Reading Reflection Week 4

This section of The 100 Dollar Start Up was by far the most interesting and valuable to me.  Although the section, as usual, was about specific start ups and unique things that made them successful, the overarching theme of it was about how to sell.   Guillebeau really brought some interesting philosophical points and changed the way I think about business.  I've always kind of thought of salesman as fast-talking wizards, who hit you with a thousand words a minute.  However, after this reading, I'm starting to see that's not exactly true.  In selling, less is usually more.  Guillebeau made an interesting point, as he noted that when you force your customers to think, you leave them with doubt.  Thus, you want to make your value proposition as clear and concise as possible.

Because of this, our group really has to change the way we sell our calendars.  Typically, we've been pressing kids hard in the library to buy our calendars.  We really oversell it.  Guillebeau said that customers want to buy; they don't want to be sold to.  I actually tend to agree with this.  When I buy something, I like to make my decision.  When a salesman approaches it me, it makes me feel like I'm being tricked in some way, even if I'm not.  I think I should just show the kids the calendars and see what they think. It's kind of like laissez-faire.  I want to empower the customer not intimidate them.  Our group has already made profit, so this is no urgent matter.  Nevertheless, I want to see how this tactic works.  Hopefully, it will bring more profit to the school and allow us to present even greater profit in our presentation.