you can help someone else he wants
to help too. That is his lever. Mike is a consummate public relations man. It seems that
he might take his firm from zero to billion without spending any money and that seems to
be happening now rather than too far in the future. The beauty of his approach is that he
does not come across as a PR person but rather than as an engineer or a scientist who has
just discovered this great product based on his passion for the rainforests and the
deteriorating health of Americans at large. What can be more empowering PR campaign than
the discovery of an innocent discovery? Well it was not an innocent discovery - we soon
learn. Mike is the master of highlighting. That you care and have passion is not
sufficient. You must have a communication strategy as well to be successful. Mike's
communication strategy is PR. If he were writing music, being on the Oprah show will be a
crescendo that he is planning on. After all, he is not selling sugar substitutes. He is
selling public health.
The one thing that I recommend for Mike is the one thing
that got Obama elected. The web 2.0 tide is going to be in full swing soon and his boat is
not parked yet. Just like sugar has the potential to be a major phenomenon very quickly by
crafting a Web 2.0 strategy using social media, online evangelists, and creating a
community of digital health workers. It is not easy to do but is doable. It needs to be
done strategically but his business is most amenable to the phenomenon of voice of the
people in the digital world. The same astute thinking that Mike has used for PR is
required to create social buzz as well - thoughtfully and methodically. He can begin with
the website and by giving his voice a digital flavor. One caveat... There are a lot of
people touting their paint brushes, and easels, and other painting tools. Please
don’t get deceived or bedazzled but them. Paints and paint brushes do not a painting
make. All of us have great camera's these day but do not come near the photographic
artistry of decades ago that was done without all the technology. |
